doctor week

As of Sunday night, the schedule was: Monday morning, dentist for me. Tuesday morning, ENT for me. Wednesday afternoon, allergist for DD -- we'd like to get a kitten (or two) but are concerned about her potential allergy.

Yesterday I woke up in excruciating pain but went to the dentist anyway. It was a teeth-cleaning and pocket-measuring appointment, so it was a little longer than usual. I did my best not to curl up into a ball on the chair, but it wasn't easy -- the abdominal pain was like the worst cramps I've ever had, but up under the ribcage, and nothing was helping.

When I got home from the dentist and it wasn't any better, I called my gp and made an appointment, but the earliest they could see me was 3:45. When I tried to read an op-ed and couldn't because of the pain, I gave up and went to the urgent care center.

Dr. T at the urgent care examined me and agreed that my abdomen was quite tender, probably because I was barely holding back tears when I had to lie down for the exam. He ordered blood work and sent me for an x-ray. The working theory? A gallbladder "attack", which is still possible even though I don't have a gallbladder anymore. The probable cause: absolutely horrible eating on Sunday, DS1's birthday -- I ate about 10x the fat I'd usually eat.

Dr. T recommended I take a Lortab when I got home, and also prescribed extra-strength Zantac to take on top of the Prilosec I'm already taking. The Lortab finally made a dent in the pain and I was able to eat, too. By the end of the day I was nearly normal.

Woke up this morning to the remnants of a dull ache under the ribs, but it's not debilitating, the way it was yesterday. Saw Dr 0, the ENT, and he recommends a swallowing study for the problems I'm having there (a "stuck" feeling, it's icky), and also a visit to the g/e doc to see about that attack.

Amazingly enough, the g/e doctor had a cancellation on Thursday, so that's been added to the schedule. 6 doctors/procedures in 4 days. That's definitely the local record.

I think I'd have good reason to be depressed about something else going haywire in my body, but the reality is I don't feel particularly bad about it (yet). I think I'm just happy to be feeling well enough to function pretty much as usual today. It's bad enough being sick, it totally sucks to be sick and have to get everyone around you to take care of the stuff you would normally do. Here's hoping to further improvements tomorrow.

(My finger is still killing me, but it has improved somewhat, too.)