Final Day of Doctor Week

What a day! We left at 8:30AM and arrived home at 7:30PM.

After stops at CVS and Walgreens, my appointment with my super hip glaucoma doctor, with Michael in tow, was fun. They chatted about bourbon, our time on the bourbon trail in Kentucky and he gave the doctor the name of several bourbons to try. We had fun. As an aside, my eyes were stable. Thank goodness!

Into the city we drove and as we settled in to a quick lunch, we heard a tremendous sound. The Blue Angles were practicing over our heads! We scurried across the street to get Michael's security badge made but the computer was not cooperating. Finally, he smiled for the camera, the badge was printed and off we went.

Back across the street, we made our way to the infusion center for my Prolia shot. I had heard about this remodeled clinic but, as a patient, it was so much more amazing than I had anticipated. It was a creative use of a very difficult space. They offered juices or water while I waited sitting on a very cushy chair with a TV by my side and a gorgeous view of the city. There were those show off Blue Angles again! They really did put on a show! The actual performance is tomorrow morning but we enjoyed the preview.

Prolia. There was a problem with some lab work, or lack of lab work. There were discussions but finally, I was given the shot in my stomach. Almost immediately, I became flushed and I could feel it rising from my waist up. Everyone was a bit concerned. They called Michael in. We sat and waited. Finally, they let us go as we were going to be on the campus for a few more hours in the board meeting and, if there was a problem, I was to go to the ER.

We rushed down and back across the street to the former chancellor's office (nicer meeting space than our normal spot) where we all met for the first time since May. I can't blog what the meeting was about except I kind of felt badly for the team who came to ask our opinion on a program they had just updated. It was horrible and some of the people in the group were very blunt.

On a positive note, I was able to spend a few minutes with Jenica, whose dad was in hospice three years after his diagnosis of IPF. Her mom felt that if he could just not use supplemental oxygen, he would not become dependent on it. Wish I had a nickel for every time I have heard that, especially from older people. I usually tell them that I have been on 2 liters for sleep and exercise since 2005. He was refusing to use it at night and was even resisting using it during exercise, though he now needed it at rest.

She initially asked me about sleep issues and what I did to help my own sleep. I told her about melatonin and that he needed to exercise to work off the energy, or just move around the house. As we spoke further, she told me about his aversion to supplemental oxygen and her parent's becoming angry with her when she tries to step in. After the meeting, I realized that the probable sleep issue may be low saturation during sleep. So many people don't realize that in REM sleep, the body (saturation-wise) is working like during exercise. He might be waking every time he falls into REM sleep and he was actually sleep deprived. Sleep apnea might also be there but, my money is on low saturation rates. After we got home, I sent her an email.

We fell into bed later than usual, I will be spending the day with mom before playing a gig at the organic market with the Irish Fiddling Group! I will need recovery time this weekend!