Hope they can help you get sorted out, Sundae. Best wishes, as always.

Sundae,
I have had good results with topical witch hazel and oral horse chestnut and or bilberry caps.

Sundae-I have those veins on my face (chin and under left eye) and they're from alcohol. They CAN be injected with saline (i think?) and they will go away but it's purely cosmetic and costs major bucks. Alcohol goes to the surface (that's why it appears to 'warm you up' when you're cold) and takes the blood with it - do it enough and those little capillaries burst. That's what we've got. Sun damage will do it, too.

Honey, if you were my patient (even though I only play doctor) you'dve had an ultrasound (is there a stone in your biliary duct?) a CT and then we'd go from there to see if we needed to do an MRI. Two weeks to get your blood drawn? Holy shit. I"m sorry, Mother England, but that's just WRONG. You could be hit by a bus in two weeks, ya know?


What is the anti-nausea drug called?

At any rate----I'm glad your liver is not as bad as first thought. but now am worried for other things. Don't you dare drink, Sundae. I won't either. At least not until next time....sigh.....

I was thinking pancreatitis. I'm sorry honey, but that's what I was thinking.

It's okay though as it can be managed quite nicely----and it probably isn't because pancreatitis gives you wicked, wicked belly pain.

Maybe it's just really horrid gastritis.

You need a scope done, too. Down the throat one. sorry, but I need you to be well.

Well I did have extraordinary constipation where I couldn't even stand up straight.
But that was below the belt.

Can't remember if I posted it, but that Doc really pissed me off by telling me it couldn't be my liver because of where the pain was. Ahem - I never said my liver was painful, I was only trying to alert you to an existing medical problem. Just because I didn't study to be a Doctor does NOT mean I think my liver is in my lower intesting. Prick.

He's one of the ones that didn't think I needed a liver scan. Prick-plus.

Then again I shouldn't really be mean.
I told a girl to go in and press a wet towel against her leg after she fell over.
She was sent home from school after lunch.
Her Mum had to take her to the hospoital to get steri-stripped.
God I felt like a shit.

I forget name of drug : Metoclopraide - 10mg

well, what were you supposed to do?
you don't have steri strips there at the school, right?

she wasn't bleeding to death.

It'll be okay.

Ok. Over here that's called Reglan. Good drug for what ya gots.

Well our first aider also absolved me.

She said that it looked superficial and it was only the fact it kept bleeding, and bleeding and soaking down into her socks and bleeding that made them aware it wasn't your normal playground graze.

You get why I felt bad though.

Wow, over here you just take you doc referral into the pathology clinic and take a number. Normally the wait is less than an hour and usually no more than 15 minutes. Results in 2 or 3 days except things like hiv tests. They take a bit longer. All covered by medicare, so no up front charges.

We complain about our health system here too, but compared to most other countries, its not too bad.

Sunday, have they considered gall bladder issues?

Different areas are governed by different health authorities, and different clinics, GP consortiums etc have different provision arrangements.

At my surgery depending on the type of test needed, the GP may take the blood then and there, or you may be asked to see one of the practice nurses, or they make a referral for the local hospital path dept and you take your slip down any time you like during their opening hours. Sometimes you end up waiting an hour though if they're busy.

I've never had to wait to get in for a blood test I've only ever had to wait for results and that's usually 5-10 days. Similar arrangements for xrays: you get a referral and go down to the xray dept at the hospital anytime they're open.

Only nurses take blood here.
And you've all seen the results, right?
Cellar page
London and Leicester were the same (okay, Leicester was a qualified phlebotomist in a hospital, but again it was same day there.)

It's in and out with me. Even though I do have tricksy veins.
They're only taking a lickle bit after all - I used to be in Blood Donors for ages.
And the results are back in 48 hours.
It's the qappointment that takes the longest. I guess what I've written already says that. But it's worth mentioning again because I'm still a bit cross.








Oh and OMG. Speidi are still in CBB.
Ridiculous.






Ali are y'am okay?
Jim says it's hot as hell in Brissy, and they can smell a tinge of smoke when the wind is in the right direction.
I know you're not in danger, just wanted an opinion.
You're in the news here you know. The country I mean, not you, personally :)
You may be the other side of the world but there are many many links between us.

Was that a brummie accent?

Yeah, we're good here Sundae. :) Sitting in the aircon at the moment. spent the morning down at the park with Max and Aden and Adens mate Quinn. They were selling mangoes (not very well) and we were just hanging out. It was lovely actually. Lucky we're by the water so there was a breeze, although still hot. Not so bad in the shade though.

Jim is probably getting the smoke residue from the Bribie fires last week. They were pretty bad, and we've had no rain, so there are so many particles in the air. We need a good storm to clean it really. Not sure when that'll happen though. It's incredibly dry for this time of year.

Must be global warming. ;)

As opposed to here where the doctor can and will order an MRI, an MRA, and ustrasoound, a CT and a nerve-damage test while you're still exchanging pleasantaries, but then you wait weeks while you fight with some penpusher at the insurance company whose flowchart tells them it isn't medically necessary for you to get an x-ray of your suspected broken skull..... and then there's your co-pays and deductible which you are relieved to see come in under a grand.......

My husband's job just slowed down.. drastically. With me hurt and not working... I am beyond scared! I have no choice but to ask for help. If everyone who has a facebook account please "like" the Syntimates page, I would sure be grateful. It just takes the right person to see it, to start the ball rolling. I'm hoping to get enough "in stock" sales to get us through until I am able to work again.

I'm scared... if my un-employment benefits do not kick in soon, my morgage is in danger. I might have to try working, even though I can't even walk from the kitchen to the living room without severe pain in my hip. I already use a cane to relieve the pressure. BAH! My concern is even if I was to get a job tomorrow, by some miracle... it could take up to 3 weeks before I see my first pay. Thats 9 days too late for my morgage.

Apparently I don't have much choice, I know things will look up. I just need that to be, well lets see... yesterday :)

If this is violating any rules here, can I please have a mod remove my post. Thanks!

Liked

I like your site.

Liked as well.

Jaydaan - Do you have any panda themed items? ;)

liked.

Sarge, I have a few... Panda or Pandaish Girls costumes, but they are all I can find. Two of them barely have black on them at all. Even the eyes are small black spots. These are one size womens... meaning SMALL/MEDIUM in normal sizes. These are about $75-100 The big full body one, with detachable head and all that, is more a mascot size/style. This comes in many sizes including men's and women's, but holy hell expensive!
I am still looking :)

Sarge:

I'm sorry, I was only kidding. There is an ongoing joke about me looking like a panda

I don't know what is upsetting me today, but I am seriously depressed this afternoon.

I'm into a bout of it as well. I know what I should oughta do but...

Sorry to hear that. :(

Sometimes winter, on top of everything else, is just too much. I think January vacations in warm, sunny climes should be a basic human right for everybody who lives in the cold and snow. Especially in the dreary northeast where we don't see the winter sun from one month to the next.

Seriously getting dressed seems like the biggest chore ....:neutral:

True. I'm still in sleep pants and a t-shirt

I just can't get started on work most days. End up just mooching about online not doing anything much. Can't seem to just start.

You know in Office Space how they have a case of the Mondays? I think we've all got a case of the Januarys...

My vision goes blurry after an hour or so of reading. It's not correcting itself ... and I have multiple hours of reading to do for the courses I just started. Can't focus properly on anything, near or far. Stupid chemo. :thepain:

Well it is "Blue Monday", the most depressing day of the year

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Monday_(date)

No.

You are correct -that is a no workie linkie.......

anyhoo, the gist is third monday in January is considered by many to be the most depressing day of the year. So we're all done with it already. hurrah! the only way is up. right? ....RIGHT?

Yeah...you know whats up though right? Smoke rises....I gonna stick around here at ground level..

You're lucky I tell you. Ground level? pure luxury............. yftm

Oh we used to dream of bein allowed to stay at ground level. We used to 'ave to 'over above the ground from sunup to sundown!

Feel a bit better about things today.
Found out the Occy Health appointment tomorrow is NOT a blood test - which worried me because of my lapse, but just a review. And the magical blood test I thought existed to say exactly what you've drank and when in the last 5 months is actually a liver function test, and mone have been coming down every time I've been tested, even when I was just cutting down, let alone going for weeks without a drink.

This suits me right now. I'll have more weeks of abstinence behind me when the nurse draws my blood on 01/02/13. Which is less about seeking approval and more about wanting to know I am not being missed by checks that have seemed cursory in the past. Even though I don't get my results until 06/02/13. With a different Doctor. Dr J is great but is on annual leave that week.

So I'm seeing Dr M and I'm not sure if I've seen he/ she before. I just know I don't want to see Dr M again. He's the one whtold me my extreme constipation could not be conneted to my liver issues because it was in my lower abdomen and the liver is not located there...

Dani, I know things are busy now. But flu season at my practice seems to last until summer holidays and then start again, with vaccinations thrown in somewhere along the line. And my tests are "routine". As have been things like Dad's scans. The NHS moves exceeding slow.

Apart from that, all is good apart from Mum being in a pissy mood because it's been snowy and icy. And of course she thinks she bears the brunt of everything that needs to be done outside the house now. Despite the fact she does not drive and refuses to walk anywhere. How can Dad be at fault for the fact that she agreed to houesit my bro's parent-in law's cat this week? Or that she would need to go to the solicitors in this weather? Oh actually the latter is his fault because he is the one who has Alzheimers. And she can't trust him to go to Tesco alone on Sundays in case he comes home with the wrong thing. Damn, I was hearing that when I was still married! Only now she can be nasty about it because there is a diagnosis.

I know what she is really expressing is her fear at losing the man she loves and the difficulty they will face in the future. But ignoring me because I had Friday afternoon and Monday off (schools closed - snow) isn't really going to change anything is it? Why did I mostly stay in bed? Because she was having a shit-fit. I just put my earplugs in, read Luck in the Shadows, cuddled Diz and hoped she didn't hit Dad in the mean time.

Anyway, Seb (counsellor) said today what everyone always says to me. Don't care so much. She doesn't understand and never will and I can't change that.

When I read the "equation" I was sure it was meant to be tongue in cheek.
Well, of course, we had it rough...

Good.

So when are you going to listen to us all, then, eh ;)

When Dani buys a mattress an posts her photos of Glasgow :lol:

:D


Sent by thought transference

Why doesn't Dani have a mattress? Did Carrot eat it up or does she, like the venerable Mulder, sleep only on the couch?

Dani sleeps on the floor. It's her SAS training.

Na-uh, I sleep upside down hanging from my feet like a bat

Sorry if this is out of line, but what happens if a guy comes over for a romantic tryst? The hanging from the ceiling, how does that work?

more rope, duh.

I should've figured that! ;)

Well, she used to squat, but it's become more of a slouch.

I am not kicking the fatigue between chemo sessions anymore. I have to sit on benches in the hospital halls and rest a couple times on my way in from the handicapped parking lot to my office each morning. But Employee Health gave me a hard time today about extending my handicapped parking sticker as written on the prescription from the cancer center - the dolly at the desk batted her fake eyelashes at me and said '30 days only!' and wrote Feb 26 on the form for the Parking office rather than the date my oncologist wrote. This in spite of the fact that I had a three-month sticker last October. And when I went up to the Parking office there was a tag lying on the clerk's desk written out for three months. When I asked about it, the clerk said 'that's different' because it's for a pregnant woman.

Last time I looked, pregnancy was not a disease. Yes, you can feel ill. Yes, you can have diseases within pregnancy, I know very well. But it was an insult in the context.

So I went to grand rounds and got a little heated during a discussion and came off sounding unprofessional, I think, and THAT upsets me very much.

I am SO frustrated. I'm happy my last chemo is next week, but I feel worse than I've ever felt and I can hardly walk from my office to the clinic, never mind a mile across the acres of parking lot to the residents' lot. Next session will knock me down more. I'm not going to be 'better' by Feb. 26. I was depressed last week and frankly nothing has really changed. This stupid disease is NOT an 'opportunity', nor is it a 'gift', nor is it anything but a huge negative smoking hole in what was supposed to be my new life. And a huge dark cloud in my future, forever. So the dolly with the fake eyelashes was sort of the last straw today.

Sorry.

Fuck her. Bummer. And FUCK CANCER while we're at it.


Sent by thought transference

Do you have a colleague who might go get your car for you ortho? As in, walk to it and bring it to you so you don't have to walk? Always remember to ask for help when you need. Most people I've ever met are always very happy to help when asked. Maybe they don't realise how bad things are for you if you're trying to put on a brave face.

I am trying to do everything I need to do at work and not let anything suggest that I can't do my job ... haven't asked for help so far, although I missed a good deal of time last fall while in hyperbaric therapy after surgery. It's very important to me to show that I can do this job. If I can't fulfill all the requirements I can't stay in the residency.

My co-workers are kind and helpful. But to ask someone to walk ten minutes across two major buildings and then another half-mile or more across parking lots to bring me my car feels like a lot, especially when we don't all leave at the same time - I'd be asking someone to interrupt his or her work and take about twenty minutes to do me a favor every day. I may not have a choice after my next treatment, though. I'm getting maxxed out physically.

Dear orthodoc

I'm not the boss of you but were I in that position I would not waste one (of my precious) breath(s) on Lil miss eyelashes (though I would definitely be aggravated by her). I'd take my pass and park wherever the FUCK I wanted to. Make the parking cop do the dirty work. Make the parking vendor make the case. Basically ignore their ignorant asses. Use your limited strength to do stuff important to you, like getting to your business. At worst, let the fines, should there actually be any, accumulate until you're better able to make your case. Worst case you have to pay a little money. Likely they'll dismiss all of it when you show your doctor's note compared to Lil miss eyelashes' petty executive tyranny.

Fuck them. Park where you are entitled to park based on facts not based on some dumbass.

I'm not a doctor, nor have I played one on TV (although I've played doctor, but that another matter. :blush:
But reading first person accounts, and seeing dramatizations in TV/movies, I'm under the impression that residency is kind of like doing a triathlon, with a broken leg, every fucking day, for months on end.

If that's even close to the truth, doing it on chemo, is insane.

http://cellar.org/2012/superdoc.jpg

Big V's right, don't let your Canuck manners get in the way.
Grab the bitch by the throat and tell her, "Parking pass or I'll put ice spikes on my Harley and ride it up your face."
You can add please if it's absolutely necessary.


Oh and pics please. ;)

Pretty pretty please!

Okay, I admit that my residency is probably unique. If I were doing, say, surgery, you're right - I simply couldn't manage the hours and physical requirements. Right now I do three clinics per week and have six grad courses per semester. I'll have to make up 14 clinics in May (because of missing time last fall) and I'll have a couple short, intensive courses in June. But I don't work 36 hours at a time like I did in the '80s.

Even with what could be regarded as the easiest of residencies, I'm maxed out and I do have to make up lost time and not wimp out in clinic. I worry about having another big complication. I won't qualify for FMLA until July. I know my residency director, who is a great guy, would do everything possible to help if I were to end up with another crisis (I have another surgery in May so more complications are possible). However, his hands are tied beyond a certain point by the national post-grad training accreditation body. I just feel that I have to push on, but no, I am not super-doctor!!

Unfortunately the parking nazis here don't issue fines, they tow. I can't face coming out at the end of the day and having my car just not be there, and having to go get it from wherever.

I think I'll have a word with the head of Employee Health, though. If that goes nowhere I can always make a formal complaint to the hospital, when I dredge up the energy.