Tuesday, October 31, 2017

not out of the woods yet...

So I did the long (7 hour) round trip to Odessa yesterday for a 30 minute consult with my cardiologist.  Nothing too horrible from my stress test results - just a tiny blip that may indicate blockage or may just be nothing.  To be on the safe side, I am going back next week for an angiogram.  Seems all my vacations involve a hospital visit now...

To help take my mind off health issues, I had my first chili head visitors today.  Pat comes by every year during chili cook-off season - always wearing his Benita t shirt.  This time he brought Cathy, Zoe (the bee), and Molly (the lady bug).  These are my first official trick or treaters.  Ben and Chupa approved... 62,69,46,0,B 

14 comments:

David Johnson said...

I guess the news was not too bad Maybe one more trip and better news will follow. Hoping for better days ahead. Maybe a couple days of rest is all you need. Keeping you on my prayer list.

remmij said...

was Chupa more receptive to female attention because he thought Zoe was a bee and Molly, the ladybird?… or is he mellowing…
hope you get some chili and treats out of the visits.
is there a condensed ~3 minute matinee of the 7 hour sojourn on the way…? 21+ hours without critters
is a lot of contemplation time…
maybe a review of Rosa's tacos? (in Hobbs, NM now too — in case you drive further…)
hope the ♡ news continues to be non-dire and there aren't any invasive procedures in your future.

tuesdays @ Rosa's (via Jim Cunningham)
an "R" taco exemplar
in case Ben wants to see the full menu

remmij said...

whoa… missed that the first time I looked — probably not as scary during the daytime…
on the road to Odessa-ween

John Wells said...

I had the option to put off the procedure. Should make for an epic YouTube video once I get the CD of my angiogram. I am all about providing quality entertainment for my audience.

John Wells said...

I might do a time lapse of the long drive to Odessa...

rj said...

Hard to believe they could not have done a consult over the phone or with skype... did they know where you were coming from?... guess they want to ensure you directly hear your options, but still I know some practices do video consults from San Antonio to some rural areas down south (not that it would have made sense to go to San Antonio for the stress)...

Larry G said...

I wondered the same thing... that's a hell of a long way to go ... but I suspect they won't come to him to do the next procedure!

Is Odessa the closest to where there are Cardiologists and the machines they use?

Zole said...

Good luck on the upcoming test, I’m sure you’ll be fine. I’ll be praying for good health.

John Wells said...

I reckon it is just the price I pay for living so far away. I guess when it comes to "matters of the heart", I'm not about to take any chances. I had a really good experience when they fixed my broken leg at Medical Center Hospital in Odessa - although the 7 follow up visits to see my surgeon were a real pain in the ass. MCH in Odessa is the best/closest option for really good medical care (and they have really fast wifi!). Next time (if there is a next time), I will try a little harder to avoid a trip like that if at all possible. I already have a follow up appointment scheduled with the cardiologist 2 weeks after my procedure is done and luckily that is in Alpine. Alpine Regional Medical Center is really just a triage facility and does not staff specialists and equipment for everything that ails you. My cardiologist only comes to Alpine once a month for appointments. After the fact, I did find some interesting reading here: https://www.verywell.com/returning-to-the-office-to-get-medical-test-results-2615090

Larry G said...

Things are changing but slowly. I now "talk" to my Doctor(s) via a website "portal. I can ask for new prescriptions.. etc... I prefer that to playing phone tag with the nurses.

The portal has an interesting security feature in that EVERY login requires two-factor authentication.. i.e. they send a code to finish the login.

As far as Cardiologists go - I've gone to two and I'm just as focused on "heart" issue but sometimes I get the feeling that they're a little to ambitious on the selling of their services!


As they say - your mileage may vary... but at my last ('ve done two0) .. we got down to the part about the one "blip" on the tests and he was not interested in seeing the results of the prior test 5 years earlier (that bothered me) , but was honest enough to say - that even if it was "something" - give it a bit til the next time to see if it has changed... because sometimes that "blip" is not pathologic but sometimes something that has been there a while, perhaps since birth but most of us don't know for sure because we never do a baseline.. but rather wait until something motivates us to do the visit.

At any rate, we all gotta do what we gotta do. Good Luck.. wind at your back, !! ;-)

Undersaint said...

John.... so how friggin cool would it be to fly into your next appointment on your paraglide.... badassssss. Lol

John Wells said...

hmmm...considering the paramotor can only be flown in very light winds (early morning and late afternoon) and only goes 25 mph, it would not be very practical for the commute. I think I will stick with my badassssss Toyota.

Larry G said...

maybe one like this:

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/b1/6d/d6/b16dd60503748b11017e4f03ba779d2b--air-planes-parachute.jpg

Unknown said...

Oh boy ... it's almost time for bunnies and baseball. Come oooooooonnn Texas.