And The Beat Goes On .....

 Little did I know that upon reaching retirement I would be on a quest to visit as many medical facilities as humanly possible in a short amount of time. 

Yesterday found us back in the office of our primary care giver. This made me wish it was a place I could drop my mate off to be fixed and return to pick him up upon completion of that task. You know, like a car repair shop. I inquired about that possibility and was laughed at. They thought I was joking. I was not.

To say that my husband (aka HeWho is the master of vague symptoms) is a difficult patient is putting it mildly. The man mutters and moans all night, making sleep an impossible dream for me. We have a CT scan looming large in his future. None of his bloodwork indicates a decisive reason for his belly ache. So, despite his declaration that he would not have a CT scan and would learn to live with his pain ......

He was given an injection of antibiotics and a pain killer yesterday afternoon. He had refused all attempts at enticing him to eat something all day long. I made offers of mainly bland foods, in order to put something in his stomach and he made a face at every suggestion. What did he want? Sausage biscuit and gravy. He didn't get it and decided on a hunger strike. Scowling as he sat in his recliner, he asked if I had made an appointment for him yet. I was thinking that taking his daily regimen of meds on an empty stomach could be the culprit of his belly ache.

I attempted twice to make an appointment and left messages. The third attempt was the charm and we found ourselves waiting our turn for the last appointment of the day. I always accompany him into the exam room. Mainly because he can't hear and will tell me what he thought he heard, then enhance it, so I go. When they ask him for specifics he will look at me to give the answer. Having worked many hours at the triage desk 50 years ago, I can sum it up. 

Yesterday's appointment mirrored the visit to the other visit five days earlier when he refused to have the CT because he was hungry. He didn't particularly like the nurse practitioner we saw last week for whatever reason and there was no convincing him to have the scan. His regular doctor is more personable and he agreed to the procedure. Yay.

After getting him home, he decided he could eat some bland food that did not involve spices that would irritate his digestive tract. I made him a bowl of grits upon his request, then headed back out to pick up his prescription. Then I meandered through the grocery store to find more enticing bland food for the belly ache at home.

He ate the food I bought and then he ate some broth and then he went to bed. I could not sleep and watched TV for a bit. Then everytime I was about to drift away into the land of slumber he would moan or yank on the covers. I finally gave up and retreated to the sofa. I ventured back to bed around 2:30 and was awakened by the cold nose of Mr. BoJangles sniffing the hairline on the back of my neck. 

Having no idea what time it was, I clamored to my feet and helped Eddie down from the bed and facilitated the canine exit to the back yard. 7:30 am and I was not ready to face the day. Not only was my brain foggy, my muscles ached from shoveling in the garden.

I sat sipping coffee, listening to an audio book and doing a jigsaw puzzle on my laptop when I heard his phone blaring. His ringer sounds like the old phones I grew up with and the volume is as high as it will go. Despite the fact that it is right beside his head, he does not hear it and I count the rings, hoping he will answer it. I knew it was the radiology department calling to schedule the CT. Most of the calls from the various doctors come to me. After all I am in charge of the man-child I married. But, radiology has yet to deal with him at this facility and do not know him ..... yet.

The doctor's office called me after I had decided to go back to bed and get a couple more hours sleep. I was only about 20 minutes into what was going to be a nice nap. The man still sleeps and will not be happy that his appointment is for 8:30 tomorrow morning. I will point out that he could have answered the call and made the appointment himself and he will scowl at me and tell me how bad his belly aches and I will be hard put to muster up sympathy.

Yesterday it was determined that covid and the flu were not responsible for his discomfort. He had decided he might have encephalitis from the one mosquito bite he had ....... he had encepahlitis in his younger days and thought his symptoms might be the same as then, except for the headache. He did not have a headache. I had already told him that the symptoms ruled that out, but the DOCTOR said it and it was accepted.

I am on my third cup of coffee and longing for the days when I would polish off an entire pot of caffiene. I am sort of dressed and ready to trek to the hospital to pick up the bottle of oral contrast for his big party in the morning ...... to be continued.