Road Trip

It was cold again on Tuesday morning, cold and overcast with a predicted high of only 46 degrees F. I got to work in plenty of time (only Fred had beaten me). And, thus began my half day at work and half day of road trip.

I called the doctor’s office at 9:00 AM and gave them the number of the lab where I had my blood work done (I had a voicemail on Monday at home, saying they still hadn’t gotten the results).

About 10:00 AM, Mike had come up front to talk to Vicky, who was on the phone. As he waited, he said, “You gotta see this!” So, we all went to look: It was snowing hard outside!

By the time I left just before noon, though, it had changed back to occasional sprinkles. I got on the Expressway, set the cruise control and drove up to Richmond.

I got there about 5 minutes early and went through the usual drill (weight, blood pressure, temp, etc.)

When the doctor came in and read the fax, she was all smiles. My white blood count had rebounded dramatically and I am no longer vulnerable to any stinking germ or virus that comes along. My other readings were great, too! In fact, she cut my blood pressure medicine down over half strength and with fewer ingredients (so I needed a new prescription, rather than being able to cut up all the pills I just bought yesterday). And, she said my cholesterol numbers were fantastic as was my blood sugar level.

She loved my spreadsheet and said she never saw such a detailed, clear one before. I told her that was the German in me – we like to keep concise records. She laughed (I’m always teasing her about being “just” Austrian instead of German).

She asked if I minded another blood draw and I said, no, I’m kinda used to them by now. So, she had the nurse take more blood. She said she wanted to see if there was more improvement in my white blood count since last Thursday.

So, she’s going call in a new script. I’m gonna keep up my spreadsheet for a little while longer and fax it to her in two weeks and, unless anything else comes up, I’ll see her again in July. Oh, and she still wants me to keep drinking that yucky Ensure stuff to try and gain more weight (which I frankly don’t get. My weight’s been pretty consistent since I left the hospital; ranging from a high of 190 pounds to a low of 180, but averaging around 185 pounds. It seems to have helped everything to get better, so what’s the deal?)

I told her what I really needed was some therapy for my flabby muscles (especially my core muscles) when I can take the damn brace off. She agreed. So, if my spine doctor doesn’t order any, maybe she will.

When I left there, I was starving, so I went to a restaurant I’d heard was good (in Richmond?) called the Moose Grill. I had a luncheon special of a patty melt, French fries and coffee for $5.99. The patty melt was pretty good, but those were the best fries I think I ever had!

It was still early yet, so I took the time and made my pilgrimage north to the Smoke House for some hunter sausage. Then I hit the E-way and headed for the big “D.”

I got home around 4:00 PM, treated the cats, changed clothes and popped a pain pill (sitting in the car seat that long with the brace crushed up against my back really hurts bad).

I emailed Michelle to see if there was anything going on at work I should know about. I would have just sent her a text message, but for the first time since I got it, the phone said “battery low,” so its on the charger. She emailed back that everything was okay and to have a good night.

I walked out to get the mail when it came and, for a brief moment, the sun shone! I’d like to think it was God smiling on me (but it probably just a random break in the clouds).

Back inside, I took off the brace (ahhhh) and lay on the bed to watch the evening news.

Since I did have a late, big lunch, dinner was crackers, cheese and, of course, a hunter sausage.

I watched “The Searchers” again on TMC, mainly because Anthony Bourdain was a guest host tonight. It’s a great movie, anyway and helped me to stay up and awake until an almost astounding 10:15!