Panic attack!

I'm almost embarrassed to admit this now, but today I had what I suspect was a bit of a panic attack. I had to go see my primary care doctor for just a routine quarterly check up, since I am being treated for a bit of depression in addition to rosacea. Anyway, I still had the bandages on my left hand from surgery last week and I was too afraid to take them off myself, so I had my doctor do it. The incision doesn't look as bad as I imagined and the sutures are very neatly done. Anyway, the cleaned up the wound and I also mentioned a bad earache I had earlier this week that was a result of earwax impacted up inside my left ear that I was going to have removed today as well. While the doctor went to fetch the nurse to do the job, I suddenly felt light headed, dizzy and felt like I was going to black out. It was really scary and the doctor rushed back in and had my lie down and asked me if I was having chest pains. I did, a little bit, so the doctor ordered an EKG and asked if I had ever had a stress test. Well, yes, less than 6 months ago I did, and the doctor found it in my folder and said yes, indeed, I'd just had those tests done last fall and they were normal, but I still had to have an EKG, which turned up nothing out of the ordinary. The doctor also ordered some blood work be done - never a bad idea, frankly, so I had a blood draw as well. The nurse who did that did a great job and I never felt the needle go in. I hate needles to begin with and they scare the daylights out of me, but it was over before I knew it. Of course, I will have to pay the lab fee since my insurance does not pay for any diagnostic work (and when my doctor asked me who my insurer was, and when I told him, he scoffed, "Well, yeah, they don't pay for anything!"). But oh, well, more toward my deductible for the year, I guess. Doesn't take long anymore to reach the yearly $1000 required before insurance kicks in. Just a few tests here and there and before you know it, you've spent your out-of-pocket deductible for the year. Don't get me started. Don't even get me started! Anyway, to make a long story short, I recovered enough to drive home, and the doctor's nurse even called me later in the day to see how I was feeling and to schedule me back in on Monday to irrigate my left ear to remove the impacted wax up in there that caused my earache. I appreciated their calling me back a few hours later to see how I was feeling. I think I gave them a good scare for the day, anyway. But no better place for something like that to happen than your doctor's office where they can take care of the problem!

THAT'S TWO OF US WITH STITCHED FINGERS!
When I went to the doctor's office today, which is right across the way from where I receive physical therapy, I noticed that Jason (pictured left), my physical therapist, had his left thumb all bandaged up. After my doctor appointment, I stopped into the PT office to talk to Jason to find out just what the heck he did. Well, he was working on his bathroom last night around 11:15 p.m. when he cut his hand open on some broken glass, knicked a tendon and had to also get some stitches. He was bugging me just Wednesday afternoon about how long I had kept my hand bandaged after last week's surgery and was telling me that the next time he saw me, he wanted to see that bandage OFF! Well, I had my doctor take it off today, so I wanted to show off the fact that yes, now it's off, but.....now the tables are turned and I get to bug HIM! So that makes two of us who have bandaged up left hands. I can certainly sympathise with what he's feeling because a number of years ago, I cut the bottom of my right thumb on a broken glass in the kitchen sink and had to have stitches for a few weeks. Jason said that he's going to see my orthopaedic surgeon in seven days, probably the same day that I will see him, to get the sutures removed. I just hope for his sake that the knicked tendon won't cause any permanent damage. In the meantime, I guess he'll have to learn to cope with not being able to use his thumb. At least it's his left hand, but still, that can be very tough. I've been learning this past week how to do things without my left index finger and that's been challenging enough. I now have just a bandaid on it and it's quite stiff from a week of being so bandaged up, but I am sure that I will regain some range of motion in it soon enough. Part of why I went over to PT after seeing the doctor was to ask Jason what to do about my finger and he told me to s-t-r-e-t-c-h it as much as possible. I just wonder if I'll need a bit of rehab on it for a few weeks or if it will unstiffen on its own. Guess I will find out Tuesday when I get the sutures out.