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Home again now...
I went to my appointment after deciding that today's Invalid Chic consists of a longsleeved orange Powerpuff Girls shirt (the one with the glittery "Sugar... Spice... and everything nice" logo that I got in Septemberish), a black stretch skirt from Express, black tights, and "flame" oxfords. I couldn't find the office, had cellphone problems when I tried to call, and finally tracked down a payphone to find I was less than a block away.
After I got there, I waited almost an hour to see the doctor, spent a good halfhour describing my various symptoms and medical history to a nurse practitioner who is his assistant, and finally saw the expensive man himself. He was nice and we talked about my medical history and I showed him the chart of symptoms I had checked off from Verrillo and Gellman's book, which he found helpful. I was pricked with a sterile safety pin in a variety of places, whacked with a rubber mallet, tested for strength in various limbs, made to walk across the room on toes and heels and so on, and finally allowed to get back into my clothes from my even-invalid-chic-er paper gown.
He said that he's pretty sure I do indeed have CFIDS, but that there is evidence of a few other possibilities, so I have to have a mess of tests, mostly to rule things out. Blood, a urine workup focusing on amino acids, and most scarily, a brain MRI. The MRI alone will cost $1800. My mother didn't even blink when I told her how much it would be. (those kinds of sums seem so unrealistic anyway...)
After I got out of my appointment, I drove around for a while. It was a beautiful day and I happened to be in a nice area for driving... curvy roads with little traffic, running riverside in the breeze. The sorts of areas where large new houses are constantly being built.
After I got home, we went out for lunch and to see Antitrust, which was enjoyable, if not the best movie I've ever seen (I pulled a MST3K on the lamer parts, but the acting from most of the leads was decent and the last half of the movie was genuinely suspenseful). Also got a new pair of pajamas from the Disney Store (sort of a red-orange cotton plaid with Pooh and Eeyore embroidered on the pocket), a long denim skirt from The Gap, and also a spring jacket from The Gap. It's black, a car-coat shape, looks a bit mod, almost like a long closed lab coat. Clearance. I was astounded when I paid for it and the salesgirl put it in a sturdy blue "Gap" garment bag! The "everybody in [trend]" campaign and obsessive branding is starting to creep me out. But I like my McWardrobe basics. I saw an amazing bag on clearance there, blue suede with a grid of straps and metal O-rings across the front.
Now I'm home, and chilling. Got along OK with mom today, but may have to reverse that decision if she doesn't stop talking and dithering and yelling at my cat and generally not chilling too. I think I will take steps to avoid such a thing, as today was a pleasant day.
I went to my appointment after deciding that today's Invalid Chic consists of a longsleeved orange Powerpuff Girls shirt (the one with the glittery "Sugar... Spice... and everything nice" logo that I got in Septemberish), a black stretch skirt from Express, black tights, and "flame" oxfords. I couldn't find the office, had cellphone problems when I tried to call, and finally tracked down a payphone to find I was less than a block away.
After I got there, I waited almost an hour to see the doctor, spent a good halfhour describing my various symptoms and medical history to a nurse practitioner who is his assistant, and finally saw the expensive man himself. He was nice and we talked about my medical history and I showed him the chart of symptoms I had checked off from Verrillo and Gellman's book, which he found helpful. I was pricked with a sterile safety pin in a variety of places, whacked with a rubber mallet, tested for strength in various limbs, made to walk across the room on toes and heels and so on, and finally allowed to get back into my clothes from my even-invalid-chic-er paper gown.
He said that he's pretty sure I do indeed have CFIDS, but that there is evidence of a few other possibilities, so I have to have a mess of tests, mostly to rule things out. Blood, a urine workup focusing on amino acids, and most scarily, a brain MRI. The MRI alone will cost $1800. My mother didn't even blink when I told her how much it would be. (those kinds of sums seem so unrealistic anyway...)
After I got out of my appointment, I drove around for a while. It was a beautiful day and I happened to be in a nice area for driving... curvy roads with little traffic, running riverside in the breeze. The sorts of areas where large new houses are constantly being built.
After I got home, we went out for lunch and to see Antitrust, which was enjoyable, if not the best movie I've ever seen (I pulled a MST3K on the lamer parts, but the acting from most of the leads was decent and the last half of the movie was genuinely suspenseful). Also got a new pair of pajamas from the Disney Store (sort of a red-orange cotton plaid with Pooh and Eeyore embroidered on the pocket), a long denim skirt from The Gap, and also a spring jacket from The Gap. It's black, a car-coat shape, looks a bit mod, almost like a long closed lab coat. Clearance. I was astounded when I paid for it and the salesgirl put it in a sturdy blue "Gap" garment bag! The "everybody in [trend]" campaign and obsessive branding is starting to creep me out. But I like my McWardrobe basics. I saw an amazing bag on clearance there, blue suede with a grid of straps and metal O-rings across the front.
Now I'm home, and chilling. Got along OK with mom today, but may have to reverse that decision if she doesn't stop talking and dithering and yelling at my cat and generally not chilling too. I think I will take steps to avoid such a thing, as today was a pleasant day.