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Friday, January 25, 2008

The Doc Approves

Yesterday afternoon, I left work early to handle a few medical things. First up... another blood draw to confirm the high TSH reading that was found last time. "My Angel" (aka my dear phlebotomist) found a vein on the first try! Heavens, she is brilliant. I adore her! I managed to take a good photo of her yesterday too.
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She told me that her 11-year old daughter reads this blog (*waves*) and she laughed with me about being invited to my baby shower when hubby and I get lucky. That's a promise! I can certainly do that and I'd be pleased to do that too! Given all that she has done for me already, it'd be entirely my pleasure to have her there.

I went from the lab over to my GP's office. Four items there to discuss:

1. The flu shot -- finally got my shot. I'd put it off before the holidays because we were going away and all, but I know I needed to get my shot, because if the flu hits me, it hits me hard.

2. TERRIBLY dry skin -- I suspected a patch of eczema actually, but she indicated that it's just a few spots of really dry skin, so much so that it's peeling. I'm awfully OCD when it comes to handwashing so I've likely overdone it with a spot or two. She recommended a type of cream that's thicker than my usual hand cream to help clear it up.

3. Torn calf muscle -- last Tuesday night, I felt it pop, like a rubber band that had broken. I buckled down on my knees, in sheer and utter pain and thought, "Oh God... how am I going to drive home!?" I made it. Eventually. I took two days off work, iced it, kept it up, etc. (it swelled and bruised horribly) but it's on the mend. She figured another 2-3 weeks will heal it up well enough to get back to the elliptical or treadmill. Until then, the recumbent bike it'll have to be. *sighs* Oh well.

4. High TSH -- Given my plethora of symptoms and of course, now the bloodwork results to back it up, she's prescribed a low dose of Levothyroxine to help with the Hypothyroidism. We'll check levels in a couple of months and see how it's going. I'm crossing my fingers we see something in that time.


Hubby and I are looking forward to our appointment in Montreal. We've made plans to get together with my friend T who lives there; we'll have dinner with her before we return to Ottawa that same evening. It'll be good to see her too! And Ms. C? I know you're up there too. If I need anything before then, can I holler at you? :)

And how's everyone else doing?

3 comments:

Nearlydawn said...

I have a suggestion for you on the OVD handwashing. My hubby does that, and had terrible trouble with dry skin on his hands/wrists, especially during winter.

I got him to switch to Bath and Body Works cream soaps - they have lotion in them, so his hands do not loose moisture in the washing process. Also, they are antibacterial, which makes his OCD happy.

It took at couple of months of using them to see the improvement, and it has gotten better and better over time. After 2 years on the new soap he has had NO dry skin all winter this year! Yippee!!

Hope that helps..

Congrats on getting on track with the TSH monitoring!

Aurelia said...

You know---this thyroid treatment could be the exact thing you need. I'm very happy for you! And it's so ironic about your husband's job issues. It's like Montreal is beckoning you, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

hey gil...i've been down for the count but resurfacing once again...good news abt montreal! and hopefully you'll get the thyroid thing sorted, too...you 'sound' upbeat (despite the thyroid, the dry skin and the torn calf muscle...yikes!!!)
peace
shlomit