Showing posts with label varicose vein. Show all posts
Showing posts with label varicose vein. Show all posts

Thursday, March 14, 2019

What's Up, Doc?

It takes my mind and body a few days (more like weeks) to get used to the switch between standard time and daylight savings time. So to my discombobulated mind and body, the 10:45 AM doctors' appointment on the second day of daylight savings time felt more like 9:45 AM. (The appointment was a six-month follow-up exam for the varicose vein removal procedure I had during the summer.)

Instead of sleeping in late to make up for the time change, not to mention getting over a week-long head cold, I had to get my dupa out of bed early to get pretty for my doctor's appointment. (No one said being a woman is easy!)

The weather forecast was promising with high temps in the mid-50's, so I decided to wear my long-sleeve sweater dress and thereby, forgo heavy outerwear (I did take along a lightweight coat just in case).

Basically, I wore the same outfit I came home wearing after my last visit to the mall, that is, my new Ann Taylor sweater dress and my Payless white kitten heel booties. The only difference was I wore a black bag instead of the fuchsia Jessica Simpson bag.

I arrived at the doctor's office 10 minutes before my appointment. Checking in with the receptionist, I informed her that I had different insurance than when I last visited the office. With a big smile on her face, she said, "It looks like that's not the only thing that's different. You look fantastic!"

"Thank-you," I said as I blushed.

After I handed over my new insurance cards, she asked, "No name change?"

I shook my head no and she asked me to be seated to wait for my appointment.

I cooled my kitten heels for about 20 minutes in the empty waiting room. While I sat there, a female physician's assistant (PA) who works in the office came into the waiting room to get a cup of water from the water machine. She said, "Hello" as she walked back to wherever she came from taking her sweet time to check me out.

Finally, a male PA who I had never encountered before fetched me to begin my appointment, which started off with an ultrasound. He did not react to my female presentation and called me by my male name. He asked me to bare my leg and put on a pair of paper shorts and slippers, then left the examination room to allow me to strip in privacy. I was glad I wore thigh highs rather than pantyhose, so after I took off my booties, I only had to remove the hosiery from one leg, hike up my skirt and slip into the shorts and slippers.

The PA returned, had me lay down on the examination table and began the ultrasound exam. It is painless, but messy because they use a clear gel on the ultrasound probe for better conductivity. When the test is done, they hand you a roll of paper towels to remove the gel from your skin.

The test took about 15 minutes and I passed (no blood clots).

He moved me to the next room where two female nurses took my blood pressure and photos of my leg. One nurse was new to me (I think she was a new employee and in-training), but I had dealt with the other nurse on previous visits and she went gaga over my new appearance. She "loved" my dress, my booties, my hairdo, my makeup; she "loved" everything about me!

She fetched the doctor and when he came in the room, he shook my hand and asked how I was feeling as he examined my leg and viewed the before and after photos of my leg on the nurse's computer screen. He was his usual very pleasant self, but did not show any reaction to my feminine presentation. Then everyone left the room, so I could get dressed.

I had done a thorough job of removing all the gel from my leg, so slipping into my thigh high was not a problem. When fully dressed, I exited the office and drove home.

And so it goes.




Source: Bebe
Wearing Bebe (Source: Bebe)




Source: Pinterest
Walter Evers (Source: Pinterest)

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Well Wellness

I had two medical appointments today, one to check the condition of my leg after Monday's varicose vein removal and one with my general practitioner to check my wellness.

My leg checked out ok and all I have to do now is heal.

My wellness appointment went well, too. To tell you the truth, I was concerned about my wellness because I have not had a check-up since the last century and you never know. But I left the appointment a very happy camper. My bloodwork indicated that among other things, my cholesterol, electrolytics and prostate were good and I had no sign of diabetes.

The only thing left to do is a colonoscopy which is scheduled for next month.

And so it goes.




Source: New York & Company
Wearing New York & Company (Source: New York & Company)




Grzegorz Wilk
Grzegorz Wilk femulates Amanda Lear on Polish television's Twoja Twarz Brzmu Znajomo.

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

You're So Vein


My trip to the vein center yesterday went well. The procedure lasted about one hour and was relatively painless... just 15 to 20 brief pinches when the doctor was inserting pain meds or making holes to remove veins.

I could not view the procedure because of the location of my head relative to my leg, but it is just as well because I might have anticipated the pinches.

Near the end of the procedure, I asked the doctor what a vein looked like because I had never seen one in the flesh, so he showed me a vein he had just removed from my leg and it looked like hollow spaghetti with some red sauce.

I go back tomorrow for an ultrasound to make sure everything is copacetic.








Rodney To
Rodney To (in pink) femulating in a 2012 episode of television's Modern Family.

Monday, July 23, 2018

To the Vain Center (pun intended)


I have been busy going to doctors and dentists lately. No bad news, but it has affected my blogging time resulting in a scarcity of posts.

I am going to have the varicose veins in my left leg removed today. First time I had this done about 25 years ago, I had to go to the hospital where they put me under and surgically stripped the offending veins. 

Today, they will do it in the doctor's office (called a "vein center") by giving me a local, inserting a catheter into the vein and use radio waves to heat it and close it. Then they will remove the bulging veins using tiny stab incisions that usually do not require sutures to heal. The bulging veins are extracted through the incisions. 

I hope I can watch, but I bet they won't let me.



Wearing Cools
Wearing Cools




David Guapo
David Guapo femulates Rebeca on Spain's version of television's Your Face Sounds Familiar.