doctor's diagnosis: sinusitis

I was nervous to go to the doctor today. I called around to a few clinics and urgent care centers yesterday afternoon to see what places could take me soonest and at what price. Despite reading a couple lackluster reviews for the health center closest to me, I booked an appointment anyway. Were I needing to see someone about Migraine, perhaps I would have been a bit more cautious. But since I was going in to get some antibiotics for a seemingly routine sinus infection, I figured it wouldn't hurt to see a family doctor and hope for the best. The initial appointment is only $50 (over $110 cheaper than my second option, and 4 miles closer to my house!); after that, you pay on a sliding scale based on income information you provide to the clerk. The maximum payment for a doctor's visit is $50, however. Awesome.

It's been over two years since I had a good, old-fashioned, regular (read: non-neurologist, non-ER) doctor's appointment and I was pretty nervous. I prepare myself for a meeting with someone who might not be a good listener, who might not be warm and caring. Despite his being warm and kind, my former neurologist was not the best listener--his NPs were atrocious, but that's a whole other story.

This feels silly, to be basking in the glow of a great doctor's appointment. Who does this? Someone who has been treated as if she were just another routine appointment to check off the list during a very long, very typical day? I'm not sure. Someone who's used to people trying to play her (contractors for home improvements, car repair folks, insurance companies)? Maybe. In any case, I was really happy with almost every aspect of my time spent at the place.

First off, I must give props (ew--I've never said that before and hope never to again; I'll keep it in to remind myself of that solemn oath) to the receptionist I spoke with yesterday afternoon when making the appointment. She heard how stuffed up I was and was really warm and very helpful: "Oh, honey, you don't sound good! Let me see if I can squeeze you in tomorrow morning. And I'll call you if something opens up this afternoon!"

Despite my better intentions, I drove to the center instead of walking. Hey, it was raining and I felt sick and the .9 mile drive probably didn't kill the environment all that much. By the time I left, the rain was POURING down and I was grateful to have a car. I walked in to a room half-full of families of various races. Seemed most people had colds or the flu--it is a rainy December, after all. The guy at the desk was really friendly, even when I walked up to the window after an hour to ask when I would be seen. Yeah, that was the frustrating part--my ten o'clock appointment ended up being at 11:05. Alas. Luckily I didn't have anything better to do than sit and read.

Oh, oh! The WAITING ROOM! I'd brought my red-tinted shady glasses to protect my little eyeballs and brain from the inevitable fluorescent lights, and guess what? The waiting room was softly lit with low-wattage incandescent bulbs. Oh, what a relief, especially when the wait was a bit long! Even my highly revered neurologist, a headache specialist, has glaring fluorescents in the waiting room. (I really don't mean to rag on him and his staff so much--apparently I have some pent-up bitterness!)

I got weighed and was a bit disappointed--turns out the post-Zonegran weight I successfully gained has, for the most part, dropped off again. Still technically underweight by a couple pounds, but I don't look creepy-skinny or anything. Not at all. I waited in the exam room for a while between nurse and doctor visits, but I passed the time by reading an outdated People--I hadn't realized just how bad the writing and stories and fluff had gotten! Not my style. The doctor walked in and I immediately felt a sense of relief--she was young, smiling, and genuinely apologetic about the supposedly atypical wait. She seemed knowledgeable about Migraine disease, patiently listened to my whole story of the cold-turned-sinus-trouble, and made some OTC drug recommendations as she prescribed an antibiotic. I mentioned something else troublesome to her and she was really comforting and helpful on that front, too--more on that later. For now I'm freaking myself out a bit over a symptom that could very well be nothing, so I'll just wait it out 'til I forget about it again.

All in all, I was really pleased--can you tell? What a sense of relief! How great to have a ten- or fifteen-minute appointment with a doctor who listens, who's friendly, and who didn't act like I was crazy when I mentioned weird symptoms I was concerned about. Three cheers for new doctor! I have a checkup next week. If I'm still this infatuated, maybe she will become my regular family doctor! Yippee.

Very sleepy and very sinusy and very drugged up.

No significant migrainesymptoms.blogspot.com/" title="migraine">migraine pain for eight days, kids. EIGHT DAYS! True I have this sinusitis frustration, but it sure does beat a migrainesymptoms.blogspot.com/" title="migraine">migraine episode!

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