an answer?!?

yesterday, i woke up and showered quickly. then i settled down to make a few phone calls before i left to pick up ashbet for the day. first, i called the orthopoedic surgeon's office, to see whether my appointment was at 1 or 1:30. i wrote down 1 in my appointment book, but i didn't remember if that was appointment time or the "show up half an hour early" time. it was the latter. they also said they hadn't received the referral i requested my PCP send back in november. i thanked the lady and called my neurologist's office, to see if *that* referral had been received. the nice lady at the desk said she'd go check the fax machine and call me right back.

after 10 minutes of no call, i decided to call my PCP's office because i needed to get on the road ASAP.

i was rather infuriated when the desk receptionist said "well, why didn't you check to make sure we'd sent that referral if you requested it so long ago?"

i really wanted to say a few things, but kept my tongue in check. I'll save those things for the letter i send to the office manager, in which i offer my services to do just that, for a fee. oh, wait, that is the manager's job. oops. i also re-requested they send the neuro referral.

she reminded me that referrals take two weeks. i reminded her that yesterday was a special exception and that the ortho's referral was requested over a *month* ago. she shut up and promised to send them by noon and one, respectively.

so i go to pick up ashbet... right before i turned into her neighborhood, a half dozen deer bounded across the road in front of me. this helped my mood somewhat. she and i vented about evil doctor's offices after i picked her up.

we headed into DC. i dropped off the Klonopin 'script and we decided to eat lebanese for lunch. i took her to my favorite little hole in the wall (wrdgrrl and jkatj, it's changed owners within the family and is now very pink inside, but the food is still yummy). i had a lovely bowl of crushed lentil soup and a pressed halloum sandwich. ashbet enjoyed spinach fatayeh and a beef sandwich of some sort. we also drank up our homemade lemonade. yummy.

then we headed to the hospital. i think ashbet was suitably impressed (or perhaps disturbed) by the labrynthine passages we took. i checked in with out-patient registration (the wrong one, it turns out, but they took me anyway, because the *other* one is full of perfume constantly since the staff there reek). turns out my referral had NOT been received just yet. it's after one, so the nice lady at check-in lets me call my doctor's office. the desk clerk promises to fax it right away, but i have to get to my appointment, so i sign a financial responsibility form (this sucks. *i* should not be responsible when i did all i could to get my referral there in time), and am on my way.

ashbet and i head upstairs to the limb center, where i fill out yet another pain/medical history form. you'd think that i could just have one monster file within the hospital and all the doctors would have access to it. on the other hand, the ortho surgeon won't be privy to comments another doctor might've made about how i'm a freakin' hypochondriac. some people don't understand fibromyalgia.

i waited half an hour and was finally called. after reminding the nurse to fetch my x-ray films from the hospital library, i then sat in the examining room for twenty minutes or so. i nearly fell asleep.

finally, the doctor walks in, followed by a flock of bleary-eyed residents who were gazing at him as though he had a brilliant halo shimmering about him... he looked at the history form, said my x-rays were normal (of course), then palpated my foot as i described my pain.

then he said it...

"yeah, just as i suspected. your second bone is too long. here's a prescription for orthotics," he quickly dictates to a nurse what to write down on the pedorthic 'script form, "and make sure you do these stretches." he hands me a form. he also told me he understood that the reason my achille's was so tight is that i haven't been able to do any weight bearing exercise or stretches and that, at the moment, i won't be able to do much until i have the orthotics.

because i haven't been able to manage the fibro well (no exercise), i've entered a minor cfids slump... so i won't be able to do any major walking until the orthotics and stretching have taken their hold (a month to three, i think)...

and then the doc was gone. he was there all of five minutes. and that's being generous.

he gave me an answer.

at least three years of pain, the last several months of which have been highly distressing. and my PCP kept brushing me off. i could've had this taken care of long ago.

ashbet was hoping the remedy was shaving off the bone a bit, giving someone a nice toeknuckle pendant.

so i have a long second metatarsal... i wonder if that's why my second toe is so long. it connects, right?

wow. i have an answer to some of my foot problems--the overwhelming pain, at least. and the neuro has decided i *do* have CTS, so i'll have good splints, for once.

this doesn't all address the tingling in my toes, but maybe the Johns Hopkins stuff will, if i can get it done. if not, i'll live.

i want a big sign now that says "SEE?!? It's NOT all in my head. There are MECHANICAL and PHYSIOLOGICAL issues at work here."

wow.

friday, cont'd

after being overjoyed with the ortho surgeon, i headed out... ashbet and i went back to the pharmacy, where i waited 45 minutes to pick up a prescription i'd dropped off three hours earlier. i also argued over the month's supply.

pharmacist: you only get a month's supply--30 pills, that's two pills, twice a day.
me: a month's supply of two pills, twice a day, is 60 pills, not 30.
pharmacist: are you sure?
me: ah, you must be using *new* math, which might be acceptable for high school graduates, but is not acceptable for pharmacy.

okay, i didn't say that, but i was tempted.

anyhow, after much argument, she gave me 60 pills. then, i realized she gave me the generic, not the name-brand. back i go, to ask to see the generic's ingredients (must check for food allergens).

pharmacist: um?? where would the ingredients be?
me: either on the bottle or on the insert attached to the original container.
pharmacist: they aren't on here.
me, pointing to insert glued to the lid of the bottle the pharmacist holds in his hand: try in here.
pharmacist: you might want to read this, it doesn't make much sense to me.

well, i read it, thanked him, and left.

i am never using another rite-aid again. in the last year, the service at rite-aid has gone completely downhill. i use them because they are convenient and i used to be able to get quick, intelligent service. no more. i went to the rite-aid above simply because it's my old pharmacy--i used to live and work nearby and the pharmacists knew and recognized me. those older folks aren't around anymore, though, and seem to have been replaced by overworked idiots.

time to find a new pharmacy.

after that fiasco, ashbet and i attempted to find parking downtown so we could visit her boy and a friend of ours. we couldn't find parking, so we parked illegally (gov't vehicles only, but none in sight) and waited with the vehicle. in time, her boy came and we headed home, to pick up ashbet's daughter.

we did a few things afterwards, went to cvs to pick up ashbet's prescriptions and my antihistamines (ashbet has furry feline beasties)... then we fetched boy from the metro, went to an aquarium store... boy loves fish. he was very happy.

then we tried to go to a restaurant which was, sadly, infested with soy. so we went back to ashbet's, where she fixed a WONDERFUL meal. :) we watched iron chef and animal detectives (poor rhinos)... boy and i came home and rested a bit, had our third meal (my third meal, his fourth) of indian fried rice.

yum.

so the day ended quite nicely, in spite of my pharmacy's attempt to invoke my wrath.

peeved

according to my insurance paperwork, food orthotics are not considered medically necessary devices.

*blink*

i suppose they'd rather pay for a wheelchair and painkillers for the rest of my life.

i mean, sure, having an abnormally long second metatarsal is sufficiently common that the foot guru ortho surgeon spotted it immediately, but it's still an abnormal skeletal feature which results in significant pain and disability.

boy pointed out that insurance companies don't believe in preventative care in general, no matter what they claim. this isn't preventative, though, this is the *solution* to my pain and lack of mobility.

ah, well. boy says we'll pay for the orthotics no matter what. he wants me walking comfortably. i'd rather not worry about where the money comes from. i'd rather he not cash in bonds he received at birth to pay for this. :(

i tried to call the insurance company, but their customer service hours are M-F, 8-6. Now, i don't work, but most folks with insurance probably do. This means that the insurance company expects you to contact them about potentially embarassing (or job-endangering) illnesses WHILE AT WORK. that's insane. i suspect they do this to discourage folks from calling about denied benefits... to encourage customers to suck up and pay for stuff that insurance should have covered...

ah, well. as boy points out, managed care is one of the most vile of the necessary evils in our life.