Woe is Me!

Last Monday, I went to see a new doctor for my annual physical. We had to switch insurance companies because of Chris' new job, so our doctors all changed. He did a thorough work-up on me and took his time to listen to, and answer all of my questions. I like that a lot...I never like to feel as though I'm being rushed.

Anyhow, he told me that he wanted to run a Vitamin D test on me to check my levels since I'd never had one before. He, then, wished me a Merry Christmas and walked out the door. So, not thinking, I walked right on out the door, too. I didn't realize until much later that I had forgotten all about getting the test! Guess I was having ANOTHER "senior moment"!

Needless to say, I called the office this morning and explained the situation and asked if I could come in to have it done. The receptionist gave me a 10:30 AM appointment with the nurse. I sat there for an hour before I was finally called back...I was growing impatient, something I'm trying to work on! She drew my blood and I mentioned to her that for the past several days, I've been having horrible nasal congestion. I felt a little "off" at the beginning of the week, but now, it's just dealing with a stuffy nose. I took some Nyquil before bed last night. All that does is knock me out. I woke up around 4:15 AM with a cotton mouth. Apparently, I had been breathing through my mouth all night long because my nose was so congested and mouth had gotten completely dried out.

I got out of bed and tried some saline nasal spray, but no relief. I even put some Vick's VaporRub up under my nose; still nothing. So, I went on back to bed and layed there in misery, trying hard to get some sleep. I asked the nurse if she could get the doctor to write a prescription for me to get me some relief. She replied, "I'm sorry, but you'll have to make another appointment for that." Now, she was as nice as she could be, but I wanted to say, "Are you kidding me?" I mean, I was right there in the office and I knew exactly what I was feeling...why did it have to be such a big ordeal? Needless to say, she told me to get some Claritin-D. That stuff is so expensive, so I got the Equate brand from Wal-Mart and saved a bundle, if it will just do the trick! I really hope it does.

Just as I was about to leave, I asked the nurse if they'd gotten my bloodwork back from my physical, and it happened to be in my chart. They just hadn't had time to call me yet. I was most interested in my cholesterol. The last time I had it tested a year ago, my total cholesterol was 212, but all the of the other elements were within the normal range. Well, she said my total cholesterol was 183...yay!!! My LDL was 47...yay! Then, she said my HDL (good cholesterol) was 82 and that she'd never seen anyone with a level that high, which is very good! Yay, again!!! She asked what I ate and I told her that I eat a handful of almonds everyday and I, also, eat dark chocolate with almonds. She said she'd just read a book about how almonds are really healthy for the heart, so maybe there's some truth to it. All I know is that, even though I'm still as congested as can be, I'm so happy with my encouraging test results today!

I'm off to try another shot of saline nasal spray. I can't use the decongestant until I go to bed because it usually makes me so drowsy. It sure is the pits when my sniffer is broken! :(