Medical Update--Possible Setback.

[Admiral_Young]

Oh, I'm of high spirits. Thanks for the well wishes. On the one hand...I'm glad this is taking as long as it is, because my foot is rather complex compared to other people's feet. So the fact that we are going through the motions is to me a good sign we're covering all the basis. The bloodwork should have been done when I was at the hospital the first time earlier in the month. The fact that it has been ordered so late, makes me think that it isn't a real serious possibility. I am thinking they are more concerned with it being a possible gout.

The heat wave here in Vancouver has been basically masking the pain...it's been a double edge sword, because it's what is essentially allowing me to walk, yet it is causing my ankle to swell like a balloon as well.

Hopefully the CT scan reveals some answers. This pretty much has disrupted my entire summer lol.

 

[_C_]

Wow, sounds like you're having a rough time either way. I wish you good luck and I hope you solve the problem. Pain sucks!

 

[Tora Ziyal]

The bloodwork should have been done when I was at the hospital the first time earlier in the month. The fact that it has been ordered so late, makes me think that it isn't a real serious possibility. I am thinking they are more concerned with it being a possible gout.

FWIW, when we thought I might have gout, the first thing the doctor did was... order blood work. Uric acid level, IIRC.

I hope you get some answers soon!

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yeah. I just wish the bloodwork was ordered right away. Well...looks like I have a bit of a wait ahead of me. I was just informed this morning that my follow up appointment won't be until September 18...which was longer than I anticipated. At least I will be able to try and enjoy the rest of the summer.

 

[RJDiogenes]

That's nearly two months! I hope they are going to at least call you with the results of the tests. If you don't hear from them soon, I would pester them by phone to get some answers.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Yeah I wasn't too pleased...I did inquire as to why it was so long in between appointments, but it was late in the day so hopefully I get a response on Monday. The surgeon does get often called out of country for other surgeries and what not. If the pain gets any worse I will call for an earlier appointment.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Bloodwork has been taken care of now and sent off back to the office. I am in the process of attempting to get an earlier appointment, but he is currently unavailable until the date I got...and frankly I don't want another scenario where I'm seeing interns again.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I would give them a few days and then pester them to give you the results of the tests over the phone.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I emailed the secretary and pressed my situation...and she stated that she would have the surgeon look at the CT scan ASAP. I brought up the infection possibility along with the fact that I didn't want to wait another month and a half to have that knocked off the list. She has always been very accommodating to me, and we're on a first name basis now so I've been very appreciative of her efforts on my behalf.

The pain has started to lessen a bit...it's cooled here...so I don't know if that has had anything to do with it. It's the first real significant change since it started.

 

[RJDiogenes]

^^ That's good to hear. I hope the doctor is as accommodating as the nurse.

 

[Admiral_Young]

A brief update. The bad news is that I still haven't got the results of either the blood work or the CT scan so I'm assuming that the surgeon simply hasn't been available, and believe me, I've pestered. Two more weeks until my follow up appointment though, so I don't have that much longer to wait. The good news is that the pain has improved somewhat. It is still difficult to walk for more than five minutes at a time and the pain is still concentrated in my ankle area, but it's not constant or all encompassing as it was. The weather is starting to cool though so I'll have to wait and see how that reacts to it. I also weened myself off T3 and have been taking ibuprofern for the swelling, which has worked wonders in comparison. I should have done this weeks ago.

 

[VXX]

oh man, hope this gets fixed soon

 

[RJDiogenes]

They still haven't come up with the results? I wonder how the doctor would feel if he had to wait that long for something he wanted.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Actually they've been really good and sympathetic about things, and truth be told, I'd rather wait to discuss things with him than not. He is extremely busy and in high demand and one of the best...so while things have been incredibly frustrating not knowing what is going on...I do understand. It's also a good thing I'm extremely patient lol.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Well, if you're happy with him that's the important thing. You certainly are patient.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Far more patient than I would be! The only times I've had to wait more than a few days for imaging results or something from my (also extremely busy, world-class) surgeon were when he was out of the country.

I'm so glad to hear the pain has improved.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Got back from my follow up appointment a little while ago. The good news is that the CT Scan was negative, but my surgeon examined my foot and it was clear that something is not right, he thinks some of my hardware might be the problem, so they're going to completely remove it as well as doing a scope of the ankle to see if anything else is going on in there. The twist is that I have to wait a year.

 

[RJDiogenes]

So you have a twisted ankle? Just kidding.

Why the hell do you have to wait a year? Do these people come from the Slo-Mo Universe or something?

 

[Tora Ziyal]

What?! Why a whole year?

 

[Admiral_Young]

Our waiting lists are horrid right now and getting worse. My first surgery a few years ago I had to wait eight months, when my pins broke I think I waited something like six months. He said he would do what he could on his end. Sounds like there's a lot of politics going on behind the scenes.