As it happens, I have a chronic cough. I’ve had it for a long time. Now and then it “flares up,” and becomes more than a passing nuisance. This morning was a “now and then,” which resulted in the following exchange:
CSO: It’s time you saw Michelle (my nurse-practitioner) about that cough.
FWP: I’ve had it forever. Michelle knows about it. What do you expect her to do about it?CSO: She could give you something for it.
FWP: Sweetie, I’ve been on drugs for hypertension for more than twenty years. My blood pressure’s still scary. I’ve been taking pills for prostatitis for nearly as long. My prostate’s still the size of a tennis ball. Then there’s the diabetes pills. My blood sugar is still really high. Michelle prescribed all those drugs. Do you really think anything she’d prescribe would get rid of the cough?CSO: If that’s the case, maybe it’s time to get rid of Michelle.
FWP: There’s no pill for that – and if there were?
CSO: Forget I said anything.
This one wasn’t very funny, was it?
4 comments
Skip to comment form
I am 82, I went to my doctor because my peripheral neuropathy was getting worse. She had me take some blood tests and found that I was slightly anemic. I told her I knew that and was from birth. So she sent me to a hematologist for it as well to a Neurologist for my PN. My Neurologist noticed my arrhythmia which I have had for 50 years or more and sent me to a cardiologist. My hematologist ran some blood tests and found low readings for something and sent me to a Oncologist. This all started in December 2024 I am on 7 new medications, took MRI’s, CT, numerous X-rays and a PET scan. My Neurologist increases my dose of two medications every 30 days with little effect. So far I think the only result in all these visits and specialists is that I have put a few doctors kids through college and paid for a few BMWs.
Story and first comment are reasons I no longer voluntarily see doctors. That and the fact that most of them are still members in good standing of the cult Covidian.
Had bp done on the auto machine prior to a test at a far hospital and numbers were 179/132. doc there gave me pills. When I went to doc for quarterly and they use a manual BP reading which was 129/75. Then to ER from his office to have a test done and hour later on auto it was 194/149. They then retested an hour later with manual and it had dropped to 138/81. I now carry a letter from doc that requires only manual testing. Never have had a high reading again. Also stopped hypertension pills as no longer needed.
Whenever I would take my BP at home, it was always within the normal range, as well as similar readings on pulse and BloodOx, but every single time I have to disrupt my quiet day at home and travel to the VA lab, with the increased pain from walking and uncomfortable chairs in their lowest-bidder waiting rooms, my BP is – surprise, surprise – slightly elevated to just over the “normal” limit, so they were insisting that I take the lowest possible dose of their newest BP meds, ignoring my plain explanations and data from the digital sphygmomanometer at home. Meanwhile, there is nothing they can do for my pain (Fibromyalgia, Rheumatoid AND Osteo arthritis, plus multiple service connected injuries), because drugs are bad, m’kay?