The new one-a-day

I am so not used to spending multiple hours at the doctor's office.  My usual appointments are 15-20 minutes waiting, then like 5-10 in the consultation, then maybe a prescription on the way out the door.

First off, they took me back about twenty minutes late.  Then, the consultation with the doctor was about 20 minutes.  Then I had to talk to the pharmacist for about 10 minutes.  Then off to the pharmacy for 15 minutes, then off to the lab to get some blood drawn for yet more tests and another 20 minutes.  All in all, I was there for about two hours, but I walked out with bottle of (not-so-little) blue pills.

You're supposed to take them at the same time every day, so I'm waiting until tomorrow morning for my first.  Hopefully I don't react badly to it; the big concern is kidney function, but since those seem perfectly fine for me, the doc doesn't think it'll be a problem.  Apparently osteopenia is also a potential issue, so that's what today's blood draw was for: calcium and vitamin D levels.  My calcium test already came back fine: isn't it great that we live in an age where we can have blood drawn and two hours later have an email notifying us that the results are ready?

I'm not sure I'm going to tell anyone I'm going on this.  I mean, you guys know, and I'll probably tell one friend about it (he's thinking of going on it and is more nervous than I was, but he's also much higher risk and has already had one "scare" that included post-exposure treatment just in case).  But I'm not telling my parents or anyone else, I don't think.  It's no one's business.

I also got the first of the three Hep B shots that I'll have to take over the next six months.  Yay, I guess (this one's really made my arm sore).

The camping trip is all booked, and I'm trying to decide if I should get a smaller tent, since the only one I have is the big 6-man (which actually only really would fit three or four adult men).  That's kind of overkill.  But I'm also starting to get a lot more careful with how much I spend, especially now that I shouldn't be supporting L any more.

... Oh, right.  L.  So, he's been staying in a motel.  He's apparently got another place he's moving into on the 24th - a room in a house in the valley - and he seems kind of excited about it.  Now, last time it fell through at the last minute, so I'm not going to hold my breath against the odds of him snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, but it's encouraging.  However, the people paying his motel are stopping that today, so for the next 12 days or so he's going to be staying somewhere else.

A nursing home.

I'm... kind of at a loss as to how this will work out.  I could be wrong, of course, but every nursing home I've been to or seen has been a pretty depressing thing overall, and most of the residents didn't have much in the way of freedom.  L's not bed-ridden, isn't doing physical therapy, and isn't going to want to be trapped in a room all day.  I'm not sure how he'll take it, but we'll see.  It's only for 10 days.

The really awesome - to me, anyway - part is that he's actually been listening and is planning on saving as much money over the next month as he can for a buffer.  He's realistically targeting having about a thousand dollars put aside by the end of February, which would be great if he can pull it off.

This weekend was the first time in literally months - probably 3 or 4 months - that we've hung out and he hasn't either hit me up for money or pressured me about staying here or both.  I was shocked.

Anyway, without his periodic demands, I should be able to manage my money better and actually plan for things.  I also really do need to set up some outside consulting stuff to bring in a bit extra to help pay off bills and buy toys (and yes, I've said this a lot).

On the try-new-things side, I used the sauna downstairs for the first time since moving in 3.5 years ago.  I guess you have to turn it on an hour or so before going in, but once it warmed up, it was pretty decent.  I'm going to plan it better next time so I can do the steam thing as well as have a shower in between sessions (heating the place up for one 10-15 minute shot seems a waste).

Going on a hike tonight; it'll be chilly so need to dress warmer than normal.  We'll get to see how the latest rains reshaped the trails.

2 comments:

naturgesetz said...

Here's hoping the pills and shots do their jobs, and that L manages to keep it together until he gets into his new place.

Austin said...

Took the first one a couple hours ago. I'm not dead yet!

Boy did that shot do a number on my arm, though. I didn't stop tingling/hurting until after the hike, so that's like 8 hours' worth.

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