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Author Topic: Let's play connect the dots  (Read 6321 times)

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Offline aztecan

  • Member
  • Posts: 5,530
  • 36 years positive, 64 years a pain in the butt
Let's play connect the dots
« on: April 14, 2009, 11:22:39 pm »
I saw a dermatologist today. It was a new one. He was nice, but in such a rush I felt like I was on some bizarre assembly line.

Anyway, I had another three pre-cancerous spots frozen, plus a rather odd looking growth on the top of my head. The doctor said it was a wart. Its been frozen now, so I hope it just goes away. It looks tacky.

I may go back to my old dermatologist. I don't see any vast improvement with the new one and its a 400-mile round trip to see him.

But, I have a year to make that decision. I usually only see the dermatologist once a year.

He identified several other growths on my body. I asked if they were age spots. He said I was too young for age spots.  Hmmm, maybe the trip was worth it after all.  :)

He told me the scientific name, which he said most people don't remember, so they are usually referred to "barnacles of life." I was about to ask him if he was referring to me as an old scow when he noticed the rather nasty outbreak on my leg. It is ringworm, which for the uninitiated, is not a worm, but rather a fungus.

Yes, he used the line "There's a fungus among us."

He told me to get Lamisil cream, or the generic which is just as good.

But this does set the stage for my next doctor visit a week from today. We will be discussing new meds to try to keep my lipids in check.

I really don't know exactly what he will propose we do with the lipids. I guess more vegetarian meals will be in order, though.

I also would like to have a PSA done (thanks Ray for reminding me), and a PPD, for which I am overdue. I suppose I should have an RPR just to maintain standard of care, but there is no real danger of my having contracted that, unless it can be transmitted over the Internet.  ::)

I guess I should ask about the colonoscopy and probably an endoscopy, (again, thanks Ray.)

Right now, though, my head hurts and I am rather fatigued from the drive.

HUGS,

Mark


« Last Edit: April 14, 2009, 11:37:27 pm by aztecan »
"May your life preach more loudly than your lips."
~ William Ellery Channing (Unitarian Minister)

Offline AlanBama

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  • Posts: 3,670
  • Alabama: the 'other' 3rd World Country!
Re: Let's play connect the dots
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2009, 12:27:21 am »
Sorry you have to drive so far for things like this honey....and I bitch about the one hour drive I must make to Bham for medical care.....

Hope the spot on your head does indeed clear up.

Dermatologists always manage to make me uncomfortable; they make me feel dumb, or like I am asking a stupid question.....not sure why I don't "click" with them; I've had some experiences in the past with quite a few of them, but thankfully not any time recently.

I sure miss the days when I had a REAL regular doctor, who had a bottle of that 'freezing stuff' (what's it called anyway?) on hand; if some little spot here or there bothered me, I'd point to it and he'd just zap it....wish I had a bottle of the stuff at home.

How about this theory:   all of us AIDSmeds LTSers strip naked, line up side by side, and connect all our dots; the result might spell out the cure for AIDS.  (I've heard dumber theories about HIV !)     It'd be fun anyway (depending on who you stood by, of course  ;)  )

hugs, Alan
"Remember my sentimental friend that a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others." - The Wizard of Oz

Offline Miss Philicia

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  • Posts: 24,793
  • celebrity poster, faker & poser
Re: Let's play connect the dots
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2009, 01:00:37 am »
My first dermatologist was this kind of hunky Fire Island Princess via Capetown, South Africa who kept hours once a week at my first HIV specialist's office.  I fondly recall him giving me stitches up my anus after resorting to cutting out the quickly multiplying anal warts.  Oh, and then when I first started to lose all of the fat in my butt cheeks, which basically happened so suddenly that it caused my ass to turn red from bruising because I was forced to sit on non-padded Scandinavian office chairs at our trendoid office, this one woman dermatologist thought it was rosacea and tried treating my behind with that frozen gas stuff... whatever that's called.  Horrifying.  By the time I got sebhorric dermatitis really bad I think it took three separate dermatologists to accurately diagnosis it and find the proper ointment.  I was either getting all of these things before every other queen in NYC or I was unfortunate enough to get a long line of voodoo doctor incompetents.  Color me unimpressed with this specialist field of medicine.  I've not been to a dermatologist now for I think 7 years.
"I’ve slept with enough men to know that I’m not gay"

Offline aztecan

  • Member
  • Posts: 5,530
  • 36 years positive, 64 years a pain in the butt
Re: Let's play connect the dots
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2009, 11:11:39 am »
Hey Alan,

That freezing stuff is liquid nitrogen. I have had many spots frozen, especially on my face.

I guess that is what we get for being glamorous and having those gorgeous "healthy" tans from laying on the beach during the summers.

Ah, life in Kalifornia!  ;D

Philicia, I also am less than impressed with this particular medical speciality. I had planned this visit to coincide with meetings I had to attend in Albuquerque. I made the appointment in January.

Of course, the meetings were cancelled, so I just went anyway. I wasn't going to wait another three or four months for five minutes of this doctor's time.

Hunky doctor, but a bit more than six hours on the road to see him - again for about five minutes.

I wasn't about to let him look at my butt. As far as I know, there is nothing there to interest him and it is pretty much gone now, not something I want to advertise or even have someone look at if not necessary.

I won't worry about it. Unforeseen circumstances notwithstanding, it'll be a year before I go again.

HUGS,

Mark

"May your life preach more loudly than your lips."
~ William Ellery Channing (Unitarian Minister)

Offline AlanBama

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  • Posts: 3,670
  • Alabama: the 'other' 3rd World Country!
Re: Let's play connect the dots
« Reply #4 on: April 15, 2009, 12:08:29 pm »
Color me unimpressed with this specialist field of medicine.  I've not been to a dermatologist now for I think 7 years.

Same here, honey.  The last one I went to was an idiot.   I had these whelps on my sides from elastic in underwear (now I wear the kind that has fabric covering the elastic, no more whelps!)  This clown tried to say "I think it is something to do with your having AIDS, maybe a form of KS"......

Don't know how to diagnose something?  Pin it on AIDS.   I quit falling for that foolishness many years ago.

hugs,
Alan
"Remember my sentimental friend that a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others." - The Wizard of Oz

Offline J.R.E.

  • Member
  • Posts: 8,207
  • Positive since 1985, joined forums 12/03
Re: Let's play connect the dots
« Reply #5 on: April 15, 2009, 07:25:00 pm »
I saw a dermatologist today. It was a new one. He was nice, but in such a rush I felt like I was on some bizarre assembly line.



I know exactly what you mean, by being on the "assembly line" I've had the same dermatologist now for probably 15 years. I see him at a minimum of 3 times a year, sometimes 4. But I have a history of different things .There is always something that he is removing !

But at the same time, I always feel like he's rushing to get the next patient in there ! But, he's good and he's thorough. Ususally I am in the chair, or on the table for less than 10 minutes, and when I see the charges to the insurance company I always freak out. It's never less than about 500.00 ( for ten minutes)  I want a job like that !  ;)

It good that your getting all this checked out and anything out of the ordinary removed.



Ray
Current Meds ; Viramune / Epzicom Eliquis, Diltiazem. Pravastatin 80mg, Ezetimibe. UPDATED 2/18/24
 Tested positive in 1985,.. In October of 2003, My t-cell count was 16, Viral load was over 500,000, Percentage at that time was 5%. I started on  HAART on October 24th, 2003.

 As of Oct 2nd, 2023, Viral load Undetectable.
CD 4 @676 /  CD4 % @ 18 %
Lymphocytes,absolute-3815 (within range)


72 YEARS YOUNG

Offline aztecan

  • Member
  • Posts: 5,530
  • 36 years positive, 64 years a pain in the butt
Re: Let's play connect the dots
« Reply #6 on: April 15, 2009, 11:48:52 pm »

How about this theory:   all of us AIDSmeds LTSers strip naked, line up side by side, and connect all our dots; the result might spell out the cure for AIDS.  (I've heard dumber theories about HIV !)     It'd be fun anyway (depending on who you stood by, of course  ;)  )

hugs, Alan

I think this is a fabulous idea! Lord knows I have plenty of dots to connect.  8)

One thing though, no rear views. I visited my mother this past weekend and her guest bath has mirrors that allow you to stand in one place yet see your entire body. I made the mistake of looking after I had showered.

 :o

Do you think that, if I were to put on a corset and tighten it very tight, it would shove some of that visceral fat down to my butt?  ???

Well, its a thought.

I still like the idea of getting us all naked and in row and connecting all the dots. At least we could giggle and have fun.  ;)

HUGS,

Mark

"May your life preach more loudly than your lips."
~ William Ellery Channing (Unitarian Minister)

Offline BT65

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  • Member
  • Posts: 10,786
Re: Let's play connect the dots
« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2009, 06:28:03 am »
guest bath has mirrors that allow you to stand in one place yet see your entire body. I made the mistake of looking after I had showered.

I have one of those on my shower door, and when I look in it I always cringe.  So, I feel ya, Mark.
I've never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices.-Clarence Darrow

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Offline bear60

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  • Posts: 4,105
Re: Let's play connect the dots
« Reply #8 on: April 16, 2009, 07:44:33 am »
400 miles seems a long way to go to see a dermatologist that isnt so much different than your old one...unless the new one is the only one you like
anyway...I like the connecting the dots idea too....

Hugs
Joel
Poz Bear Type in Philadelphia

 


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