Diagnosedat50:
Loa- that’s great that you get to have bloodwork done every four months. I had frequent visits the first couple of months, but was switched to yearly appointments for CD4 counts and viral loads. Also, as someone who wholeheartedly believes in the power of increased physical activity for improved health outcomes, I also applaud you for continuing to hit the gym regularly!
leatherman:
tomorrow it's our turn to get some blood sucked out of us and chit-chat with our doctor. I've got to tell him I look tired because I did too much --cutting apart a large branch that came down during a storm a week ago and lugging our oldest 50lb dog up and down the steps the last few days as she has either hurt a leg, is getting old, or having an issue that may necessitate a vet trip soon. Oh! And an a real medical issue too. Some weirdo vertigo something that's been going on with me (had something like this with the flu a couple years ago; but this has been a handful of very short episodes). I don't think there's anything medically that can be done with all that info; but I want the weird vertigo stuff documented so if it happens any more.
This will be the first time the doc has seen Larry since I let him know about Larry's heart attack and subsequent bypass surgery so I guesstimate that most of our shared appointment time will be taken up with Larry's issues.
LOL I have been out of the HIV advocacy game too long. I almost posted a note to apologize for these next comments because they are about American politics...but hell! HIV/AIDS health care has always been a political issue. Silence=Death. I guess since this is our last doctor visit during the Biden administration, I better figure out if I have any other issues. Who knows how long or if I'll still access to meds or medical care under the next POTUS after mid-Jan. Medicaid/Medicare has kept me alive for 23 yrs! Both the ACA along the SC ADAP program that I advocated for for many years and Larry's insurance through work have kept him alive for 22 yrs. It could certainly feel like the 90s full of AIDS death again if HIV medical care coverage programs get wiped out in the Trump/Musk/Ramaswamy "dpt. of Government Efficiency" overhauls or the other changes Project 2025 has planned.
While I'm writing this, I'm on a zoom meeting with indivisible about advocacy planning for the future. Crap! I've been out of the advocacy stuff for a few years. Covid restrictions and turning 60 made me feel like I could leave it behind. But I guess I'm going to have to reach out to my HIV and healthcare groups and see what plans they have going on as it looks like I'll have to get back into the fray.
It seems so stupid that 40+ years later, I may end up still having to advocate for HIV health care so I don't die.
Jim Allen:
--- Quote from: leatherman on November 13, 2024, 09:29:53 pm ---This will be the first time the doc has seen Larry since I let him know about Larry's heart attack and subsequent bypass surgery so I guesstimate that most of our shared appointment time will be taken up with Larry's issues.
--- End quote ---
No stress test this time!
leatherman:
--- Quote from: Jim Allen on November 14, 2024, 03:21:12 am ---No stress test this time!
--- End quote ---
thinking about that, last time Larry saw the cardiac surgery for his final checkup with that doctor, the surgeon told him that now he needed to go back to the cardiologist for the rest of his care. Larry wasn't certain who that was, and I spoke up to say, "that's the doctor who sent you on the stress test and gave you the heart attack". Ooooh. The surgeon jumped on that one fast. "He didn't give you a heart attack! and neither did the test" LOL Luckily, I was smiling as he turned to glare at me so he realized it was a joke. the surgeon and I had talked a bit before, during and after Larry's surgery, so he knew I actually was medically knowledgeable and didn't really mean the cardiologist or the test gave Larry the heart attack. :o ;D
Too bad the surgeon probably does hear that kind of nonsense because someone thinks that how it happens.
Brian1966:
I love it. I totally would have been telling my cardiologist something like "you're not going to try killing me again - right doc?" at the first appointment just because I have a dark sense of humor and then thank them for the test that probably saved my life. When dealing with something as serious as my own mortality; I cope with it by morbid humor.