Friday, July 17, 2015

New orthopedist

Yesterday (Thursday) started with a great session of Tai Chi.
From there, instead of getting my lymphatic system drained, because the physical therapy place canceled my appointment, I went to the ICU to be with my friend.

From there I picked up my friend's dog. Her dog had been staying with someone else, and they wanted to switch her to another house. I have taken her dog many times in the past, and she and Emma get along well. She is a very sweet big black dog. So, we now have two dogs for the foreseeable future. I pray my friend will be well soon and can go home to be with her dog, and her daughter. Things are starting to look better, thank Gd, but there is a long way to go still.

After settling her dog into our house, I headed off to tel Aviv for my orthopedist appointment.

I left on the 4pm train and got home at 9:45. LONG day.
But good.

I feel I am in the right hands with this doctor.
Interesting, because he is actually the colleague of the doctor that Rav Fisher recommended for me. Turns out that this colleague is actually a thigh joint specialist. My luck!

I never quite know how I am going to tell my story... it has to be told to new doctors, of course, but I never know how to start. This time it was pretty easy. He started out by asking if I have any allergies to medicines. I rattled off my list. Then he asked me if I take any medications regularly. Told him those, too. That was when he asked why do I take Cymbalta- that is for nerve pain usually. And why am I allergic to so many antibiotics? Enter... Sarah's story. A bit of eyebrow raising, but mostly he was cool and collected and writing down what I said. He's pretty young, but really did seem to know his stuff. When I told him I had PVNS in the left thigh joint, I could almost see him searching his brain file drawers- it is a very rare disease- and then the light dawned on him. Of course, he then asked how it was taken care of, and I told him about my previous orthopedist, and the surgeries I had with him, and why he fired me and didn't want to fix my right thigh. If he was looking for an interesting case to cross his desk yesterday, he got it. :)

He ordered the tests I need to do. I need an MRA- which is like an MRI but with dye injected directly into the joint. It's painful. The "A" stands for arterial. The most recent one I had of that kind was from two years ago. He looked at that, and saw something he thought was questionable, so he ordered a new one. Also a few x-rays, one in "frog" position... that's gonna be fun... not!

I love being at the orthopedist... "does this hurt?"  Yeowww! Ya THINK?

Came home quite sore, but optimistic that I found a doctor who cares, and wants to help, and also has a healthy dose of caution because of my history. The secretary said that as soon as I have dates to do the tests, tell her, and she will schedule me to see both doctors- the main one and his colleague- together. She said that the November date is not relevant anymore, she'll get me in as soon as I have the tests. Hopefully late August or September. I am going to the US for the first two weeks of August, so probably the tests will be after that. I'd be surprised if I can get in for the MRA before my trip, but ya never know. It is a whole procedure, not "just" like an MRI. And the health insurance has to approve it first.

So the wheels of progress are turning.
And so are the wheels of the clock... it's almost Shabbat!

Shabbat Shalom and chodesh tov (new Jewish month) to all!

1 comment :

  1. It sounds like definite progress. You’re working with someone who is interested and concerned, and competent. An unbeatable combination with your positive outlook.

    Edna

    ReplyDelete