I Need a Doctor (The Nields)

Everything's fine (as far as I know).  Just an update that I went in for a *routine* check-up this past Wednesday, October 14.

After our lovely beach getaway, Sarah ("chocolate and rainboots" indeed... 💖) said that the best birthday present I could give her would be a doctor's appointment, and she actually made one for me (guess she figured if it worked for the chiropractor, she could do it for my GP!).  Shamefacedly, I admit that my last time going in was October 2017 (three years ago).  

I have no reason to believe my health is anything other than stellar (being vegan helps, right?), but there was bloodwork and an EKG and urine specimens (oh my!), therefore fasting.  Same old, same old, you know?  Also had a flu shot while I was there.

She and I talked a lot about self-care during the pandemic, emotional as well as physical.  My blood pressure skewed high the first few times (I have "white coat syndrome", not to mention the fact I was out in public, as I rarely leave the condo complex), then came down a bit the third and fourth tries.  I told her that I *really* didn't want to start on any medication, and asked her if I could have another month to lower it through diet and exercise, and she agreed.  (Aside:  my walking streak is in the double digits:  Day 11!!!)

She also wrote "prescriptions" for a bone density test, a mammogram, and a colonoscopy (can't wait to be x-rayed, smushed, and rectally-violated... 😃 )

Wednesday of next week, she and I will have a tele-visit to discuss test results, as well as my one-month follow-up visit.  I feel good about being back on track with my health, and taking even *better* care of myself... 💓

P.S.  Not as many check-ins with friends as last week, but always a treat:  Monday pool day with Nancy, weekly Tuesday Zoom call with Nancy and Judi, visit with Eileen yesterday afternoon, and phone chat with RobbyG starting in a few minutes!

NR:  A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold

SONG:  I Need a Doctor by The Nields

BOOK:  I Wrote This for You by Iain S. Thomas

POEM(S):  The Metronome Tree by Iain S. Thomas

Forget about your lists, and do what you can because that's all you can do. 

Phone up the people you miss and tell them you love them. 

Hug those close to you as hard as you can. 

Because you are always only a drunk driver's stupidity, a nervous shopkeeper's mistake, a doctor's best attempts, and an old age away from forever.

“B” (If I Should Have a Daughter) by Sarah Kay

If I should have a daughter, instead of mom, she’s going to call me Point B,

because that way she knows that no matter what happens,

at least she can always find her way to me.

And I am going to paint the Solar Systems on the backs of her hands,

so she has to learn the entire universe before she can say ‘Oh, I know that like the back of my hand’

And she’s going to learn that this life will hit you,

hard,

in the face,

wait for you to get back up, just so it can kick you in the stomach

but getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.

There is hurt, fear that cannot be fixed by band aids or poetry

so the first time she realizes that Wonder Woman isn’t coming

I’ll make sure she knows she does not have to wear the cape all by herself

because no matter how wide you stretch your fingers,

your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal.

Believe me, I’ve tried

And baby, I’ll tell her, don’t keep your nose up in the air like that

I know that trick, I’ve done it a million times

You’re just smelling for smoke so you can follow the trail

back to a burning house so you can find the boy who lost everything in the fire

to see if you can save him.

Or else find the boy who lit the fire in the first place to see if you can change him

But I know she will anyway, so instead, I’ll always keep an extra supply of chocolate

and rainboots nearby.

Because there is no heartbreak that chocolate can’t fix.

Ok, there’s a few heartbreaks that chocolate can’t fix,

but that’s what the rainboots are for because rain will

wash away everything if you let it.

I want her to look at the world through the underside of a glass bottomed boat

To look through a microscope at the galaxies that exist on the pinpoint of a human mind

Because that’s the way my mom taught me.

That there’ll be days like this

that there’s be days like this my mama said

When you open your hands to catch, and wind up with only blisters and bruises.

When you step out of the phone booth and try to fly

And the very people you want to save are the ones standing on your cape

When your boots will fill with rain and you’ll be up to your knees in disappointment

and those are the very days you have all the more reason to say thank you

because there’s nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop

kissing the shoreline no matter how many times it is sent away.

You will put the win in winsome … lose some

You will put the star in starting over and over.

And no matter how many landmines erupt in a minute

be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life.

And yes, on a scale from one to overtrusting, I am pretty damn naive.

But I want her to know that this world is made out of sugar.

It can crumble so easily.

But don’t be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it.

Baby, I’ll tell her, remember your mama is a worrier

and your papa is a warrior.

And you’re the girl with small hands and big eyes who never stops asking for more.

Remember that good things come in threes and so do bad things and

always apologize when you’ve done something wrong

but don’t you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining,

your voice is small but don’t ever stop singing.

And when they finally hand you a heartache,

when they slip war and hatred under your door and offer you handouts on street corners

of cynicism and defeat, you tell them that

they

really ought to meet your mother.

QUOTE:  "The best doctors in the world are Doctor Diet, Doctor Quiet, and Doctor Merryman." ~ Jonathan Swift