Thursday (12/4/2014)

Update:

Since getting out of the hospital last December, I’ve been busy going to medical appointments.  I think that I have lost track of a few, but here’s what I have a record of:

 2 visits to my primary care doctor

 4 visits to my surgeon (after hospital discharge)

 8 visits to my physiatrist (physical rehab doctor)

 9 visits to my physical therapist

 6 visits to my podiatrist (foot doctor for my right foot)

19 visits to my eye doctors (retinal specialist + general)

31 visits to my prosthetist (builds and adjusts my prosthetic leg)

That is a total of 79 medical appoints for the last year. 

I already have 4 other appointments scheduled for the rest of December and I would guess that the total number of appointments in December will go up to about ten.  So I should come close to having 90 medical appointments in 2014.  WOW!  For a guy who rarely went to the doctor for most of my life, I am certainly making up for it now.  I hope that in 2015, I can keep my total number of appointments down to a more reasonable 40 or so.

I am very thankful for the quality care that I have been receiving.  I’ve grown to know my physicians very well—in fact, I am on a first name basis with all of them now—I call them “Doctor.”  J  I’ve grown to know Mayo (Luther) Hospital very well.  I know my birthday by heart since I have to repeat it numerous times at each appointment.  Lately, I’ve had to verify that I haven’t been out of the country in the last 21 days.  I haven’t even been out of Eau Claire County in that time period.  Who has time to go anywhere when I am averaging a medical appointment of some type every 4.6 days?

Since last spring, I’ve been working out at home, at the gym (90 minutes), or swimming (60 minutes) at least 3-4 times a week.  This summer I rode my bicycle about 8-10 miles a day, 4-5 times per week.  All of this activity was in an effort to lose weight and to get my blood glucose under control.  The weight loss also helps on decreasing the wear and tear on my joints and my remaining foot. 

Along with the fact that everything I do takes longer and it takes more time for me to get ready in the morning and to get ready for bed, I really don’t have much spare time anymore.  Except for last winter when I was in a wheelchair and housebound (before I got my prosthesis), the year has just flown by.  The days and weeks just zip by at a dizzying rate.  I haven’t found time to do many things that I want to accomplish.  The bottom line is that I don’t think that I will ever get bored because I have nothing to do.

Here’s a link to a short video clip from the movie “Spies Like Us” (a 1985 comedy). Blame my children for reminding me of this clip. This is in honor of all the medical personal that I’ve met in the last year.