Another Birthday Blog
I had another birthday. It was rainy and grey. As a true child of autumn, I couldn’t ask for nicer weather. Love it, love it, love it.
I also had an appointment to see my cardiologist. Weird birthday present, I know. It didn’t go well. Factually, it didn’t go at all. I hate the building. First off, the automatic doors wouldn’t open. So, I went around to the other side. Then there’s this automated check-in system in the lobby that scans your phone and identification, but there are no instructions or diagrams on how or even where to position either for scanning. After that, there’s a guard station before you can get to the elevators. You have to go through a metal detector and let them dig around in your bags to check for weapons—to see a doctor!
I did not see a doctor. Instead, I followed The Plan. My new thing is making response plans well in advance of upcoming challenging situations. This allows me to work through what might be the most practical and rational response long before I’m faced with stress or frustration, and prevents me from doing something I’m likely to regret. I’m proactive.
I’ve been to the building once before. I knew it was a pain in the ass to get into the offices. The last visit had me thinking it might be a good idea to find somewhere more accommodating. I told myself that if I ran into difficulty getting inside this time, I wouldn’t stress about it. I would abandon my appointment, pay whatever that’s going to cost me in missed appointment penalties, and find all new doctors closer to where I live now. And that’s what I’m going to do. Outside of a hospitalization beyond my control, I’m not going through a goddam metal detector to see a doctor, on principle.
My soon-to-be former cardiologist is great. I really liked him. Good shoes. Allen Edmonds, I think. I’m pretty sure he’s recognized as brilliant in the field. However, I don’t actually need a brilliant MD with sharp footwear. My problem is that I have high cholesterol. I just need someone to make sure my Repatha prescription gets approved by my insurance with no substitutions. Ideally, they should also be up-to-date on the relationship between vitamin D and statins. That’s about it.
Anyhow, for my birthday dinner, I ate pepperoni and ice cream (Americone Dream).1 Not too much of either. I’m dieting. I’m using one of the apps. My soon-to-be former general practitioner and a gastroenterologist I saw once but didn’t like his vibe, both suggested that cutting out regular drinking would help my GERD. I figured they’re medical professionals who know about this stuff, so I cut out all booze for over a month. My GERD did not improve even a little bit, but I did gain 15 pounds, and alcohol tastes bad to me now. Yay!
Footnotes
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My high cholesterol is the result of an autosomal dominant genetic disorder. It doesn’t matter what I eat. It can only be controlled with needle drugs. ↩