I’ve been sick for almost two weeks now. Normally, when I get sick, I’m sick and then it passes. This has lingered for way too long.

Last Wednesday, I called my doctor’s office, and he called in a prescription for some cough syrup with codine. That helped a little, but I’m still not feeling quite right. I’m still congested and coughing like mad. This is August for crying out loud! So today, I called back, and the nurse wanted me to see a doctor. She got me in to see a different doctor (since mine is scheduled through Thursday) who said my lungs sound clear and that I almost sound like I have athsma. I don’t think so.  She gave me a prescription for some antibiotics and Claratin.

I’ll give it a few days before I call my doctor’s office again. This cold/flu/cough thing has cost me a hundred bucks so far. I just want it to be over.

Oh, and there was all kinds of drama in the waiting room. But that’s another story for another day.

My parents have come and gone, and I miss having them here.

My dad drove to the airport and then I obviously drove home. I have to say that the return trip pretty much wiped me out and I’ve spent most of the evening on the couch, napping most of the time. I’m still in quite a bit of pain, but that’s to be expected.

As my mom was packing up to go, she said she wished she could have done more to help me out. I looked at my dad and we both laughed. My kitchen sparkles and the pantry has been completely organized. There isn’t a piece of dirty laundry in the house, and she even washed the sheets on the guest bed before remaking it. The only thing left to do was to unload the dishwasher because it was still running when we left for the airport. She did a ton, and I totally appreciate it.

So now the Roomba is running in the living room, and Reggie and I are calling it a night.

I’m starting to feel a little better. My mom has been cleaning my kitchen, and the floor sparkles. My dad fixed the bubbling countertop over the dishwasher and he installed the new showerhead. Oh, the new showerhead is amazing.

I’ve been able eat a little bit. My mom made meatloaf for dinner and I ate a small piece without issue. I even had a few bites of a piece of Cheesecake Factory cheesecake.

Reggie is having the time of his life with my parents here. My dad has been wearing him out throwing Purple for him to chase.  He’s also been a good nurse for me.

The surgeon said I had a uniquegall bladder that was oddly shaped. It took her an extra 30 minutes just to map out the anatomy of my gallbladder. I had three stones half the size of golf balls.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  She said it was going to come out soon because it was in pretty bad shape.  So now the surgeon wants me to take two weeks off work. That’s a week longer than I had expected, but it’s probably smart. With MS, I don’t know how wiped out I’m going to be for a while.

I’m up and moving a little. The surgery went well, and I’m really glad that my parents are here. So far, I haven’t eaten much, just some biscuits (American biscuits)  and ginger ale. Now I’m having toast with a little bit of butter, the first fat I’ve had since the surgery.

Thank you for all of the thoughts, prayers, wishes, and kind words. I may not be online much the next few days, but I’ll catch up when I can.

This is a quick message from Paul. I just got off the phone with Mikes father, and it sounds like the operation to amputate his left leg went fine, and Mike is adjusting to the new artificial limb well – at least as far as they can tell at this early stage.

Just kidding. Mike is now minus one gall bladder and should be home by the end of today once he is out of the second stage recovery. He’ll have some fun with food for a few weeks yet though!

Not being from Boston, I didn’t realize that Beth Israel used to be a pretty bad hospital. My first experience with them was when I started seeing a primary care doctor at Fenway Community Health.  What I love about the BIDMC system is that all of my doctors have access to the same information. My surgeon was able to see the notes of my visit with the neurologist. The neurologist was able to see the results of my visit with the optometrist. This is all really cool stuff.

Until today.

Today was my pre-surgery interview with a nurse in the anesthesiology group (who never gave me her name, just “one of the nurses”) and she had no clue of my medical history nor medications. One of the things that every doctor has done is gone over my list of medications to ensure that it’s absolutely current, including the vitamins I take. My neurologist (who I absolutely adore) tells me that it’s a big push for the hospital to ensure that every patient’s list of medications is current. So when “one of the nurses” is doing the pre-op interview, not only did she ask what medications I was taking and what special needs I had, she was totally missing out on a valuable resource that was probably right at her fingertips. Now I understand the need for her to ask what medication I’m on, but wouldn’t it have been easier for her to ask if I was still taking Strattera 25mg twice a day and 44mcg of Rebif three times a week instead of asking me to list all of the medications I currently take? She was surprised when I told her that I had multiple sclerosis. What? It’s been part of every discussion with every doctor at every visit. Even a cursory look at my medical records should have indicated that to her.

I’ve really had a great experience with BIDMC and I’m hoping this one situation doesn’t drag down my opinion of the entire system.

Having MS sucks. I’m going through a bit of a relapse right now, and I’m completely wiped. I’ve been coming home from work early and napping.

For the past week or so, I’ve been having this random pain in my left foot. It’s not constant, bu it does seem to be happening with more frequency. I might need to have it looked at.

Today, I went to see the optometrist. The good news is that my eyes are really healthy. My prescription changed slightly but nothing too serious. The worst part was having my pupils dilated. I couldn’t see for a few hours, and it gave me the worst headache.

I attempted to give blood this morning. Now that I’m no longer on my MS meds, we thought I might be able to give. Nope. I’m still permanently deferred by the MGH Blood Bank.

I had the ultrasound of my gallbladder today. The tech says that she can clearly see two stones and potentially a third. She says this is the source of my pain. 

Now I have a call into my doctor to find out what we do next.

Having MS sucks. There is no other way to put it.

Yesterday, while Reggie and I were visiting Beth and Paul, I just felt really wiped out. In fact, at one point, I had to go upstairs to lie down for a while. It sucks to always be tired, especially when you go someplace exciting like New York City. But living with MS has taught me to take it easy and not get myself too worn down.

The other thing is that you need to become a pro at navigating the insurance system. I work for a great company, and we have outstanding health insurance. But you have to know how to work navigate the system. I started the process of ordering my prescription last week, and today I got a letter from the insurance company that stated my Rebif had been approved. The prior authorizations for medication are always a pain in the ass, so having that taken care of is a huge relief. So tonight I called the pharmacy to find out the status of the order. I have enough on-hand to last me another three weeks, so I’m in decent shape, but I don’t dare let them know that. They think I’ll be out early next week, and that causes a sense of urgency I need to get this process moving without running out of meds. When I called, a very nice woman named Carolyn explained that they requested the prescription from Dr. Stein but hadn’t received it back yet.  This means tomorrow, I’ll be calling my doctor’s office to poke them. After they send in the prescription, then I’ll have to call the pharmacy again, who will tell me it’s held up for insurance reasons, at which time I’ll fax in the prior authorization letter from the insurance company.

Yeah, I’ve been around this block a few times. It’s a pain in the ass, but I absolutely have to do it.