"You Have Nice Veins"
This life story is why I hate going to doctors. It’s not a crippling, debilitating fear, but it’s one that if there is something wrong with me I would just like my insides or immune system to do their job with no outside third party help.
I woke up Friday morning and felt my foot was asleep, I thought whatevs, I’ll get out of bed and walk around on it and do that weird laughing thing I always do when I step down on a foot that fell alseep. I turned myself to sit up on the side of my bed, got up, took a step with my left foot and went to do the same with my right. That’s when I noticed there was something wrong. When I went to take that first step my leg moved, but my foot did not, at all. It dragged behind me like an extra body part just coming along for a ride. I laughed like I had planned to do since I had opened my pretty brown eyes and thought “wow my foot is super asleep.” I took another step with my left foot and wanted to do the same with my right, again, just dragging behind like a fat kid running the mile in third grade. I made it to the bathroom, sat down and assessed the situation. I couldn’t feel my foot, I couldn’t move my foot, I couldn’t move my toes. My brain was telling my foot move and it wouldn’t. I wiped, flushed and got up, still thinking it was just in a little coma and it’ll come along. I got dressed, and found that I could walk if I used my whole leg, but not knowing how to gauge the pressure of my foot coming down on the floor, each step with my right foot made a loud thud. I’m surprised that, while leaving for work I didn’t wake up my roommates with the earthquake level sounding thuds on our hardwood floors.
I got in my car, turned it on, and just stared. “Shit, I can’t move my right foot, left, right, up or down. How am I going to drive to work? I need that foot for the pedals” The 15 minute car ride to Glendale ended up being me lifting my entire right leg and shifting from right to left. I get into work and spend the day in my chair, both feet planted, staring down at my right foot saying “lift, come on just lift yourself, move” to no avail. It was scary and frustrating to say the least. Finally around mid-afternoon I could start to wiggle my toes. I WAS GOING TO BE FINE! I got home laid on my couch and just repeatedly wiggled my toes just the sad, slightest bit they could wiggle. Eventually I passed out, with my last thought being that I’ll be fine when I wake up.
I woke up Saturday and found that I could lift my foot probably whatever measurement is smaller than a quarter millimeter. Even though it was nothing, it was still something. I’M GETTING BETTER! My toes were still the same. I decided to call my mom. Worst. Idea. Ever. When you are little and sick it’s always fun to be pampered, get your favorite foods bought and made, not get yelled at for laying on the couch all day. When you are an adult (by technicality) and live 3000 miles away, not so much, I told her if it didn’t get better I would go to the doctor on Monday. She called me four more times Saturday, and surprisingly only once on Sunday to suggest a vinegar compress. It did nothing except make my room and body smell like vinegar. Maybe I did it wrong?
Today (Monday) comes around and my foot is the same as it has been, no improvement. I usually don’t worry about my health, but I’ve always had this fear in the back of my mind of having an amputated limb and it struck me that it could happen. Halfway down my calf to my foot has been completely numb for three days now when I touch any part of it, all I feel is just pins and needles. That fear comes into my conscious mind.
I get into work and have a conversation with a co-worker. I tell him exactly how my weekend was. I don’t know if he is holding a grudge because I didn’t return his phone call last week or he just really wants someone to join him in his diabetes club, but he implanted in my mind that I may have diabetes. I thought " well I don’t really eat too many sweets, I’m not that much of a soda person, but I do drink a lot of coffee with sugar and other caramel based coffee beverages... and to think of it, I think I may have another cavity. Crap I probably do have diabetes." As soon as he left my cubicle I called up my doctor, he could fit me in a half hour.
I drive over to Burbank and go into the medical building and there’s that dreaded smell of sickness and sterilization. The nurse practitioner comes in takes my temp and blood pressure. As he takes my pressure he compliments me “You have nice veins.” I laugh. He replies, “No, seriously.”
I look at my veins and notice they are pretty spectacular. I have one bulging green vein at my elbow and two thick ones on my wrist. I now take pride in this.
The doctor comes in and asks what is going on, I share my symptoms and feelings with him. He goes “hmm” shakes his head and makes quizzical faces the whole time. He starts spitting out what I feel is every possible medical term he ever learned in med school, just to name things and sound doctory. I kind of zone out because I don't want to hear "could be's" I want to hear "is." I shake my head like he had just a few minutes earlier. He said "it’s just really odd that only half of your calf is numb."
Words that came out of his mouth during his speech that stood out for me:
-Drop foot, or foot drop (it was one of them)
-Blood clot
-Paralysis or paraleen
-Diabetes
-Blood clot
-I don’t know
-B-12?
-You stumped me
-Foot brace
-Blood clot
-Herpes.
The next exchange went as followed:
Doctor: Do you have herpes
Me: No.
(Isn’t this on my chart?)
Doctor: Okay, yeah because usually this could happen if you have herpes but there’s usually a rash of some sorts. Do you have any sores or…
Me: No. I don’t have herpes.
(Seriously, I’m pretty confident I filled out a paper when I first came here listing my diseases and I did not check herpes)
Doctor: okay
After that fun exchange my doctor gives me his 3-pronged game plan. He tells me "we are going to get me an ultrasound", and if it’s a blood clot, he’ll give me a call (I would hope he would. I also left him with my Twitter handle, Facebook page, and the number of my favorite college professor just as a precaution). Immediately following my doctor’s visit I went to the imaging place and they couldn’t fit me in until tomorrow afternoon, so here’s hoping, just for tonight... it's not a blood clot.
He then said we are going to get some blood work done. Okay, “some” to me is like two, maybe three vials of blood. This guy checked off six different things, from B-12 deficiency to hemoglobin, to a CBC and three others I did not know what they were for.
I get to the testing place and this lady pulls out a vial, then another, then another until there a six large sized vials sitting right next to me. I go “Uhhh.” She replies with “It’s what the doctor ordered. I just take it.” After the drainage I was expecting a sugar cookie or a dixie cup of orange juice. Nope. All I got was an “All done. Have a nice day.”
Finally, my doctor goes “this is overkill…but I’m going to write you a prescription." He told me what kind of medicine it was and I completely blacked out when he said what it was for. I didn’t really get why he was giving it to me, but I did catch that it could possibly help with the numbness. Let’s just say it’s given to people with chicken pox, shingles and people with a certain STD, I’m sure you can deduce which one.
After my huddle with the doctor I call my mom. I tell her I just got out and before I can tell her what happened she says "hold on" she comes back on the phone and explains how she read and cut out this article she saw in the morning paper and that she would send it to me. To paraphrase, my mother told me this article was about a twenty something year old girl who had a problem with her leg... turns out it was cancer, she had to get her femur removed.
At this time I'm still worried about blood clots and diabetes, NOT herpes. My mom had just added cancer to the list. I told her I had to go to get an ultrasound and blood work, like literally I have to get off the phone I'm pulling into the parking lot.
Sidenote: Fast forward after all is said and done I get back to work and fill my co-worker in... we don't speak for about 45 minutes, he then throws out into the world: “Too bad you couldn’t figure out any Worker’s Comp out of this."
So, there’s that.
I finally leave work at the end of the day to fill my prescription. I get to the pharmacy and become jealous of the 50-something year old lady at the next counter asking if her Lithium was ready for pick up. Fifteen minutes later I pick up my meds and since it was my first time at this pharmacy I had to consult with a pharmacist.
I'm like oh great. This guy is going to talk with me about the herpes medication I just bought for fourteen dollars. I step up to the consultation area and he goes "hi, okay this is an antiviral"-- "my foot is numb" I mumble quickly and probably not so coherently. "Okayyy... so, take one every eight hours for a week" "okay, thank you very much..." as I take the pills in my hand, I leave the pharmacist with a "I hope this helps my numb foot..." smile endearingly and walk away.
Does anyone know if you can drink on herpes medication?
I woke up Friday morning and felt my foot was asleep, I thought whatevs, I’ll get out of bed and walk around on it and do that weird laughing thing I always do when I step down on a foot that fell alseep. I turned myself to sit up on the side of my bed, got up, took a step with my left foot and went to do the same with my right. That’s when I noticed there was something wrong. When I went to take that first step my leg moved, but my foot did not, at all. It dragged behind me like an extra body part just coming along for a ride. I laughed like I had planned to do since I had opened my pretty brown eyes and thought “wow my foot is super asleep.” I took another step with my left foot and wanted to do the same with my right, again, just dragging behind like a fat kid running the mile in third grade. I made it to the bathroom, sat down and assessed the situation. I couldn’t feel my foot, I couldn’t move my foot, I couldn’t move my toes. My brain was telling my foot move and it wouldn’t. I wiped, flushed and got up, still thinking it was just in a little coma and it’ll come along. I got dressed, and found that I could walk if I used my whole leg, but not knowing how to gauge the pressure of my foot coming down on the floor, each step with my right foot made a loud thud. I’m surprised that, while leaving for work I didn’t wake up my roommates with the earthquake level sounding thuds on our hardwood floors.
I got in my car, turned it on, and just stared. “Shit, I can’t move my right foot, left, right, up or down. How am I going to drive to work? I need that foot for the pedals” The 15 minute car ride to Glendale ended up being me lifting my entire right leg and shifting from right to left. I get into work and spend the day in my chair, both feet planted, staring down at my right foot saying “lift, come on just lift yourself, move” to no avail. It was scary and frustrating to say the least. Finally around mid-afternoon I could start to wiggle my toes. I WAS GOING TO BE FINE! I got home laid on my couch and just repeatedly wiggled my toes just the sad, slightest bit they could wiggle. Eventually I passed out, with my last thought being that I’ll be fine when I wake up.
I woke up Saturday and found that I could lift my foot probably whatever measurement is smaller than a quarter millimeter. Even though it was nothing, it was still something. I’M GETTING BETTER! My toes were still the same. I decided to call my mom. Worst. Idea. Ever. When you are little and sick it’s always fun to be pampered, get your favorite foods bought and made, not get yelled at for laying on the couch all day. When you are an adult (by technicality) and live 3000 miles away, not so much, I told her if it didn’t get better I would go to the doctor on Monday. She called me four more times Saturday, and surprisingly only once on Sunday to suggest a vinegar compress. It did nothing except make my room and body smell like vinegar. Maybe I did it wrong?
Today (Monday) comes around and my foot is the same as it has been, no improvement. I usually don’t worry about my health, but I’ve always had this fear in the back of my mind of having an amputated limb and it struck me that it could happen. Halfway down my calf to my foot has been completely numb for three days now when I touch any part of it, all I feel is just pins and needles. That fear comes into my conscious mind.
I get into work and have a conversation with a co-worker. I tell him exactly how my weekend was. I don’t know if he is holding a grudge because I didn’t return his phone call last week or he just really wants someone to join him in his diabetes club, but he implanted in my mind that I may have diabetes. I thought " well I don’t really eat too many sweets, I’m not that much of a soda person, but I do drink a lot of coffee with sugar and other caramel based coffee beverages... and to think of it, I think I may have another cavity. Crap I probably do have diabetes." As soon as he left my cubicle I called up my doctor, he could fit me in a half hour.
I drive over to Burbank and go into the medical building and there’s that dreaded smell of sickness and sterilization. The nurse practitioner comes in takes my temp and blood pressure. As he takes my pressure he compliments me “You have nice veins.” I laugh. He replies, “No, seriously.”
I look at my veins and notice they are pretty spectacular. I have one bulging green vein at my elbow and two thick ones on my wrist. I now take pride in this.
The doctor comes in and asks what is going on, I share my symptoms and feelings with him. He goes “hmm” shakes his head and makes quizzical faces the whole time. He starts spitting out what I feel is every possible medical term he ever learned in med school, just to name things and sound doctory. I kind of zone out because I don't want to hear "could be's" I want to hear "is." I shake my head like he had just a few minutes earlier. He said "it’s just really odd that only half of your calf is numb."
Words that came out of his mouth during his speech that stood out for me:
-Drop foot, or foot drop (it was one of them)
-Blood clot
-Paralysis or paraleen
-Diabetes
-Blood clot
-I don’t know
-B-12?
-You stumped me
-Foot brace
-Blood clot
-Herpes.
The next exchange went as followed:
Doctor: Do you have herpes
Me: No.
(Isn’t this on my chart?)
Doctor: Okay, yeah because usually this could happen if you have herpes but there’s usually a rash of some sorts. Do you have any sores or…
Me: No. I don’t have herpes.
(Seriously, I’m pretty confident I filled out a paper when I first came here listing my diseases and I did not check herpes)
Doctor: okay
After that fun exchange my doctor gives me his 3-pronged game plan. He tells me "we are going to get me an ultrasound", and if it’s a blood clot, he’ll give me a call (I would hope he would. I also left him with my Twitter handle, Facebook page, and the number of my favorite college professor just as a precaution). Immediately following my doctor’s visit I went to the imaging place and they couldn’t fit me in until tomorrow afternoon, so here’s hoping, just for tonight... it's not a blood clot.
He then said we are going to get some blood work done. Okay, “some” to me is like two, maybe three vials of blood. This guy checked off six different things, from B-12 deficiency to hemoglobin, to a CBC and three others I did not know what they were for.
I get to the testing place and this lady pulls out a vial, then another, then another until there a six large sized vials sitting right next to me. I go “Uhhh.” She replies with “It’s what the doctor ordered. I just take it.” After the drainage I was expecting a sugar cookie or a dixie cup of orange juice. Nope. All I got was an “All done. Have a nice day.”
 |
| For a self proclaimed "bleeder" this is all I was left with. |
After my huddle with the doctor I call my mom. I tell her I just got out and before I can tell her what happened she says "hold on" she comes back on the phone and explains how she read and cut out this article she saw in the morning paper and that she would send it to me. To paraphrase, my mother told me this article was about a twenty something year old girl who had a problem with her leg... turns out it was cancer, she had to get her femur removed.
At this time I'm still worried about blood clots and diabetes, NOT herpes. My mom had just added cancer to the list. I told her I had to go to get an ultrasound and blood work, like literally I have to get off the phone I'm pulling into the parking lot.
Sidenote: Fast forward after all is said and done I get back to work and fill my co-worker in... we don't speak for about 45 minutes, he then throws out into the world: “Too bad you couldn’t figure out any Worker’s Comp out of this."
So, there’s that.
I finally leave work at the end of the day to fill my prescription. I get to the pharmacy and become jealous of the 50-something year old lady at the next counter asking if her Lithium was ready for pick up. Fifteen minutes later I pick up my meds and since it was my first time at this pharmacy I had to consult with a pharmacist.
I'm like oh great. This guy is going to talk with me about the herpes medication I just bought for fourteen dollars. I step up to the consultation area and he goes "hi, okay this is an antiviral"-- "my foot is numb" I mumble quickly and probably not so coherently. "Okayyy... so, take one every eight hours for a week" "okay, thank you very much..." as I take the pills in my hand, I leave the pharmacist with a "I hope this helps my numb foot..." smile endearingly and walk away.
Does anyone know if you can drink on herpes medication?
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