I took the day off of work because I had a doctor's appointment and this doctor always runs unpredictably late. I figured I'd use the extra time to get some holiday shopping done. Needless to say nothing went as planned.
I was late getting out of the door because I was coughing so much. The hospital was pretty close and traffic wasn't too bad. Unfortunately there was no parking. The few spots that opened up were immediately taken by other cars ahead of me. I circled around for over 20 minutes before I left the parking structure and pulled up front where some employees looked like they might be doing valet service. Thankfully it was a valet drop off point. It took me about 10 minutes to get through that line. By the time I got to my pulmonary function test appointment it was already 9:30 and I was supposed to be in my doctor's office for my 2nd appointment. The receptionist ended up calling up to the doctor and asking what they wanted to do and they ended up rescheduling my test and sending me to see the doctor first. He's just on a different floor of the hospital. I'd come back after I as done seeing him.
As I'm sitting in the doctor's waiting room, coughing, a man and woman were sitting across from me, and he spoke up offering me a cough drop. I politely declined and said the issue was my lungs not my throat. I mean I'm sitting there attached to an oxygen tank so I thought that would be obvious. But then I look hear him say something and I look up and he's now standing near me holding out a small travel sized bottle of hand lotion. Which I also declined. I thought it was weird. He's being nice, but standing in a way I can only think of as protectively polite between me and his wife who I don't think has even looked our way the entire time. Apparently she'd had a heart transplant and had a suppressed immune system. Thankfully the nurse called me back pretty quick.
So the doctor's not happy with how little weight I've lost. I've been telling him that this is a bad day and he's worried about my lungs declining and starts talking about hospitalizing me to control my diet and force exercise and more closely monitor my oxygen usage. I'm trying to tell him I'm just ******** stressed out. On the plus side he agreed to wait to see test results before he recommended anything. And he will hopefully help me get something to help with the anxiety.
I ended up doing the PFT and breathing tests. The doctor had his assistant call me and clear me to go home. Then I got the lovely task of driving home on slushy streets while it was snowing very lightly. And I had no energy left, and very little oxygen left in my tank, for doing anything else. Even if the streets hadn't been so bad.
And then I come home and crash. And I just feel frazzled. Because now I have to shovel. My lungs hurt. I'm tired. I don't want to go back outside. We're supposed to get more snow overnight.
Tsumi Nanase Community Member 
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