scrubjayspeaks (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
scrubjayspeaks) wrote2020-06-12 08:00 pm
scrubjayspeaks) wrote2020-06-12 08:00 pm
Entry tags:
plague journaling
Got my blood drawn today for some work in advance of my next rheumatologist appointment. Then checked in the with doctor's office to find out if the appointment is actually happening. Sort of. It's going to be a telemedicine visit, which. Hm.
I don't have a smartphone, but I do have a tablet, so this might work? Maybe? *sigh* I have some opinions about the accessibility and class issues going on underneath this shift to virtual everything. I'm also trying to imagine what it will be like talking to my doctor via video chat when he barely seems to cope with in-person meetings.
I have to decide how much I want to try to accomplish during this appointment. I have concerns about the resurgence of joint pain and fatigue despite medication. I have concerns about my heart, in part because of that fatigue, in part because of the medication. (Also in part because everyone keeps telling my blood pressure is too high but stubbornly refuses to provide any treatment beyond telling me I ought to lose weight. Fucking thanks. My father started on BP medicine around my age--maybe we could just, you know, treat me also???)
On the other hand, all I really need is for him to renew my prescription for another six months. Is it worth it to try to get actual medical care beyond that, given the current circumstances? Should I just try to keep it as simple as possible and get out quick?
Of course, this presumes that nothing unusual shows up in the bloodwork. Which. As always, I'm caught in the weird disability paradox of wanting to be better/not sick and wanting to be worse so that my illness actually gets taken seriously. That's the shorthand version, anyway. Technically, what I want is for there to be concrete evidence that quantifies the degree to which I am already sick, so that my subjective experience can't be dismissed as overreaction. It's just that would necessarily have to manifest as some horrifying anomaly in my bloodwork, which isn't exactly ideal, you know?
Anyway. Medical care during an ongoing pandemic! Fun!
I don't have a smartphone, but I do have a tablet, so this might work? Maybe? *sigh* I have some opinions about the accessibility and class issues going on underneath this shift to virtual everything. I'm also trying to imagine what it will be like talking to my doctor via video chat when he barely seems to cope with in-person meetings.
I have to decide how much I want to try to accomplish during this appointment. I have concerns about the resurgence of joint pain and fatigue despite medication. I have concerns about my heart, in part because of that fatigue, in part because of the medication. (Also in part because everyone keeps telling my blood pressure is too high but stubbornly refuses to provide any treatment beyond telling me I ought to lose weight. Fucking thanks. My father started on BP medicine around my age--maybe we could just, you know, treat me also???)
On the other hand, all I really need is for him to renew my prescription for another six months. Is it worth it to try to get actual medical care beyond that, given the current circumstances? Should I just try to keep it as simple as possible and get out quick?
Of course, this presumes that nothing unusual shows up in the bloodwork. Which. As always, I'm caught in the weird disability paradox of wanting to be better/not sick and wanting to be worse so that my illness actually gets taken seriously. That's the shorthand version, anyway. Technically, what I want is for there to be concrete evidence that quantifies the degree to which I am already sick, so that my subjective experience can't be dismissed as overreaction. It's just that would necessarily have to manifest as some horrifying anomaly in my bloodwork, which isn't exactly ideal, you know?
Anyway. Medical care during an ongoing pandemic! Fun!