The doctor will see you now…

With enough butterflies in my stomach to attract a lepidopterist, I arrived at my appointment Thursday morning to see my newly-acquired family physician…and was not entirely optimistic.  (It’s just a personal philosophy I’ve adopted over the years—if pressed, I was probably influenced by Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst from Mel Brooks’ The Twelve Chairs.)  As I had feared, the retake on the bloodwork didn’t add anything new to the equation; the doc explained to me that in the five stages of kidney functions, I was in the middle at Stage 3—my kidneys are sluggish and not expelling wastes the way they should.  (Stage 5 is dialysis.  We don’t want that.)

The reason for the lethargic kidneys is that I am diabetic.  But here’s the rub: because my kidneys aren’t doing well on their performance evaluations, I can’t take something like the Metformin pill because that’ll do an even worse number on your kidneys.  So I will have to take insulin, and for someone who isn’t exactly leaping into large piles of money like Scrooge McDuck this will take somewhat of a financial toll.  Ask me how I know this.  Well, my father takes insulin (he, too, is diabetic) and even though he’s on Medicare a substantial amount of wherewithal is required to keep him supplied with that medication.  (There was a time when my sister Kat was in charge of a camp that catered to diabetic kids and whatever insulin was left over—since they were required to chuck it out anyway—she’d bring home for Dad.  But those days have come and gone.)

I’ll also have to make major changes to my diet, which won’t be too much of a struggle, but just as I was adjusting to this news I take a stroll down to our mailbox and I find an invoice for all that lab work.  Modesty prevents me from revealing the amount owed in the bill…but I have often joked in the past, it was big enough to be a William.  I was able to get in touch with the lab’s customer service department and negotiate a payment plan…but that doesn’t even take in what I’ll owe for the “retakes.”  Then there’s the appointment with the endocrinologist to figure out how I’m going to tackle this medical setback.  (When it rains…it pours.)

So activity on the blog will be sparse for the rest of the week—I’ve got a pair of assignments to finish up, and I can’t take on any TDOY activity until I empty out that inbox.  I do want to profusely thank everyone in both Yesteryearland and Classic Movie Bloggerland for the swell well wishes you sent my way when I first broke the news on my medical complaints.  We’ll get together here back on the blog real soon.