Well, sorta. I have to wait till tomorrow to see if my arm gets all weird from the TB test, but really, the applications are done.

 

I went to the doctor yesterday. Seriously long overdue appointment. I didn’t think I had medical insurance since losing my previous job in 2009. and being self-employed, well, I didn’t have it, or so I thought. But discovered last summer that I have medicare. Still it took guide dog training to get me into the doctor.

 

The appointment was okay. I have kinda mixed feelings about the doc. He wasn’t bad in any way. He spoke directly to me, and not to my friend who accompanied me. After one greeting to Olga, he ignored her. I appreciated all that. But he’s an internist and he’d never heard of JRA, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

 

a quick aside here to explain JRA. I was born with this condition. It is an auto-immune disease. It is not like adult rheumatoid arthritis or old age osteo. it does attack the joints in a classic rheumatoid way. The type I have is called poly articulate–probably spelling that wrong–and systemic. This means it can affect several or many joints. It also means it can affect things like the optic nerve, heart, kidneys, liver, lungs and so on. It’s what caused my blindness. I also have it in many joints, in fact, every joint. So far, it has not caused me any trouble to my internal organs, but it’s something that has to be watched for as I age. When I was about three, the doctors fused my right knee which was affected enough that I couldn’t walk. Over the years, the other knee has been replaced as have both hips. I have chronic pain and lots of limited range of motion and stiffness in many joints.

 

Okay, so it’s something an internist should know about, and I was a bit disturbed that he hadn’t heard of it. however, he did say he was going to study up on it, since I’m  his patient, and if he does, I applaud that.

 

We discussed my need for prescription meds for my arthritis. I’ve been taking ibuprofen and too much over the counter crap bothers my stomach. I also talked about my insomnia trouble. so, he prescribed some new meds for the arthritis and I’m trying a sleeping pill for a few days to see if it helps break the pattern and gets me back to sleeping through the night.

 

He filled out my paperwork for the guide dog applications and I got the TB test done. I had to go get lab work of course, and it was over. yay. Tomorrow morning, my friend can look at my arm and see that it is normal, not swollen, red, or any other weirdness, and then I can fax the forms into GDB and GEB. yayayayay!!!

 

On a funny note, my boss forgot I had told him about the doctor appointment a month ago. So, he was calling and sending texts, none of which I got till I got home. I went right to work once I was home. But I found the email in my sent items and was able to prove that I had indeed told him about it in advance! Crazy. But really, you’d think after four years, he’d know I wouldn’t just flouce showing up to work without giving him some kind of notification.

 

One thing that’s been cool for me is that people from both schools have check in with me regularly to see how the process is going. Nancy, the one who interviewed me for GDB, emails ever few days to check in. The nurse from GEB emailed yesterday just to remind me that they still needed my medical form. I just like that people are keeping in touch, even with all the applications they deal with regularly.

 

So, barring my arm turning tino a TB notification zone, tomorrow the papers will be faxed and those fapplications will be complete!!!! Then I just have to wait to hear from them,a nd then go on the waiting list, as usual, for an easy to handle dog. Oh boy. I can’t wait! I’d be bouncing up and down a la alice Cullen, if it wasn’t 4AM and I hadn’t had a whole cup of coffee yet!

 

Oh, one more cool point about which I’m excited. I’ve been having a lot of trouble with my left hip, particularly when I have to go up stairs or curbs. Since my right knee is fused, when I have to do curbs or stairs, I have to use the left leg to put my weight on since it bends. Well, it’s been hurting a lot to do that for upcurbs or stairs. But yesterday, when I had to step up that humongous step to the exam table in the doc office, I was able to do it with no trouble and no pain. Much as I hate it, the exercise I’ve been doing for the past six weeks is really paying off!!!!