It’s Saturday, my “nominal” day off (nominal because I work about half the normal hours). However, it’s supposed to be cold and rainy today, and that’s a bummer. But from the pictures below, there’s a lovely spring in Dobrzyn and the trees are flowering.
A: What do you see there?
Hili: A link in a food chain.
In Polish:
Ja: Co tam widzisz?
Hili: Ogniwo łańcucha pokarmowego.
And lagniappe: A picture of Hili’s bête noire, Fitness, in the garden, with a comment by Malgorazata:
He is a beautiful cat. I only he had a bit nicer character!
And an extra picture by Andrzej of the ménage à deux walking by the Vistula.
It’s going to be 90°F here today with afternoon showers. It’s almost time for me to head back to New England. As soon as it stops being in the low-mid 30s first thing in the morning up there.
Too much lightning and overnight flooding for me to go to running club workout this morning, so I’ll have to settle for a few laps around the university track later when it clears. Have to go in anyway to care for the ever-demanding cell cultures.
Hili looks very top-of-the-food-chain in the photo! Nice to see Cyrus enjoying the spring sunshine too. 🙂
For once it is sunny hear. Chilly but sunny. I had a migraine Tues, Wed & Thurs. I had to work from home Thurs as I ached all over. The weather finally stopped being its stormy self & the air pressure got back to normal on Fri so I got relief! I’m thankful that it’s sunny, even if it’s cold! Stupid barometer brain.
*here*.
What? I can’t here you.
That’s because I’m over hear.
Hare, hare!
Har har har!
ah hah!
Oh, that’s too bad that you can find a cure for those awful migraines, Diana. Do the pills help? I understand that if it’s a case of sinus pressure, then eating cayenne or wasabi can clear up the sinuses really fast. I don’t have migraines but I do get sinus congestion, as very hot stuff like wasabi clears out the passages. You could also try flushing your sinuses with a Neti pot but you can only use sterile water with a little salt in it.
Yeah I have a Neti pot but the sinus pain with migraines is a result of the trigeminal nerve and other facial nerves getting irritated. I use Relpax which is very affective but you can’t take it a lot so after 3 days in a row you need to lay off it. Of course there is all the other fun, fatigue, stomach issues. I have a theory that I have a thyroid issue and if that got fixed, the migraines wouldn’t occur so often.
What a bummer. I hope you get a answer about the possible thyroid issue.
I came across this good site about migraines and thyroids which you might find useful, although you’ve probably already researched this thing quite well.
http://migraine.com/blog/migraine-triggers-and-co-morbidities-thyroid-disease-part-2/
Actually I hadn’t seen that article though I read the Migraine blog sometimes. It was mostly speculation on my part given that I wasn’t so sensitive to barometric pressure as I have been and given the other symptoms I have of thyroid issues (fast heartbeat, sometimes a suddenly fast heart that can go all the way up to 140 while resting, unexplainable weight gain, fatigue, over heating) that I figured it made sense that it is all working together.
Now to fight my doctor over it. He flat out refused to send me to a specialist last time but as I think I’ve mentioned before, two of my other doctors (a surgeon and an oncologist) said that I most likely have a thyroid issue.
I’m really very surprised that the doctor has refused to send you to see a specialist. What’s his beef? Years ago soon after I had my first child, I had the same symptoms as you (no migraines though, just headaches, neckaches and swollen neck plus all the other things). I had no inkling as to what was wrong but my old doctor found signs in my *blood tests* (this shouldn’t be difficult to do!) and had to chase me down to go see a great endocrinologist in Toronto. At that time the latter worked out of Etobicoke Gen. Hosp.; not sure where she is now. I also had to have ultrasounds done on my neck to check out the thyroid gland. Perhaps one of your other docs could make up a referral for you then, if the GP won’t. Time to get another GP or check back with him? You shouldn’t be suffering like this for so long.
I’ve been suffering for over 10 years like this but it’s gotten worse over the last few years. My doctor can just be an ass. He is very paternalistic and he doesn’t like it when I suggest things. I think he also thinks women are just making up their discomfort. You should’ve seen how he told me I had breast cancer – I had to drag the word, “cancer” out of him as he just kept saying “worrying results”. He told me that he didn’t like saying “cancer” because people get upset. I’m a very calm person (my prefrontal cortex works overtime) and it was ridiculous that he couldn’t even talk to me properly. I went home and told a pathologist friend over facebook chat and she told me to go get my pathology report so I did the next day. She told me what everything meant and the report clearly said cancer and the type of tumour. It wasn’t just “worrying results”. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have known what to expect until I met my surgeon and he would’ve had the task of going over everything.
Damn. Can you just ditch the ass and get a real doctor?
b&
I’m considering it. He ised to be good but now I think he hates his job and just hangs on to put his kids through school instead of retiring.
If he won’t send you to an endocrinologist after you’ve had two other doctors tell you you need to see one, that’d be all the excuse you should need.
b&
Oh, sorry, here’s Part 1 of the article too:
http://migraine.com/blog/migraine-triggers-and-co-morbidities-thyroid-disease-part-1/
Thanks for these!
I’m so sorry you’ve had to endure all of this.
In case you don’t know, you can call *Healthcareconnect* to get help to find another GP, as long as you’re *sure* you want to switch. See the link below, but here’s the healthcareconnect phone number 1-800-445-1822. Warning – sometimes they have system problems, so there could be delays.
It could take a while to find a doc, as you can imagine, but in the case of having chronic problems, you’ll most likely be triaged to near the front of the line. Talk to them first, as they’ll tell you what you’ll have to do, namely:
1) de-enroll from your current GP
and then
2) register with healthcareconnect. Again, registration can be done over the phone at 1-800-445-1822 or online at
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/ms/healthcareconnect/public/
I’ve discovered that *phoning* the Service Ontario number that they’ll give you in order to de-enroll from your current doc (1-888-218-9929) will be the *fastest* way, rather than go the online or the paper route of completing/mailing de-enrollment forms. The phone method takes a couple of business days to be processed whereas the other ways take a week or two. Then you can call back healthcare connect after 48 hours to register on the phone, or simply register online. If your online registration won’t work, it could be that your de-enrollment hasn’t been completed. (You get 3 tries and then you get locked out.) If the error message tells you to call the healthcareconnect people, then do so and they’ll help you to get registered.
If you have the name of a GP who will definitely take you, then you could give this to the healthcareconnect people or leave it to them to find someone for you. They do encourage people to keep looking for yourself.
There’s also another waiting list not connected with healthcareconnect for a group of docs at this new medical centre on The Boardwalk, if that’s not too far for you. https://northfieldmedical.ca/
A new doctor is supposed to be coming on board soon, a Dr, Kahlil. They are on the 4th floor.
There are other doctor groups on the 2nd and 3rd floors, but I understand they’re not currently taking new patients. However, they do take people off the healthcareconnect list from time to time.
Seeing that it could take a good while to get a new doctor, in the meantime you could go to a walk-in clinic and request, firstly, blood tests for thyroid issues. If there turns out to be a problem, then the doctor on duty will refer you to an endocrinologist. There seems to be a few good ones locally.
I think the de registering is what has always stopped me from changing doctors because I have a fear of running out of migraine medication.
Oh, man…that sucks.
Any way you can work up a reserve before you switch? Both get extras and bogart the supply you have?
Will emergency rooms or other physicians write prescriptions for those transitioning between doctors? What, for example, if you were traveling and needed an emergency refill, such as due to lost luggage?
I also have to wonder if your other difficulties in getting the prescription might be because of your GP’s…patronizing nature….
b&
I always try to get extra refills but np,y doctor won’t give me a bunch at once. My insurance will only pay for a refill once per month but they don’t care how many pills (bonkers I know). My doctor tried to tell me it was illegal for him to prescribe so much medication but that’s a load of crap because he prescribed me 30 days worth when I went to Australia. When I brought that up, he said “oh that is a special case” but um, the law doesn’t care about special cases if you are arguing that the law doesn’t allow you to prescribe a bunch of pills at once.
I think it is all about power plays with my doctor. He wants to win the argument, even at the cost of my health and/or comfort.
Your doctor is evil…and not in a good way….
b&
Yes, what Ben said.
If you talk to the healthcareconnect people, they should be able to advise you, rush things along for you, and help you find and reserve a spot with someone. That’s all part of their job. Also, I find that the walk-in clinic, for the interim, is quite adequate for getting a prescription, esp. if you have some of your doctor’s reports on hand. Ask your doc for copies of your records while you’re at it (there’s usually a fee for this). Would Cambridge or K-W be too far for you? Those are the only possible leads I have right now. The new medical centre I mentioned before is great in that there are labs there too! All the best, Diana.
Thanks. Those places are too far for me now that I no longer work in KW. I’d like to stick to the Hamilton area since my doctors are all here. I will try to get referred for the tests and if not find someone that will after my appointments in May. I can always leave my doctor with the phoney excuse that he is too far to drive to (that way his office will cooperate with me for files).
We are all but links in the food chain….
b&
Is Fitness fixed? If not, then doing so might help mitigate his aggressiveness. Else, use a squirty water bottle/pistol.
Love the cherry blossoms!
Fitness is castrated and the problem is not his aggression. He is not aggresive – except towards Hili but she almost always starts the quarrel. He just doesn’t like to be close to anybody. It is impossible to pat and cuddle him and he looks so cuddly…
Oh, that’s a real pity, as he’s a beauty. Treats, maybe? A pinch of dried bonito flakes like what Ben uses?