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Bit of a dud, the new member of what I jokingly call my “medical team”.
Though perhaps it isn’t fair to judge someone on a three-minute encounter, since that is what it amounted to.
Clearly a man in a tearing hurry, that.
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Maybe it didn’t help that he looks like a serial-killer.
And perhaps it’s just that I’ve become so jaded. In truth, I hadn’t expected much.
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It wasn’t my idea to seek out another specialist, but my heart occasionally behaves erratically and foolishly, I mentioned a recent somewhat more noticeable episode to my doctor who ordered tests and then referred me to cardiology.
In the three minutes I was afforded, I was offered two further tests and told I need not stay up at night worrying, which I wasn’t in any case.
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“Follow me and I’ll show you where to go”, he said, sailing out of the room.
By the time I got to the door, he’d disappeared, but a nice lady happened by and sorted me out.
I left the place feeling as if I’d been expedited. The nurse, who’d performed the fastest-ever EKG, told me she does about 30 of those a day.
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These photographs are from Tuesday’s trip to Clifton Park where I had some nerves zapped in my right shoulder.
That doctor is my favourite team member.
He has the kindest smile and does not treat me like an old nuisance.
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You may be thinking me over-sensitive, but the first time I felt dismissed because of my age, I was only 40.
It was when neck pain began and I was told that I would have to live with it.
A term I’ve heard a few times since!
…
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Some people are getting tired of the snow.
The heating bills are a bit steep these days, but I am still a fan of Winter.
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Must be a month since we came this way before because there’s the moon in the same place again.
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Stillwater, across the frozen Hudson.
The renovated house just before the bridge has still not sold and it’s hard to imagine anyone buying property just now, yet everywhere For Sale signs are going up.
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Now is indeed the Winter of our discontent.
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Which makes a glorious morning the more enjoyable.
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These past weeks of harsh weather and bitter cold have had a very bad effect on our roads.
The last two road trips reminded me of days in my childhood when my father drove us over pot-holed roads in Southeast Asia.
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Can we count on our roads to be repaired this summer?
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Personally, I’m not counting on anything.
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Strangely, I am not burdened by depression, despite the awfulness of current affairs.
Maybe when I cast off a lifetime of depression, I rid myself of the ability. If that is so, I am truly blessed.
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Worry, anxiety. Where have they gone?
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It would be foolish to imagine them gone for good, but I’ll accept whatever reprieve I am granted!
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Coming back from Clifton Park, we travelled along the west bank of the Hudson.
Frozen over it appears much narrower.
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Icicles in Greenwich.
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Although there was a good bit of cloud, it was a very bright day and I was struck by the depth of shadows/
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This was reinforced in the afternoon when I went out to make additions to the ice sculpture and caught the shadow of the house on the snow.
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The first sculpture melted in the space of one warm afternoon, but with the return of freezing temperatures I began again.
This time was different, building on the ruins, as it were and faced with daily warming.
Then came periods of snow.
This, I think, is called a conglomeration.
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Late afternoon shadows.
And the many footprints.
Only at this time of year do we realise the amount of traffic which passes through every day.
It always delights me.
Thank you, Carolyn, for the interesting update on your activities! I am glad that you feel good and share the photos of the sky.
Joanna
Doctors have been put on the insurance treadmill. It’s why the forms asking all those questions in the pre-visit stage. The electronic medical record was supposed to make medicine easier and aid communication. But now it serves as a way to create more diagnoses and more tests by facilitating insurance coding.
Great snow pics!
Oh yes. I’ve been watching the medical world degenerate for years. I can’t imagine the frustration of working in that world.
You make me wonder: What does a serial killer look like? I like your photos where the snow lies piled up against the road – they almost look like small white waves. As for your ice structures, that might make people driving past your house wonder what strange phenomena they are! Love the little footprints!
Whenever I went to see my doctor in London, or attended appointments at University College Hospital, I always felt like a ‘number’, as if I was being processed in a factory. So I know exactly how you felt. Since moving to Norfolk, the opposite is true, and I really cannot fault the NHS in this county.
Best wishes, Pete.