Bizarre doctor's visit....

Today I woke up with the same severe chest pain as I went to be with the night before. My plan of "sleeping it off" did not work and I came to the equally painful decision of going to an Urgent Care facility to get it checked out. Now, anyone who knows me, knows I loathe going to the doctor. I see it as a waste of time if you don't have symptoms that are obviously one illness or another. I have had too many experiences of waiting for hours in cold, depressing and uncomforable waiting rooms only to find out from the doctor that I have something he or she cannot treat and I should just go home, tough it out and wait for it to run it's course. Now, I feel that much worse because not only do I feel awful from being sick in the first place, but now I have exposed myself to the toxic germs of all those other people waiting to see the doctor and I have made whatever I had worse because I had to leave the comfort of my bed at home and venture out into the world of cold winds (because it seems that you get the worst symptoms when it is the coldest outside) and high-backed plastic chairs.

My sad story today does end with antibiotics that will supposedly help me get better but my faith in these pills and potions was not helped by the bizarre 4 minute dianogsis I received from the urgent care physician. That's right, he declared he knew exactly what was wrong with me after 4 minutes (most of that time which was spent listening to me breathe). In a dizzying fast explanation of my symptoms, he described to me that (and this is what I think he said as I couldn't process all the medical jargon he threw at me, no matter how many Grey's Anatomy episodes I have seen) I had some sort of viral infection which had probably turned bacterial and spread to my chest. This in turn had caused the joints in my ribcage to swell which was causing my pain in breathing. I tried to be a good patient and ask more questions to understand exactly what was wrong with me. My first question was given a rapid-fire answer which I don't remember from him standing in the doorframe, hand on the door knob. He didn't wait for me to ask another, he just left without saying another word. So completely bizarre.

On top of this, the nurse who took my vitals and asked me preliminary questions had the foulest mouth I have ever heard in a doctor's office. She took my temperature with a digital thermometer but forgot to put the sterile plastic covering on it. After realizing this, she proceeded to wash it with what I can only assume to be cold water from the sink and said to herself "Man, why do I always have to f*$king forget that?" Then when she returned to the examining room after the doctor had left, she was supposed to explain to me the doctor's instructions for my medication. She said, and I quote, "God, I can't read this f**ker's handwriting!" My mouth and Rouzbeh's literally dropped open at this point.

I was so happy to leave that place and will never go back. If you live in Tucson, it is the Urgent Care facility on Swan, just north of Speedway. NEVER GO THERE!!!!

Iowa update...

Since last I posted I have been to Massachusetts and back. I was hoping for some of the snow that I remembered from when I was a wee one but alas, there was only cold. I had a wonderful time with Memere and saw a few relatives. It's sad though that so many are gone. It seemed that while the conversations here in Ottumwa focus on new things, lives, relationships, etc. in MA it's who is in a nursing home, who died, who is about to die, how long its been since someone died...quite depressing stuff. But Memere is healthy and living well and that's all that really matters to me. Bryan hadn't been there since Pepere passed away 8 years ago so he was quite a surprise to everyone. (he's grown quite a bit) We went to mass at Notre Dame parish which is an amazing church. It's worth a trip to Southbridge just to see it. I believe it was originally built to be a cathedral for the bishop but then plans changed and I became a parish church with absolutely gorgeous architecture and lines...inside there are handpainted frescoes, three story high ceilings...It almost makes going to church a more holy experience! We opened presents after we came back and it was definitely Memere's Christmas with all the presents she got from everybody.

We returned to Iowa the day after Christmas to some very cold weather. I got to see Ashley that night which was great as I haven't seen her in ages. We quickly caught up on things while baking in the new hot tub.

Tonight we had our family Christmas. Presents all around and I think everyone was happy with what they got.

Only two more days until I'm back in Tucson. It's strange because it's as if time has moved at two different speed simultaneously this trip...it's moving fast because I've been with my family and friends but slow because I'm away from Rouzbeh and my Tucson friends. I guess I'm just in that all too familiar place of wishing I was in two places at once.

So ends another evening...

The day is coming to a close. It's my 3rd day at home but tonight was the first time that I saw any old friends (on purpose anyway, I ran into Ben Lemon at Coralville Mall on Sunday. He is working at the Cookie Factory). We had lots of laughs, exchanged gifts and got caught up on all the gossip. It seems that most of the gossip now is who is engaged, married or pregnant. You gotta love being from a small town...everyone knows everyone else's business.

I also went to the dentist today and got my mouth ripped apart. Apparently I haven't been flossing enough...I swore to be better, drink more water and such but at a restaurant with my dad a half hour later I ordered a diet pepsi...

I have been truly trying to get back in the habit of exercising and I think it is working. It's hard not to exercise when my mother has a state-of-the-art gym in our basement. I get to watch television on a flat screen while I run. Very nice.

Tomorrow I'm driving up to Des Moines to see Erin and Cristan. I'll spend the night up there with them and then go to the airport bright and early Thursday morning to catch a plane to Massachusetts. I can't wait to see Memere!!

Til next time...

A few pictures...

Just thought I'd post some of my favorite pictures of my recent trip with my parents to the Bahamas.

Us in the lobby area around the casino at the Atlantis resort...notice I still have long hair

Ta da! Now I have short hair! This is my mom and I at a family style Italian restaurant in the Marina Village

Well, this picture is a little blurry but I'm swimming with the dolphins!

And for those of you whom I haven't talked to in a while, this is a picture of my wonderful boyfriend Rouzbeh :) This picture was taken at my 23rd birthday dinner when my mother flew down from Iowa to be with me.

Invitation replies....

I can't tell you how wonderful it was to get such quick responses from people about my invitations. I love and miss all you guys so much. I hope that you all know that you have made a difference in my life and I am the better for having known you!

I promise I'll keep updating this even when I'm home in Iowa for the next two weeks. I'd love to hear what everyone is up to as well so email if you can. I've gotten a little (okay that is an understatement!) behind on my Christmas cards this year so I might be sending out New Year's cards to everyone! But that doesn't mean I've forgotten about you!!! It just means that my crazy anthropology class has gotten the best of me and sucked out all the usable braincells I have left.

I'm off to drop off my last paper and then its cleaning and packing!

Clean slate...

Well, I have decided that the world out there is just too scary to have an open blog with my personal information scattered all over it so I've changed it so that it is just available to whom ever I choose to invite and it is cleared of all potential information for identity theives. That said, I think an update is in order.

It is the last week of finals here at University and I only have one paper left. It's due tomorrow at 5p and I still haven't started it (!) but it will be alright. I figure I'll whip it out in about 4 hours tomorrow. I just got back from a Beethoven party with Rouzbeh which was a lot of fun. It was at the house of his old piano teacher. The food was good and the company was fantastic...I can't wait to go to their next party, a Chopin one I believe, in January.

Well, I apologize for the shortness but I must go to bed as I have to be at my best tomorrow!