433) In which Jack walks out before his appointment

May 30, 2012

Wednesday

Home:  Some notes about the last week: I had an appointment last Friday (the 25th) at NAMC to go in and have Doc Lewis look at my blood pressure chart I'd been keeping since my last clinic visit.  Well, I found out the appointment was on the 25th on the 24th, when Maxine called to remind me of the appointment.  I thought the appointment was scheduled on Tuesday, the 29th, after we returned from the first weekend of the Kerrville Folk Festival.


NAMC:  So... when I shot up to the clinic on Friday morning for my 10 o'clock appointment, I had to take Liz's mini-van cause my truck was full of watermelons to take to the KFF kitchen that morning.  I was early to NAMC and they told me I needed to get lab work (which I found out today was wrong).  I rushed to the lab and got my blood drawn and peed in a cup, then dashed on down to the Transplant clinic for my 10 a.m. appointment.

"We're running about 20 minutes late", I was told, so I went and got a blueberry scone and waited and waited and waited.  After 11 a.m. I finally decided I had to get those watermelons down to Kerrville, so I begged off my appointment and left my blood pressure charts (see image right) for Dr. Lewis to review.  I felt bad... but decided I had to leave because they were running way way later than ever before and I had watermelons to deliver. 


So, jump to today.  As I was considering emailing Patti she called me to report on Dr. Lewis' review of my charts... they look good to him so he wants me to stick right with my current meds schedule.  Creatinine is 1.3 and my cholesterol is 117 so all is good.


I explained my Friday story to Patti and she understood... and we went over the calendar for next visit... they have me on the calendar for July 24 and in the computer as July 20 (when I will be in El Paso doing training).  So, maybe these calendar differences are not all my ADD operating.  

I shared that I am going in for my shaving (TURP) on July 23 so we scheduled me for labs early on July 23, and they will find a way for Dr. Lewis to see me shortly after my procedure...  and let me know via phone or email.  So it goes!

In the News: Just heard this story on NPR ~~ "Trichakis and his colleagues decided to try to figure out how to balance fairness and efficiency in kidney transplants. They spent last summer building a sophisticated computer model that included thousands of variables and decades of data on organs and patients and medical outcomes.

At the end of the summer, they ran their model against the formula doctors currently use to allocate kidneys. Trichakis' model was just as fair as the current system— and enormously more efficient." Read the article  by clicking here: NPR Planet Money