How many ways can I hate the current medical system? Here's the conversation I had yesterday, trying to get the results from tests I had done last week. Doctor's office = DO. I spoke to Debbie yesterday.

Me: Hi, I'm calling about the results for tests I had done 
    last week.  I'm wondering how they turned out.

DO: Your doctor will mail you the results of your tests.  
    If there are any abnormal results, he'll call you.

Me: My doctor is out of town until the end of the week.  Can
    you just tell me if the results are positive or negative?

DO: No, I can't do that.  The results will be mailed out.

Me: Look, the tests were checking for intestinal parasites.  
    I have a referral to another doctor if the test is 
    positive.  Can you just tell me that?

DO: Oh, okay.  What's your chart number?

Me: It's [chart number]

DO: The results aren't back yet.  They were sent out on the
    first of September.  Can you call back tomorrow?

Me: Sent out?  Good to know.  I'll call back tomorrow.  
    Thanks!

Well, here it is tomorrow, so I call again. This time, Cynthia answers the phone.

Me: Hi, I'm calling to see if my test results are in.  I was
    told yesterday that the results can't be given out over 
    the phone, but I just need a positive or a negative result.

DO: I can't do that.  I can leave a message for your doctor to
    give you a call back.

Me: My doctor is out of town until the end of the week, so 
    that won't work.  Can you see if the results are in?

DO: No, I can leave a message for the on-call doctor.

Me: To see if the results were back?  Can't you just look it 
    up?

DO: I don't have access to the records.

Me: Okay, can you transfer me to someone in the lab who does?

DO: The lab is closed from 1 to 2 for lunch break.  I can have 
    the on-call doctor call you back.

I hung up. I'll call back after 2:30. Maybe someone else will be able to help.

My trip to Indiana has been cancelled. That would be my "invited on Tuesday, tried to leave on Friday, and again on Saturday, discovered Dad's bike didn't run on Sunday, decide against it at 9:00 on Sunday night" road trip to Indiana.

The original plan was to get all my work done by Friday (no small feat: with work for the UPA, GCP, Mike and Greg), drive down to L.A. on Saturday, drive to Phoenix on Sunday, and be ready to drive to Indiana on Monday. Dad was going to drive his bike from Flagstaff to Indiana, and I was going to drive my car behind him.

There were various permutations on this theme (drive Kris' car, take Bella with me, leave on Friday, etc.). The latest variation was drive to Salt Lake City and meet Dad, who would drive up from Flagstaff. A hard day for me, a better day for Dad. The detour added an extra day and 300 miles to Dad's trip home.

Well, Dad spent the better part of today working on the bike, cleaning out the carberators. When he talked to Linda, she wanted him home by Wednesday, as she covers for him and needed his help. She suggested he sell the bike, and just fly home.
When I called, I suggested the same.

We talked a while, and the end result was Dad bought a ticket to fly home on Tuesday. He suggested I drive to Flagstaff and the two of us would drive back to Indiana together. I was so tempted, but the drive is 750 miles to pick him up, then another 1670 miles to Indiana. Dad was a little surprised at that number. He thought the distance was 1000 to 1100 miles. Not by car. So, for my health, we decided he'd fly.

I'm sad I'm not going to spend a week with Dad. But we'll fix that by my visiting for a week soon. I'm looking forward to the trip. I'm also a bit relieved: my hamstring and ribs could not handle 36 hours of driving in 3 days. I'd be popping Advil like candy, wishing I'd brought the codeine.

Went to see Marina again today. Mostly as a followup to Monday's appointment, where we discussed my ongoing health problems, and may have finally found the root cause. I had ultrasound done on my ribs, for both theraputic and diagnostic reasons. Essentially if it hurt, I had a fracture. If it didn't, I had damaged ligaments. Turns out, the rib that hurt didn't have pain when the ultrasound wand was rubbed over it (yay!), but oddly enough the rib below it burned when the ultrasound was rubbed over it. I don't think that we realized that the next rib down could be fractured, all I know is that it hurt, and I teared up from the pain.

The downside to the appointment is that I'm not to run or, as a result, play ultimate for another two weeks. Two Weeks! Bah. Stupid rib. Who needs them anyway? Walking and stationary bike riding are fine. Running and swimming (!) are not .

So, as I'm on the mend, Kris stepped in with a doozie.

He messenged me around 1:30, telling me he had bad stomach pains, and that he was coming home. I told him I'd come get him if he'd like, just call me. Around 2:00 he did just that, and I drove up to Oracle to pick him up. Instead of our usual trip to the emergency room, we went to his gastroenterologist first. He was, thankfully, in and able to see Kris. We immediately high-tailed it to the emergency room of the hospital 100 yards down the street. An hour later, Kris was in la-la land, drugged beyond easy speech.

So, we're quite the pair. If both of our issues (tummy and head) collide on the same day, well, we'll be in trouble.

My ribs are still really, really, really sore. I think I was especially excited yesterday that I was feeling good, and over-exerted myself in my enthusiasm. I'm really uncomfortable sitting. I'm uncomfortable standing. I'm really uncomfortable lying down. The problem with lying down is that I need to lift my right arm to stretch my ribcage so that my ribs are comfortable. The stretching isn't the problem so much as the injury I have to my shoulder, making lifting my arm over my shoulder for a long period of time also quite painful.

Sigh.

I went to both Marina and my general practioner yesterday. My main complaints were of:

• achy joints

  You can't tell me my joins are achy because I'm old or because I exercise, because I'm not going to believe you. The onset of said achiness was quite sudden, about a month ago, and the sudden onset of anything is a symptom of something, be it illness or trauma)

• pain after eating

  Anything. After eating anything. Even after drinking water, my stomach hurt. My lower stomach always hurts about 20+ minutes after eating. It's to the point where I don't want to eat, and find myself going longer and longer between meals because meals hurt.

• general malaise, fatigue

  Sure I'm getting old, does that mean I should be tired all the time?

• inability to recover after exercise

  Sure, I'd have plyos on Monday and Wednesday, track on Tuesday, practice on Sunday and Thursday, but sheesh, I should be able to recover somewhat.

Unfortunately, I've had a few other experiences that I'll not relate at this moment, that have made me suspect the root cause of all these problems. I have two tests to take to confirm the self diagnosis, so we'll see if I'm correct.

Here's hoping I am, as I'd really like to be healthy again.

As of this evening, I'm joining the ranks of I Got Jacked Up and Broken Bella Beagle. I was smooshed in a collision with Ben, and, well, hurt all over.

At practice today, as I was cutting back into the stack, and moving backward with the stack, I turned to the sideline where Melody had the disc, and saw no one was cutting for her (we were all clearing to the stack). Being in the front of the stack means I shouldn't cut, but, well, the count was at 4 at least, and someone needed to get there. I had Steffi on me (freaking fast Steffi), so I had to cut hard.

Cut hard I did to the sideline. Melody saw me and put up the disc. A little high, but still catchable. Hard hard hard to the disc.

In a good heads-up, Ben saw the disc go up and moved off his man to the disc. I was still determined to get that disc, so I continued to go to hard hard hard.

We collided.

As I was reaching up for the disc, our shoulders hit. As I'm much smaller than Ben (125# to about 190#), I bounced off him. My center of gravity is lower than my waist, so I pivoted around that point on impact. My feet swept under Ben's feet, taking him out, too.

After I was hit, I started screaming, and closed my eyes. WHAM! I hit the ground, knees, hips, right wrist, head. Down came Ben on top, smooshing me, knees, hips, chest, head. Total smoosh.

I lay there, unable to breath, unable to move, eyes closed, tears spilling from my eyes. I sensed people surrounding me, then heard Rick say, "Take a deep breath." I stopped panting and tried to take a deep breath. No good.

I was asked what hurt. What didn't hurt? At that moment, I couldn't figure out how to answer what hurt, because my head, my ribs, my shoulder, my wrist, my hips and my knees hurt. I answered my knee.

Someone (Lisa?) placed a hand on my right side, and I screamed (moderately, but as much as I could manage), and tried to get the hand off me. I couldn't stand up, but needed to try.

Somehow, I stood up and looked at my left knee. It had a bulge about the size of a walnut. And it hurt. I tried to walk on it, but it was stiff. Whitney offered a shoulder to help me walk, but I asked him to carry me to the bags. He did. When we arrived, Keith handed me a bag of ice. He had seen me go down and took off to the 7-11 for ice. Keith is so great.

After sitting for a moment, I realized my right side hurt, and I moved the ice pack Brynne had given me from my knee to my ribs.

So, at the end of the day, I was smooshed by Ben. I think my ribs are only bruised and not broken, as I can take a deep breath without sharp pain. But I'm unable to stand up without severe help with my left arm.

Time to become ambidextrous!