2023 has certainly delivered its fair share of uncensored bullshit into my life. Especially in the final months, which included Canada Revenue Agency auditing me and discovering an error on my previous year’s filing, making me liable for thousands of dollars. Despite this being my accountant’s fault, they’ll only cover a small portion of the cost, causing me to incur significant debt for the first time in over three years. Then, my mother’s cheese slid off her cracker and I had to travel back to New Brunswick to have her committed to a home.; something no child ever relishes having to do.
In November of 2023, my bi-yearly visit to the endocrinologist revealed that my kidneys were struggling and I was told that I need to both sharpen my blood sugar control, which was only out of whack for a few months as a result of all the stress, travel and poor diet in dealing with my mother, and to lose weight. That last one is a bit of a kick in the teeth, since I exercise often and am by no means obese or even fat. But i was placed on Ozempic which, if you’ve been following mainstream media, you’re aware comes with it’s own set of side effects and complications.
To add just a bit of shit-flavoured icing on an other terrible cake, my oldest son, Nathan, was diagnosed with bronchitis in late November, which effectively ruined his ninth birthday. The issue beyond HIS immediate health, is that I started coughing soon thereafter, and have been coughing ever since. Yes, you read that right; I’ve been coughing throughout the entire month of December and as of time of writing this post, I’m still hacking, albeit on medication now. Here’s my story of the clinic visit…
Despite the fact that some of the women in my life would be likely to say that I was just being stubborn and should have gotten my cough checked out weekend ago, It’s not uncommon for me to ignore a cough or a runny nose for a week or two as it can potentially be just a common cold, which doesn’t really warrant a doctor’s visit. Given how taxed our healthcare system is in Saskatchewan and Canada as a whole, the last thing it needs is one more person clambering for antibiotics for a simple cold. Plus, given that as a Type-1 Diabetic, I catch almost every little bug that floats by, I’m inclined to simply fight my way through most things as opposed to seeking medical help. Call me stubborn at your peril… But I digress…
Once we returned home on New Year’s Day, I committed to hitting up a walk-in clinic on January 2. Since I had to work that day, I only made it there a short period after 5 pm, and the expected wait time was well over three hours. Here’s where I can admit that my stubborn streak comes out because there was no way in hell I was sitting in a clinic until 8 or 9 pm just to be told I have a cough and to take cough syrup and get some sleep. I left without seeing anybody and made my way home. Since I’ve suffered significant injuries in the past, including broken ribs and muscle damage, I had leftover muscle relaxants that weren’t expired. One of those babies got me some sleep through Tuesday night.
On Wednesday morning, I seemed to be coughing significantly more and some of the staff were beginning to voice concerns about my health and being in the office. They’re such a concerned bunch of fuckers. But seriously, one of my employees asked why I was waiting for after work when most people attended clinics and not going right away. I decided that her advice was sound and that despite my work load, I should contribute an hour or two to attend a clinic immediately. So, on Wednesday morning at 9:45 am, I left the office for the walk-in clinic. The time will become important as we I write on. Just bear with me…
I arrived at the clinic and presented myself, confirming that they were in fact, accepting walk-ins. The receptionist confirmed that they were. I sat down and began the long process of waiting my turn. At one point, I suffered a bout of extremes coughing. Just to clarify, I’m not an idiot and I’m very aware of the state of the world as we live in it. By virtue of this, I wore a mask into the clinic because I knew I’d be coughing. As I hacked, coughed and nearly threw up, the man in the seat ahead of me turned around and suggested that I “shouldn’t be out in public if I’m coughing this much…” I was a bit taken aback and I wasn’t sure how to respond.
I told him that this was a doctor’s office and that I was there specifically BECAUSE of my cough and that it was the place to be. He once again told me I should be around this many people with such a cough. I wound up telling him that if he was uncomfortable with my cough, he was more than welcome to leave. He apparently didn’t accept that invitation. Jackass. I swear, some people are always trying to ice skate uphill! Telling a sick person they shouldn’t be in a doctor’s office because of a cough??? What the fuck is wrong with you, dude? Were you dropped on your fuckin’ head? Last week? Maybe that’s why HE was at the doctor’s office. But once again, I digress…
I finally got into the exam room at about 12:15 pm, about two hours after my arrival. Not so bad in the grand scheme of things. I waited for another half hour, however. Once the doctor came in, he asked the typical generic stuff about allergies and whether or not I was a smoker. I explained that it’s been four weeks and I tried every over the counter remedy prior to visiting a doctor. I was concerned he’d say that since it’s been four weeks, it should pass shortly and there was nothing he could give me. Thankfully, I had a serious coughing spell WHILE he was listening to my chest.
Between the coughing and the background I gave him, he identified a bacterial infection in my lungs and prescribed some appropriate meds for me, including an inhaler to help with my breathing. I was glad he took things seriously and actually provided something to assist. As of time of writing, I’m still coughing a fair bit but I am starting to feel better. The lesson here is that one should never ignore illnesses for long periods of time; especially if you have Type-1 Diabetes. So although it was likely a good thing not to jump to the doctor’s office in the first week or so of my cough, I likely should have gone for help sooner, given the nature of what was found. One simply needs to balance the inconvenience and availability of the wait time versus healing properly. ☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 