Today is March 15, 2017, I am 65 years, 8 mos. old, and have been falling apart ever since I quit smoking on my 60th birthday... I mean, really... Prior to my 60th birthday, I had been hospitalized twice in my entire life. Once for five days, for tonsillitis in 1971, and three days, in 2002, due to my stroke. Since my 60th birthday...
Five days in 2013, for a left upper lobectomy, to remove cancerous nodules. Four days in 2015, for flu, dehydration, and the renal problems associated with dehydration. Three additional days, six months later, for dehydration, and the... Four days last September, for diverticulitis. Eight days in my first 60 years, 16 days in the last five years.
That doesn't count the numerous "procedures" I've had done over the last decade, it's probably a good thing that the records have gone digital, because I'd need a wagon to carry mine. Let's see, I had ESI's once per quarter for over 8 years, so that's 34 - 35 right there. The work-up for the Radio Frequency Ablations, the RFA's themselves, numerous x-rays, CT's, MRI's, etc., lab reports, arthroscopic hip surgery... it's too much for me to remember...
Fortunately, I am hardly a stranger to David Grant Medical Center, and that goes back to 1965, when it was up on the hill, where Base Admin now resides. I was a Navy dependent, right up until I enlisted, so having to deal with civilian doctors is still kind of new for me. The first time I ever visited Travis AFB Hospital (before the name change), was for an ear ache I developed on the day before, when we moved from Vallejo to Vacaville.
Most recently, I wrote to my Primary Care folks, complaining of pain resulting from walking distances of more than 200 yards. I got referred to Heart, Lung, and Vascular, where they did some tests revealing that somewhere just above my hips, I'm losing 20% of blood flow to the left leg. They also stated that there was also a place, somewhere around the knee, where another 10 - 20% loss of blood flow occurred. The recommendation? Angiogram/Angioplasty.
Fortunately, for me, I have a very good friend, who just happens to be a vascular radiologist, who asked me to check their conclusions with him. It turns out, angio-stuff is also done by my friend, and he has scheduled to do it one week from today. The H/L/V doc told me that Dr. Dave could do it, or they could, it was up to me. You know what? Screw all of the people who talk Schmitt about Military Medicine. I've been treated by military doctors most of my life. I placed the fate of the person I love most on this Earth (no, Mary's, not mine) in the hands of a military neural surgeon... The two doctors I trust most work at David Grant Hospital, Dr. Dave, and Dr. John V. I'm getting a growing regard for Dr. White, in Pain Management. I am at six months past the RFA's, and am still without the lower back pain that plagued me for so long, thanks to him and his staff.
I suppose I should just shut-the-heck-up, about getting older... If I were anywhere else, I'd be looking at aging, and be very frightened... Where I am, right now, knowing that I have access to quality healthcare, I look ahead and smile...
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