Doctor calls, doctor visits, doctor updates. ugh

The Bermuda triangle has converged at the Gore household and all 3 ladies of the home have been sucked into Doctor world with upcoming visits.  Just the very thought sends shivers down my spine.  

Why?  Well, thanks for asking.  My parents didn't frequent the doctor's office with me as a kid but the few times I went, I left with them scratching their head, "I don't know what it is."  (A phrase that has become all too common in my world!)  The axiom "If you hear hooves, think horses, not zebras" comes to mind.  Most doctors say to me, "It's not like any horse I've ever seen."  

Then you add the fact that in their attempt to help, I am often worse off than before.  Quick example:  Summer 2008 kids got strep, I got strep. I have had allergic reactions to antibiotics before so I held out going to the doctor until my heart started being affected.  I went.  Drug. Allergy.  Rash.  Stop drug.  Rash wouldn't go away.  Now I have strep AND a rash.  (How is THAT better?)  Doctor says a drug allergy would have gone away by now ... this doesn't look like it but I don't know what it is.  Go to  Dermatologist. He says he hasn't seen it before.  Great!  Skin biopsy.  Get results. Skin biopsy site gets infected.  Need a ... antibiotic!  

That's just ONE run-in with the doctors.  

So I now almost break into hives when I have to go see the doctors.  I went this week for *something* and I've got the test results back but not the interpretation thereof.  I'm waiting to see what is next.  So today, I have to call my Primary and the Specialist to see what is next.  (Can't I just blog all day instead? Laundry? Clean the toilets? ANYTHING?) 

Meanwhile, Kaley had a fall off a bike almost 3 weeks ago.  She had a lump on her side that is painful to touch.  It's going down every day but not gone.  Last Friday, the Doc said that if it wasn't entirely gone by today, we need to do more testing.  Well, she's in that Gray area.  So Dr. Baldwin will have to make that call.  But here's the difference ... I love this Doctor!  She is awesome.  She "gets" us.  She knows I don't cry wolf or ignore important things.  She knows she can trust my judgment and that what I'm telling her is accurate.  She is conservative but not overly so.  I KNOW her advice will be sound.  

Finally, Zoe.  I got a call from the head surgeon from her craniofacial team.  Love, love her too!  Very competent and conservative ... she says Zoe needs the surgery.  We have scheduled a VPI for her on Feb 23 with the follow up p-flap surgery for the first week in March.  For those who don't know those acronyms, it's a test where they put a camera down your nose into your throat and make you talk, then squirt radioactive dye into the nose and make you talk some more while videotaping the whole thing.  Testing to see how the back of the throat is working.  The p-flap (pharyngeal flap) is where they take a section/flap of your throat and attach it to another part and create a sorta back of the throat.  It's mostly helpful for speech but would have some other uses in Zoe's case as well.  I've gone back and forth on this surgery for a year now!  I am finally out of time.  I have to call the office to schedule the surgery today. 

Oh ... and I get to call and deal with insurance today on behalf of Zoe.  Yippee.  

So that's my day. Now you see why I'd rather do almost anything?  And it's not just one phone call, it's like 10!  

But wait ... I think I just heard a faint cry in the distance.  I think it's the garage asking me to rearrange it instead.  Or was that the septic tank that is asking for maintenance?