Sicko

I actually didn't see the Michael Moore movie and I probably don't want to but wow! I went to the doctor today and I am not happy.

Actually I had an appointment this morning for a CT Scan at the hospital to look for kidney stones. My Urologist referred me. Anyway, I started 3 doses of some sort of little nasty cocktail last night and then I had to drink a quart of some sort of coconut flavored drink the consistency of mucus all before I reported to the outpatient office at the hospital this morning. When I got there I discovered that the two X-Rays that had been ordered for me were going to cost in excess of $5000.00. I was sort of prepared for it to cost around a $1000.00. Yes, I am one of America's uninsured adults (goes well with being unemployed and homeless!)

I told the Admission person thanks but no thanks. I can fly to Bangkok and get better service and have kidney stones (if I have one) treated for a lot less than it costs to get 2 stinkin' x-rays. So, I went back to the Urologist (of course I didn't get to see him because I didn't have an appointment)... I told his receptionist to tell him to make his diagnosis the old-fashioned way- based on my office visit last week.

Why does this matter? My application with the International Mission Board is not complete until all my medical stuff is complete and getting a status report on my kidney stones is part of that.

In related medical news: I also had to have blood work done for the application and apparently I have high(er) cholesterol than I've ever had. I didn't get the numbers, just that it was higher than it has been before. Home Cooking is killing me!

I'm going to be driving a lot for the next few days. I'm on my way to Amory from the Coast tonight to pick-up some of my furniture to deliver to my niece and her family in Alexandria, Louisiana. I'm hoping to make it to Smith Lake in N. Alabama by the end of this weekend where I'll live at my friends lakehouse for at least a month. My plans include daily kayaking and hiking, reading and writing, short trips to Birmingham and Atlanta and Starkville and that's about it. I'll have to do my own cooking. I'm thinking: Toast and instant coffee at breakfast, peanut butter at lunch and something with rice for dinner. Every day. That should get me back to my World Race weight and cholesterol levels. Oh, and I'll drink a lot of water too- gotta watch out for those kidney stones!