BOGO

BOGO = "Buy one, get one." [swiped from a Payless commercial]

Yesterday, I went to the pulmonologist to get a diagnosis, and hopefully some relief, from this nagging wheezing and cough. He examined me thoroughly and said I don't have pneumonia, but I might have bronchitis, or asthma, or reactive airway disease. It probably was triggered by a recent cold. Dr. Lung suspects that I might have persistent sinusitis or other sinus problems so he sent me for a limited CT scan of my sinuses that afternoon.

After stopping briefly at WineGuy's office around the corner, I headed over to my favorite radiology office. I like it so much because it's new, clean and never busy. Their other offices in town are hyena cages. I arrive a little early, so the technician takes me in a little early. For those who have never had a CT, it wasn't at all scary. I laid down, prone, on the scanning table, with my chin propped on a little shelf. I stuffed my hands under my thighs so I wouldn't move and closed my eyes. The tech adjusted the table electronically and slid me forward so my head was inside a huge doughnut-shaped machine. It was completely open and not noisy, unlike an MRI. The scan lasted about 5 minutes, and the whole thing was over.

As I was walking past the check-out desk, I mentioned to the receptionist that the radiology center just notified me to have my annual mammogram. She said, "Want to do it now?" "Sure!" To get this thing done, without a scheduled appointment, in the middle of tourist season? You bet! I waited just a few minutes more for the mammo tech. She did my scan last year and was very professional. Off I went to change my shirt and straight into the mammography room. This radiology center now uses digital mammography, and the scans are unbelivably clear. One breast, the other breast, both breasts together for a midline view and done. There is one clear advantage to having large, floppy breasts: they are easily manipulated and smooshed onto the glass plates for a mammography. I got dressed again and was out of that office 45 minutes after I walked in.

Now, I just wait for the results. I'm very curious to know what Dr. Lung will find in the sinuses. I would not be surprised at all to learn I have sinus problems because I am forever congested or having sinus headaches.

And in other medical news, when Dr. Lung's nurse took my blood pressure, it was high. That's why I went over to WineGuy's office: for his nurse to take it again. It came down somewhat, but it was still high. I'll have to take it again here at home with WineGuy's automatic BP machine. Looks like it's time for me to go in and have a physical.