The Blonde Diaries

Moving to Houston had many perks but one of the downfalls was leaving my doctors back home to find new ones in the city.  You would think that wouldn’t be too hard in a city that has a huge Medical Center and hospitals all over the place but I have learned otherwise in my 5 years here.  For the most part, Houston is up-to-date on all the new technologies, screenings, and drugs.  It is just finding the right doctor that is the PITA!

I thought 3 years ago that I was all settled. I finally found a primary care physician who was young and taught at one of the medical colleges here in town.  She was up-to-date with everything and was very open to treating her patients with the latest things in the medical field. Everything was going great until I emailed the Clinic to schedule an appointment and much to my surprise my doctor left for maternity leave (not a huge deal) and decided she wasn’t coming back at all!  I just saw her 2 months ago and she never mentioned anything as a heads up.  Talk about frustrating. Just when I thought everything was right it is turned upside down.

So this morning I went to meet with a new doctor’s office since my old one wasn’t really accepting “new” patients and I just didn’t have a warm and fuzzy feeling when I left. Everything I seemed to ask about that my last 2 doctors treated or were concerned with the office told me that they didn’t treat that. Yeah… So back to the drawing board. Luckily I am feeling better than I did last week so I can do some more research on local doctors but I just hate this game.

Since I have been traveling quite a bit the past 2 months, I have been exposed to more billboard advertising than usual.  I have also been turning on the television a bit more and see video advertisements.  One common theme I am seeing is the usage of words that I am not familiar with.  I will admit that my vocabulary is probably average and could be better but there are just some things I have to come home and look up (if I can remember them).

The latest one was a billboard advertising Mesothelioma lawyers who were looking for people to join a class action lawsuit. I have to admit I was not familiar with Mesothelioma (long word!) so I googled it of course. Mesothelioma is a disease people can develop after prolonged exposure to asbestos in various manners. I read a little more and man those poor people that have to live with this disease and the fact that people might have known about the dangers and didn’t warn anyone is heartbreaking. I don’t always support class action lawsuits but this is one of those instances where I think it is warranted.

Just last week, I was complaining about my allergies being out of whack.  I was taking medicine around the clock trying to get them under control so I could function like a normal person.  You know what finally helped?  The rain we have been getting here in Houston!  It wasn’t the Zyrtec or the Benedryl that did it, it was the rain.

I am finally feeling like a normal person who could do anything, except for camping whether it is tent camping or rv camping. I feel good but not that good LOL! In fact, today I am heading out to meet up with a friend and go sit outside and peel boiled crawfish. I can’t wait as it has been almost a year since I’ve had some fresh mudbugs in their shell. I am also toying with the idea of heading to the zoo tomorrow while Mike is at work to see the new red panda.

Just curious.  It seems like the wind must have changed last week or something because my allergies are flared up and I can’t get back to normal.  I have been taking over the counter 24-hour Zyrtec for my allergies and that has kept them under control since last fall.  Not so much right now.  The pollen and dust in the air has out powered my Zyrtec and I’ve had to move to the over the counter Zyrtec-D 12-hour pills and then Benadryl at night.  The headaches are finally gone but the sneezing just keeps coming and coming.  I think I might have to try and find the prescription I got from the doctor in December for Flonase and fill it to see if that helps any.  If not I’m not sure what I’m going to do to get through allergy season.

Is anyone else suffering this bad?

I have been doing well this week with going to the gym by myself which I hate but since Mike is in Beaumont till Friday and my butt isn’t getting any smaller sitting around the apartment I’ve been going. Last night I was at the gym after rush hour as I call it and I started my weight routine which is basically all of the Cybrex machines. I like these because I feel more confident using them over the free weights. So if you are familiar with them you may understand my small vent and if you aren’t I’ll explain very briefly. To use these machines and get the appropriate weight, you put these thingys called ball lock pins in a hole in the plate you need. They then allow you to lift the desired weight. Well, at my gym and most others I’ve been to, the chain that holds the pins to the machine are broke and thus the pins can grow legs and walk around the gym. That leads to me having to chase them around the gym and interrupt my workout. Seriously guys, do you have to move them around to each machine? What is wrong with using the one that is on the floor next to the machine? Talk about frustrating.