Oh Emma

I had an appointment with my PCM today or so I thought.  Imagine my surprise when I was in the exam room waiting and someone else walked in.  Apparently my PCM took leave for the week (I guess she is allowed a vacation).  All I needed was a referral to the dermatologist.  I have some questionable things going on that I need looked at (Rebekah is probably happy she was off this week) and possibly removed. 

So, there is this young SSgt who in the real world is like the nurse who takes your blood pressure, temp, etc.  He comes back in with a fetal doppler to hear the baby's heartbeat.  I'm guessing this must be standard operating procedure because I couldn't figure out how it had anything to do with my referral.  I get on the exam table, lean back, and have my shirt up and my pants pushed down before he can utter a word.  I've done this a time or 500 by now. 

Our base doesn't deal with anything prenatal so the poor guy clearly is not sure what he is listening for.  I wanted to take the doppler and do it for him, but then how would he learn.  And Emma is going crazy.  She had a VERY active morning and was jumping like a fish out of water the entire time I was in the waiting room.  He finds what he thinks is the heartbeat and looks to the doctor for confirmation.  She nods and starts to explain that the other noises we are hearing is the baby moving except the baby is moving so much that the doctor starts laughing and then I start laughing and this poor guy is still trying to count the baby's heartbeat for 30 seconds using his watch.  He came up with 65 which seems low to me (wouldn't that only be 130 beats per minute?), but they seemed to think it was normal.  I personally think he didn't count correctly, but how can you count something that sounds like a galloping horse?  Plus I'm sure my hysterical laughter didn't help him at all. 

He leaves and I show the doctor my concerns.  She walks me over to referral management and they get my information and let me know they'll call this afternoon.  My only request is to see a female and to see someone close to home.  The military thinks anything within 60 miles of your house is close to home and they warned me that there were not a whole lot of options for dermatology near us.  I've noticed that since Hanscom is such a small (tiny) base our medical choices with Tricare are very limited in terms of specialists.  I'm lucky that I found a obgyn that I love and who is reasonably (aka 25 minutes driving time) close. 

I get a message from referral management this afternoon.  They scheduled me an appointment for Dec. 28th (ok) in Westford (not as bad as it could be...probably 20 miles away, maybe 30 minutes driving time depending on traffic) for 7:45AM (NOT OK).  The only reason I'm getting up at 7:45AM these days is because Paul wakes me up when he leaves for work which always results in me having to get up to pee.  Then the referral management nurse tries to justify it by saying that she's driven that way in the morning and traffic wasn't that bad.  Not making things better and just because traffic wasn't bad on the day you went does not mean it won't be horrific on the day I go.  So, I may be calling to reschedule that appointment.  I just don't know if I can commit to leaving my house at 7am for a doctors appointment.  Plus maybe I can reschedule it around lunchtime because there is a restaurant I like in Westford. 

After my doctors appointment and lunch I was exhausted and had to come home and rest on the couch all afternoon. 

Happy Christmas Eve Eve!