Forty five: doctor

Thursday:

I had my delayed doctor appointment this morning, turned out we had so much to talk about I had to make two more appointments for next week! Have also scheduled in another ultrasound and some blood tests.

When I walked in to her office I got a bit confused, surely this wasn't the same lady I'd seen a couple of times since moving here? Young and female, but otherwise quite different. Turns out they rotate through new female registrars (which I believe means a fully qualified but junior doctor still in a sort of intern period) every six months in this clinic. I chose this medical clinic because it is so close to our house and also near the shops so it's very convenient. It turns out it bulk bills (ie completely free, in Australia unless you're a pensioner you usually pay part and the government pays part) which is nice but maybe that is because they are junior doctors? And Dr Miller asked me if I had a regular GP (general practitioner, ie family doctor) elsewhere which I found a bit confusing (she said it's fine I don't). I queried her about whether I'd mistaken the nature of the medical clinic, but no, she said some people had a GP near work, for example, as well as this one.

I've been happy with both the female doctors I've seen but I'm a bit worried about continuity of care if they change every six months. And always inexperienced. But I guess they have to get experience somewhere, and at least they're up to date! The older male doctor doesn't seem to change, but my husband didn't really like him much. So we might end up finding another clinic at some point. See how it goes.

Even though I had a pelvic ultrasound only nine months ago, Dr Miller wants me to have another one and some more blood tests since the pain has returned. I've got that booked in for Monday. I complained about how horrible having an ultra-full bladder is and how I cried last time from the pain, she told me that only a man with an enlarged prostate can hold a litre of water, to ignore the stupid instructions and just have some liquid, not as much as they say. Which was a huge relief. Then I'm seeing her again on Tuesday for a physical check up that we didn't have time for today. Then on Wednesday I've got my blood tests and glucose tolerance test, where you drink nasty glucose liquid and they see if you go into a diabetic coma. (Or at least if your blood sugar spikes.) The last time I had one in Canberra I was surprised to find I didn't need to carb load for three days, they said they don't do that anymore as it's pointless. But when I booked in this place they said I do need to. I guess they are behind the times here. I can't pretend I'm not looking forward to stuffing myself with carbohydrates for three days, after trying to stick to low carb most of this year! The last test result was very close to a diabetes diagnosis, so I'm hoping my diet and weight loss this year has improved my glucose tolerance. Finally on Thursday back to Dr Miller again to talk about my perimenopausal symptoms including depression. Or Tues and Thurs might be the other way around.

Hmm, just realised both tests I'm going for have outdated and unpleasant or unhealthy preparations (drinking a huge amount of water, eating a huge amount of carbs) which other specialists say aren't necessary. Makes you wonder.

It is my 14th Wedding Anniversary today. That's about 28 times longer than a Hollywood marriage. We went out to a tapas restaurant in the evening. We originally tried to get a babysitter but ended up taking the kids with us. They are lovely anyway, and definitely part of this marriage!  The food was really nice, all little share plates. My favourite was crispy pork belly on cauliflower purée. Yum. I shared a (full size) dessert with Jasmine.

Feeling very full and sleepy now.