This really will be short… and to the point.. and with minimal drama..

Promise!   Yes, oh dear readers, I can do a no-drama post, I just prefer not to do so…  LOL

I am pretty sure I’ve blogged about not having any health insurance and not being able to afford health care…

Well thanks to the Affordable Care Act, what most folks call Obamacare (hisssssss a name I really hate), I now have insurance.

Bravo to the Obama Administration and to all the folks who worked on getting this in place.

Boooooo!  Hisssssss to Blue Cross Blue Shield for taking so long to get my account set up so that I could actually USE the insurance!

Well, Monday was my first visit to the doctor in a long time.  I had quite the laundry list. Here is the brief version.

• I have a torn rotator cuff in my left shoulder.   I injured it over a year ago, but had no idea what was going on in there. The doc gave me exercises to do.  I’ll start doing them this weekend.  I need to read up online about the injury and what to do about it, now that I know what it is.

  This is a HUGE thing.  I had no idea what was the cause of the injury and when it first occurred, it was a major factor in why I stopped dancing and going to the studio to practice.  I couldn’t dance with the arm not functional.  No matter how I tried to “baby” the arm, any dance moment caused associated movement in the shoulder and arm and caused excruciating pain.  Now that I know the cause I can work on making it better through self applied physical therapy and exercises.  If the exercises don’t work then I can ask my doctor for a referral to a Physical Therapist or to have a MRI done.

  I now have options.  I can move forward.  This is a HUGE deal!  Woot!  Happy Dance in progress!
  ..

• My blood pressure  medication prescription has been renewed.  I just picked up the Rx so I can now start taking it again.  My blood pressure was a little high but now that I’m back on the meds, that should improve.  It should improve better as my body starts to get used to the idea that I’m going to be exercising on a regular basis.
  ..
• I got my depression medication prescription renewed and I just picked it up.  I’ve been out of the drug for about 5 weeks now.  I’ll start taking it again which should help things.  And my doctor is setting me up a referral to visit a specialist to be evaluated to see if the medication needs to be adjusted.  My unprofessional layman’s opinion is that it does.   To me it seems that it is not as effective now as it was when I first started taking it over 2 years ago, in late 2011.
  ..
• I got a renewal for my allergy medication which is a BIG deal.  I am allergic to dust and dust mites.

  I know this because I had the allergy panel done about 3 years ago and that was the result.  Having the medication is very important because, for some reason the neighborhood that I live in seems to be the most dusty place I’ve ever lived!  During the day things are not so bad but at night, my entire sinus / nasal passages become clogged up.

  The tissues swell and there is icky stuff clogging the remaining space.   Add in the complications presented by being a person of some size…  *sigh* and you have a very unpleasant situation.

  Without the medication,  I wake up several times a night gasping and coughing and unable to breathe.

  With the medication, I’m able to breathe MUCH easier and I’m able to get a more restful sleep.  A more restful sleep means more energy (both mental and physical) in the day and more energy in the day means I’m more likely to exercise which means a positive feedback loop is established! Yay! Woot! Doing a happy dance!
  ..

• A couple of prescription creams and ointments for minor skin stuff like rashes, athletes feet, blemishes, etc got refilled;  The pharmacy was out of them and they are on order, so I’ll pick them up tomorrow.  I had switched to over the counter medications for these things but the prescription strength stuff is WAY more effective.

  I realize that in the grand scheme of things, these are minor issues.  However, they are important in the sense that I’ll feel better having these issues taken care of, and treated, which will make me feel better about myself which will improve my overall quality of life which feeds into the whole positive energy feedback loop thingie which contributes to moving me out of the abyss and toward health and fitness.

So there you have it.  A moderately brief update on how the doctor’s appointment went.

Yay!  Yippeee!  Happy Dance!  Can we say “forward progress!?”  Yeppers!  We can!

See ya on the dance floor (eventually)