They say it’s good to have someone go with you to the doctor’s office so you have another set of ears listening to the doctors instructions. You don’t want to get confused about the dosage of prescriptions.
That is not why I go with David to all of his doctors’ appointments. We would just call the pharmacist if David was confused about the dosage of his medication.
The reason I go with him is because David tends to put on a happy face in front of other people. I’ve lost count of the number of people who’ve told me, “You’d never know David had arthritis.” He doesn’t complain. He minimizes his symptoms, even with his doctors.
A doctor might say, “Where are you hurting? How bad is the pain?”
David would respond with, “My back and neck. It’s pretty bad.”
The doctor might ask, “Are you able to work?” and of course David would say, “Yes.”
I would then interject with, “Some Sundays we can’t go to church because it hurts too much to sit through a thirty minute sermon,” or “All of his joints hurt. His ribs and collar bone hurt, too. We can’t go to the movies.”
Then there was the incident at the lab this week. David went for his lab work Tuesday. We completely forgot that he was supposed to be fasting. It wasn’t required for his lab work in Texas, and we’re not sure if it’s required now because the new rheumatologist ordered different tests, or if he just prefers his patients to be fasting when they’re tested. So David had to go back Wednesday morning on his way to work. We both felt like I didn’t need to be there.
Never again. I’m going with David every time he so much as picks up a script from now on. After they took several vials of blood, they asked David for a urine sample. After he filled the cup, he started dry heaving in the bathroom.
He didn’t tell the staff. He decided he didn’t have a fever, and he was okay to go to work. He was perfectly fine the rest of the day, but I think the nurse should have at least made a note of the incident. It was just too weird, especially since we know it’s not that David is squeamish about lab work. He does this every eight weeks.
Whoa! Dry heaving? That’s a little scary. Your a super wife Ashley!
Must be a man thing… my husband has woken me up in the middle of the night thinking he’s having a heart attack – I’ll drive him to the ER & then when they are asking him how bad it hurts, he’s like “not too bad” – WHAT? I think men just sorta shut down a bit in front of docs/nurses and they dont wanna appear weak…
I think they need to add something to the vows in a wedding about this! “I vow to let my wife do all my talking for me at the doctor”
That’s funny! Yeah men seem to want to be stoic or something.
My husband is the same way..although not even close to the amount of doctors you go to..this past week when he was in the hospital he kept saying he’s fine..and I’d have to interject with “he’s been limping” and things like that…these men need to tell the truth!
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