Doctor Visit #6
Sep. 18th, 2008 04:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shannon_aHad my sixth doctor visit for my presumed sinus problem today. Not very encouraging.
First, the trek to get the x-rays last Friday was a total waste. The ENT doc said that they usually get CT scans because the x-rays aren't good enough. He said that the x-rays might show some infection in my sinuses, but it could just be bad x-rays too. So, I'm annoyed at the doc at my GP who both wasted my time and exposed me to unneeded rads.
Second, the ENT doc really didn't do anything more than my GPs. He looked at my ears, nose, and throat, listened to my list of symptoms and treatments, and then pretty much did what the GP did: he prescribed an antibiotic and a steroid nasal spray. The only difference is in intensity. The antibiotic is yet a better one, and it's a three-week scrip rather than two. The nasal spray (which I tried out from my GP last week) comes with a very long, refillable prescription.
We've also got an appointment scheduled for five weeks' hence. The current idea is to try the spray for a week, see if symptoms continue to better or worsen; then if the latter take the antibiotics for three weeks; then talk to the doc a week later to see if symptoms had improved under the antibiotics and if they'd worsened afterward.
I didn't expect a quick result when I went to the ENT today, but I'd have preferred it if it felt like he was doing something different than the last five or six weeks of questionable progress.
On the bright side, I had a nice bike ride to the ENT and back. He's in Oakland, about 3.5 miles south of my house. I took Telegraph down and Shattuck back.
The ride down Telegraph was about the same ride I took to get my x-rays last week, and so I was more familiar and comfortable with the street. I was surprised that I made the ride in about 20 minutes (plus a bit for walking up the humongous hill that his office actually sits upon).
Shattuck wasn't as nice for riding back, street-quality-wise, but it doesn't have the long, gradual slope upward that Telegraph does, so it was an easier ride.
It generally made me remember that I like biking. I really need to get a new bike soon, rather than just using Kimberly's.
First, the trek to get the x-rays last Friday was a total waste. The ENT doc said that they usually get CT scans because the x-rays aren't good enough. He said that the x-rays might show some infection in my sinuses, but it could just be bad x-rays too. So, I'm annoyed at the doc at my GP who both wasted my time and exposed me to unneeded rads.
Second, the ENT doc really didn't do anything more than my GPs. He looked at my ears, nose, and throat, listened to my list of symptoms and treatments, and then pretty much did what the GP did: he prescribed an antibiotic and a steroid nasal spray. The only difference is in intensity. The antibiotic is yet a better one, and it's a three-week scrip rather than two. The nasal spray (which I tried out from my GP last week) comes with a very long, refillable prescription.
We've also got an appointment scheduled for five weeks' hence. The current idea is to try the spray for a week, see if symptoms continue to better or worsen; then if the latter take the antibiotics for three weeks; then talk to the doc a week later to see if symptoms had improved under the antibiotics and if they'd worsened afterward.
I didn't expect a quick result when I went to the ENT today, but I'd have preferred it if it felt like he was doing something different than the last five or six weeks of questionable progress.
On the bright side, I had a nice bike ride to the ENT and back. He's in Oakland, about 3.5 miles south of my house. I took Telegraph down and Shattuck back.
The ride down Telegraph was about the same ride I took to get my x-rays last week, and so I was more familiar and comfortable with the street. I was surprised that I made the ride in about 20 minutes (plus a bit for walking up the humongous hill that his office actually sits upon).
Shattuck wasn't as nice for riding back, street-quality-wise, but it doesn't have the long, gradual slope upward that Telegraph does, so it was an easier ride.
It generally made me remember that I like biking. I really need to get a new bike soon, rather than just using Kimberly's.