Doctor's Office Art

Saxophone, guitar, 

And piano are jamming: 

The  optometrist office. 

I went to an optometrist office this morning with a friend. One of the paintings was of three musical instruments in a beautiful abstract arrangement. As I sit there looking at the picture, I could image the three playing together in an ensemble. I enjoyed going to doctors' office with art or interesting displays on their walls because it activates my imagination and encourages me to write. 

Monday Matters: A Beautiful Writing Day in Las Vegas

It is a beautiful day in Las Vegas, as I look out my window I see bright sunshine and a blue sky. I have ate breakfast, finished off a carafe of coffee, and washed dishes. Last night or early this morning (went to bed around midnight), I finished the responses to three blog prompts and posted them in my writing.com blog. There are advantages to living in the west and posting to a blog on the east coast.

Today, I have a follow-up appointment at 11:15 am to discus the results from the colonoscopy last Monday. I also have to stop at the grocery store to pick up a few items. After that, I plan on going to the gym for an hour and then return home to finish unpacking a suitcase my sister brought over last week. The problem with unpacking the suitcase is where to put the clothes. I found an empty drawer in my file cabinet for my socks, but I do not know what I am going to do with the rest of the clothes, especially the blouses. Right now all the hangers in my closet are in use.

It is a beautiful writing day in Las Vegas, so maybe I will write a rant about closet space. Compare the size of the single closet I have now with the four closets I had in the house. I could also write a fantasy story about  closets or maybe a poem. I will have to consider both while I am waiting to see the doctor.

Monday Thoughts on My Word Count Goal

It's after 5:00 pm Pacific Standard Time here in Las Vegas. I still have over 500 words to write before I accomplish my 2,000 word writing goal today. I took my pen and paper journal with me when I went to the doctor this morning. I started a poem, I wrote four lines and that's all I got done. Most of the time I spent in the waiting room was occupied with filling out paper work.

The paper work would be easier to fill out if they had computer terminals for the patients to use in the process. At least it would be easier for me, but I'm not sure how many of the other patients would like it. Most of the people in the waiting room were over 50 years old. I know that has nothing to do with being computer literate because I'm 67 years old and I know my way around a computer and the Internet.

After I got out of the doctor's office, I went to Smith's Food and Drug store to pick up a prescription I dropped off on Friday. Anyway, by the time I got the prescription and bought a few items I was getting tired. I noticed when I got home that I couldn't think because I was tired. After I fixed a couple of piece of fish, it was easier for me to think and to write.

I'll accomplish the word count goal before midnight tonight, but being tired did not help my writing. I have to make myself eat something of a morning before going to doctor's appointments (unless the doctor tells me not to because of tests).

A Look at the Writing Week Ahead

I am looking forward to a busy week of writing, household chores, and interacting with humanity. On Monday, February 24, I have an appointment with a specialist at 8:15 am, so I need to check my  tote bag to make sure I have everything I need to take. Among other things, I need to take my pen and paper journal with me in case I have a chance to write while waiting to see the doctor. I also need to pick up a prescription (unless I get a chance to pick it up this afternoon).

On Tuesday, February 25, I have a dental appointment in the afternoon. This is to determine if I need to have my dentures relined. I also suspect I may have other problems. I need to find out what those are and how remedy them. I will take my pen and paper journal with me to t his appointment as well.

On Wednesday, February 26, I have to have the boxes of stuff I'm giving away in front of my apartment by 7:00 am for the truck from Big Brothers and Big Sisters to pick up. Most of the stuff is housewares I brought with me that I don't need or have room to store.  Then on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday, I have to go to the laundromat. I'll take my pen and paper journal with me because I know I'll get a chance to write while I'm waiting for the clothes to wash and dry.

I have a busy week ahead, so I think I'll end this entry, say some prayers, get myself a cup of coffee, and fix myself something to eat. It's going to be a long day because I have so much to do before going to bed or, at least, what I call a bed.

Take a pen and paper journal when you go to the doctor's office

This morning, at 9:10 am, I had an appointment with a liver specialist. I was supposed to get there at 8:40 am, so that I could get the paperwork completed (I already did part of the paperwork at home, but there is always more paperwork the first time you go to a new doctor). Anyway, I arrive at 8:30 am and the receptionist took me to her desk so that I could sign papers and she could put stuff in her computer.

After the receptionist and I finished, I went into the waiting room for my appointment. I took out my pen and paper journal to make an entry because I figured it would be a while. However, the doctor's nurse got me right into the examination room (after weighing me), where she took my blood pressure. The doctor was running late (which, from my experience, is a normal occurrence in all doctor's offices). While I waited for the doctor, I finished the entry I started in the waiting room and then read the handout about liver function (quite an educational and fascinating piece of information).

I discussed my liver function with the doctor and found out its functioning at about 50% of normal. I found out that there isn't anything that can be done to restore the lost function, but that, with exercise and the proper diet, I can take some action to assist its function. I have to go back to his office in February for a blood test and then a followup in March. I also have to have an ultrasound (which I'm looking forward to receiving since it's a new experience).

I always carry a pen and paper journal with me to a doctor's appointment because it helps pass the time, especially since when none of the magazines in the offices interest me. I prefer to read things that have nothing to do with sports, entertainment, or anything else that's normally in doctor's waiting rooms. I also carry a book to read in case I can't think of anything to write in my journal.

Laughter and Pain

I read an interesting article in this morning's edition of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The article, by Paul Harasim, was in the Health section (D) of the newspaper under the feature To Your Health and titled "Cleansing laughter eases pain of loss".

In this article, Mr. Harasim, discusses how laughter can ease both the emotional pain of losing a friend and physical pain. I know, from my own experience with grief, that laughter can ease the emotional pain of lose, because laughter has helped me deal with my mother's death. However, it is the first time I have heard that it helped with physical pain as well.

I am going to try using laughter as a method of dealing with physical pain. I have pain medication, but it has its limits and side effects. I do not like to depend on the medication and I do not take it unless I am in excruciating pain. I have two reasons for being careful about the way I take the pain medication. First, I do not want to become addicted to it. Second, the pain tablets that I use could have an effect on my liver. I will try ten minutes of laughter a day and then at my next doctor's appointment discuss the situation with my doctor.

On January 4, 2010

All right, not the most creative blog title I ever written; however, it will have to do. Today, at 12:30 PM I have an appointment with a breast specialist. When I went in for my regular exam last year, my doctor found a lump in my breast.

I had a mammogram and ultrasound, both appear normal. My doctor wants me to see the breast specialist, so I am going to see her today. I am worried or perhaps I should say concerned about the lump. I have written one poem about the lump, which I am posting in my writing.com port later today or early tomorrow.

Doctors’ examination rooms are cold

I have experienced the temperature in two different doctors' examination room over the past two days. On Tuesday, November 3, I went to my doctor because of a problem with my stomach. On Wednesday, November 4, I took my mother to an urgent care facility because her ankle hurt and swollen.

It was so cold in both examination rooms we need coats or blankets to keep warm while waiting to see the doctor. When I went to see my doctor on Tuesday morning, I took a ski jacket with me and it kept me warm. We went to the urgent care Wednesday afternoon. I did not take coat in because it was about 82 degrees in Las Vegas. Fortunately, the urgent care facility had blankets to keep their clients warm.

A writer has to remember little things like temperature, if the character is waiting in an examination room, whether it is at an urgent care facility or doctors offices mention the temperature. Find a unique comparison between the temperature in the examination room and a weather or climate phenomenon.

I have discovered Sudoku puzzles

I have found a new way to relax and pass time while waiting in line. I have discovered Sudoku puzzles and they are fun and challenging. I discovered them when I got a daily subscription to the Las Vegas Review Journal Sun newspaper. The Sudoku puzzles are in the Sun section of the newspaper.

I need something else to carry with me while waiting in line. I carry a reading book, my pen and paper journal and a sudoku puzzle book. I realized when waiting at a doctors office that I need more then just one distraction while waiting to see the doctor or the dentist. I find that if I don't have enough to do while waiting, I get impatient. Let's face it, it doesn't do a patient in a doctor's office any good getting impatient. Doctors don't need impatient patients.

I like the sudoku puzzles because the present a challenge that calms my stress. I know that sounds odd, but that's the way the puzzles work for me. Anyway, I now do Sudoku puzzles and that sounds like a title for a poem. In fact, blogging about how I solve sudoku puzzles would make a good blog entry.

Writing at the end of the Day

Kamál (Perfection), 15 Jamál (Beauty), 165 B.E. – Monday, May 12, 2008 about 6:25 PM PDT

It is nearing the end of a long and weary day. I say weary because I had a doctor's appointment at 3:00 PM. I arrived at 2:45 PM and filled out the paper work. Then I waited until the nurse called me into the examining room. Before going to the examining room, she took my weight.

In the examining room, the nurse took my blood pressure and temperature. Then I waited longer to see the doctor. I came away with two prescriptions and an appointment next Monday, May 19 for lab tests. For those I have to fast 12 hours before the test. I scheduled the tests for 8:00 AM Monday morning.

Today I took in the atmosphere of the clinic and the patients waiting to see the doctor. I did not take notes or read anything. I looking around the waiting room and the eximining room. I am not sure yet just what I am going to write about it. I have written several waiting room poems, but I have never written an examining room poem.

The interesting thing about the examining room was the magazine lying on the examine table or would it be called the examine bed. The magazine was a Harper's Bazaar about fall fashions. I am not sure of the year. The important information about the magazine is the topic (Fall Fashions) and this is spring going on summer. I glanced through the magazine and all the models looked like zombies, beautiful emotionless zombies. I think I will use that as the theme or the title of the poem.