We left the 15th of April on a direct flight from Birmingham traveling to Jacksonville Florida. MeMe and I arrived in Jacksonville, Took a black car to the hotel, which was about 30 minutes from the airport. Really…what was the point in renting a car when we would only be there for a couple of days? The hotel was located on the Mayo Clinic campus, so we walked wherever we needed to go. At this time we hadn't even booked a flight back because in all honesty we had no idea when we would be back. In our minds we would do whatever it took at this point to get me well. The first day we spent lounging and making sure we knew where we had to be at all times. At the Mayo Clinic they go by a strict schedule.
The next day started off at the allergy nurse, we arrived a little too early which only meant more wait time. Once the allergy nurse called me back, she began to ask an array of questions. These ranged from family history to recent history anything and everything she could fit in on 2 sheets of paper. Once she was done she sent me back out to the waiting area, to wait on Dr. Pongdee.
After an hour and a few snacks later, I was called back. Once entering the room, there stood a foreign man who introduced himself as Dr. Pongdee. Can you imagine the looks on our faces? We thought we were entering another room to wait on the doctor again. WRONG!
It began there… More questions!
Dr. Pongdee glanced over dozens of my photos… he also looked over my body at the hives I had that day. We discussed a few serious treatment options. In his opinion we had exhausted all other options, besides starting high-risk medications. He also suggested I get set up with dermatology to get a biopsy, just incase it was something other than “normal” hives. By the end of our appointment he had written orders for an array of blood work ups, he had researched doctor Dishuck… who would be the one monitoring my progress on the medicine and he said also he would check in on me occasionally. He sent over orders to Doctor Dishuck, as to what medications he suggested. This also all relied on what the biopsy reveled. Dr. Pongdee walked me and my grandmother out to the check out counter, he reassured us we would figure this out and helped us get in with Dermatology, FOR THE NEXT DAY. By now we were feeling great about the situation, so we headed to the lab and got my blood work done. After that, we headed back to the hotel, put on our swimsuits and headed to the pool. This day was turning out to be the best in months. By an hour, my legs were covered in hives, this made for an awful day in the sun. We headed back up to the room and I crawled in bed for hours. These are my legs for that day/ night…
Once I woke up, it was so late I just went back to sleep. The next morning seemed to have come early. This was the day we saw dermatology. So, we headed over to the Mayo Clinic and waited for the doctor. Dr. Kelly came in to see me, we chatted just like with Pongdee the day before. We discussed the possibility of a biopsy, and I gave her my photos. She took those photos and said she’d be right back. Once she came back she had 4 other doctors with her, and somehow on this day I looked pretty normal. One doctor said, “we had to come look at you, but you don’t look like these photos” HAHA! Was that some kind of cruel joke? We all agreed to the biopsy, so they began to prepare for it right away. She numbed my ankle where there was a large hive and I didn’t feel a thing, but there were stitches. That I removed myself within the next two weeks… Not the best decision I’ve ever made. Now we were done at mayo? Yes! Now it was just time to wait for results. Once we were done at the clinic I called to schedule an appointment with Doctor Dishuck for when I returned to Alabama.
"Don't criticize what you don't understand"
No comments:
Post a Comment