I heart Kaiser

My pharmacy just closed which means all my perscriptions waiting inside to be refilled just died. In order to reget my medicine, I need to call all my doctors and have them issue new perscriptions, which means tracking down the allergy specialist who only works at the medical center (which is not my doctor's office) on Fridays and trekking to the shady part of Hollywood to renew my other pills. And then I have to wait for the incompetent UCLA pharmacy to handle it. Each one of these steps takes several days. Astelin the super duper nasal spray is practically empty.

This has not been the best year for me, medically speaking.

• There were the many, many colds and sinus infections last spring as I finished up a nasty job.
• Allergies suddenly appeared mid-May.
• Allergies got worse and worse all summer and fall.
• Several doctor visits and a zillion phone calls to find out that the only way to get an extra pack of birth control pills for my Peru trip was to order it three months in advance, for twice the (unsubsidized) cost of eighty-five dollars. Three visits to Planned Parenthood to get what I need.
  
• The FIVE doctor appointments from October to January needed to get correct medicine for the worse allergies. Including the three week agonizing wait to see an allergy specialist, during which my not-so-working meds ran out.
  
• I pulled a muscle in my side some time in December. It may have been in the bedroom; it may have been in Yoga Booty Ballet. We'll never know. It took three weeks to heal.
• When there was a lot a lot a lot of bleeding where there shouldn't have been any.
  
• Routine bloodwork yeilded extremely high cholesterol levels. At first my doctor freaked me out by telling me I was at risk for cardiovascular disease. And said that I had to go on a crash diet for a month to rid myself of cholesterol-rich foods. Which I don't eat. So then I met with a different doctor who said I'm fine because my good cholesterol is high. And I conferenced with a third doctor who said the same thing. Then the second doctor called back a few days later to tell me that actually she was concerned about my liver and I should come in for more tests. I ignored her.

What's great is that despite all these setbacks, I'm still healthy. And I haven't yet gotten lice.