Holy S**t!

So I went to the doctor today. No biggie - I just had to get a skin cancer removed.

While I was there, I asked the doctor if he had done hormone tests when he did all my blood work recently. He asked why I wanted to know. I told him because I was still tired and irritable and wondered if I wasn't beginning to go through menopause. He asked if I had any more issues since my last visit and I told him about some post coital bleeding I had experienced a couple of weeks ago.

He was not at all impressed by this and told me I needed to see the female doctor at the surgery for a full internal exam. He told me that was a very concerning symptom which should not be ignored. He asked if I had submitted the poo sample for testing (I hadn't) and if I had my mammogram yet. I haven't. He told me I need to do both and I had to make that appointment with the female doctor for an internal. Pronto.

Well, as if that wasn't enough. Him was waiting in the waiting room, and I asked the receptionist about the medical report for Him that Time For Kids was wanting. She said she had the note there for the doctor still and this morning had in fact reminded him.

So, after I came out, I asked her for some swabs to clean the area around my wound which was a very unappealing shade of olive from the betadine. She gave them to me and directed me to the empty room with a sink.

When I came back Him was not in the waiting room. I thought he had gone outside for a smoke. Eventually, without my notice, he emerged from the doctor's office (right in front of me but I was reading at the time apparently).

The doctor had called him in to discuss his medical report. Luckily it was all "no" for the list of complaints Time For Kids wanted.

BUT. And there's always a BUT. One of Him's previous blood test results came back as a high reading, which the other surgery doctor had discussed at his last appointment. He said Him needed to take Folate supplements and eat spinach (he hates spinach, but then, who doesn't?) What he didn't tell Him was that he was in trouble.

This doctor asked Him if he has been under any stress recently. Him replied no, not wanting to jeopardise the report for Time For Kids, but in actual fact, he has been going through a terrible time (but that is another blog I will write next week when I have more to add to it). He also asked if he was still smoking.

When Him said he was not under stress (his nose grew about six inches!) the doctor said Good. Why? Because given this high particular reading in his blood, combined with the fact he smoked, he has a 50% chance of having a heart attack. If he were under stress, it would immediately shoot to 80%. No warning, no ifs or buts, he would have a heart attack.

Bloody hell! One doesn't go into the doctor's office to collect a piece of paper to be told he is going to have a heart attack! Frightened the bejeezes out of me, let me tell you. Him didn't say much but I suspect it shook him up too. He was told to immediately halve his smoking, and in two weeks to go back and the doctor will give him medication which will make him quit smoking. Apparently it has a very high success rate, but he doesn't prescribe it unless it is vital he do so. Scary.

So, after the shock of that, him managed to go 5 hours without a smoke (I was very proud). Since then he has only had about 4. I am hoping he will be strong and get through the next week at work without relapsing and with no heart attack!

To help relax and diffuse the situation we spent the rest of the day looking at the two dog pounds in Adelaide (at opposite ends of the city), which was quite relaxing. We also bought him his Folate pills...without which he could die. Hey, I wonder if I can switch them for Sugarine? lol. (He just called me a bitch...)

As for his smoking progress, I'll keep you posted....