Kaiser

I emailed my doctor a couple weeks ago. I was frustrated that, although outwardly healthy, I seemed to be dealing with multiple health issues all at once. When I first received the ulcerative colitis diagnosis, my primary care physician mentioned that there was a possible auto-immune component and that we might consider testing me for AI diseases, like lupus, at some point in the future. I did a little reading on the internet and started thinking that maybe my problems are connected: the colitis, the weird joint pain, the redness across my nose (perhaps a malar rash?). So I emailed my doctor. It turns out she was on leave and the doctor who was covering wanted me to make an appointment. The soonest I could get in was yesterday. My doctor was scheduled to return from leave last week, so the appointment was with her.

I arrived at Kaiser, signed in, and took my seat to wait. Within seconds of taking out a piece of paper to jot down my list of complaints, I was called back to get my vitals and put in a room. This was about 4:15. I was in that room until shortly after 5pm. At no time did I have a lengthy wait - my doctor was very attentive, but she did have to leave and return a few times. Towards the end of the visit, she mentioned that the appointments are scheduled in 15 minute blocks and I shouldn't wait for a bunch of things to be going on before being seen. Funny, because I really wasn't waiting. I'd seen someone (via same day appointment) early in the month, was in communication with my gastroenterologist, and had emailed my doctor a couple weeks ago.

So from there, I hauled ass out of the north building, through the central hospital, and to the south building for blood work. For some reason, most of the Kaiser labs now close at or around 5pm. I ended up at the urgent care lab, but they were kind enough to see me anyways. The tech collected about 6 vials of blood, joking that he left me a couple drops. From the south building, I hustled back to the main hospital to pick up my prescriptions, along with a "procto prep" kit for my upcoming colonoscopy at the end of the month.

By the time I was home, more than 3 hours had passed since I'd left. This morning, I realized that my doctor also ordered a CT scan for my sinuses. So that leaves me awaiting the following:

Results of a stool sample
Results of multiple blood tests (usual CBC, liver function, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc)
Scheduling for CT scan
Colonoscopy

Can't wait to see how it all comes out!