Frustration Part 3: Immunology

During all of the summer Neurology nonsense, I also set up an appointment with a Rheumatologist to have my cantaloupe-sized-swollen-knees looked into. Rheumatologists apparently aren't as busy as Neurologists and I was able to be seen within a couple of weeks. He ordered a long list of blood tests (13 vials of blood) most of which came back with normal results because that's just how things go for me.

The Rheumatologist decided to look into a couple of things because even though my results were within normal range, they were on the lower (or upper, depending on which test we are talking about) side of things.

So I headed on over to an Immunologist, who, in case you were wondering, was also able to see me within a relatively short time period. (Which leaves me wondering--Why are Neurologists busier than every other specialist?)

The Immunologist gave me a shot as part of his investigation into how my immune system is functioning and sent me off for more blood tests but the convenient care had already stopped taking blood for the day so I went over to the hospital instead. There was some confusion in the lab department about some of the tests that were ordered but they seemed to get it worked out, took 9 vials of blood and sent me on my way.

Six weeks later I was to return for the second half of the blood work. So I go back to the same hospital to get the second set of blood drawn for the Immunologist figuring I'm being smart going back to the same place. Nice and organized.

There was a little bit of confusion again by the lab about the tests being ordered but they seemed to figure it out and sent me back into the room to see the Phlebotomist. Now normally I don't mind having my blood drawn. I'm not afraid of needles and really don't feel that the process hurts much at all. Obviously some people are better at drawing blood than others but for the most part I've mainly encountered people who are good at it. But this time the Phlebotomist stuck the needle in too far and went through the vein which was painful. I'm unclear whether or not she struck a nerve. I've got so much nerve pain anyway.

I left the hospital unable to use my cane because my right arm was hurting so much and that's the side I usually hold my cane on since my left knee and leg typically have more pain than my right. As far as I've been able to tell from my research, when she went through the vein blood leaked out into the tissue of my arm which leaves a person with pain. I spent the next 10 days with that awful pain in my arm. It was hard to sleep and it was hard to use my arm for a lot of different tasks because of the pain, but thankfully that has finally started feeling better. (Who knew a person could end up with so much pain after a blood draw?)

The clones started school the next week and I got an appointment reminder from my Dentist about my upcoming cleaning. Which, of course, made me realize that I had made my follow-up Immunology appointment at the same time I had the Dental appointment. (I wasn't joking about how bad I am at scheduling these things. I'm afraid this scheduling problem is only going to get worse now that the clones are back in school and have their own list of activities and events on their schedules. I used to be good at this. Clearly things have changed.) So I had to change the Immunology appointment. I'm pretty sure I heard the lady rolling her eyes at me but we worked it all out and I figured this was the end of the madness.

It wasn't.

This morning I got a call from Immunology. Apparently the hospital I went to for the two blood draws does not do the right tests for the labs that were ordered.

That's right friends. I have to start over. I have to have all these tests redone next week at a different facility.

But lucky me, I'll still have to pay for the botched labs. (If you ask me, the pain in my arm was payment enough!)

So call me triple frustrated. I'm trying to see the upside of all of this but it really just looks like a pointless mess.