On a high, when it should be a low

I had an interesting week health wise. I wasn't feeling well so went to visit a doctor early in the week. New doctor, new medical centre, as my previous doctor retired. New experience as this doctor is the first one I have attended who is younger than me and he's Nigerian. I'm not racist as I've had Aussie, Pakistani, Indian, Chinese, Korean and English doctors in the past as I moved about a lot when I was younger. All within Australia!

Turns out I have high blood pressure so I was given a trial pack of hypertension meds to take, an automatic bp monitor, advised I should monitor my bp at least twice a day, given a referral for umpteen dozen blood tests and told I should come back on the following Friday (yesterday) for another checkup . 
Friday - teenager raised my bp in the morning behaving as teenage females sometimes do! I drank over a litre of water to help my veins be plumped up, and hoped my blood vessels didn't collapse.... as they are want to do..., at the site of a needle. Turned the volume up on the dvd player in the car on the drive to town and accompanied songs to keep from thinking about it. Fortunately it was Stella's day at the testing lab and she can take blood out of you without you even feeling it :D. My veins didn't have time to become frightened and hide or collapse! My stomach did a flip flop when I had to check that my name and date of birth was correct on 4 tubes of my blood though *eek*. She must have removed about a cupful or more from me! Can you tell I hate blood tests?

I had time to visit a nearby cafe and indulge in a pot of tea and a horrifically high caloried piece of slice before seeing the doctor.

My bp was still high at an average of around 170 over 100 so I was prescribed mild top up meds, to add to the ones I'd been taking in the morning, that I had to take at night. I also discovered the doc was seriously considering calling an ambulance when I was there on Tuesday and it was only a lower bp on the second reading that made him reconsider. I'd already told him there was no way I was going to hospital prior to that.

I think I'll keep him as my new medic as he answers any questions I have, I can discuss options with him and he explains it in words I can understand, not medical mumbo jumbo, and he doesn't have a superior attitude like other doctors I've had to deal with in the past. He has a sense of humour too, and as part of my attitude in dealing with new bumps in life is to joke about them, it's good to have a health carer who doesn't take this attitude the wrong way. A side benefit is he's easy on the eyes as well and nice scenery can make bad news easier to deal with :). 

Lol, I figure the day I die is soon enough to stop appreciating the view ;P.

I'd best make a dent in some of my crafting projects and cull a few of the more energetic items on my bucket list. Results of the blood tests next Thursday so I'll see how much I've gone downhill in the last 12 months! 

Huh, I'm starting to dislike being 50, but as Ned Kelly would have said "such is life"!

Cheers,
Robyn xo