Cav's Place

I have personal stuff not included in posts going back to August 9, and I’m not just talking about buying things or eating very late, but about things like the medical matters that this post is about, which actually start on August 9, when I first went to Coltea. I did write about the second time I went there, and clearly won’t be writing about September 12 to 16, when I was hospitalized there, but I will add September 17, when I had to go back for something, then scheduling the MRI and having it done, which happened far more quickly than I expected, on October 1. And on October 5 I received the result. So, following what’s recently becoming the normal pattern, this is another post with the first part, only about August 9, posted Sunday evening, albeit scheduled to only show up at 11:59 PM, so I’ll have a second post for the week, and then edited multiple times in order to add the rest, the second part, about September 17 and the following bits, stopping before October 1, being posted before going to bed that morning, some of it being written while eating dinner, which I started at 3:05 AM, and the last part being posted before going to bed the following morning, at which point I also modified the title, to make it more descriptive. It’s still completely wrong to do it in this manner, but I guess it’s the last method I have to at least still write something, before giving up on writing completely, including even these embarrassingly detailed personal posts.

After starting to eat dinner at 3:20 AM again, after a small lunch in the evening but also two doughnuts with added jam eaten just before starting to make the salad, in the early hours of August 9 I first shaved and then nevertheless managed to go to bed just after 5:15 AM, and it’d have been even earlier if I wouldn’t have taken a few minutes to read Not Always Right first. And then I got up just after 9:20 AM, went to the toilet, took a quick shower and left just before 10:55 AM, finally following the recommendation given when I went to Floreasca, not eating or drinking anything in order to get accurate test results.
When I first got there, I went around the hospital, not knowing which entrance to go to, going past one gate where a guard sent someone away, then to the main gate, which was closed, then back the other way, eventually finding the right gate exactly one hour after leaving. Then I told a guard why I was there, was sent to the entrance, repeated the story to the people who were there and showed them the papers. They said I had the wrong hospital and they couldn’t do plenty of those things, but I pointed out where it said I’d have been transferred there from Floreasca and was sent in.
Though she at first told me to call and schedule myself for those tests, the receptionist then said she wanted to help and definitely did. She started by telling me that she’ll say that I have irregular heartbeats, so I’ll get accepted as an emergency case and they’ll look at me then, so I should say the same, so we’ll have the same story… Not that I had to lie, since I actually kept having irregular heartbeats again, albeit usually at night. Either way, she also said that the emergency doctor who was on duty at the time was very good and talked to me some more, repeatedly pointing out how thin I was while poking some fun at herself for being obese, and finding it amusing that I run. She also said she thought something was wrong with my lungs and gave me her name and that of a doctor at another hospital, telling me to ask for that one and say I was one of her relatives or something in case I’ll get sent there to have my lungs checked.
Then I waited until the one admitting emergency patients got to me, and at least she accepted me, though she wasn’t nice. When she checked I saw a mere 95% blood oxygen level and a rather high blood pressure, then had to go back to the receptionist for the paperwork, a part of the discussions I mentioned above taking place at that point. Then I waited some more, reading a bit from the issue of National Geographic I had taken with me until I was called to go in. However, after doing an EKG and having a look at one of my feet, they said they didn’t have much to do if the problem wasn’t obvious at that moment, since my heart was beating normally and my feet weren’t swollen either, after having slept a little and walked. I said that it usually happens at night and was told that in that case I should call an ambulance at night, so somebody will have a look when it happens, but they nevertheless took some blood and had me wait again, though still in that area, not sending me back out.
I seemed to be the only one waiting on a seat, first using one of those near the entrance to that area until the one admitting patients there told me to move to another. So I kept waiting and reading, though that was getting harder as time passed and I was getting increasingly agitated and struggling to somehow keep it together. And it was 5 PM when the emergency doctor came to me for a brief talk, saying that they finally got my test results, asking whether I knew I had some serious disease like HIV/AIDS, cancer or hepatitis, and advising me to accept hospitalization if it’ll again be recommended. But that was far from the end of the wait, since it was past 6 PM when the cardiologist came and I was called back in that room.
That’s when things got ugly, since she was snappish and laid into me, right away accusing me of not admitting that I’m not eating. When I said I do eat, though I hadn’t that day because I wanted the test results to be accurate, she asked what I had the day before and I told her, and she admitted that it was a fair bit. But she then asked why didn’t I look at her and told me to look at her because she feels I’m not listening, not seeming to care when I said I have social anxiety and am trying to maintain some control. And after a bit she also told me to take my cap off, and doing so made me feel even more exposed and panicky, and I think I ended up hugging my backpack, sort of as a shield.
It was a small relief when she went to the desk, to look over the paperwork from Floreasca, at which point she recognized the cardiologist, saying that she had been an intern there, but also that it was a good joke to send me there for some of the tests she had recommended. But it sure was a big mistake to leave my backpack, get up from the bed I had been sitting on and go to her while she did that, because I was again told I should be hospitalized for the tests they can do, and the emergency doctor also returned and said the same, and I ended up on the other bed, in the corner, with nowhere to go and surrounded by maybe four people, or at least three, since I’m not sure whether the fourth was also there at the time. And with my cap and backpack left on the other bed, I had nothing to hide behind except the mask, started crying and was pretty much about to curl into a ball when the cardiologist again snapped at me, asking what was it that time, what was I thinking of, and also repeated, talking to the others as if I wasn’t there, that I don’t eat and she doesn’t believe me when I say I do. She did mutter something like “in that case, fine” when the emergency doctor said that someone who wouldn’t eat wouldn’t have the protein level I have, but still didn’t sound at all convinced.
At least she eventually left, and the emergency doctor and, even more so, the other woman, who at the time I assumed was another doctor but was in fact probably a nurse, were much nicer. But they were still talking of hospitalization, saying they didn’t know for how long, and I froze even worse when the woman said that, even with my social anxiety, I’ll just stay in bed for a week, not interact with anyone except rarely with a doctor, otherwise read, stay on the phone, form my bubble and stay in it. I mean, I was wondering whether I’ll somehow manage two days, pushing through without sleeping, but a week? That was completely out of the question, so I continued to refuse, writing that down when I was asked to do so. Then the emergency doctor prescribed some iron supplement, though he said that it won’t fix the problem and, at the rate I’m clearly losing iron, soon I’ll barely be able to take three steps and they need to find the cause.
Still, I was eventually told to go back out of that room and wait for those test results, and that woman came at one point to ask for the results from 2019 again, for another look, though I had given them to her while in that room as well. Then I was given the paperwork, but was again told that I could change my mind about accepting hospitalization until I’ll leave… And I couldn’t leave just then, the cannula not being removed, since even though those from Floreasca, who had done more tests, hadn’t placed one, they had placed one in my arm even though all they did was draw blood at the beginning. So I went back to ask if someone could remove it, and while the emergency doctor told me to wait a little longer, the other one soon came and said she had forgotten about it… And again repeated that she hoped I’ll change my mind, before telling me to stay five to ten minutes longer, pressing the cotton ball on that spot. Some five minutes later, however, she told me that I could leave, so I did, walking out a bit after 7:05 PM.
From there, I went to the Carrefour from Unirii, getting yogurt and potatoes, and dad called as I was on the way to the checkout, and I told him what had happened. Then I tried to find a slightly shorter route from there to the location of that cheaper pharmacy that stays open later, but just ended up once again proving that the shortest route is the one you know, as I ended up going around a fair bit. And it was pointless to go there anyway, since I asked about the price of that supplement and was scared off by what I was told, obviously not buying it at the time. Was finally back a bit after 9:35 PM.

Moving on to September 17, though I had just been released the day before, I had to get back to Coltea to pick up the paper needed for the insurance to cover the abdominal MRI I had been told to have. The doctor had meant to give it to me when I was released, but was unable to, since I still showed up as being hospitalized at that time, so he told me to return then, around 10:30 AM… And, after the alarm woke me at 9 AM and I left at 10 AM, it was a bit after 10:40 AM when I got to the gate.
Things didn’t go well after that point, however, starting from the fact that I told the guard I should be on the list for that doctor, as he had told me to say, but she said she didn’t have a list for him at all. But she let me in, though I first had to go through the triage, which was done by one of those I had seen while hospitalized. Then I went inside and tried to follow the signs, but a guard asked where I was going and when I told him he pointed me in another direction, things having probably changed because the hospital was preparing to admit COVID-19 patients again. Either way, he also told me to wait for a nurse to come out and ask who was there for that doctor, so I did, but none of them were mentioning his name or even internal medicine, so after trying to ask some other nurse that happened to come when I could gather the courage to do so but having her walk away before I had a chance to, I did ask another, who asked for my name, then went back, and apparently did nothing else. And asking her was a bad choice from another point of view as well, since after doing so I went a short distance away… Just when another nurse came and finally asked who was there for internal medicine, albeit for a different doctor, then left too quickly for me to be able to reach her. So I just continued to wait… Until the place pretty much emptied and nurses stopped coming.
When just a couple of people were left, and I knew that they had already handed over their papers too, I hesitantly advanced, looking around corners and hoping nobody’ll stop me and I won’t get lost, and managing to find the way. Maybe I should have done that from the beginning, and maybe the doctor had told me to do so just before I was released, in that part I wasn’t sure I had understood correctly, but it didn’t seem like it’d be allowed while plenty of other patients were waiting there and staff members kept wandering around, and either way I couldn’t get myself to try. So, instead of around 10:30 AM, I finally reached the room I had to reach just before 12:15 PM. Still, when the nurse came out, I told her why I was there and she said she knew about it and the doctor will come down, another doctor being there at the time even though the schedule listed him between noon and 2 PM. He didn’t come, however, so the nurse asked for what she needed from me and did her part after that other doctor finished with the patients, then called him just before 1:25 PM, told me he’ll come in ten minutes… But that didn’t happen either, so close to 2 PM I asked whether it’d be better for me to leave and come back at a better time, but she again said she had called him. And she was talking to others about COVID-19 and vaccines, seeming rather against the vaccines, and I kept hearing the doctor’s voice and wasn’t sure where it was coming from, so I moved around a little on that hallway and when it seemed that his voice was coming from a certain room I got closer and heard others also make comments that were at least against how many resources were being put into dealing with COVID-19. At that point I finally realized that he was in a video conference, arguing against the complaints of other staff members, which explained why he wasn’t coming, and why another doctor had taken over his shift in the first place.
I didn’t have that much longer to wait, however, since when the nurse looked again and saw that I was still waiting, she called the doctor again, at 2:15 PM, and at just about 2:30 PM he finally came to stamp and sign the paper. He was in a hurry and told me that I was late, but when I said I had actually been there at 10:40 AM but then did what I had been told, waiting for someone to call for his patients, he also explained himself, saying he didn’t know why I wasn’t coming, since he had told me 10:30 AM, and then got caught in conferences. So I couldn’t get myself to show him the picture taken the previous night, after showering, showing that the foot I had held on the floor had quickly turned quite purple, the other one having returned to a normal color after being held up for just a minute or two, but I did show him the ultrasound from 2016, since the MRI was meant to rule out a possible stomach tumor, the doctors being pretty sure that it was just a blood vessel but wanting to be absolutely certain, and I thought I remembered being told something about blood vessels in my stomach back then as well, but he said that what was listed there was different. Also asked about the high urea in the test results, but he said that’s not an issue, possibly being caused by drinking too little that day, which had actually been the case, the tests that actually indicate kidney health being normal. And he asked whether I had started calling around in order to schedule the MRI, then said that if I couldn’t find a spot in September, having it done in October was just fine, since it’s not an emergency.
All of that only took a few minutes and it wasn’t even 2:35 PM when I was out, through the front gate, which he had told me to use. Then I went to the Carrefour from Unirii, picking up a few expiring things, a bread and just a few grapes for myself, after I talked to dad on the phone about getting grapes for my mother and he said it was too early, since he won’t be able to take them to her for quite a few days. Also looked at the eggs that were sold separately, but there was no price, so I asked an employee, she went to check, then came back, apologized and said they don’t have a price in the system and can’t be sold.
On the way back I checked the larger Mega Image from this area, but saw nothing to get, or at least nothing I knew of at the time, since I picked up a catalog but somehow didn’t see that the cat food for Micky and Rocky was discounted again and didn’t look for it. Then I also stopped by the nearby medical center, to ask about scheduling the MRI, but was told that even their waiting lists were closed and to try again in November, even though the site that lists the remaining funds stated that they still had some. Either way, I then bought cheese from this nearby store, also quickly checked the Mega Image across the road, and was back here at 5:20 PM.
Once inside, I realized I had lost a 0.05 RON coin somewhere, but since the bag I had them in had torn, that wasn’t exactly surprising. Otherwise, I called three places that evening, trying to schedule that MRI, but all of them said that even their waiting lists were closed and to try again later, and that when I will be able to schedule the procedure, it’ll be for November or even December. And then I talked for an hour and a half to my mother on the phone, and I’m quite sure I made mamaliga after that. Got in bed at 5:35 AM.

On the morning of September 20, I was bed at 5:25 AM, and in the evening I made a few more calls. I still had no luck, however, being told either that even the waiting lists were closed or that the waiting time was four or five months, and one clinic told me that they only make appointments for December. Still, after passing on the first, I told the second clinic that mentioned that waiting time of four or five months to add me on the waiting list, I guess just to get myself to do that and see how the process goes… And I actually never called them back to cancel that, so I wonder if I’ll ever get a call from them to tell me that I have an appointment coming up. Either way, my mind was messed up after that, which also made me completely forget that I wanted to boil some corn that evening, so I only started working on that around 11 PM, ending up delaying something else I wanted to do at midnight. And there were worms in one of the cobs, one rushing out when I cut the tip, but another ended up floating in the water while boiling. Either way, I started eating dinner at 3:15 AM, having some peanut butter as well, and got in bed at 5:25 AM.

On September 21 I made just one more quick call, but on September 22 I put together quite a list of places to call… Only to be told by the very first one, which is also nearby, that they could schedule me for October 1! I was told that they could only do the upper abdomen, however, because I should have been given two papers in order to have it done for both the upper and the lower, so I accepted that, but since what was written on the paper made me think that the procedure should be for the entire abdomen, I wanted to confirm it with the hospital, so two days later I called there as well and was told that what I had been told from the clinic was indeed correct. Either way, getting back to September 22, I then spent the evening in the kitchen.

One more thing was needed before I could have that MRI, however, and that was something from my dentist certifying that the crown I have since the start of 2017 was compatible with the procedure. I thought it’ll be easy to obtain, and the person from the clinic also said it could be sent by e-mail as well, so I first e-mailed them… Then, when there was no reply, I also sent them a message on Facebook… And when there was no reply to that either, I asked dad to go over there and ask, and on September 29 he did that and came back with the required paper, having apparently been told that they had seen my messages but were waiting for the confirmation from the lab. I have no idea why couldn’t they have said so, or at least acknowledged that they had received my messages in some manner…

On October 1 I first woke up just before 7:50 AM and needed to pee, but with the alarm set to ring at 8 AM I decided to wait and actually fell asleep again, very briefly, that need waking me again seconds before the alarm rang, and I got up when it did. Left with dad a bit before 9:40 AM, but we just walked there, arriving a few minutes before 10 AM. Then we went in, but of course dad couldn’t go past the first reception, so I left the jacket and a few other things with him and walked in, not checking the time but dad later saying that it was 10:10 AM at that point.
I was told to go to the reception on the first floor, but ended up accidentally pressing -1 in the elevator and then being confused because some buttons were lit and some weren’t and 1 wasn’t and, since there were multiple elevators, I was wondering whether some only went to certain floors and that one didn’t go there, especially since it beeped when I pressed 1 but didn’t seem to move. But it beeped when I pressed 0 too, so I first went back to the ground floor, then pressed 1 again and it worked. Then, at that other reception, I filled and signed what I had to, but the receptionist said that the date had been modified on the paper from the hospital. I hadn’t noticed, but I guess the nurse started writing a wrong one and then corrected herself and the receptionist saw that, so she went to check whether they’ll accept it, then came back to say that they will that time but told me to check carefully from then on, and sent me to the seats at the end of the hallway to wait to be called.
Well, I didn’t even reach those seats before a nurse came out to call my name. Then she showed me into a room and told me to leave my clothes there, leaving only my underwear on, and put on what was placed there for me, so I asked whether I could keep my socks on too and she said I could. I wasn’t sure how to put that robe on though, so I was still fussing with it when the nurse came back to ask whether I was done and I went with her, finding the place and the directions rather confusing. But there was no need to know my way around just then, so I sat on the bed I was directed to and she put in the cannula, on the back side of my right hand, in front of the wrist, which I found surprising. I was also asked a few more questions, and then waited for the guy operating the machine to finish with the previous patient. And when that was about to happen he asked whether I needed to go to the toilet, since the procedure was going to take some 40 minutes, so I said that in that case I’d better go, at which point the fact that I found the place confusing showed, since I couldn’t follow his directions and he had to come and point out the toilet to me. Neither of the doors would close though, so I had to pee with them open, which took a little while, since I was looking over my shoulder, worried that someone was going to walk past and I’ll be in full view.
After I was done, I went into the MRI room, was told to leave my mask on a table, which hardly seemed hygienic, and given the instructions for the procedure… Which went really well until the contrast substance was injected, my only worry up to that point being to not fall asleep. When that guy injected that substance, however, it really hurt and I let him know, not that it seemed to make any difference. At first the pain was localized, but I was wondering how free the substance was to spread from there, with my arms over my head, on that pillow, and after the nurse had ripped the robe’s sleeve after putting in the cannula, saying that the arm shouldn’t be restricted, so I raised that arm a tiny bit and the pain lessened, but when I put it back down it returned, spreading all around the wrist. It went away after I was done and could move again, but that part of that blood vessel remained swollen and painful until quite recently, so for well over a month, and in fact it still feels a little harder and thicker than the corresponding one from the other hand. However, it is possible that the reason also had something to do with the fact that something, maybe a sleeve, caught the cannula when I was changing again, since I was sent to do that right after leaving that room, before the cannula was removed, so that might have caused a little injury in that blood vessel, since that moment was also quite painful.
Speaking of changing, I was of course again confused and the room my clothes were in had to be pointed out to me. Then I returned to the bed I had first been told to sit on and the guy gave me the CD and removed the cannula. I’m quite sure it’d have been better if a nurse would have done it, but he seemed to be the only one around and just pulled it out and placed that little round band aid on that spot, without using any alcohol and without giving me any cotton ball to press on that spot for a while. And later, when I took it off, I noticed that he hadn’t even placed that band aid correctly, the sticky part being on the puncture mark. Either way, though it definitely struck me as unhygienic and even unsafe to not use alcohol, I didn’t say anything about that at the time, instead just asking how things looked… Only for the guy to say that he’s just a technician, which made me wonder even more why did he inject that substance and remove the cannula. But there was nothing I could do about it then, so after he told me to give my e-mail address to the receptionist and wait to receive the result in a few days, I walked away, albeit not going straight back to the reception, since I had taken a bottle with me and there was a water dispenser there, so I first filled the bottle from it, then went to the reception, asking to write down my e-mail myself, to make sure it won’t be typed incorrectly.
I walked out of there a bit before 11:45 AM, took back what I had left with dad, who had been waiting for me, and then we went our separate ways, with me using a route that was slightly different from the one I’d have normally used in order to have a quick look in a confectionery before getting to that Carrefour. Didn’t get anything from the confectionery though, while from Carrefour I just grabbed spoiling Kapia and Bianca peppers. Then I went straight to the Kaufland from Obor, grabbing some expiring things and rice… And having the cleaner complain that I didn’t use the drier after washing my hands before leaving, saying she had worked to wipe the floor. But I just looked oddly at her and walked away, not commenting that those driers shouldn’t be used, especially under the current circumstances, and many other places disabled them. Either way, I then forgot I also meant to go to Penny and went straight to Carrefour, grabbing spoiling bananas and three eggs, had a look through the farmers’ market, also quickly checked that Mega Image after crossing the road, and then bought another apple and meringue cake from that new confectionery I had discovered there. I was asked if I didn’t have 1 RON when I did that, so it’ll be simpler to give me the change, and when I said I didn’t the woman who was there told me to check my pockets, because I just might, so I said I knew what I left Carrefour with and even showed her the money I still had, so she gave me the 4 RON as change… But then asked me to come back the next day, buy something else and give them back to her… And instead, I went to the place that’s right next to that confectionery and spent 3 RON on a pastry. Then, on the way back, I checked that Library location, again finding it closed, with a note stating that it’s closed every other Friday, including that one, and made a quick detour for another look in a Mega Image.
I was back at 4:20 PM and had a banana and a cake purchased earlier from Carrefour, saving that new one, plus the sandwich bought from Kaufland and watermelon. In the evening, I napped for just under one hour, then also had yogurt and cereals, and at night made myself mamaliga again, starting to eat dinner at 3:15 AM. Weighed myself after stuffing myself with that and saw 50 kg, which is something I hadn’t seen in a long time. Was down to 48 kg after waking up and crapping the next day, however.

To finish this, I’ll also mention that I received the MRI result on October 5, which result confirmed that there was no real problem with my stomach and stated that everything else was also fine, with the exception of my liver, which is enlarged and has a minimal, but for me definitely worrying, amount of fluid surrounding it. It also confirmed the hemangioma first discovered by that ultrasound done in December of 2019, but listed its size as 7/4 mm, while the ultrasound listed 8 mm, so it definitely didn’t grow and, from what I read, if there’s no growth within a year or so, it’s not a problem and should be safe to ignore permanently.