Please bear with me and have a little patience for my grammatical puns, okay? I want to talk about my yesterday and the potential implications for my future. That’s an overly dramatic way to put it, but when your post is about medical testing for an upcoming surgery, it has a ring of truth to it.

Nothing unusual about my day so far; getting up early is just the way I roll. What was different was that I needed to make a trip out to San Marcelino for an 8:00 a.m. doctor’s appointment.

I’d never seen this doctor before, but she’s the one who will be doing the surgery to remove my nasal polyps. I was disappointed to discover that I didn’t really have an appointment after all. Her clinic opens at 8:00, and in typical Filipino fashion, patients are seen on a “first come, first served” basis. There must have been twelve other people in the waiting room ahead of me. I was tempted to say fuck it and go on about my day, but I’m committed to finally getting this procedure done, and if that means waiting in line, so be it. Actually, I waited in the car. About 45 minutes later, my helper fetched me and said the doctor would see me now. Hooray!

First impressions of the doctor I’m entrusting with my future were for the most part positive. She requires everyone to mask up which seems ridiculous, but whatever. I was given a complimentary mask since I don’t carry one these days. She took a look up my nose with her scope and confirmed what every ENT specialist I’ve seen previously has said. The nodules are so far overgrown that only surgery can resolve my blockage.

Before the surgery can take place, there are several hoops I must jump through, including clearance from a cardiologist and several medical tests and blood work. Since I’d eaten a muffin for breakfast (yeah, high in carbs, but sometimes you gotta cheat), I’d have to wait until I fasted to schedule the blood work. I’m planning to do that in the morning. Provided all the results indicate I’m a good candidate for survival, Dr. A (can’t remember her name at the moment) will schedule the surgery at Baypointe Hospital on SBMA (the old Navy base). I also need to consult with the anesthesiologist at Baypointe, which I hope to accomplish tomorrow. Dr. A told me she would perform the surgery on a Sunday (I’m unavailable the next two Sundays), and I could be released from the hospital on Monday. Unless I’m a bleeder, then she’ll have to pack my nose. I don’t even want to think about that scenario; I’ll just trust that I’m in the majority of patients who don’t have that issue.

So, I left San Marcelino with a list of tests and procedures I needed done and headed for Baypointe. I also required an MRI of my back and leg so Dr. Jo can diagnose and treat whatever ails me there. I arrived at Baypointe around 10:00 a.m. and was advised the MRI could be done at noon. So, I went about getting the ECG and chest X-ray Dr. A requires. I got called in for the MRI right after the chest X-ray was completed, so I felt good about that.

I hadn’t undergone an MRI in over twelve years, and I didn’t remember it being anything like this experience. I had two separate procedures, both lasting approximately fifteen minutes, but it sure seemed longer inside that tube. I’m not typically claustrophobic, but damn, I was feeling trapped and needed to send my mind to a happy place, but that was impossible because of all the noise generated by the MRI machine. The operator had warned me, but I still wasn’t prepared. Even with ear protection, it was the loudest sound I have ever been subjected to (and I’ve been to lots of rock concerts back in the day). I wondered if the noise was supposed to trigger brain waves, but apparently, that’s not the case. After a while, the sounds became voices in my head, but at least those messages were positive. It’s so weird and also relatively expensive. Both scans totaled 25,000 pesos ($500.).

Oh, and as I was checking for title redundancy, I came across this post from 2006 telling the story of my first ambulance ride and stitches. That was also in Seoul.

So, back to Baypointe in the morning for my bloodwork and hopefully I’ll be able to get in to see the doc that will be putting me to sleep.

Once the medical stuff was done yesterday, I went to Royal and got my weekly supply of groceries. What was different this week was I spent some time checking the labels on things I usually buy. I had to reject some that were just too high in carbohydrates. I want to keep this diet as simple as possible, so hopefully, eating low carb combined with eating less will get me to where I want and need to be.

I’ve still not resolved where my beloved alcoholic beverages are going to fit into my future. Thanks to some of my commenters, I’ve been learning about how insulin spikes are detrimental to losing weight. I think there is a balance I can find, but I need to work on that plan some more.

After my stressful day dealing with the world of medicine, I needed to do my own self-medication in the form of San Miguel Zero. Twelve-ounce bottles, sixty calories, 3% alcohol. It’s a healthy choice, at least compared to other beers.

I made Sloppy Joe’s my first stop for no other reason than it is the first bar I come to on my walk into town. I was still on my first beer of the evening when Jim showed up and joined me at my table. We each treated the other to a beer, then headed out for our next venue. Our plan was the Annex bar, but it was packed. So, we did the Oasis next door instead. Two beers there, then on to one of the other new joints in town, Red Bar. We liked it here well enough to have two more beers.

We decided to check out Whiskey Girl next. I forgot they have a live band on Tuesdays and I wasn’t really looking forward to that. But the band didn’t start until 8 p.m., and I left shortly after they began to play. It was good to briefly see my waitress pal Jen again.

Two more beers (that’s eight on the night if you are counting), and I headed out to find a trike for home.

So, twelve beers on Sunday’s Hash bar crawl, ten beers at the Hash on Monday, and eight beers last night. Am I detecting a trend? Slowing down my rate of consumption is one strategy, but I’m not sure I can go much lower than this. Tonight I’m thinking I’ll do the gin and soda thing and see how that works. I’ll do one shot in a tall glass and have a can of soda water served with it. My second round will just be the water. Then I’ll get another shot, and so on. This plan is a pretty big reduction in both alcohol intake and carbs. That should also help on the insulin front as well. We’ll see.

Time to shower up and get ready. I’ve got a feeding at Hideaway to attend to.