My last post was about being concerned about my ongoing cough and pain in my arm. Friday night I shared what was going on with my small group. One of my friends is a doctor and he suggested I see a doctor about getting an ultrasound on my arm to put all worry to rest. My sister and brother had also encouraged me to do this.
Saturday I set up a virtual appointment with a walk-in clinic, but they said I would have to be seen in person to get a referral for an ultrasound. Further more the only place that could do an ultrasound on the weekend would be an ER. I decided to wait it out and just watch out for additional symptoms.
Over the course of the weekend my arm pain remained the same, but my cough worsened.
Monday morning I visited a walk in clinic. There was a tent set up outside for initial contact. When I stated that I had had a cough for 40+ days, they got really concerned and separated me from anyone else immediately. Vitals were taken in the tent. I had to photograph my insurance card and ID with my phone and email it to the clinic. After this they walked me around back to a separate entrance (in lieu of going through the waiting room).
When the doctor arrived he had on an N-95 mask, face shield, gown and gloves. He asked me lots of questions, listened intently and showed great concern for me and my fears and anxieties. He examined my chest and arm and said my lungs sounded good overall, and said that I most likely had nerve pain but would get me a referral for an ultrasound to put my fears to rest. He then ordered a blood count and x-rays of my chest.
When the doctor came in the second time to share about my results, he was no longer wearing the N-95 mask or face, which immediately made me feel better seeing that his level of worry had obviously dropped. My blood count was good and x-rays showed no pneumonia but signs of bronchitis. They gave me a steroid shot to help with the arm pain and said it would also help my lungs. I was also given prescriptions for steroid pills, antibiotics, and an inhaler.
Later that afternoon I went to get my ultrasound. The tech was really nice and told me at the end of the exam that I didn't have a clot. That was such a relief. I've had many an ultrasound that had bad results in the past (blood clot in my leg and also miscarriage). It was hard not to be anxious throughout the whole day.
Thankfully my results were better than expected and I felt a great deal of relief leaving the doctor. Today I am feeling tremendously better thanks to the shot and the start of antibiotics. This pandemic has been a scary time. The clinic I visited did not have testing for Covid-19, and unless they could treat it, I am ok not knowing for certain.
I know that I am not alone in feeling anxious over the last six weeks. It is so hard to know how to feel when there is so much that is unknown about this virus.
Our state has been doing more testing and therefore has more positive cases, but the governor is working to start opening up the economy on Friday, May 1st. I'm not sure what to make of this. In addition, the USA has passed the one million mark in terms of positive cases yesterday. It was just 26 days ago that the world hit the one million mark.
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