Quote of the day:

Better to be busy than to be busy worrying.
—Angela Lansbury

I had my yearly visit with the neurologist yesterday. That’s the view from the waiting room.

Actually, as usual, I saw the nurse practitioner, and she put me through the now familiar tests, and I think I passed them all again, though she did notice a very slight tremor in my hands when I held my arms out. 

The ziggies, as I call them, have been fairly stable for the past few months, occurring about once every three weeks, and although I hate when they rear their ugly zigzag pattern, lately they haven’t been followed by a headache, at least not most of the time.

So after Jian (that’s the nurse) finished with the tests and the questions, she fetched the neurologist, but the doctor had to admit there wasn’t much for her to do. No change in the medication seemed warranted and keep on doing what I have been doing.

By the way, here’s a pro tip for dealing with medical professionals. Keep in mind that they see dozens, if not hundreds, of patients over the course of a year, so the only way they are going to remember you, other than by checking your chart, is if there is something especially memorable about you. In my case, what the medical profession calls auras, I refer to as ziggies. That’s enough for my neurologist to remember me even though she only sees me once a year.

As it happened I had also seen my primary physician last week and gotten a new set of blood tests, and the results came back yesterday. Although I’m by no means a medical expert, I’d say the results indicate I’m probably going to live for at least another year, barring the unexpected, of course.

On the other hand, the arthritis in my right knee has been acting up again, making the simple act of walking a real chore. And walking is where I get most of my exercise.

So to sum up, I have no life threatening conditions, but I’m plagued by a bunch of non-life-threatening irritants that I can complain about. So expect to hear a lot of grexing and groaning in the next year!