Friday, January 29, 2010

I should be a doctor (well, not really)

My wife decided on Wednesday evening that I was sick enough that I needed to see my doctor. I told her I couldn't do that; I had a meeting in my company's main office on Thursday and too much work to do. Plus, the meeting started at 8:00, and the only way to get a same-day appointment is to call right at 8:00. I also told her that the doctor was going to tell me that I either had the flu or pneumonia, and other than giving me some cough medicine, I'd just be told to wait it out and not ski this coming weekend.

My wife is too smart for me. She told me that I could dial into my 8:00 meeting from home. I rarely do that, and they'd understand. Then, while I was in my meeting, she'd call my doctor's office and get me an appointment. She works at the hospital, so it was easy for her to schedule the appointment.

So, I agreed. The truth is, I felt so bad that I was glad to avoid the hour-plus drive to my office. I was able to participate in a long meeting while sitting on my couch, sipping coffee, and wearing my pajamas. Partway through the meeting, my wife sent me an e-mail saying that she'd secured an appointment for me, although it was not with my PCP, but rather a new doctor at the hospital.

The intake nurse is someone I'd worked with professionally when I worked at the hospital. I'd worked on a quality improvement project with her, but never seen her in action as a nurse before. I was very impressed by her thoroughness and congeniality and sympathy towards how I felt. We are lucky in such a tiny rural town to have a very high quality hospital. The three years I worked there made me respect the hospital even more.

Then I met the new doctor. We talked for about ten minutes and he listened to my chest very intently with his stethoscope. The diagnosis? Either flu (I had the H1N1 shot, but not the normal vaccine due to short supply) or pneumonia, probably the latter. He gave me some cough medicine, had me get a chest X-Ray, told me to absolutely not ski this coming weekend, and sent me on my way. So, I had the diagnosis right on.

In nine years of teaching skiing, I've never taken a sick day. There were times when I probably should have called in sick, but I always showed up. But, not this weekend. I suggested to my boss that I know a newly certified PSIA instructor who knows all the girls in my group, and that he would be an ideal replacement for me this weekend. My son hopes it happens because it would be the most fun weekend of teaching for him so far this year.

I guess I'll catch up on Netflix movies this weekend and hope I feel better by Monday.

2 comments:

RunSueRun said...

Damon, hi from CA. Sorry you are sick right now. Yuck. Hope you are feeling better quickly!

Damon said...

Hi Sue,

It's good to hear from you. I hope to get back into the gym soon.

I love reading about all of your adventures on your blog these days. You seem to be having a great time without the need to compete in races. I really want to get back to that - fun days in the mountains without a race number.