Sorry your so I'll and your health problems have multiplied so at still a young age of 58 years old. I'm glad your are following through on your follow up care during this very tough time in your life. Please let the doctor know about the problem you are having in your chest. And God bless you for all the people you have helped along the way as a hospital chaplain. It's quite understandable that you are nervous but you will get through this I have much faith in you johnnyboy

I am so sorry to hear about your health. I don't look at my arm when they take my blood so that helps a little. The anxiety with the urine is that most of it is on my hand and not in the small cup. Yuck!!!

Sending all of my support your way.

***I was just thinking of you and wondering how the itching was going, and hoping that it was getting even a bit better.***

muji,i'm so sorry you are struggling with these health problems,and that they are amplifying your PTSD.

i get very anxious about doctor's appointments,and waiting for test results.

i'd say,try your best to ground yourself before and after your appointment,and please reward yourself for getting through it....

much much support to you.

Sorry you're in pain and can't walk. Can you swim? I hope the Dr appointment brings you relief.

I'm sorry what you're going through. My chronic pain & health issues do a mean dance with my PTSD. & nerve damage/pain can be a Real B!!!
When I go to the rheumatologist & get my blood tests or to the orthopedist to get my cortisone shots in my wrists, (those are particularly hard for me) I always look the other way & either try to picture being on the beach or somewhere peaceful to me or I picture what im gonna get after I leave the doctors (weather it's like a juice or a food I like) I will try to treat myself those days for the accomplishment of getting through those appointments.
I definitely think it's a good idea to mention your chest tightness. I'll be keeping you in my prayers that the appointment goes well & can give you some relief
Much support
(((((((((hugs))))))))))

PleAse do mention the chest pressure. Its very important. Il be thinking of you

I agree with you 100%... you should definitely mention it to your doctor. I deeply empathize with you. Having a chronic illness is very stressful. It can create feelings of high anxiety, depression, a trigger PTSD. (((HUGS))) You are not alone.

Nope, it wouldn't occur to me that having worked in a hospital would make being a patient easier for you. I have never worked anywhere near any medical field, but. . . The hospital experiences as a patient and the ones as a supporter came together to create a massive over-dose in my own strictly personals. Wa-a-a-ay more information than my puny CPU can process.

Continued support while you challenge your own, muji. Definitely mention the chest pressure.

May i suggest that you make notes about points you need to cover with your doctor? If worse comes to worse and you're not satisfied with your verbal expression you can give the doctor your notes. Sometimes i find doctors pay better attention to the written word than the vocal efforts of a patient!

Big hug of peace for you muji..... I hope the appt goes well ...... xo

Lots of strength to you Muji. Dealing with Drs. never gets any easier. I have weekly appointments and the last one is as hard as the first. Yes, do mention the tight chest. It may be anxiety but best to be sure. Especially when you have so much other stuff going on. Big hugs.

How it go?

Thanks for asking, Sarah. This morning was my appointment to get my blood drawn for the labs needed for Friday's doctor's appointment. I didn't sleep well anticipating it, and I almost chickened out in the morning. But I decided to dress up for it in a coat and tie, telling myself that would perhaps have the receptionist and lab tech respect me a little more. And perhaps it would help me have some more self-confidence in asserting myself.

It worked. I did what lilmiss said when they stuck me to draw blood. It wasn't so much the needle stick that I had to concentrate through, it's that they had to take 6 vials of blood for all of the different tests for Friday. So that helped me hang in there.

Donna, I wrote down some notes as you said. I also wrote down my kidney doc's contact info to give my primary doc this Friday, because I would like for them to be able to confer about this chest pressure thing. Last week my psychiatrist offered to confer with my kidney doc, so I don't think that's out of line.

Yeah, I know 58 is young for a thing like chest pressure. I've looked into finding a pool I could swim in for exercise, but my Appalachian town doesn't have many swimming pools. Our YMCA has one but it's pretty scheduled up. I did got for a double walk today, though--double meaning I walked twice as far as usual. I thought of you, too, Rizen as I was doing it, too, which was really encouraging.

Thanks, everybody, I got through my visit to the hospital today, so now I've got a couple of days to get ready for the doc appointment Friday.

Support from here always helps when my PTSD anxiety amps up before one of these things. It makes me know I'm not alone. I'm so grateful.

coming in late, Muji but i've had you in my prayers about htis. i'm so glad your lab work went ok - i can see you in your suit and tie an dyou look very fine : )

i'll be ahead of time for Friday - get a head start since i'm in california - i'll get ahead by the thursday nite instead of in the morning : ) loads of extra peaceful thoughts for right now too.