Doctor Doctor, Give Me The News

Seems like it’s been ages since I posted anything - this is becoming a habit without me really realizing it.
I mean to write on the regular, but life happens, and time is becoming more elusive every day lately.

Ah well, you do what you can I suppose.

The main topic in my life these days is ILLNESS.
I have been quite sick with what I thought was a cold for almost 8 weeks now.
8 weeks people. That’s 2 effen months!

After trying pretty much every herbal remedy under the sun with no improvement, I finally gave in and went to a “doctor”.
This did not make me happy in the least because I think western medicine is a complete farce for the most part, and I am against synthetic antibiotics because they do a number on your body.

ANYWAYS.

I go to this doctor by my house, he listens to my chest, and says my lungs sound “crappy”.
I asked him if that was an official medical term.
He then tells me I have a lung and sinus infection, writes me a prescription and sends me on my way.
The whole visit was less than 5 minutes - yet another reason I am leery of taking anything these guys prescribe.
How can they possibly diagnose someone they have no medical history on, have no blood work to verify their “diagnosis”, and have only a handful of minutes spent briefly checking over a patient??

I go fill my prescription, and start taking them for the prescribed 10 day duration.
The side effects were nasty from the start - terrible taste in my mouth, stomach pain, impaired taste, and trouble sleeping.
I would have got over these minor inconveniences if the medicine had started actually working at some point, but it did not.

Then on day 7, I break out in a rash that looks like measles all over my upper body and neck while I’m at work, and am told when I go back to the doc that day that it’s an allergic reaction to the medicine.
I am told to stop taking the medicine, and start taking Benadryl and cortisone to get rid of the rash.
Now not only am I still sick with a sinus and lung infection, I am fighting a horrible allergic reaction that makes me look like I have a skin disease for crying in the sink.

I HEART WESTERN MEDICINE.

Anywaaaaaaaays.
Go back to the doctor after the rash subsides, tell him it’s been 7 weeks of hell and I am not getting any better PLEASE HELP ME BEFORE I GO INSANE, he listens to my lungs again and says I have “something” in my right lung.
Thanks Einstein. I guess that solves that then.

He gives me a steroid inhaler for the time being, tells me he thinks I now have pneumonia, and sends me for a chest x-ray through this lab company they deal with.

I take Monday off work, go get the x-ray done which is literally a few blocks from the doctors office, and find out it takes 3 days to get them back to the doctor.
!!!
If I have pneumonia, I think it’s a little on the urgent side of things that I get properly diagnosed ASAP. But that’s just my logic.

So I call my doctors office yesterday to see if they have received anything from the lab yet, and the admin lady tells me no, and that they’ll call if the find anything wrong. If I don’t hear anything back, assume its good news.

WTF.

There is obviously something wrong with my lungs.
I haven’t been able to breathe properly for 8 weeks and have had a terrible cough that just doesn’t stop for anything.
If they don’t see pneumonia on the x-ray, assume it’s good news??
Not good enough.

I have a feeling I will have to pester them to get any results back, let alone a proper diagnosis and treatment.
Can’t wait to find out how many more weeks I will have to deal with this.

It’s getting really frustrating and I just want to start feeling better.

Ignorance vs Apathy

I have been noticing that I have lost interest in discussing my points of view with people.
It’s kind of strange, because I used to offer my thoughts whenever I saw an opening.
Now, I just couldn’t be bothered.

Why?

It’s not that I don’t have views and opinions on things - quite the opposite. Lately I’ve broadened my view and looked into quite a lot of things I wasn’t exposed to before.
I just have no desire to broadcast my thoughts to people when I hear them offering their opinions on something.

In my mind, it just seems like it would be wasted effort and I just don’t want to take the time to explain my thoughts or direct anyone to information that offers different points of view.
Seems like it’s just a waste of time all of a sudden, and I really couldn’t be bothered.

Example: I heard a lady I know fairly well yesterday refer to the Muslim religion as totally ridiculous and the reason for 9/11 and all that has transpired in the world since.

Ignorance at it’s finest.

I just sat there and quietly boiled while I listened to this drivel come out of her mouth.
As my brain went into overdrive trying to process what I just heard and how to articulate an opposing point of view in the calmest way possible, something in me just said DON’T BOTHER -
IT'S NOT WORTH IT.

I don’t know if this is a good thing or not.
On the one hand, I am really starting to embrace the live and let live creed, but on the other hand, ignorance and bias can’t be lessened if people don’t offer different ideas about things.
That’s supposed to be the point of human communication - the sharing of thoughts and ideas, right?

I dunno.

I spend a lot of time reading and researching things because I am a generally curious person by nature, and I also like to be somewhat aware of all views on a topic before I form an opinion.
Because of this, I’ve always been pretty willing to engage in a convo about various points of view on a topic. I respected what others said and got respect in return for the most part.

Lately though, I find that the respect I normally have for other people has been wearing thin when I hear an ignorant or one sided remark
And instead of offering someone another point of view or telling them about books or research info on the net to broaden their opinions, I say nothing.

I just feel a sinking inside and think to myself that the world really is an effed up place.
And I’m not usually one for apathy, but there it is.

Hope I’m not just getting bitter with age…