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Dear Reader,
I'm not a doctor, but I've been playing one for the past week. Instead of just going to the doctor I've been trying to diagnose myself. Symptoms: a queasy stomach all day long, why, just the smell of food practically does me in. Can hardly eat, but I have a real craving for Macintosh apples.
Maybe it's a virus, maybe it was bad fish, maybe it's an ulcer, maybe it's stress. Maybe I should quit diagnosing myself and call the doctor. I know my husband would vote for that remedy.
"Just call and make an appointment, will you Suzanne?"
The anticipation leading up to a doctor appointment is almost as bad as the "misery" that's finally driven me to call for an appointment. I fret, I worry: it might be something serious, the doctor might order tests; needles, blood work, X-rays, I might have to drink that disgusting chalky-tasting stuff. Or, what if I'm not really sick--boy wouldn't I look stupid? I should tough it out a little longer. When I was a kid, that was my mother's prescription, "Tough it out Suzanne, it will go away." But I've been toughing it out for a week now and it's interfering with my work. So I finally made the call and got an appointment for the very next day.
All that wasted diagnostic time (I could have been writing instead of playing doctor), all that pre-appointment fret and worry. All for naught...and that's pretty much what the doctor said, "Not to worry Suzanne, we'll run a little blood work, you probably have a low grade virus. Oh, yea, and granted, it's one of those far out possibilities--after all you're 53 and you've been enjoying hot flashes for a year now--but just to rule it out, we'll run a pregnancy test, too."
My doctor was amused. I was not--and not to worry--I'm not.
Feeling better already!
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
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http://www.DearReader.com
READ THE CLASSICS: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and enter the free Penguin Classic's Drawing. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/32qr54
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