Monday, May 10, 2010
43 degrees, bad night. I'm calling my primary doctor today & begging for some sleep aid other than Ambien. Lunesta, Sonata, Whatever. I had planned on sleeping a bit late, as I have appt at 1 to do some paperwork with private non-profit agency that makes possible my rental assistance through the city. This agency has some kick-ass social workers who know the system. They're old-school - proactive, advocates for people struggling to get by, they guide you by the nose if necessary through the various mazes, they know how easy it is to falter & get lost or, sometimes, get pushed aside. They rescued me twice. & on other occasions made phone calls for me that smoothed the way to some other services, including legal representation. As an alumnus of their day rehab program, I could go up the street to one of their buildings & have free lunch any day. I;d just be at the end of line, which would only mean they might run out of whipped topping for the Jello or something popular. & I used to go there for art classes on Tuesdays & Thursdays.
I have another appt in Newark tomorrow morning & I'm dreading the appt & the trip there via taxi, train, bus.
***
4:30 PM
Spent a lot of money on taxis. The doctor was concerned enough to talk on phone, but rather than prescribe over phone she wanted me to come in & bring all my current meds. So I took taxi there, $16, about 2 miles, almost all straight road, twice as much as two miles inside city limits. I waited awhile while she saw a few other patients. Then I was honest with her & she was good listener. I said I needed sleep aids, used non-time release generic Ambien fairly steadily but in small doses, I didn't gobble them, I knew what to expect. But over the past few weeks I was using them for naps. I said a half a tab is a great nap, about 90 minutes, wake up refreshed, not groggy. But I wasn't often getting a good night's sleep & I wanted one once in awhile, I'm stressed out, even more so when I'm stuck with morning appt. I said really disliked going to Newark, both the trips there & the appts were stressful. She looked over my other meds, nothing unusual there. Took my blood pressure, & prescribed a small number of another med that's good for sleep & eases anxiety, said use them sparingly, & we'll look at the situation again at our regular appt in a few weeks. I thanked. her.
Then I had to go to nearbyt ATM, call taxi, go back to Elizabeth for brief meeting at social services agency. Walked around the corner from there to CVS, filled the prescription, called taxi again because I was too tired to walk home, it was windy & cool. When I got home there was a call from Newark urologist office changing their med, which they'll phone in. I managed to talk the woman into making appt tomorrow 1/2 hour later, it was best I could do, & called Gina, asked if she could take me back to CVS later.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
I have another appt in Newark tomorrow morning & I'm dreading the appt & the trip there via taxi, train, bus.
***
4:30 PM
Spent a lot of money on taxis. The doctor was concerned enough to talk on phone, but rather than prescribe over phone she wanted me to come in & bring all my current meds. So I took taxi there, $16, about 2 miles, almost all straight road, twice as much as two miles inside city limits. I waited awhile while she saw a few other patients. Then I was honest with her & she was good listener. I said I needed sleep aids, used non-time release generic Ambien fairly steadily but in small doses, I didn't gobble them, I knew what to expect. But over the past few weeks I was using them for naps. I said a half a tab is a great nap, about 90 minutes, wake up refreshed, not groggy. But I wasn't often getting a good night's sleep & I wanted one once in awhile, I'm stressed out, even more so when I'm stuck with morning appt. I said really disliked going to Newark, both the trips there & the appts were stressful. She looked over my other meds, nothing unusual there. Took my blood pressure, & prescribed a small number of another med that's good for sleep & eases anxiety, said use them sparingly, & we'll look at the situation again at our regular appt in a few weeks. I thanked. her.
Then I had to go to nearbyt ATM, call taxi, go back to Elizabeth for brief meeting at social services agency. Walked around the corner from there to CVS, filled the prescription, called taxi again because I was too tired to walk home, it was windy & cool. When I got home there was a call from Newark urologist office changing their med, which they'll phone in. I managed to talk the woman into making appt tomorrow 1/2 hour later, it was best I could do, & called Gina, asked if she could take me back to CVS later.
