More Doctor's Appointments

Today we spent all day at Watson Clinic in Lakeland for Dan to complete his nuclear stress tests.  These tests lasted 5 hours with breaks between three different sessions.  On two on the sessions Dan had to have MRI's done and he is extremely claustros afraid of closed in spaces and I was not sure if he would be able to do these tests.

If anyone remembers when he was in the hospital a couple of years ago he literally came out of one of  the MRI machines and refused to have the test run.  Let me tell you - it was NOT a pleasant experience for anyone involved.  I was hoping that we would not have a repeat of this episode.  The first set of scans was not a problem - I was able to go into the room with Dan and I stood beside him and read to him while the test was going on.  This worked well and Dan did not have any difficulties.  However, the next scan the tech told me I could not go back with him.  I explained that he would not be able to complete the scan if I was not in the room - well, she was insistent that I not go back so I went back and sat down.  About five minutes later she came back out to the waiting room and got me - she said that Dan required me and that it would okay for me to go back with him.  (He told me later that he told them I either came back there or that machine was going through the wall!)  There was no question when they called him back for the last session.

After we left Dan was so relieved that the whole thing was over and he was hungry - so we decided to take a step back in time and go to an "old" new pizza place in Lakeland called JBurns.  This place used to be 'the' pizza spot in the late 60's and early 70's in Lakeland but it closed around 72 or 73.  However, a friend of mine, in Lakeland, sent me a link to a newspaper article a couple of weeks ago which stated that the original owner of JBurns was opening a new pizza place on January 1st.  Well, we (or I should say, Dan) decided that we would take a chance a try and see if we could recapture a taste of the past.

Well, we were able to find the pizza parlour with no problems and there were plenty of cars in the parking lot - always a good sign.  When we walked up to order we only had two choices of sizes - personal and 12" - so we chose the 12" Meat Lovers.  The pizza was somewhat expensive to our way of thinking at almost $20.00 for the pizza and one coke - I'm drinking water, but we don't get up that way to eat that often and it was a step into the past.  We sat down to wait for our pizza - well, twenty minutes later, we still don't have our food.  A "waitress" (the girl that walked around and cleaned the tables) walked over and asked if everything was okay and we just said "Yes, but we were still waiting for our pizza."  She went over to check and see how long it would be - and, guess what, they had not even made our pizza!  Seems like they were having some trouble with some of their equipment and our order was never given to the guys that make the pizza.  The owner came over to us and apologized - gave us a coupon for a free pizza and told us he would either give us our money back and we could still have the coupon or he would fix us the pizza and it would be ready in 10 minutes.  Dan wanted the pizza.  Well, to say that we got a little extra attention would be an understatement - the owner delivered the pizza to us after letting us know several times in the 10 minute period how much longer it would be.  He even brought us metal forks to eat with!  The pizza was EXCELLENT and I would recommend them - just give them a couple of weeks to get the kinks worked out!  We would go there again even if we didn't have a coupon for a free pizza!

We drove back home and everything was going well - until I looked at my phone at a little after five and saw that we had a phone message.  It was from Watson Clinic with results from his tests and they want us to call tomorrow.  Now, we worry again - I know that it is silly to worry about something that we can't control - but until I know what is going on I will worry.  Will I say something to Dan that I am worried - nope.  Why?  Because he is worried too, and I don't want him to worry about me being worried.  I know that the stenth is not doing everything that needs to be done with his heart and we are both worried that he is going to have to have heart surgery.  However, we will do whatever we have to do!  I just have to remember - one step at a time!  We'll find out tomorrow.

How do you handle when you are worried about someone in your family's health?  Do you let them know you are worried or do you hold it in and just worry yourself and hold their hand?  Are you the type that want to know everything or are you better being kept in the dark and telling the doctor "just do what you have to do"?  In case you are wondering - I am the "tell me everything" type person - I want to know it all!  Okay - well, it may be a little hairy around here so, if you are so inclined, I could use a friendly shout out!  I look forward to hearing from you!