Another ride on the medical carousel
I've been living in Edinburgh just over a year now and only yesterday did I finally get round to registering with a local doctor. The reason? Given what I know they're going to tell me, I decided I could do without the hassle of undergoing umpteen tests relating to high blood pressure, for a while at any rate.
My mother's been on medication for it at least since my teens, my father joined her five years ago and my brother within the last year. From my early 20s, every time I've had mine taken it's been that little bit higher than it ought to be, but not so much so as to warrant medication. They put it down to nervousness when going to see the doctor, hence putting me through all these tests.
Back in '98 my then doctor went the whole hog: in the space of a month or so I was to be found passing all my water over a 24 hour period into a container I had to carry around with me at all times (go with a paper bag here, plastic is too see-through and thus revealing), having a CAT scan, having all sorts of checks done to my blood, you name it. I even went around with a portable blood pressure monitor strapped to my arm for 24 hours, and let me tell you I could have done without being woken up at 4am by a crushing sensation on my biceps.
Medical science will have made a lot of progress in the last eight years, so knowing my luck, they'll have all the more to throw at me this time round.
Don't get me wrong: It's inevitable that I too will end up on medication to keep it down, I accept that. I just wish we didn't have to go through this whole rigmarole every time I move and thus have to register with a new doctor.
My mother's been on medication for it at least since my teens, my father joined her five years ago and my brother within the last year. From my early 20s, every time I've had mine taken it's been that little bit higher than it ought to be, but not so much so as to warrant medication. They put it down to nervousness when going to see the doctor, hence putting me through all these tests.
Back in '98 my then doctor went the whole hog: in the space of a month or so I was to be found passing all my water over a 24 hour period into a container I had to carry around with me at all times (go with a paper bag here, plastic is too see-through and thus revealing), having a CAT scan, having all sorts of checks done to my blood, you name it. I even went around with a portable blood pressure monitor strapped to my arm for 24 hours, and let me tell you I could have done without being woken up at 4am by a crushing sensation on my biceps.
Medical science will have made a lot of progress in the last eight years, so knowing my luck, they'll have all the more to throw at me this time round.
Don't get me wrong: It's inevitable that I too will end up on medication to keep it down, I accept that. I just wish we didn't have to go through this whole rigmarole every time I move and thus have to register with a new doctor.
posted by Anthony at
08:15
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