Thursday, July 23, 2009

Let's Get a Physical

Yesterday, I finally got my health information in the mail to the university. I had to get a physical and submit health insurance and vaccination history.

The physical was fine. They didn't discover a heart murmur or any other surprises. My vision with the current prescription seems a bit poor to me - 10/12.5 using both eyes but my left eye is 10/20. My BMI is below that magic number 22 (20-22 is the ideal range according to things I have been reading recently).

The problem came with drawing the blood. I told the woman doing it that I'm pretty phobic about it so I wasn't going to watch. She said OK. After she was done, though, I started feeling light-headed almost immediately and my vision did that television snow-static thing that happens right before I pass out. Before I actually did pass out, two nurses came in and helped me lie down on the floor with my legs elevated. After some length of time (several minutes, I think) during which I felt bad but was still conscious, I felt back to normal, got up, and continued with the physical without incident. It was weird because I have not had this happen before, and I hadn't been fasting before the appointment. About 3 different people told me that in the future I should have them situate me on the floor before drawing the blood, so I guess I will do that as a precaution.

Remember how I had that awful Tdap shot last year that made me so ill, but I figured it would at least fulfill any immunization requirements for grad school? It actually did work out that way, though it was a long road that required making 3 phone calls to the doctor's office (since it turned out that it wasn't my primary care doctor but my gynecologist who had given the shot), turning in paperwork, and sending them $15 for the record. But I call this cheap at the price since it meant not having to get a shot this month, while I am trying to get ready to move.

This week I have started packing using boxes we already had and some we picked up from someone on craigslist. I have also successfully consolidated my clothes so that I was able to move all the things that were in bins in the closet and my sweaters hanging in the closet into the chest of drawers. (I still have too much, but, eh.)

7 comments:

Tam said...

Since I passed out a couple of years ago they always have me lie down in one of the exam rooms now.

Tam said...

Oh, and thanks for getting that song stuck in my head! Aaaaaa!

Sally said...

NC law requires that I have had 3 doses of tetanus-diptheria, one within the last 10 years. I actually had the 3 in childhood, plus one when I started my job in 1996, then this one in 2009.

rvman said...

I had to interrupt a donation because I was getting nauseous once. Never again will I do that while I already have a migraine. Never had problems with test quantities, though - the donation was around half a pint when I went south.

Jen M. said...

Ugh, sorry that you also passed out during your blood test... guess it runs in the family! :\

Sally said...

Jen, I clearly just wanted to be like you! :)

Tam said...

So, you may have nearly passed out, but, just like last year, today they had to stick me THREE TIMES.