The poking and prodding has begun

Old woman from pitapixel.com

All laughing aside, this is what “welcome to Medicare” is like.  I haven’t decided if this is a good thing, or not, after everything I’ve been through so far.  But I guess maybe it’s the right thing to do - to give one a complete physical for free.  That’s right – something that is actually free these days, no co-pays or any other kind of pays.  Who would think that was even possible with the prices of things.

So, for those of you not eligible yet, this is what you’re in for. 

Once you’re signed up for Medicare, you have one month to schedule all your wellness visits.  This doesn’t mean all the appointments have to fall in that first month because some doctors and facilities are way out there when it comes to appointments. 

If you’re a female, these appointments include:

A mammogram

A pap smear

An EKG

A complete blood panel

A urinalysis

A Dexa scan (bone density test)

A colonoscopy

Of course, some of these things are given to men too with other things substituted, such as prostrate screening.  If anything comes back that needs further testing, then you’re sent for that. 

So far, I’ve completed everything on the list except the colonoscopy.  Oh joy!  I hate those things. 

My blood panel revealed I was very low in potassium so I had to get a prescription for that and have my blood tested again in a month.  I’ve stressed to my husband that bananas daily are important.  Unfortunately, he sees no importance in veggies or bananas.  Now I think I have realized why I’m so tired.  All this time, I thought I was wearing myself out by mopping up water in the house until the wee hours of the morning from the water heater incident, along with the heat that was draining my energy.

Then when I got to my Dexa scan on Monday, the doctor discovered that my vitamin D level wasn’t checked on my blood panel so I had to have another blood draw.  I hate needles too that leave bruises on my arms for a couple of weeks.  But I have to say the nurses I’ve had recently were better at their jobs.  Maybe they’ve taken practicing on those oranges seriously.

The Dexa scan revealed I’m in the danger zone for osteoporosis in my back, with my hips coming in closely behind.  And here I walk into things all the time in the winter and fall on my rear-end and haven’t even hurt myself on the rocks.  Maybe I was lucky when we’ve been tying up plants in the brutal wind.  Anyway, this result wasn’t exactly a surprise to me.  My mother has osteoporosis so I figure all of us are candidates down the road.  One thing you can’t run from is old age.  Now I’m waiting to see if the medication he wants to give me to reverse the damage is Medicare approved.

Then of course, there’s always the colonoscopy to look forward to…