It All Comes Down To This

Since we moved here to Florida I have had one mammogram, one sonogram, one X-ray, two MRIs and a PET scan.  My blood was tested, twice, as well as other body fluids, and I got a flu shot.  I had my eyes examined.  My schedule included appointments with a gynecologist, dentist, breast surgeon, spine surgeon, ophthalmologist, thoracic surgeon, physician's assistants and a dermatologist's assistant.  My weight was taken, way more than necessary, and I had a month of physical therapy.

Some of these events were due to regular maintenance but many were due to a chain reaction that started four months ago when I sought help for a bad bout of arthritis-related pain.  And today it all ended when Dr. Thoracic Surgeon called me to tell me that the test I had yesterday, a PET scan, indicated that some cysts they found on previous MRIs were just benign weird things that sometimes occur in peoples' bodies.  Then he went on to assure me that from my abdomen to my head, if there had been anything wrong, it would have been seen.

The good doctor declared me very healthy and said he was done with my case, so I thanked him for his time and help and for the happy phone call, but before I could hang up he remarked, "There's one more thing.  You have the straightest teeth of any patient I've ever seen."  Well!  I thanked him for the compliment, making sure to mention that I was born with those straight teeth.  And that was it.

After I got the call I took a walk up to Indialantic to run an errand.  It was a beautiful sunny day, my back didn't hurt, and I logged a distance of 4.5 miles round trip.  That's the longest I've walked this year so I was pretty pleased.  On the way home I went down the boardwalk and then down a narrow little street called Wavecrest, which runs south along the dunes a short way.  The picture below is of a mass planting of red wildflowers between the road and the ocean.  Individually they're pretty ugly but grouped together they made a nice red cloud.  Anyone know what kind of flower these are?


Comments