and i was worried i'd be late! i ended up waiting over an hour before doctor simon could see me. is it always like that? the wait time is outrageous. maybe because he's a celebrity doctor (he's written several books and is one of the editors of a havard health magazine). also, i've never seen him with young patients, all his patients are elderly, and they seem to know socially, inviting him over to their homes for dinners. he's a nice doctor though, and when it's finally my turn to see him, i forgot all about the hour long wait i had to endure.
he never seems rushed, maybe that's why it takes so long to see him. we talked about running for 10 minutes. he told he ran 8 miles this morning before coming to work. crikey! sometimes i struggle with just 3 miles, i can't imagine doing 8. he said that he used to run 12 miles (12 miles!) in 8 minutes/mile, but now he does 8 miles in 12 minutes/mile. i discovered he has a passion for running, and over his lifetime (he's in his 60's now), he's competed in 70+ marathons ("they're real fun," he said), and ran 17 marathons here in boston. i asked him about the tingling feeling i felt yesterday when i ran in 80+ degrees temperature. he said it was normal, that when you run, you sweat, and the sweat cools you down, starting with your skin. sensory nerves on the is telling your body you're cooler, yet your internal brain still thinks its warm, so that creates the tingling. that's not a sign of dehydration (dehydration is light-headedness, feeling dizzy).
finally we got down to business. i had coughed a few times, sort of indirectly letting him know what i was here for, which was a cure for my persistent coughing. he was surprised when i told him he didn't give me anything when i visited him last time. "that was wrong of me," he admitted. after taking my blood pressure (a normal 110/80) and listening to my chest for sounds of wheezing (there were none), he gave me some prescription strength nasal spray, as he still believes my coughing is 99% related to post-nasal drip. i also asked if i could get my cholesterol tested (i didn't eat all day, other than the yogurt i had at 10am), and made an appointment to see him in another 6 months.
i went to lab works to get my blood drawn. a frail old lady with a stroller sat across from me, getting blood taken as well. i'm not a fan of needles, and usually i'm very talkative and animated only because i'm nervous, and the nurse can totally sense that, so now i do the exact opposite, i keep my mouth shut. still, my body language gave me away, and the nurse asked if i was okay at one point. "no no, i'm fine," i said, forcing a smile, looking across the room at the old lady who seemed to be perfectly fine with needles, a smile on her face, her crinkly eyes disappearing behind thick glasses.
i left with a ball of gauze taped to my puncture wound. riding the subway back to work, i felt cool with my little hospital visit momento plainly visible in the crook of my arm for everyone to see. i stopped by burger king to get the brand new angus beef burger before showing up at the office (4pm). work was pretty much complete by the time i got back, i made a few minor fixes, then let the rest of the work day slowly drift by. katrinka thanked us all profusely before we left. i get uncomfortable when receiving thanks or compliments, taking credit is not something i do very well.
when i got back home, i sliced up some guava, put on the baseball game and fell asleep in the darkened living room, only to wake up when my roommate came home around 9pm. after fumbling around in his room, he came out and told me that he'd be moving out on the 20th, but would pay the rent for the entire month. he's going to new york to take some bar exam course, take the bar there, then come back to boston and take the massachusetts bar as well (where he'll need a place to crash for two days at the end of july). the news that he would be moving out in about a week came as a surprise. i knew he was leaving sometime this summer, but i figured it'd be the end of august. given my past history, you'd think i'd be all happy, but i'm actually sad for some reason. i'm just full of contradictions. at the one hand i want to live alone, yet on the other hand i can't bear the thought of being alone, even if it was with a roommate who sometimes gets on my nerves (unbeknownst to him). of course this will also mean a financial hit as well, and mike actually asked if i'd be moving home (like back with my parents) now that i don't have a roommate (the answer is "no"). maybe one day i'll look back and realize he was the best roommate i ever (never) had. he left soon afterwards, going over to his girlfriend's place. still groggy from my nap, and startled by the news, i stumbled into the kitchen to make some quick dinner in the form of some hot dogs.