Friday, July 27, 2012

Minor Illness/Jackson Update/Upcoming Plans

With the number of doctors in my immediate, extended, and pseudofamily, I seldom visit a doctor's office, but, unfortunately, that's precisely where I am right now. I'm not in the waiting room, at least. I feel compassion for those who are less connected in a medical sense than I. Physicians' waiting rooms are a virtual smorgasbord of pathogens. I'm going to suggest to my Uncle Steve that he invest in  pagers similar to those used by Olive Garden and other restaurants, which would give patients (or their parents' in the my Uncle Steve's case, as he's a pediatrician) the option of waiting in their cars if they wanted to avoid becoming sicker than they already are. i understand that it wouldn't necessarily be fun to wait in a car with a two-year-old, but it might still be preferable to the alternative.

I developed a gastric ailment almost immediately upon returning home from Utah. .My parents feel reasonably strongly about giving garden variety ailments time to remedy themselves and about not over-medicating me or my brother just because they can.  I've been existing on 7-Up with just the bare minimum of Ondansetron, but my temperature is high enough that my mom wanted me to be seen by my physician of record, who is my Uncle Steve. I begged my mom to wait until tonight and take me to uncle steve's house, but she said that he doesn't want to diagnose and treat patients in his time off any more than does the next physician. While there may be truth in her words, what is the point of my being Uncle Steve's favorite niece if I can't even seek after-hours medical treatment? It's now a moot point, because i'm sitting in my uncle's private office waiting for him to come in, do his best Benny Hinn impersonation, and make me well again. I'm even using his office computer to type this entry.

The latest turn in the surreal world of the Jacksons is that T.J. Jackson and Katherine Jackson will petition the court for joint custody of Prince, Paris, and Blanket. This seems like a most satisfactory arrangement for all directly involved. A judge has ordered an investigation of the welfare of the children in the form of interviews that will take place at school, A report of the findings of the investigation will be accessible only to the judge. This, too, while routine,  Dysfunction in one form or another exists in most of our extended families. The inclusion of extended families in all out lives can be a great benefit and blessing, yet it's tricky to be much a part of a large and diverse family without being bogged down by the drama and dysfunction. i genuinely hope Prince, Paris, and Blanket will find that often-elusive balance.

And speaking of extended families -- dysfunctional or otherwise -- my brother and I have been invited to travel a short distance  to Santa Catalina Island with Jared's extended family. Jared's grandparents, all of his dad's siblings, and all of their wives and children will be on the trip. fared and his cousin alyssa are the only two older teens in the family, and the grandparents invited my brother and me to make the trip more fun for Jared and his cousin Alyssa.  The plan is for a Monday morning departure, with a return to the mainland Wednesday afternoon. it sounds short, but there's not all that much to do in Catalina, anyway. Two days should be about right. The trip is one of the reasons I agreed to a doctor's office visit. I don't want this pseudoillness to get in the way of my alleged frivolity.

On a totally unrelated note, a  well-known British tweeter recently tweeted: "Americans, this mitt person is some of American Borat: right?" Too perfect.




2 comments:

  1. Next time you have to wait in a doctor's office waiting room, wear a mask. Obviously, it's supposed to protect against any airborne illnesses, though a perk is that nurses generally see you sitting there with said mask, and they get you into a room faster. Generally. I don't always wear one-- except for cold and flu season. But, when I am at CHOP's ER, I always wear one... to protect against God knows what. (This may not be legit for you, but I figured I'd mention it anyway.)

    I've turned into a germaphobe because of the whole MAS thing. Plus generally being ill doesn't help with the gut situation either. I hope you feel better soon and you enjoy your trip. :)

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  2. I don't spend much time in doctors office waiting rooms, but when I am there I should use a mask. Jillian's really good about wearing masks because she has to be. She wears them on airplanes, in the hospital if she even walks through, in doctors' offices, in gyms if she goes to basketball games, and even in theatres on the rare occasions she goes to a theatre.

    My temp is down to just a bit over 100 today, so I'll almost for sure get to go to Catalina. the only real issue s contagion, anyway. Jared's dad's a doctor, his two brothers are doctors, and two of his sisters are married to doctors, and all of them will be right there in the same hotel with me. (The other sister is married to a dentist.) It's not like medical care won't be available if I need it.

    Jared's cousins are all here from Utah. He and his cousin Alyssa have been here all day, so if I'm contagious, they've already been exposed. no one in my family has been sick, nor have the people I was with in Utah, so the bug, whatever it is, doesn't seem to be highly contagious. I wouldn't want to make the little kids or babies sick, though,

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