Post #29 Telehealthing

My blood pressure hit 180 today for the second time. When it happened yesterday, I knew it was time to call the doctor. I've also been sick with something the last few days, although I was pretty convinced we've got our defenses well set up against corona.

I called the Nuvance healthline, and they took me through a series of questions and at the end said I didn't qualify for testing (I wasn't asking for one) but suggested I call my PCP. I did and they set up an appointment for 10:15 this morning.

I then got an email with instructions, saying I should click the link ten minutes before the appointment, so at 10:05 it clicked. I got a link for installing the telehealth software. It detected I was on a Mac. Installation was a snap, but when I clicked launch, it stalled. I thought I was merely waiting for the doctor to appear but no, so after a couple of minutes. I closed the software, relaunched, and this time got a message that said I was next in line to see my doctor.

About five minutes later, a window popped up that said basically the doctor was ready for me, and thirty seconds later, there he was! I kept the appointment brief. I already had taken my temperature and my blood pressure. He suggested I get one of those oxygen testers for my finger. He took the information down and had me do a couple of self tests and then gave his thoughts, wrote out a few prescriptions, sent them to my pharmacy, and three hours later they were dropped by our front door. (we tipped the delivery person online).

I'm not sure we're got to the core of the problem this time, but we're going to try to treat it and see what happens. Fingers crossed but telehealth worked and I highly recommend it.

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