Smiley face

Debbie had a doctor's visit this morning. She was supposed to be taking Pravastatin over the last several months and the doctor wanted to do a blood test. What he didn't know was that Debbie won't take the statins after having tried a couple of others that caused severe joint and muscle pain. About 3 weeks ago, her podiatrist injected steroids into her foot to help with some pain she was having. It caused her sugar levels to spike. Debbie has been taking Actos for 7 or 8 years. She was concerned about a reaction between Actos and the steroid shot. Deb was checking out some stuff on the www and discovered several side effects that she's experienced the entire time she's taken Actos. Swelling hands and feet. Weight gain. The various websites she visited stated that if a patient experienced those side effects, the patient should tell her doctor. Which is what Debbie has done for years without any doctor really taking her serious. Deb's feet and hands swell two or three times per week. For the last three weeks, she's gone without the Actos. No swelling since she stopped taking the Actos. hmmm. I went with her today and talked to the doc for about half an hour. He agreed to do some bloodwork to check her thyroid (been done before), pituitary gland, adrenal glands and some other stuff. Hope they can turn up something besides she's getting old, which she's been told too many times. Anyhow, next step will likely be a visit to an endocrinologist.

On the way to OKC after the doctor visit, I saw a smiley face in the road heading out of Stillwater. Sometimes, the department of transportation uses tar to seal cracks in the asphalt. Did you hear about the guy who thought asphalt was a rectal problem? Anyway, one of the workers got a bit artsy with his crack sealing. I stopped and took this photo of it on the way home tonite. Pretty funny.