I'd call your GP or check and see if your insurance has a nurse-advisor number.

IIRC, my doctor's office has a triage nurse. I'll try that when I'm done eating lunch.

It's not that much of a hassle, but perhaps I'm too used to it.

Perhaps it might be a good time to mention that my aversion to hospitals and doctors borders on the pathological.

In college they always think you're pregnant.

And for guys, it's STDs. I remember this one classmate of mine -- he went to the health center, they tried to tell him he had VD, so he went to the real hospital, and they told him he had a bad case of food poisoning. To which I responded, "What, you were having an orgy with a raw chicken carcass?"

Did a doctor tell you to get an x-ray or do you just think it's a good idea?

I don't think it's a good idea. But a former-nurse coworker of mine just gave me a lecture and the stinkeye, and pretty much ordered me to go get an x-ray right now.

To which I responded, "Can it wait until after lunch? I already paid for it."

When I was in the hospital and getting lung x-rays, they never asked me if I was pregnant. Actually, I haven't had a doctor ask me that in ages. Huh. Gosh, maybe they're actually looking at charts and expecting me to be intelligent enough to let them know if something that big happens.

The last time I had an x-ray, I had to have other tests, too, including a pregnancy test. So, they knew I wasn't pregnant.

When Hubby was in hte hospital last, I was driving out of the parking garage late one night and had to stop as a black cat strolled across the entry way of the garage right in front of me. I'm afraid I yelled at it, something on the order of "Oh, you just stay the hell out of it, OK?" People looked at me funny.

Hee. I would so do that.

question for the hivemind and a repost from my lj.

that headache i had yesterday? weirdest headache i've ever had in my life. and i've had a lot of headaches. i ended up leaving work about 10 minutes early because it was just getting progressively worse and i wanted to make it home before it was so bad i was hurling. i drove with my head back against the headrest and my back as straight as possible. the pain then started to travel down to my left shoulder and caused the muscle to tighten up. then it moved around to the muscles in my throat. it felt like they were constricting. it was not a fun experience and i'd be lying if i said i wasn't scared. since i was alone in my car, driving down the interstate at the time. i was tempted to pull over, but i just wanted to get home.

once there i grabbed an ice pack, some more tylenol and crashed on my couch. stayed there for a few hours and it finally started to let up.

now? i can feel it lurking. waiting to pounce on me again. i told joe(the "psychic" co-worker) about it and he said he had a similar thing happen a few days ago. is this some kind of weird virus? anyone else experienced this or heard of someone who has? it really freaked me out and i'm not looking for a repeat of yesterday.

lather and rinse. no repeat.

You have to state why you're sure you're not pregnant

That's happened to me before. "Well. I'm on birth control. And I'm in a same sex relationship. So, yeah, I can guarantee i'm not pregnant."

I've never had a medical professional press me past "No, trust me." Maybe I look gayer than you, Kat.

I've had times of severe stress where I had headaches that would not go away, and then the muscles that go from my neck to my shoulders started to cramp severely. No idea if this is what you're describing, tiggy. But if it is, a deep tissue massage helped me a lot.

"Well. I'm on birth control. And I'm in a same sex relationship.

When my friend was being admitted to a hospital a few years ago the admitting nurse would not take, "I'm a lesbian." as an answer to "What kind of birth control do you use?"

What the heck did that nurse think that lesbians do?

Wait, I don't want to know....