It was a health day

Yesterday turned out to be (mostly) about health stuff. There were a few surprises along the way, too. Actually most days probably have a surprise or two, if we pay attention. In this case, everything was related.

I had two goals yesterday: To go to the vampires for my routine blood tests, and I also needed to post a specimen for testing. The first is nothing unusual, something that happens every year. I shared the photo at left on my personal Facebook, noting, “The number is random, btw; there aren’t 176 in front of me—this time.” I’ve never actually waited very long to get the blood drawn, and this time wasn’t much different.

However, when the phlebotomist came into the testing room, she was an older lady who said, “You’re a young pup”, or words to that effect. Which made me wonder how old, exactly she was—especially when she repeated it a couple times. She actually hurt me when she put the needle in, which doesn’t happen all that often. When I took off the bandage this morning (I wait until I have my shower because it hurts less) there was bruising where the needle was, but that’s actually most likely because I’m on an anti-coagulant. It’s the first time, really, that I’ve had the sort of bruising that people on this drug are told to expect.

That was the second half of my trip that day, and the first part actually began at home, in the smallest room in the house.

New Zealand has a National Bowel Screening Programme that offers an at-home test to men and women every two years between ages 60 and 74. I got my test invitation late in March, but due to many public holidays and work, I didn’t have a chance to do it until this week.

Contents of my (unused at that point)  test kit.

The test kit includes instructions, of course, a sheet of soluble paper that goes into the toilet for one to drop the substance to be tested, a little wand inside a tube that one scrapes across the substance to be tested, the wand is placed back in the tube, which is then put into a ziplock bag, which is then placed in the cardboard mailing envelope along with the signed consent form.

This test is done because most people don’t need a colonoscopy, unless there are particular risk factors identified by one’s doctor. So, this test identifies the people who would otherwise not get tested at all and, if the test is positive, they’re sent for a colonoscopy, and then, if necessary, they’re referred to a cancer specialist. By escalating the testing based on risk and need, the system avoids wasting money on unnecessary testing.

The instructions said to post the sample back to them well before the end of a week so it doesn’t sit around somewhere, and I decided I’d go to the Papakura PostShop, since all the others with a half hour drive of us are “agencies”, not actual Postshops. I wanted a real one because that would probably mean the mailboxes would be emptied a couple times a day.

The Papakura Postshop was the same one where I posted my completed US Midterm Election ballot last November. However, I was surprised to find out that it was gone. At the end of November, NZ Post announced that there’d be a bunch of closures, but at the time I couldn’t find any list of the closures. The location, I discovered, is now a Kiwibank-only (not a location shared with a Postshop). They had mailboxes, but it would be emptied once, at 6pm that evening. Oh, well, good intentions.

I went on to the vampires in Takanini because there’s usually a shorter waiting time there than at the other two the same general driving time from our house. There are also other places I’ll go to in Takanini, like a location of the grocery store I go to, which isn’t true of one of the other two vampire locations. Pity about the pain this time.

So, I also ran a couple errands while I was there, including that grocery store (which, surprisingly, now carries products I used to only be able to get at my normal supermarket in Pukekohe), and I ended up posting something at the NZ Post agent, too; I could have posted the test sample there, too, if I’d known the real Postshop was gone. Now I do.

I got home at right about the time to start making dinner, and after that I sat down to watch TV. I was using my iPad to look at a friend’s post on Facebook and realised I couldn’t quite read the type. I thought my reading glasses were dirty (they weren’t), or maybe there was something in my eye (there wasn’t). I then saw little lights, which is a sign of an impending migraine, which I’ve experienced once or twice. So, I popped a couple Panadol and went to lie down. I fell asleep, and when I woke up an hour and some later I dragged myself out of bed because I had a rock in my stomach (because I lay down not all that long after dinner). I stayed up long enough for the rock to go away, and went to bed. That was not the evening I’d expected.

Today was a perfectly normal day, fortunately, though I was really tired. I didn’t necessarily get a lot done, but that wasn’t a bad thing.

I should get my blood test results tomorrow or the next day, and the bowel screening results should arrive in about three weeks. Regardless of what the results are, there’ll soon be follow-up with my doctor, especially because I haven’t had my flu vaccination yet this year. All of which is no surprise—I try to look after my health now. Yesterday was just really just another health day.