wavyarms | (no subject)

Went to the doctor. Yay for MassHealth. Did you know they have strep tests now that only take 6 minutes? Instead of 2 days? How cool is that? They also have this little doohicky that they just stick on the end of your finger and it measures your blood oxygen levels. Without even taking a blood prick. Wacky technology these days. The doctor said it's almost definitely just a virus, and there's nothing to do except take Tylenol and drink fluids and sleep. He also confirmed that very dry air can irritate your throat, so now that I have the humidifier that my mother gave me I'm hopeful that the low-lying sore throat I've had since I moved in here will go away. Also, he was very cute! Hurrah for life imitating TV. Very friendly and chatty, too.

Then I voted, which was rather fun. I don't usually wax romantic about being American, but voting makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and civic and, yes, American. Like I'm part of an inherent well-meaning and good community.

Then I came home, and fell into bed, and now I'm going to eat dinner, and then back to bed. If you have pho sitting in the fridge and you choose to go for Spaghetti-O's instead, you know something's wrong.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Um, I had one of those strep tests that gets an immediate result at least 15 years ago. In Tennessee. I think that disqualifies the test from being new technology. :) Maybe the results have gotten more accurate, so more places are using the test.

The gadget that was placed on your finger has also been around a while, but I am not sure I have ever seen one outside a hospital.

I feel the same way about voting. Even though I had a heck of a time figuring out who and what to vote for, I got all sentimental about voting. Yay for doing one's civic duty!

Oh, fine, then, rub it in that Tennessee is just more technologically advanced. :)

I was confused about why it was important to know what my blood oxygen level was - nobody has ever been interested in that data before.

And hurrah for the results of doing our civic duty!

My understanding is that blood O2 drops when you have, say, pneumonia and your lungs aren't functioning correctly. When my boss's infant daughter had a nasty virus 2 years ago, her blood O2 was 84. It should normally be in the high 90s; somewhat lower for smokers. So they put her on an oxygen tube for a few days while the lungs cleared out.

(Other factors also lower it--when they knocked PoC out last summer to reset his shoulder in the ER, they had someone watching his blood O2 because the anaesthetic slows ALL body functions. When it dropped to the low 90's they hooked up a tube. )

Feel better soon!

Then that makes sense, because I mentioned that pneumonia was going around my school. (Well, not going around, but one teacher I work with had it.) So that's probably why they tested.