I went to North Island Branch Medical Clinic at about 1:50 pm for a 2:00 pm appointment. I checked in and within about five minutes a corpsman had me back in an examination room taking my vital signs. My PCM came in a few minutes after she had finished. He sat down and reviewed why I was there; he had obviously read my record well before coming in.
So, my cholesterol is totally normal. The 10 mg dose seems to be working fine, and he’s going to keep me on it.
My liver functions are slightly elevated again. That could be the statin, or it could be the wine I drank in Argentina a few weeks before my blood work. In any case, the readings are down from my first visit, and I’m satisfied. We’ll just check them throughout the year from now on.
We also talked about me getting a physical in May. Again, he had obviously looked at my record, and he knew I was due for a colonoscopy. What he hadn’t seen was an entry for some pulmonary nodules they had found in Bethesda a few years back. He ducked out to find that entry, and when he came back he said that in general, you watch pulmonary nodules for two years. If there are no changes, you basically let it drop. In my case, I was just a few months shy of two years the last time they looked (and there were no changes), so he put me in for another CAT scan. If there are no changes this time, we’ll close the book on it.
So the plan now is that in mid-May I’ll come in for some blood work in preparation for my physical, and I’ll schedule a complete physical for the end of May. In between, I’ll get another CAT scan of my lungs. And in later this year he’ll refer me for a colonoscopy.
I left and went to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription for 10 mg Zucor. That took about 20 minutes due to the fact there were a lot of active duty people in uniform getting prescriptions, and they (naturally) get priority.
Tags: "government health care", "navy medicine", military medicine, Naval Medical Center San Diego, tricare, triwest
