Anxiety Piety

Big news in Aimeeland: I went to the doctor today. Now, I'm not one to never go to the doctor or anything. In fact, I regularly encourage those I love to go in for regular check-ups at the first sign of pain, or just to go for "fun" like my Mom does. :p

I need to take a sidebar here to toot the horn of my HMO. That's right people, I'm on an HMO Health Plan and I LOVE it. Kaiser has never let me or my family down and I'm sick of people who knock it just because they're snobby PPOers. Here are some reasons why I heart Kaiser...

*Self Check-in Kiosk. I'm the type of person who uses ATMs for all her banking needs and has only stepped foot inside an actual bank once, maybe twice in my life. Anytime a great, more efficient and speedier machine can take the place of me talking to an actual person, I'm game. At Kaiser, I walk right up to the little kiosk, swipe my member card, verify my appointment, pay for my visit and sit down. Easy peasy.

*Great co-payments. Seriously people, you CANNOT BEAT Kaiser's fees. $25/each appointment and $100/er visits. Also, vaccines and immunizations are wayyyy cheaper at Kaiser than with any other health plan. 'Nuff said.

*Really nice people. Everyone I've ever encountered at a Kaiser, whether it be the desk ppl to the nurses to the doctors to the janitors, have been genuinely nice people. Sure, some of them may be a little quirky, but nice all the same. :)

*Kaiser's Online World. In a word-incredible. You can get your lab results same day (last time they were posted not one hour after I'd had them done!), make appointments, e-mail your doctor, check on prescriptions, etc., etc. You name it, you can find it online. LOVE that you have this type of power within a great big HMO.

*Proven track record. I've had my appendix taken out, finger stitched together, blood drawn, mri done, etc., etc. and they've been great every time.  

In short, I'd just like to say...GO KAISER!!! The End.

Okay, back to my original post. So even though I encourage my loved ones to go, somehow I'm not so gung-ho about going myself. But I will go if needed, like today. I've been having fainting spells and issues with my head feeling "floaty" and my ears ringing and things like that. So I go in today and my doctor almost immediately diagnoses me with anxiety disorder. WHAT!?!

I don't really see myself as this crazy ball of nerves type of person, but when she was asking me questions, I found myself answering a lot of them in the positive...have you been stressed out recently, have there been any major changes in your life, do you have trouble sleeping, are you constantly thinking of things in your head that you have to do, etc. *Sigh. So now I'm not really quite sure what to do with this diagnosis, but she gave me some medicine so we'll see how that works out. She also encouraged me to work out three times a week regularly and to try and go to sleep earlier. What?!? Make lifestyle changes? Haha. I know, I know. But I will try!

Anxiety girl-out,

Aim