Friday 2 April 2010

This is a fit and healthy young man

I just got back from the doctors office for my driving license health check and that is what he put on the form I have to send to the licensing agency :)

'Man' aside there is nothing better to see on the form I think.  It's been a few years since I was called young as well :)

Eyesight was perfect, slight issues with me knowing left from right - but pointing with my hands got around that problem.  There no no trace of anything in the urine test and my body made the noises and had the reactions he expected when he started to hit it.

The only cause for concern was my blood pressure - 155/90.  But then it was a medical and I was stressed because of that.  He did say it was outside of normal range, but in the circumstances nothing to be concerend about.  I have seen it higher in the UK - 160/120 - the doctors didn't believe that could be true and made me come back 2 weeks later to recheck it.  I so love white coat syndrome.

This means that I can now send off for my license, complete with trucks and busses that nobody I know over here thinks I should have on the license (just because I have never sat in the driving seat of either, and never taken a test).

The one question that I am not sure if I answered correctly...  Do you have any phycological problems.  Does GID count?  I assumed not so said nothing.  And seeing as he said I passed the cursory test with flying colours I guess it doesn't matter...

Well roll on 4pm so I can ride home on the bike in more comfort than I rode here - it was bitterly cold this morning, and it felt like it took hours to get the feeling back in my fingers.

Well time to get some work done I suppose...

9 comments:

  1. I'm glad to hear everything is just find, Stace. I also had the BP issue and was put on blood pressure meds. I finally got off of them after many years when I lost some serious weight and began exercising. One of the side benefits of being trans, I guess.

    I also had that question (mental illness) recently. IMHO, my problem, and yours, is not a mental illness, although it may result in such. We were born that way...period.

    Calie xxx

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  2. I'm with Calie on the psychology thing. Consider this: next month I'm seeing a psychologist as my first port of call before being referred on to the GIC, for the purpose of determining that I *don't* have any psychological issues. I take this to mean that to be taken seriously as having GID by the medics you have to be sane and have the paperwork to prove it!

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  3. Good to hear you passed your medical checkup, Stace. BP can fluctuate up or down throughout the day, depending on one's stress level. When I was still working, I remember sitting relaxed in my office one day, and checking my BP with my own wrist monitor. It was 116/75. Fifteen minutes later, I walked down the hall to a conference room, where they were holding a health and safety fair. One of the exhibits was a blood pressure check, so I sat down and let the nurse check mine again. This time it was 135/75. Just the thought of someone examining me, made it go up. If you are worried about it, try cutting way back on salt in your diet. Most people eat way more salt than they realize and much more than is healthy for them. Processed and restaurant foods are especially high in sodium. If you miss the zest that salt brings to your food, try a dash of vinegar instead. It reacts similar to salt on the tongue.

    Melissa XX

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  4. I had high blood pressure recently to. I was given a monitor for the weekend and was amazed how much it fluctuates through the day.
    On average it was a bit high but not to bad.
    I have seen those blood pressure machines on sale at Boots for as little as £10.00.
    x

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  5. It's a funny business, GID being classified as a mental disorder. I suppose if it weren't, we would become medically invisible. Which would perhaps be inconvenient when it came to wanting treatment. Still, until a better pigeonhole comes along for us to get put in, there's no point in self-defining as phsychologically problematic.

    Cold fingers! Arrgh! The biggest challenge for me was to get the money out for the toll on the Severn Bridge when on the motorbike. Stop. Take glove off. Fumble for money. Drop it on floor. Put sidestand down. Creak off. Fumble. Get money together. Get back on bike. Hand money over. Engine cuts out. Kick. Kick.

    ...and so on. No wonder they abolished tolls for motorbikes....

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  6. Calie & Jenny: That was the reason I didn't include it. I discussed it with Mrs Stace (she could understand the form better than me obviously) and we assumed that it mean anything that would make you unsuitable to drive - things where you need medication in order to operate normally.

    Melissa & Lisa: I'm not *overly* concerend. I would like to know what my BP actually is without the panic that starts whenever I see the BP equipment, or feel the bladder inflate more, and more, and more whilst they are taking the reading.

    As for the food, we do well on that. We eat almost no processed food. We stopped about a year ago when I realised that I could make pasta sauces that cost less, taste better, only take 10-15 mins extra to make and *didn't* contain 15 billion e-numbers (even though it's sold as a fresh sauce).

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  7. Dru - I guess we were writing at the same time :)

    I always thought that you still had to pay on a bike for the dartford crossing (the only toll that I use in the UK). I'll never forget the first time I used the dartford tunnel. In a Dutch car, leaning across the whole width to speak to the woman in the booth (who sits so far above you can can almost not see her). We tried to use a 20 from our previous trip only to hear 'That's No Good!', so we passed another note 'That's no good neaver' No explaination. It cost us a fortune as the only note we had other than that was a 5 euro note - they took that, but didn't bother with change. The crossing cost 1 GBP at the time and the 5 euro note was worth 4.50... We were not happy.

    I love your description of paying though - that had me laughing at at the screen :)

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  8. It's only a psychological problem related to driving if it's a psychological problem to be a woman, i.e., realizing you have the wrong shoes on, cutting across two lanes to make a u-y to change them and getting hit by another car.

    But, hey, last time I checked they still give licenses to both men and women

    - Sophie

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  9. Ah, that't not too much of an issue for me Sophie :) I have more shoes than Mrs Stace even as a man so I am used to deciding what shoes to wear ahead of time :)

    Stace

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