in the waiting room

The walk from the motel to Walla Walla General was as close to excruciating as such walks have been, so today was probably a good day to see a doc.

I followed the signs to the hospital's main entrance, having ruled out the ER since my problem isn't life-threatening. When I told the receptionist about my situation, however, she asked a hospital volunteer to guide me over to the ER: "We can't admit you without a physician's recommendation, but the ER might be able to look you over."

So I followed the volunteer over to the reception area for the ER. The ladies I talked to there told me that "there's no such thing as an emergency MRI," and also noted that an MRI would run me $1500 to $2000-- way more than I can afford.

The ladies therefore referred me to the Walla Walla Clinic, a walk-in urgent care facility that, according to them, would be able to look me over for a substantially cheaper cost. That's where I am now: I was just taken into an exam room and had my temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure measured (the latter is high; the nurse says this can be true despite all the exercise-- some people need meds for hypertension).

I'm now waiting for the physician, who I imagine will be coming in any moment. Stay tuned.


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