Today is furlough day, and it’s a rare furlough day when I’m not at the dentist these days. Instead, I went to a Kaiser appointment for a physical, and to check up on why I’d been gasping for breath for the past couple weeks. Of course, by the time I obtained this appointment, the breathing difficulties have been over. My first air-restriction-less day was Monday. I sat there at Ann’s apartment chatting with her and suddenly realized, I was breathing normally! Tuesday wasn’t bad, either, despite walking to lunch and back. I also haven’t gymmed in a few days, maybe that helped. The doctor checked me over and said all four quadrants of my lungs sound great, I don’t appear to be anemic, I’m in great physical shape, oxygen saturation at 100%, blood pressure 104/59, pulse at 62. He was impressed by the decades of gym dedication and said I’ve saved myself from at least 80% of physical ailments due to my exercise regimen. He ordered a blood test to rule out anemia and kidney disease anyway, just in case.

At the lab, I was freaking out remembering my last blood-draw experience at a different Kaiser, and I expected to be pricked 3 times on each arm for nothing before they threaten to draw from my foot. *shudder* Instead, the guy had me squeeze the ball, tied my arm, did a poke-poke inside my elbow with his fingertip, set up his needles and test tubes, did another poke-poke, wiped my arm with a swab and wiped it off with a dry swab, I turned my head, he poked with a needle, I saw out of the corner of my eye that he was rapidly changing test tubes as I filled what I needed to fill, and he pulled the needle out and taped a cotton ball to the prick site. “Okay, you’re all done,” he said, not a hint of stress on his face.
“Wow, you’re SO MUCH BETTER than the last phlebotomist I had!” I said in happy surprise.
He said modestly, “Oh really? Probably just my lucky day.”

So now we wait for blood results to see if the cause for my sucking wind can be uncovered there.