Eww!

Yesterday marked one month since my last blood draw, so it was time for another. I had no concerns about this one, except for curiosity. You see, I have been feeling so well that it seemed apparent I am in good health. Since a blood draw means a visit to one of the three Kaiser Permanente medical offices in Salem (about a 20-30 minute drive), we like to combine them with other errands. 

As it turns out, we had a couple of other stops we wanted to make. I have been doing a little remodeling in my home brew pub. One project that was long overdue was to install a light over the sink. For that I needed an electrical junction box. Our local hardware store was out of the one I needed, so we added a stop at Lowe's to our Salem junket. We also needed a few things that we normally get at Costco, and this seemed the perfect opportunity to see the brand new store that opened a week or two ago. 

So, we hopped in the Ford and headed for "town." Lowe's was first on the list, since they open early for the convenience of contractors. Got the electrical box, along with my veteran's discount, and then we were off to the Skyline medical office. Since my PICC line was removed, I can just drop in at the lab and get a little of the red juice removed. We were amazed to see there was literally no one sitting in the waiting area at the lab/x-ray area. I waltzed right in and was done in about five minutes. 

And so, off to Costco. We arrived about two minutes before the 10 o'clock opening. There was a long line of folks standing in the blustery weather, so we found the tail end and joined in. The doors opened promptly at 10, and we began our shopping. I guess we hadn't realized how outdated the old Salem Costco store was. This new place must be twice as big as the old one. The aisles are wider, and as soon as we found one item on our list the the next one seemed almost to appear out of nowhere. We were done in no time. Kudos, Costco, you did good with this new store. 

And so, we returned home through the windy, rainy weather. The only thing about the trip that was the slightest bit challenging was that every time we got behind another car on Hwy22, it would slow down to five miles under the speed limit. Usually, it seems everyone wants to go ten miles OVER the speed limit. No worries. We arrived safely at home and stowed away our new treasures. 

After lunch, my blood test results were available online. Here's the box score:

PARAMETER	VALUE	NORMAL RANGE
RBC count	4.37	4.0-5.5
Hemoglobin	13.6	13-17
ANC (absolute neutrophil count) a measure of immunity	3,380	1,800-8,300
Platelet count	198	140-375

All in all, a satisfying outing. 

Oh, and if you are wondering, I got the light above the sink installed in the afternoon. Eww! I need to clean the sink!

P.S. If you know how to remove the blank table below from this post, please let me know how!!