I’ve never been a fan of Quest Diagnostics, but my insurance told me it would cost me less out of pocket to get my blood drawn there than my doctor’s lab, so that’s where I went Friday morning. My doctor had forgotten to give me the order for my lab work so I picked that up earlier in the week. I didn’t really give it a good once-over until Friday morning and that’s when I noticed it didn’t include a urinalysis even though we discussed it to check for blood in my urine (a sign my interstitial cystitis is acting up). It was too early for the office to be open so I went to Quest and asked them whether it showed one on the order and they confirmed it didn’t. I asked them to take a urine sample anyway and I would just go to my doctor’s office afterwards (they are only a couple blocks away) to ask them to fax an updated order. They were agreeable to that which was nice. Everything else not so much. I mean, the man who took care of me and drew my blood was nice enough but I have a big bruise there now. He was trying to tell me it’s because of how my veins are but I’ve had blood drawn and not been bruised so I just think he’s not very good at it. The thing that threw me the most, however, was that they required my credit card beforehand. I was told it will only be charged for whatever the insurance doesn’t cover, but that just screams opportunity for being over-billed to me. But what could I do? I needed to get it done. I hope they don’t screw it up. I just don’t like Quest because the people there aren’t the friendliest, plus their offices just seem dirty to me. Not really what you want from a place handling bodily fluids, know what I mean? They didn’t even give me a towelette to clean “down there” before peeing in the cup. That’s called hygiene 101. Ugh!
After my blood draw I was going to stop at Costco since it was just down the block to grab a rotisserie chicken but I forgot they don’t open until 10 am and it was only just after 9, so I went to my doctor’s office to take care of the order mix up and then spent the next 45 minutes walking around Hobby Lobby to kill time. They have a lot of interesting decor there so I was taking photos and attaching captions to them before sending them to Joe.
Once Costco was open I got my chicken, then stopped at the vet to pick up a flea and tick preventative called Nexgard. I purchased a 6 month supply for $125 and got two months free which is great because apparently with how the weather has been the past few years it’s getting to the point where the vet recommends they are on the preventatives year round. Owning a dog, assuming you want to take good care of them, isn’t cheap!
I also finally bit the bullet and made an appointment with Fox Valley Animal Welfare League to get Wookie spayed and microchipped. After reading the FAQ on their website I’m not as concerned that she won’t receive good care. And it will cost me nearly a fourth of what the vet was going to charge – $140 vs $500. I was also informed that pre-op bloodwork isn’t necessary at her age since all it looks for is liver or kidney failure, so it’s only necessary for dogs over eight years of age.
Once I got home I made homemade chicken salad (which we ended up eating for dinner), worked on setting up my mom’s new computer (a small Dell I had ordered the week before), and baked some lemon cupcakes (for a party on Saturday).