Just before we left the UK Noel was suffering from a minor lower abdomen infection which the Doctors had treated and all seemed well and so we left on 5th Jan in anticipation of no further setbacks. In the last couple of days however some of the symptoms have returned and as we are currently static in Sarasota Noel thought it would be better to look into the matter now rather than wait until we are on the road to Austin when it is not easy seeing Doctors unless of course they stand by the side of the road waiting for business, a bit like American Lawyers really.
The Sarasota Memorial Hospital operates a walk-in and stretcher out service and so we headed off down University Parkway until we reached the Hospital and registered. Once registered you pay your USD 140.00 for the consultation and then you are taken to a private room where a young girl trainee asks you some questions and then carries out blood pressure and blood oxymeter (we think that's how it's spelt) check and finally a thermometer in my mouth at which point she told me she was an Aston Villa supporter. Did my blood pressure rise?
After a further 20 minutes wait a very nice male doctor appeared and went through the same questions again and asked about symptoms, such as why is the Sat/Nav not working, how many times do you get up at night etc etc and then carried out a check of my abdomen. Then after a few more personal questions like, who is the captain of Chelsea FC, how old is your wife (the answer to which thank heavens I knew) he said, after due consideration, his final conclusion was that the reason for my small aches and pains is that "It is 'Enigmatic'". Wow thank god for that, I exclaimed and I am very glad to hear the good news but what do you really mean. He went on further to explain, "I don't know what the problem is" he said. This was not really good news, as there are now two of us with the same challenge. Anyway after prescribing a slightly different pill to the one that I am currently taking he said "if you go to the Publix supermarket store chain they will not charge you". Even better I thought I don't have to pay because I am enigmatic. But at least seeing the Doc meant I felt a lot better even without the pills.
So a quick trip to Sarasota Crossing shopping Mall and a visit to Publix enabled me to get the new pills and let's see what happens. We had to wait for the pills for around 30 minutes so we headed off to Starbucks where I enquired about their free wifi. It is free she said providing you put credit of $ 5.00 on a Starbucks card. So I said it's not free then but she said YES it is free but you have to pay the five dollars first.
In the afternoon we went for a walk through a different part of the Meadows Estate down a street called Windsor Park where there are some really lovely large detached houses with plots of around one acre each. Some are overlooking the lake and a couple are for sale. I don't think we can afford to ask how much they are but they will not be cheap for sure.
Tonight Jennifer cooked a Sarasota Omelette which is like a Spanish omelette but without the potatoes and red peppers or onions and stuff. Which reminds me of a restaurant menu in Bradenton recently where the breakfast menu showed the following item.
Mushroom Omelette (filled with mushrooms and egg) Whoa!!
