Waiting for the gastroenterologist or someone like him

Monday I got the results of the urine and stool tests from last week. They again found blood in my urine, and my stool sample was free of any diseases. The doctor wanted me to go in for an ultrasound and had me scheduled for Wednesday morning. Tuesday I got the confirmation call, followed by a second, more urgent call from the hospital: It seems my health insurance wouldn't cover the ultrasound. When I called the insurance office to find out why, they were closed. They run on east coast time.

I phoned the health insurance early Wednesday morning. It turns out my health insurance company, as policy, covers just about every other procedure on the planet, but not ultrasounds, so I had to pay for it out of my own pocket. I had the abdominal ultrasound a couple of hours later, followed by an acute cashectomy. I had to suck money out of my "retirement" plan to pay for it. :-(

Friday I got the results of the ultrasound. They found nothing abnormal; everything looked great. The only organs they couldn't see were my reproductive organs and my gastrointestinal tract. The nurse at the doctor's office told me the doctor wanted to come in Tuesday for a vaginal exam, which sounded strange to me. I asked to speak to the doctor.

Ten minutes later the doctor called. She said, "I understand you have an appointment with me Tuesday."

"I wasn't sure whether they scheduled it or not," I replied.

With a tone somewhere between shock and urgency, she said, "You don't need to see me; you need to see your gastroenterologist."

Yes, I have a gastroenterologist. He's on vacation till 9:00 this morning, and his answering service was unable to schedule appointments. I have been anxiously awaiting his return, as you can tell from the timing of this post.

As for how I feel, I'm getting worse. In addition to the nausea, runs, and bloating, the burning in my stomach is back.