My Father’s Trip to the Doctor, Part 2

Following up on this story, events have unfolded which prompted me to keep writing about this new journey my father is now undertaking. As I previously wrote, despite a strong cocktail of antihypertensive medications, my dad’s blood pressure is always high. Dr. Mohammed Haque’s nurse practitioner had told us to suspend Diovan and Tekturna, and to take Benicar HCT. They scheduled us to go back Friday, but called me early Friday morning beckoning to go back on Tuesday, after Memorial Day. Linda Knighten and I chatted for a couple of minutes. She told me that the Tamiflu was not necessary, as my dad tested negative for A H1N1. His bloodwork was completed and she told me that his cholesterol level was very high, and his potassium level was very low. She instructed us to pick up prescription orders for Lipitor (for the high cholesterol) and K-Dur 20 MEQ (to raise his potassium level). “Just take these meds, and we will go from there on Tuesday,” she said.

After much thinking and mauling it over in my head, I told my dad not to take the Benicar HCT or to suspend the Diovan and Tekturna, I did not want someone to bypass his cardiologist whom he had been with for over two decades. Tuesday morning, due to work, it was my sister who took him to see Dr.  Haque, meaning I have yet to meet him. While at work, I received a call from my dad. He seemed kind of down and he told me that he was diagnosed with diabetes type II. So, on top of congestive heart failure, gout, and other recurring ailments, he now had diabetes. They prescribed Meformin, an oral anti-diabetic drug of the biguanide class.

This Wednesday, I took my dad to his cardiologist appointment. His cardiologist has a brand new office on the sixth floor of Memorial-Hermann at Memorial City on I-10. In the last couple of years, this medical branch at the aforementioned location has been throwing up new buildings and getting a completely new make-over. Almost everything is new and fancy, which I like. Dr. El Hafi, the cardiologist, has a huge office. He and two other physicians, his associates, check their patients there. The waiting room smelled new, and had about 30 classy looking chairs facing a wall with a large LCD TV. The wooden floor was all glossy, and I could not help but think, gosh, wish I could have a place like this one day.

My Dad checked in and we sat in the waiting room watching Mike Tyson’s tragedy on TV. I felt bad for Mike Tyson’s daughter. A couple of minutes later, we were led inside, and after weighing my dad, we were lead into a room. The nurse was young, maybe 28, and kind of cute, she looked Hispanic but did not speak Spanish… a lot of dilluted Hispanics these days. I brought her up to speed about the diabetes and the new medications he was taking. She took his blood pressure, and said it was good, 139 over 95. I told her it was luck, as it had been in the 160-180 for the systolic range. She finished writing all the information and told us the doctor will be with us soon as she stepped out.

When the doctor came in, I quickly sat up-right and greeted him. He looked older from when I last saw him, and he seemed more bald, too. That is the bad thing about being a physician, you lose your hair.

He told my dad not to take Benicar HCT, that the HCT was previously tried on him and did not work. Moreover, he said that he was already maxed out on the dosages for all the antihypertensives, but to keep taking them. He was going to add more medication, Lasix, a loop diuretic and he wanted to see him in three weeks. In the days that followed, I bought my dad a machine to check his blood pressure, and Dr. Haque gave him a blood glucose monitoring system. I help both my parents check their blood-glucose levels. Interestingly, my glucose levels seem high, at around 99 mg/dL. My blood pressure is also in pre-hypertension to hypertension 1. Gosh, I do not like the inheritance my parents are going to pass down to me…

Tags: Diabetes, Diseases