I went to work the following two days. I preferred to be busy and distracted and not sit around working myself up into a state. On Tuesday, I went to have another electrolyte test to see how my potassium level was doing. My regular doctor had wanted me to take a laboratory concocted potassium supplement. I replied that he knew me better than that. I would work with diet and herbs, and would not take isolated potassium products that are nasty to say the least. Of course, he was skeptical. After all, how could anything natural work as well as a scientifically formulated, FDA regulated, sterilized, safety packaged, commercial product? He also knows me, so he just settled for the follow-up test.

The previous week, during my pre-op tests, I had forgotten that I have an allergy to tape, and had purple bruises on my skin as a result. This time I came prepared. I had my little cup with freshly picked [xviii]Yarrow, [xix]Comfrey and St. John's wort. The lab tech is from India. When I told him not to use tape or cotton, but to let me use my own stuff, he became intrigued and asked if I had studied Ayervedic herbalism. I replied that I had, but only a little as I preferred to use plants I could grow or gather locally. He called all the other lab techs into the room to watch.