Heading to Denver

San Rafael Swell, I-70 in Utah

November 10-21, 2025

I left Zion Monday morning, heading to Denver. There is some great scenery on the drive, especially a canyon west of Salina, UT, where I-70 rises through Salina Canyon and Fishlake National Forest. There is also an amazing section of road through the San Rafael Swell. Overall, I-70 through this part of Utah is an engineering and construction marvel. I enjoyed this drive a great deal.  I stopped at several rest areas to take photos.

I stopped in Grand Junction and parked overnight at a Love’s Travel Stop, parking next to an awesome converted school bus that was painted white. I had a good rest there. On Tuesday I continued west, going through Glenwood Canyon, over Vail Pass, and through the Eisenhower-Johnson Tunnel that crosses the Continental Divide. The weather was good, the views excellent, and traffic reasonable.

Upon arrival in Golden (yes, home of Coors Beer) I went straight to Common Spirit Urgent Care and ER. There was nobody ahead of me, and I was brought into an exam room within five minutes of completing forms. A nurse took my vitals and listened to my description of symptoms, then told me the doctor would be in shortly. 

Dr. Ho listened to me provide my symptoms. I asked her about obtaining a Complete Blood Count (CBC), Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP), and tick test. She told me this is an urgent care facility and they do not do those tests in urgent care. If I wanted, they could escalate my case to the ER, where they could do CBC and CMP. The ER does not do tick tests. She also added that she did not think I had a tick bite as there was no evidence of it. There was “nothing else they could do” for me. She suggested I see a clinician to do anything further, telling me I go next door to a sister facility, Common Spirit Primary Care, and to see if they could help me.

I went to the Primary Care building. They told me that to see a PCP I had to call and schedule an appointment, and they were scheduling out two months.

I spent the next four hours in my van searching online and making phone calls, looking for a primary care doctor who could see me on a short time frame (this week). Everywhere I looked online, there were no quick appointments. It was all three weeks out or longer. I finally called Common Spirit and spoke with a woman who was helpful. She could not find a local PCP with availability. I asked her to expand out 20-30 miles from Lakewood. She found me an appointment with someone on Thursday afternoon in Westminster, about twenty miles away. I took it.

I also had set up an appointment for Wednesday morning at Panoramic Orthopedics in Golden. I did this because my doctors in Danbury had told me they thought my issue was orthopedic.

Meanwhile, I drove over to Corrine and Jason’s house in Lakewood, about five miles from Golden. The three of us worked together many years ago at Chuck’s Steak House. They are a very welcoming pair, very helpful and supportive in my quest to find a solution. They invited me to park my van and stay with them while I tried to have my situation resolved. Corinne is a nurse and provided some ideas for me. It was great to see them.  I stayed with them for a week.

On Wednesday, at Panoramic Orthopedic, they took x-rays and I met with a nurse practitioner, Sarah Robbins. She showed me the x-rays and explained that there were some issues. She believed the hamstring-hip pain was coming from lower spine degenerative changes L4-5. L5-S1 and spondylosis L4-S1. Sarah recommended a MRI. Regarding the pain-sensations in my forearms and ribcage, she said it could be degenerative spine as well. Regarding elevated pulse and other Garmin related data (increased stress, lower VO2, and decreased body battery, as well as occasional fever, and I do not recall she addressed it.

I told her I thought it was something more systemic and it seemed very coincidental that I’d have several vertebrae acting up all of a sudden, as my symptoms would have to have been sourced from several different places in my spine.

Related to bloodwork, she thought that since I had CBC and CMP done the first week of September, it might be unnecessary. She thought seeing a PCP about that, as well as a tick test, was a good idea.

On Thursday (11/13) I saw Dr. Sheila Vizanko at Common Spirit Primary Care in Westminster. When I was brought into the exam-consult room, the nurse told me she hoped someone had told me that this was a twenty minute, new patient appointment to become acquainted with the doctor and collect basic information. I told her I did not know that, and I gave her a quick overview of my situation. She said she’d pass it on to the doctor.

Dr. Vizanko was great. She put “new patient” on hold and asked me what was going on. I retold my joint and muscle symptoms and talked about data provided by my Garmin watch (resting pulse, overall pulse, stress, VO2 max, and body battery), indicating they were all abnormal as compared to historical (four years) data, all going in the wrong direction. She was so nice and attentive. She ordered the CBC, CMP, and a Lyme Disease tick test She also ordered several tests for inflammation and auto-immune antibodies.

The results were all back within a week. They pointed to a great deal of inflammation, but the test does not pinpoint where it was coming from. Several tests that would confirm autoimmune or rheumatoid arthritis came back negative. I did not have the antibodies that are normally produced in such cases. But, I also read that there is such a thing are seronegative conditions, where one could have the illness yet not produce the antibodies.

Meanwhile, I had my MRI and met again with Sarah Robbins. She was surprised, saying my lower back actually looked much better than she had thought after seeing my  x-ray. She did not think my hamstring and hip pain were coming from my back, telling me she now agreed it appears there is something systemic going on. She said talk with  Dr. V and maybe see a rheumatologist.

I started calling around Denver and Boulder to set up an appointment with a rheumatologist. I looked for top rheumatologists in Denver. Anschutz Medical Center is a highly rated hospital in Denver, part of the University of Colorado system. I called. They were taking new patients in 5-6 months. I called Boulder Medical Center. They were taking new patients in February. Denver Arthritis Institute was taking new patients in two weeks. I had no desire to continue in my current state for two weeks. I called Nuvance Health in Danbury after seeing two rheumatologists online with great reviews. I called Nuvance. The one I called about was taking new patients in June 2026. But if I wanted to see someone else sooner, they were scheduling appointments in late January.

I had searched online for “top rheumatology hospitals” in the USA. Cleveland Clinic (in Ohio, though they have facilities in Florida, too) was ranked #2. On Thursday morning, sitting in my camper at Chatfield State Park, I called there. I was able to obtain an appointment on Monday morning with a doctor there, 8AM. If I was willing to drive to Danbury to see someone, why not go to Cleveland?

Thursday night, I received a phone call from Dr. Vizanko. She agreed that seeing a rheumatologist was a good idea. She sent a referral to Cleveland Clinic, too, just in case I needed one.

I started driving Friday morning at 5:30 AM, after my morning cereal and tea …