Pre-Surgery

Ok, Monday's the day. The past two weeks has been a blur or doctor's appointments, anxiety, trying to think about what I need, blah blah blah. Has dinner with M & S this evening; they had gone on a trip to see the wild horses of Chincoteague, Virginia, and we had our usual ecclectic range of conversating topics. Conversating? Is that a Bush-ism?

Saw my naturopath this morning, who picked up that the reason I might be so cold after last year's cancer/radiation experience is that my thyroid may have been compromised by the radiation treatments. Duh. None of my other "doctors" suggested that. So she suggested that after I'm done with the knee thing, I have my TSH levels checked out again.

Spent a long time on the phone with my insurance company today who conveniently keeps "not receiving" the naturopath bills for reimbursement. This has happened three times now. I am diligently keeping copies of what I submit, when before I hadn't, and I can resubmit them, but they want to make it as hard on me as possible. It's a clear case of them trying to screw me, since my being covered by a naturopath was an exception made to the coverage I have thru Jale.

Picked up Misty from the vet yesterday. She had a dental cleaning and two back teeth removed. So now she's on two medications, one for pain, one an antibiotic, and Camilla is still on her two pills every day, and I'm on thirty zillion myself. I so badly need a personal assistant to keep on top of all of this. Not to mention the Frontline they all need for fleas/ticks, and the once a month heartworm pill Bindi has to take. I don't even reconcile my own checkbook. Help!!

I did make it to the gym to do the weight circuits and about twenty minutes on the stationery bike, and some stretching.

Monday a.m. I had a CT scan and a mammogram, cause the cancer radiologist thought she saw something on the last PET scan I had. That all went smoothly, but after I left and went to get coffee, I get a message on my cell phone saying I am scheduled for a biopsy and ultrasound on Wednesday!? WHAT?!?! What biopsy? For what? I had to call back three times to get a human being on the phone, and I freaked out on them. Long story short, they called me IN ERROR!!!! They meant to call someone else. You do not do such a thing to someone who has PTSD. I went to the optometrist in tears to pick up my glasses; fortunately, I've been going to him forever and he was great.

Finally talked to the cancer doc yesterday who said that the CT scan showed nothing to worry about, and that I would have heard already if something was up with the mammogram. Still haven't heard back from the surgeon's office about the anesthesia and pain meds they used on me for the surgery last March. Getting information is never just a one call deal. It's call, call, and call again. Help!

Sunday morning I had coffee with a friend from NYC, so good to see him and hear about his teaching adventures in middle school. Then I went to the community garden, and since it was a sunny, warm day, all the gardeners were out, and I ended up staying quite a long time. I planted carrots, beets, calendula, and lettuce, and K. came to get some perennials I'm dividing to transplant to her house garden. We then went out for bad pizza, at a place that used to have good pizza.

Friday I had a dentist appointment in the morning, then had to go to the surgery center to have my blood drawn so it could be typed. Was supposed to see a concert that night, but the woman performing had plane connection problems, and we didn't know if she was gonna show up or not, so I got my money refunded.

Thursday, I had an appt. with the surgeon's assistant who gave me the rundown of what to expect. My surgery will probably be first thing in the morning next Monday. The good news is as soon as I show up they sedate me. Woo hoo.

Photos are of Muscovey mama duck and her fifteen chicks in Scott's back yard pond. Really cute.

Why I Love Old Florida

Turn the Calendar

While waiting at the airport on Monday night, I got into a conversation with a woman who had a knee replacement. She said she did all the wrong things, and had a much too long recovery: she didn't do any pre-hab or muscle strengthening before the surgery; she refused much of the pain meds so wasn't able to do the post PT as diligently as she needed; she didn't go to a rehab facility; she had a bad PT at home. She wishes she had done both knees at the same time, as now she is reluctant to do the other knee, but says she eventually will. She was travelling with her black cat Buddy, back to Massachussetts, and was working on the most exquisite cat needlepoint project. I told her how anxious I was about my surgery, and she said, "Put that anxious on a shelf, and replace it with anticipation. Anticipate being able to walk without pain, anticipate recoverying quickly, anticipate doing the PT with as much determination as possible." That was good advice for me. I wish I had gotten her email address or something.

The airplane ride back to Hartford was uneventful except that we were smashed in like sardines, and they made me change the seat I was assigned to, and going through security they patted me down for some reason, and even scanned the wheelchair I was in. They did not scan Bindi or her carrier, so I got through with the kilo of cocaine I was smuggling. (Ha ha, April fools joke!) But they wanted to scan the bottom of my feet, then forgot to!!! Duh. I was sitting next to a very nice couple, however, so that helped. They had a chihuahua at home, too. Everyone is very impressed with what a good traveller Bindi is. Quiet, no pooing or peeing in the carrier.

Remember my mention of chronic Lyme disease in a blog posting? Well, in the Naples dog park, I had a conversation with a woman who has chronic Lyme, and the extraordinary efforts she is going through to cure herself. She did not know about the video I had seen. Funny how those coincidences occur.

Yesterday morning I had to pick up Camilla from the kennel at the vet, and she scolded me all the way home, and then some. I had stopped at Starbucks to get a tall double shot espresso skim milk latte, and the friendly young man (barista guy) behind the counter told me how he had broken his knee (the patella), showed me his surgery scar, etc. EVERYONE I talk to has a story about knee surgery, replacement, or hips, either themselves or their friend or their father/mother/sister/cousin. I remember I think seeing a billboard in Florida about an association that exists to help "preserve the health of your knees for a lifetime," but I didn't catch what it was. Knee replacement is epidemic esp. with the baby boomers, and we don't get preventative information yet, like we get about teeth. Used to be that it was common for older folks to loose their teeth, but now with care we can keep our teeth for a lifetime. Same approach should be applied to knees.

So I brought Camilla home, saw a client, then went to get a pre-op chest xray. On the way home from that I decided to get a manicure. Stopped at one place and the chemical smell was overwhelming so I had to leave. Acrylics. Those women are losing a bunch of brain cells, I'm sure. Went next door to a really great place, and got my nails done. As they were drying, another woman who worked there gave me a ten minute neck and shoulder rub. Amazing, except for the fact that I could not feel it. This has been happening to me with massage lately. I can't feel the relief from it. I wonder what that means.

A quick stop at the natural foods store, then home again. Tired. Today I have the pre-op exam with my primary care doc, then have to pick up my glasses with the new lenses, then a therapy appt. I'm supposed to be going to the gym to do more strengthening, but I'm so tired.