Dear So and So

[Owlie]

More healing and recovery vibes for you, Snap!

Dear university--
Your website is supremely unhelpful. There are no links to ANYTHING I might find useful, and there is no option to forward your mail to something I can actually easily access without jumping through hoops and waiting for your ridiculously slow system to actually do something. There's a reason why my undergrad institution abandoned this years ago...

Dear mother--
No, I'm not going to sell my bike. I'm not sure you get it. It is my major source of stress relief, and I'm going to need that for grad school. If I sell it, I get about $150 for it, max. Yes, it's a tiny bit of a money pit (new saddle, tubes, tires), but it's less a money pit than the car and house you keep insisting that I need. (I'm not there yet. Nowhere near there yet.) Also a heck of a lot cheaper than therapy, alcohol or a gym membership. And a new saddle is a heck of a lot cheaper than treatment for anything I might end up with because I didn't buy a new saddle.

[Crankin]

Emily, there is a leash law, but one with no teeth, as they say.
They have been much better about this, but still.
Oh well, am on vacation now, sitting on the terrace of the B and B, looking at the ocean, in between the bougainvilla.
I forgot what that smelled like.

Oh, and I won't be posting in the what did you eat today thread until I get back.

[Biciclista]

Ah, poor Owlie, you want us to talk to your mother?

[marni]

dear Wind Gods,

Please oh please could you let it drop down to below 15-20 mph for just a couple of days. I can deal with the 95 degree heat, especially since the humidity is , for a rare and bizarre change, in the 20-30% range instead of 80-90%, but I am so sick and tired of the wind blowing in my face, no matter which way I ride.

Dear People at the Hospital Lab, doing my preadmission work,

Would it have killed you to check the fax machine more than once in an hour and a half for the orders from the Dr.s office, especially when after the first half hour, I asked if the fax had come in" and again a half hour later? And was told both times that it hadn't come in yet.

I know the Dr.s office is only two floors up and I happen to know that the fax actually came in after 15 minutes after I called upstairs and requested it?

And as for the blood draw- Come on guys, it's a hospital isn't there anyone there who knows how to do a blood draw. 6 stabs and two black and blue arms don't speak well for your supposed !00% rating for patient care. And as for the wait for the chest ex ray, don't even go there. Why does a routine pre-addmittance procedure have to take three hours, in spite of having an appointment? And why do I once again feel like I feel like I've been handled like a piece of meat? Don't tell me "oh the fax just came in" when I know I have been waiting an hour and a half and don't tell me to " lighten up, it will all happen in good time" or ask me where in my sense of humor and where are my manners"

Lets us have you sitting and fretting about lab tests while worrying about whether or not you will make it home in time to get lunch for your 90 year old diabetic resident FIL.

ARGHHHH.

sincerely

[OakLeaf]

((((((((marni))))))))

Has your husband or anyone checked with your FIL's insurance to see if they will pay for home care while you're going through this? I'm so upset that you have to be taking care of everyone except yourself right now ...

[jessmarimba]

I've read articles by doctors who were treated the same way when they were patients, and it wasn't til they were in that situation did they realize that they talked down to people every day, unconsciously believing that being sick/injured/etc makes people dumb. So frustrating.

I cringed when I read about the blood draw!! I can't stand needles, how awful

Big hugs to you!!

[marni]

dear everyone,

thank you for the sympathetic mama bear growls. After a day of thinking about what happened I have decided that no, I am not exagerating the situation and yes I do need to send a rocket to the CEO of the Hospital, with a copy to my GP (who referred me to this doctor and hospital system) and the surgeon herself. Mind you, I don't think that she had anything at all with the situation, I am sure that the forms were actually there and that they just couldn't be bothered to look for them and it all went downhill from there.

as for the surgery issues:

My husband will be taking a week off once I get home, and will be able to go in late for work for the next week as he has masses of vacation to burn, so unless the project he is bidding on for his company suddenly comes through and they decide to send him immediately to Redmond, Ontario ( 75 miles north of Calgary) he will be able to go in later in the morning most days for a while. Which will help a lot. Also, my oldest son and my daughter will be here for the first week as well so Dad will have lots of company and help and once I can drive, I will be able to step up again. He really is quite capable except that he is blind which means he can't read his blood sugar monitor, nor can he fix a sandwich or something for lunch unless I put things out for him, or can act as his eyes. Which shouldn't be that much of an issue.

As far as in home care- Although medicare (dads' only insurance) would probably chip in, I am hesitant to go that route since before he came to live with us he had been living on his own with a caregiver 4 hours a day and had gotten very depressed and mentally shaky in spite of what a wonderful and caring woman she was.

Anyway, thank you for letting me vent-

marni

[Owlie]

Dear BF--
I miss you. You don't need to be in your silly desert! Come back!
Me.

Dear Skype or internet connection--
Please stop sucking. It's getting really annoying.

[snapdragen]

marni - write to the CEO of the hospital. It's very possible the staffers will be spoken to about their attitudes. A friend of mine has a brother who is an oncologist. He said that there's a big push these days to get hospitals to be accountable for patient satisfaction. Basically teaching doctors how to be kind and attentive to their patients. I would bet this holds true for other hospital staff too.

It helped when my dad was in the hospital, and I was dealing with the King of all A$$holes who called himself a doctor.

[bmccasland]

Dear Bicycle Trainer creators and dude at my LBS,

I just have to vent.... NO! It did not go together easily, square peg in a round hole, yeah right. And getting the bike actually up on the trainer, oh that was soooooOoo much fun. I got a work-out just getting my bike on the trainer. Let's see you people pull a new trainer out of the box, find all the parts, put it together, and mount a bike in 15 minutes.

I need a drink.