In today's mail I got an updated plumbing permit from Home Depot. Now we can have the plumbing inspection and then the final, general inspection. It's now been over a year since this kitchen remodeling project began.
I took some more aspirin a little while ago. I'm using the left arm almost like normal again but still won't try to raise it. The shoulder is still tender. But I'll be able to drive down to Brickell tomorrow for dinner with friends at the new Mary Brickell Village. I've never been there, but I've been to the restaurant we're going to--it used to be the Firehouse Four restaurant, which I always loved going to, and before that, a working Firehouse 4. There was even a brass pole going from the second to the first floor (but it was railed off so you couldn't slide down it--or fall down the hole). Can't wait to see the new stuff they've built around it.
We have dinner once or twice a year, usually at the Flanigan's down the street from me.
When I go back to the orthopedic surgeon in two weeks, I'll ask him all about the procedure and report back to you. Tonight I've been trying to find out more about it online, without much success. I did come across an article about "needling" the calcium deposit. Yikes.
I was glad I was able to nap on the bus today. I'd not been able to do that in days, on account of the nagging pain. Didn't take a nap when I got home. Wasn't tired. Had Earl Grey tea at Starbucks while reading the latest New Yorker that came in the mail today.
I've never screamed in a doctor's office before, that I can recall, at least since I've been an adult. But that hurt like a MFer, and, as I said, it wasn't a quick thing--it was protracted. I don't mind getting shots or getting pricked to have my blood drawn, but this was not your normal shot. It was more like . . . torture. Now I'm just so relieved. Actually, I'm so happy I could stay up all night (as is my tendency) and celebrate, but I won't.
Today I found out I have to pay 20% of the cost of my colonoscopy/gastroscopy, or $166 or something. I'll pay this out of pre-tax income, but that sucks. See here. This feature of my employer's health insurance went into effect about two years ago, I found out today from the benefits manager. I had a colonoscopy three years ago and the whole thing was covered. And I certainly didn't elect the colonoscopy. This is an appreciable increase in my own medical care costs, and I'm not a wealthy person, but even if I were...
Health care is a necessity for the good of society, like firefighting or police protection. I think we should pay doctors out of our taxes, also, rather than filter their wages and other services through umpteen for-profit insurance companies with all their duplicative bureaucracies, high-flying executives, and departments set up to figure out ways of denying people's legitimate claims for treatment and then letting them die. Imagine a fireman letting your house burn down if you didn't show a him a fire insurance card.
No comments:
Post a Comment