Friday, May 3, 2013

Vehicular assault



May 3, 2013

The big hairdo nurse pinched into stiff maroon scrubs was acting very motherly. The only thing missing was her waggling index finger warning to ground me! She made me promise to read the eight page instructions several times before I arrived for surgery on the 13th, quizzed me about my operation and arrival times, pressed so firmly when jotting the note reminding me to “wear loose pants!!!,” the words nearly broke through the  paper. Her firm grim lips mimicked Kathy Bates as she whispered as if it were a secret that surgeries are dangerous business and things can go wrong. Really???

My surgeon was his usual efficient self, answering my bajillion questions with grace and compassion. He is boy-next-door youthful scrub-faced Opie-act-a-like and will be until the day he dies. Hard to tell his age with that baby face and slender frame.  Doc rewarded me with a handicap parking permit until November which was a complete surprise. I don’t wanna be the weak and vulnerable, I want to be like the Wild Woman from Borneo who strikes fear in the lives of bullies and bandits.

Pre-op is certainly a far cry from the preparations for surgery in Registro, Brasil! The thin, pretty primary care doc shot off questions like she was being timed and set me scurrying down to the lab for Hemoglobin tests, EKG (for a woman of “my age”) weighed-in twice, blood pressure taken two times as well, loads of repetitive forms and no one speaking Portuguese. Up the elevator, down to the lower level, back to the primary care physician who is insisting I get a colonoscopy and pap, mammogram, etc set up for the future. Thought by now they would have come up with a more flavorful easy to swallow without gagging fluid for the colonoscopy in the last few years but no such luck!

I should go into the returning potential renter call business. It is incredible the number of property management companies and individuals I phoned and never got a call back! They must need help and I need the work. Oh boy. The ones that did answer my distress signal ran through the benefits and features as though they were late for a hot lunch date. Most of what I am seeing out there and available now are for July! Geez, why do I always feel as though I missed the Express bus by two minutes and the next one isn’t coming until after the dinner hour?

Looking at a few pads tonight with the hopes of securing something solid. Found a great place yesterday in West St Paul. The area is extremely quaint and the house nearly perfect though a lot of TLC required in the kitchen and bathroom. Great back yard and quiet neighborhood (the three times I visited the duplex in various hours of the day.) Decided, in the end, it would be more time on the freeways than I care to spend day-to-day (when I am able to use the clutch foot!) It is discouraging yet I do not want the hassle of being stuck in traffic with my stomach rumbling from hunger and cranky drivers around me. May lead to uncontrollable vehicular assault.

One more overnight, taking advantage of my supportive friend who will go along to check out the properties with me tonight. Who doesn’t love to house shop if you are not the one having to move?

No comments:

Post a Comment