On frustration and Fredericton

I had not received a call from the Hospital about a CT scan appointment by the advent of the New Year. Consequently, I sent an email to my ortho surgeon on my first working day to complain about this. I got an email back suggesting that I phone the scanning department to set up the appointment. I started doing so during my lunch break on my iPhone with the earbuds plugged in. This meant that I could do other things, such as work, during the wait to be connected. It took an hour and a half before I could speak with the person who made the appointments. It was then a few minutes before I was given a booking for this morning (January 21st) at 8 AM. There has to be a better way of making appointments. Unfortunately, LeGoat wants to cut a thousand jobs out the healthcare sector.

The actual appointment itself went fairly smoothly. I showed up at the right time, despite the seasonally appropriate but frigid weather. I went to the appropriate waiting room, and had a CT scan done with little hassle. About the only thing that was problematic with the procedure was that the technician wanted to help me put my left shoe back on once the scan was complete. I demurred saying that it would be easier if I did it myself. The information has in all probability been sent to my ortho doctor who will look at it, put his hand on his chin and go "Hmm." I will find out what that "Hmm" means on the 13th of February.

If any sovereigntists are reading this, please don't think I am Quebec-bashing. Other provinces also have their healthcare issues. Most notably New Brunswick, at least according to concerns of this blog which is, quite frankly and honestly, particularly concerned about those things which affect or have affected its writer, viz me. There was an article on the CBC news for New Brunswick website about how Fredericton is now in need of a vascular surgeon as the old one has retired. This is significant to this blog as the person question, Dr. Claus Schaus, was the one who saved my lower left leg by taking a vein from my right leg and grafting it in as an artery in my left. I hope I thanked him. I also hope that Fredericton finds a suitable replacement as soon as possible. I'm not sure I would still have my left foot if they had been obliged to send me to St-John, Charlottetown or Halifax. Time was of the essence. One sign of that was that I remember asking the ambulance crew that took me from Moncton to Fredericton if they would be using the flashing lights. They said "Yes".

On eggnog and exhaustion

I must confess I am very tired of waiting for my leg to improve. While the leg is getting somewhat better, the blasted spatial frame keeping my tibia aligned makes it hard to relax. I am often worried about how it should be placed versus what would be a comfortable position for the time being as well as how long a given position will be comfortable. Sleep is not easy to come by and the quality of it is oft times poor. I had hoped that the Christmas holidays would a chance to truly relax but alas, it didn't turn out so. 

I had rented a car from my usual rental place. Despite having reserved an economy car, I was first offered a Jeep Cherokee. I settled for a Chrysler 300. This model is no longer in production, but diligent research (i.e. checking on Wikipedia) revealed that it was considered a full-sized rear-wheel drive car. This puts it in the very small number of rear wheel drive cars I have driven.

I drove out to North Hatley on an appropriate day that I could enjoy the homemade eggnog at Lebaron's store. What is more, my visit coincided with that of the owner's family. This was probably a bit of additional stress for Elliott as his kids have an assortment of food allergies. Most notably that of his middle son, Orran, who has milk and possibly egg allergies. However, Elliott had several clementines lined up and fed them to his eager son. Clever parenting, that.

Unfortunately, I found it hard to relax at my Parents' house. I'm not going to into any details besides saying egos clashed. I ended up spending a lot of time in bed, either sleeping or wishing I was sleeping. However, I was still somewhat mentally exhausted by the time I returned to Montreal.