Monday: I got an echo-cardiogram and before I got home the raw data was posted on my patient portal with a caveat tacked on that it hadn’t been read by a doctor yet. If you’re like me you’re guessing that I then consulted Dr. Google with search terms like “moderate aortic insufficiency present” and “pulmonic valve insufficiency present.” I tried not to get too lost in the weeds until my doctor contacts me, which my portal says could take 10-15 days. I’m six days out from the test now but I’d put money down on him claiming this test proves the cause of my one leg swelling up off and on since July Fourth among other quirky stuff going with my health.
While I was at the hospital for the test I dropped off a couple of bags of clothing for my brother who just had a partial hip replacement the night before. He has since been moved to a rehab hospital in another town and according to my nieces he is doing well physically and is almost back to his baseline mentallys. The rehab hospital is too far away for me to drive so I won’t see him for long while. The plan is for him to return to the Memory Care building next door from me but in the back of my mind is the unsettling thought that it won’t happen, that I will never see him again. But I will not borrow trouble from the future. Yes, that’s my current mantra. Live in the moment. Take it one day at a time. All of those sayings are worth planting deep in my fertile brain lest the negative thoughts take over and I go into a funk just in time for the holidays.
Tuesday: I got a pedicure and afterward I called the foot doctor to take care of what I self-diagnosed as an ingrown toe nail on my big toe. I’ve never had one before but my toe was red and hot and hurt like the devil himself was sucking on it. Fortunately the doctor keeps a crack-of-dawn appointment open for situations like mine and I was able to get in on Friday. She dug out a large chuck of nail that was over-grown with skin. And now I understand why pulling out finger and toe nails is the preferred torture treatment of cartels and prison camp interrogators. I have to soak my toe in Epsom salts for two weeks and put a prescription medication made for ear infections on it---yes, you read that right. I meant to type “ear.” If the redness and soreness isn’t gone by then the foot doctor will have to cut the entire side of the nail out. The office she’s in has 8-10 other foot doctors and they have their own therapeutic pedicures on staff and I’m really happy I have a new place to go where I know I won’t pick up an infection or an ingrown toenail and I can make the technician understand that I don’t want the $10 coat of whatever it is those oriental nail spas want to (over) sell me.
The afternoon of the pedicure I had a dentist appointment to replace two crowns---step one of two. I’d been putting these off for a year because I didn't trust the dentist who claimed I had a cavity he couldn’t get at any other way until another dentist came up with the same claim. The caps were over twenty years old and when I went to their business office to pay for the new crowns the estimated cost had dropped over $600! I couldn’t have been happier. Especially since that same day we got notices that our service fees here where I live is going up $135 starting in January. Right now I’m paying $2,215 a month. When I moved in two years ago it was $1,900. I’m seriously starting to worry about which one will run out first---my life or my money. If it’s my money that runs out first, the Continuum Care Complex is contractually obligated not to kick me to the curb but they do have the right to downsize me to a single room with a half bath. What was that mantra I mentioned earlier? Don’t borrow trouble from the future. Live in the moment. Take it one day at a time. Easier said than done when I feel guilty about spending money on wants and not needs. (See below example.)
Wednesday: This is always my favorite day of the week. I go to lunch at 11:30 and then to a lecture followed by two hours of mahjong. This week the lecturer had a clever presentation of the history of a Michigan Regiment in the Civil War. The guy was in uniform and kept in character of a soldier who told about his life and the battles he’d been in and he shared the letter he was writing back home to his wife and hers to him. Two of the battles had been the same battles my Civil War ancestor had fought in. For an entire hour he kept us spell-bound with his one man 'play'.
Thursday: I got a haircut in a fancy-ass part of town I don’t like going to. I followed my hairdresser over to that shop when she quit a place that was so close I could practically walked to it. I hate looking for new stylists and I don’t look forward to winter driving to a place where I feel like I need to wear my Sunday best just to walk in the door. But that’s a problem for the future and I’m not supposed to look that far ahead. Afterward I went to a fancy-ass candy store that carries all kinds of old-fashioned candy and I spent $35 I didn't need to spend. They are holding another gingerbread house contest here at the CCC and this year I’m determined to move up from third place. (The kitchen staff and chefs took first place and a lot of us think they had an unfair advantage so in my head I came in second place. Nothing competitive about me.)
Friday: I downloaded the Kindle audible of The Knight in Shinning Armor by Jude Deveraux and I spent the afternoon knitting and listening. Knitting and listening and I didn't feel but a tiny bit guilty for wasting the time. Back in my 40’s I fell madly in love with historical romance books and Deveraux was one of my favorite authors. The year this book came out on cassette tape I was plowing snow for my husband’s business. I bought a copy and listened to it every season for 11 years. When I downsized to move here I gave away all my books on tape except for this book. I still have the hardcover as well. It’s consisted a classic in the genre and there is something comforting when you’ve had a crazy week to know a happy ending is coming.
Until next Wednesday. ©
