Sunday, September 30, 2012

September

It has been busy, busy, busy around here the past few weeks. Jacob began 10th grade on the 4th of this month and has already been bogged down with homework almost every night. We have had to completely readjust our bedtime/wake-up schedule to accommodate the hideous early-morning start time of our local high school. Ugh.

Two weekends ago, Jacob and I spent Friday and Saturday nights up in Kaleva with Nancy and Irma. While we were there, we visited a unique store named Punzel's that had an eclectic collection of Scandinavian items, in addition to an outdoor pathway filled with hand-carved trolls & gnomes. The place definitely had a different atmosphere, but I found it very interesting nonetheless. Last week, both Jim and Adam flew to town to join the family for the monthly birthday shindig. It was great to have all my boys here, especially because, among other things, we were celebrating my big day. We had a fun weekend!

Unfortunately, we have also had a couple of vehicle issues this month, beginning with a flat tire on the CRV. After a few attempts to fill the flat using an air pump & an entire can of Fix-a-Flat, we eventually ended up just buying four new tires. We also ran into a dilemma when the front passenger tire of the Jeep rolled over an errant skunk who scampered unexpectedly into our path on Ann Arbor Road last week. The resulting stench was overwhelming and is taking forever to fade away despite our numerous efforts to clean it. We have had to leave the Jeep out of the garage in order to keep the smell from seeping into the condo. Pretty gross. I figured that driving around and splashing through some puddles would hasten the de-stinking process, but, naturally it has not rained since our skunk encounter.

I ripped out all of my impatiens from the front yard already, not because there has been a frost (although we have come close to 32 degrees a few nights), but rather because some sort of critter had been walking or jumping on them and had smashed & broken them all. I replaced the flowers with some hardy fall mums that haven't actually proven to be all that hardy. I never have had a green thumb. Bring on the winter and the snow! I'm ready for that instead!

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Waiting Rooms

Other than traveling this summer, I have spent much of my time accompanying Irma to numerous doctor appointments - internists, a neurosurgeon, and several different specialists. While she is pretty healthy for an 88-year-old woman, she does complain about a myriad of small issues and always insists on seeing a physician whenever she discovers a new ache or pain. What I find unsettling is that even though Irma always has appointments, her doctors never see her at the prearranged times. Ever. And the latest excuse that these professionals give for being tardy is that "there was an emergency earlier in the day." I have heard this line so many times lately that I realize now that it is the standard explanation used in the medical field whenever a doctor is simply running late.

Last week, Irma and I sat in her gastroenterologist's office for two hours waiting to be called back. The receptionist apologized over and over that the doctor was running late due to "an emergency." When we finally did go into the examining room, we waited for another 30 minutes before the doctor came in. He was friendly and chatty for three whole minutes before he declared that Irma was fine and that we could leave. Two and a half hours of hanging out just to talk to the guy for three minutes! In July, after sitting for an hour in Irma's neurosurgeon's overcrowded waiting room, we were chatting with each other about the delay. Some other patients chimed in that the standard wait at this particular office has always been about three hours. Three hours? Really? Other physicians that we have visited this summer have been just as bad. What in the world has happened to promptness? Or even almost-on-time-ness?

In my opinion, doctors that continually make patients wait for hours and hours to see them are just inconsiderate. In the case of a true "emergency," I think that receptionists could call patients to let them know that there may be a lengthy delay. After our repeated experiences this summer, I have come to the conclusion that physicians - and particularly Irma's physicians - are always going to be extraordinarily late. I don't agree with this practice and I certainly don't like it, but I have come to expect it. Sad that this is normal for so many doctors.