Medical week

This week has been yet another...interesting...one.

1. Last Sunday's brother-to-brother talk about parent-care issues turned out to be very timely: Beast's dad went into the hospital on Wednesday. This has become common enough that we no longer fret. MIL no longer dashes out the door, pedal to the metal, after the ambulance; she calmly makes sure to which hospital the EMTs will transport FIL, changes clothes, does her hair, gathers her purse and insurance info, and follows at her own pace. FIL has been in the hospital 2-3 times a year, on average, for the past five or six years, and probably half of those in the past year or so have been "emergency" transports. He's got congestive heart-failure, diabetes, early- to mid-stage Alzheimer's, apnea...and a tendency toward frequent bouts of lower GI problems. This trip involves the latter; a colonoscopy was done yesterday, along with a tagged RBC test; he may need surgery but they weren't sure last night.
   
   Beast left Monday morning for points north (to the land of 10,000 lakes, if the PR is to be believed) for sales calls. He and his mom talked Wednesday about FIL; since there is nothing urgent, he elected to stick to his schedule unless/until something was decided. So he arrived back home yesterday, did laundry right away in case MIL wanted him to come directly to sit with her. We're still in a holding pattern.


2. Today was the day to turn in next year's insurance choices at Beast's work. I didn't pay attention, so we talked about it last night, elected to keep the same thing as we've had, but take a look at what is offered by my employer just to see what the comparison is for next year.
   
   I LOATHE the whole insurance thing. If there is one thing that can make me believe I'm the most ignorant imbecile on earth, it's dealing with insurance issues. Health, life, whatever. I just feel Stoo-Pud. Nothing--but nothing else in the world makes me feel this dumb. Except perhaps financial stuff. I'm not really a huge fan of socialized medicine, but I tell you what: if I feel a major illness coming on, it would be VERY tempting to fly to Toronto and wait for it to fully bloom there! Or, well, anywhere in Canada where there are good doctors; my in-laws had something come up while on vacation in Nova Scotia a few years ago--FIL, again, and they have raved ever since about the care they received and the fact that the medical personnel never worried about how they'd get paid. What a concept, eh?


3. Today was also the day to get flu shots at City Hall. Beast had his doen a couple of weeks ago. So now we are fully protected on that front. I really do swear by these things; the only years in the past 6 years that I've gotten really ill in the winter were the years I skipped a flu shot.
   
   On the other hand, DAMN it hurts! I had allergy shots on Monday this week--it took almost two weeks to get the referral straightened out for that, by the way!!--so I've been well-punctured. The allergy shots seem to be shot into fatty tissue (no shortage of that!), while the flu shots must go into muscle. She zapped me on the 'corner' of my left shoulder, and DAMN...every year I forget how much it hurts, and how long the needle has to stay in.
   
   OK, having now scared everyone away, I'll add that I can watch footage of open heart surgery, see blood, vomit and other bodily fluids without becoming weak, handle medical emergencies with aplomb, but the sight of a needle entering flesh (mine, yours or an orange!) makes me queasy and faint. I simply can't watch, nor can I think about it; my gorge is rising as I type this. You should see me in the hospital with IVs in my arms; I'm a train wreck.
   
   So, if needles make you nervous and that's why you won't have a flu shot--or give blood!!--I can say to you with no compunction, from my nauseated center: you need to get over yourself! Take a Prozac, or just grow some balls, whatever gets you to do it.


4. I'm tired. I think I need some Geritol. On the work calendar for the next 8 weeks, there is a least one name written in the "vacation day today" column. There are at least 4 days where there are 6 names written there. One woman is still on maternity leave--she'll be back 11/29--and another one is ready to drop her baby any second; they aren't on the vac day list, since that's more long-term. That means, on the day after Thanksgiving, 8 people are off the schedule. Our staff count is about 26, including the high school kids. You do the math. I'm not scheduled to work that day, neither is Music Dude, and there are probably another 5 or 6 who don't ever work Fridays.
   
   Oh, and I didn't mention--nor is this on the calendar anywhere--that training has commenced for the database swap. Everyone on staff has to go to at least two half-day sessions which are being run from late November through February (great timing for driving all over the countryside, by the way: mid-winter in the northern plains---yeah!).
   
   What this all means is that for the next 2-4 months, I will be pulling a crapload of Reference and/or Circ Desk hours. When I'm not at training (I have to go to four--or five?--sessions) or at meetings.
   
   I'm tired. Where is my Geritol? Or maybe I should just get a prescription for vicodin?