3 August 2021
Roughly speaking, Joyce had her surgery a year ago. Well, two days from now. But we were already gearing up for it with a Covid-19 test while cleaning and packing the infected wound. Seems like, well, 10 years ago.
We went back to the clinic today for what turned out to be an hour-long debridement with Cat.
Not at 2 p.m. as scheduled but at 1:30. The clinic called in the morning to ask if they could get an early start to have a full hour available.
Sure.
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Last night at dinner I pointed out to Joyce that today would be the first Tuesday of the month. Our side of the street gets swept between 1 and 3 p.m. so, I reasoned, we'd have no trouble getting out of the garage for her 2 p.m. appointment.
We never have any trouble anyway. Never have had. Ever. Until, you know, today.
I had just finished applying the Lidocaine to her wound (which for once she tolerated very well, screaming just one time). We were just about to get in the car when I looked out the window.
A gold Toyoto Corolla was carelessly parked at the curb, its back end blocking our driveway.
Really? Really.
I uttered the magic words to open the garage door to see if anyone nearby would get the hint by the time we got in the car but nobody did. So I wandered over to the car looking as interested as a potential buyer but nobody came running to accept an offer.
I turned around. Nobody at the neighbors' houses. But across the street at the place being remodeled by a contractor there was a young painter wrestling with a ladder.
"You know whose car this is?" I yelled up. Friendly like.
"Yeah, it's mine," he confessed.
"You mind getting it out of my driveway?"
He came down to move it right away. I pointed out it was street cleaning so it wouldn't be a bright idea to park anywhere on this side of the street. It's a $76 ticket.
And off we went. Finally. We saw him circle the block a second time behind us, unable to find a spot.
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Cat came out with Joyce after the debridement. She said Joyce tolerated the pain a lot better this time so she took more off. That's why it took so long.
We discussed supplies. She ordered more Lidocaine from the pharmacy (which we picked up afterwards, but that's another long story) and ordered gloves from Byram ASAP for me (which will no doubt provide more amusement later in the week).
I never need anything ordered ASAP because I can count. I always order early. But that doesn't work with Medicare. It won't pay if you order early. And if you order "on time," that's when you find out the order has "expired" or no supplies are available or some other glitch has befallen the regular order.
So I never need gloves right away. But soon. And Byram will no doubt fail in some novel way to deliver. So I'll try to sponge some gloves from 21st Century, the home healthcare service, which has provided them gratis before.
There are 200 gloves in a box. That's 100 pairs (see, I told you I could count). I was trained to use a pair to remove the old dressing and a pair to redress the wound. That's two pair a session or four a day. That means a box lasts 25 days, nearly a month when you consider that twice a week a nurse uses their own gloves.
But I figured out a way to use two pair a day by using the second pair again for the dressing removal. So I only throw away one pair a session. And get 50 days from a box.
Which is another reason I don't need them right away. But that's our little secret.
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I also asked Cat about the August surgery Dr. Tong had planned.
"Probably not," she said.
"Is that because Joyce doesn't need it or because there's no room on the schedule?"
"A little of both," she admitted.
She did say things were slowing down and it may happen in September but not this month.
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It took us another hour or so to get the Lidocaine from the pharmacy. We extracted the car from the garage for $10 (we get a $2 discount just for asking) and I dropped Joyce off at the medical building around the corner (which was obstructed by road work) so she could run in and get the stuff.
I parked in the street three blocks away and waited for her to call. It was a circus, so I was amused, although there was a moment when I feared bodily harm from a guy cursing at his reflection in the car windows as he walked down the sidewalk. I was partially protected by a utility pole.
So I was glad to finally pick her up and head for home.
Where, would you believe it, some clown in a Tesla sedan was blocking our driveway.
I had the garage door opening up before I came around the corner (because I can count and don't waste gas waiting for it to open) and he got the hint.
I was able to sail in unabated ending the adventure.
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It's been nearly a year. I counted. You, too, I'll bet. And I'll bet it feels like 10 years to you, too.