7 May 2022
Just kidding. We're not suddenly free of anything. But Joyce did avoid a few charges yesterday.
Her handicapped parking placard arrived last week just after she got out of the hospital. We used it for the first time on Saturday when she wanted to buy stamps.
We parked at a meter that had an hour left on it which took the fun out of it. The Post Office was closed for a building renovation anyway.
But yesterday, we drove over to the clinic so Jennifer the Physician's Assistant could take a look at the wound and do the dressing change. Another chance to use the placard.
Except there were no meters and no handicapped spots available on the street. So we went into the garage again. Where there were no unoccupied handicapped spots by the elevator on five floors. So we left the placard in the glove compartment.
Just kidding.
Despite our quest for free parking, we were right on time for the 10 o'clock appointment. Mark the Receptiontist asked for a $5 copay but I reminded him it's our first visit after surgery. He looks it up and says, 'You're right.' No copay. Or, you might say, free (at last).
Jennifer is quick. The wound looks good, she told Joyce. But I wonder when she last saw it. Maybe it was only a photo because it's been a while since she saw it in person.
She tells Joyce I'm doing a great job. Also free.
Back at the garage, the ticket machine fails again. We watched one poor person fight one of the three kiosks so we picked another but it didn't complete the transaction either.
Our $4 charge would have been $2 but it just spits out her credit card (after chewing it a long time) and returns the orange discount card with a receipt saying there was an error. So what do we do?
Well, we get in the car, drive to the exit, put the orange ticket in the machine and when it fails, buzz the guard. I try to explain to him what happened. He sees the error on the LCD display of the gate's ticket machine and asks for the receipt which Joyce gives him.
"You have to let us out!" she cries in distress.
"How much was it?" he asks me.
"Two bucks," I report.
He swipes his magic card to open the gate, letting us out to Joyce's great relief.
So we didn't pay either place today. A savings of $7.
Back at home, Joyce gets a bill from Apria for the Wound VAC. Nearly $1,000 for this quarter's $16.83 a day billing (supplies included). She calls for an explanation but the bill's correct. She paid for four days at the end of the last quarter. And she has nearly this whole quarter to pay. Ouch.
Yeah, just kidding about "free at last."