What Really Happened Wednesday May 11th 2011

Yesterday began with the usual…getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom , for which I am very thankful to be walking around my apartment  once again. I showered and got ready to start my day.

Scoot was still charging , so I did’nt unplug him until it was time to leave  for my appointment. Around 8:45 a.m. Scoot and I left for the doctor’s building in back of  Bayfront hospital.

 My R.A. doctor’s nurse, Ginny, is kind enough to give me my injection every Wednesday until my other doctor gets back from his volunteer duties over in Africa , which will be  June 20th.

It did’nt take us long to drive over there, but had to be very alert and wary of dumb speeding drivers hurrying on their way to work. If  some of them keep on driving like they do, one of these days, they will end up in ER or worse.

I only had to wait for ten minutes and my name was called. Before five minutes were up, Scoot and I were on our way out of there. Super ! 🙂

I spent some time with my friend Bob after getting home, as he needed to have company. He’s used to working part-time, but is still on doctor’s orders to remain at home. He is doing well .

Last night I was over in http://www.singsnap.com  and had some fun singing and listening to others.

I took two naps during the day because  methotrexate will make one zap out whether one does not wish to sleep, or not !

Other than this, I just rested and relaxed. I so want to dance ! Those days are over though…because of my knees, and my lung capacity.

I might as well write a bit about today as long as I’m writing.  There’s not much going on, LOL ! 😀 I drove down to the post office and mailed a letter , and then  went over to Publix food market. The ride home was nice  and hot! It’s great to be out in the sunshine ! 😀

Dear Word Press Blog

I am sorry I have forgotten all about you, dear blog. I just discovered you were still here ( fortunately ) when I was going through my desktop favorites looking for a special friend’s blog. I do have many words to write and will be doing that here  too. I see I need to do alot of updating in parts of this blog. Times has passed and so have decisions made and not been able to follow through with them. It’s not bad….it’s all good. 🙂 To all who are reading this, Happy Easter !!!!

The Straw That Broke the Camel’s Back

I received another voicemail from that incompetent homecare company yesterday, Saturday. It was the visiting nurse telling me she would be here on Monday at 1:30 to 2:00p.m.

Hah! She never said any certain time. As a matter of fact, while  she was still here on Friday , she told me she did’nt know what time she had available  to see me. So, right on my calendar I put a question mark and her name on the square that says Oct 11th , Monday!

Good. I answered her voicemail message in the next 15 minutes. I was pleasant and she was ‘worried’  as I could tell by her tone of voice.

I quietly and calmly said to her: “This will be the last time I speak to any of you. As of right now, you and  the company you work for, are fired. “

She asked me what was wrong ( Duh ) and I told her the last thing that happened on Saturday with another employee changing her time around , and now this, too.

I told her to take care and she told me to take care too. I said I’ll survive, I always have. I should have said “God will take care of me.”

Tonight, I will be emailing a notice letter and all the many things that have happened as to the in-competence of this horrible homecare comany, to my good nurse . She will have my Doctor read this, and they will hopefully be *dis-missing* this homecare company.

This morning my stress level is nice. Ahhh, I can breathe much better and my soul is calmed. Oh and I did ask God to please guide me in this whole matter.

He has answered my prayers so many times !

Incompetent and Disorganized Home Care Company

On Friday around 6 :20 p.m. I had a voicemail message from ”    Terry ” the weekend Senior Home Care social worker.

She informed me that “something came up.” She would not be stopping by for my 10:a.m. to 12:p.m. appointment on Saturday, October 9th 2010 that she had told me previously.

Instead, Terry said she “would be here on Saturday October 9th 2010 at 3:00pm to 5:00 pm. Excuse me ? This late on a Saturday ? NO !

I listened to the voice mail and then called the main number  and a man answered who was very rude to me. I said I wanted to cancel this new appointment that I received just hours before it was to take place.

He said I could call J. after such and such an hour last night ( Friday) I said I wanted no further commumication with ANY of them.!

So around 8:30p.m. last night I had a voicemail from J. saying that she had NO ONE scheduled to see me for today. That’s strange since I got a call already from the other person just  a couple of hours before.

The visiting nurse,  said she was taking off Thursday and Friday next week. I have appointments on Tuesday and Wednesday and Friday next week. ( week of Oct 11 th to Oct. 16th)

She said , “well that leaves only Monday. I don’t know what time I can come to see you.” So I just put a ? mark on my calendar for this Monday October 11th.

She came by yesterday with the fingerpick machine for monitoring my INR/PT for Warfarin/Coumadine. She did not have the alcohol wipes with her. She said “they are down in the car.” What was she doing going to make a cut in my finger(s) without cleaning with a alcohol wipe anyway?

I luckily had some in my kit I keep on hand. So she preceeded to use the little cutter and picked my middle finger. She put the slide strip into the little machine. It did not work. The batteries were dead. (oops) Now why was not this taken care of BEFORE my appointment ??

Then she changes the batteries and she picks another finger ( after wiping with alcohol) Same thing. The machine did not work or maybe she was not doing it correctly?

This was the first 20 minutes of her visit. I called my doctor and explained to the nurse what was happening. She said she would page my Dr. and send a “stat script” to the Lab a few blocks from their office.

She took my blood pressure and pulse and listened to my breathing. That’s it. She was only here about 40 minutes because now I had to take my mobility scooter and go downtown and then get on a bus and go up to this Lab .

My previous INR was very high. This is why my doctor wanted this visiting nurse to take it with the finger-pick machine, to get an “instant reading.” My regular nurse at my doctor’s office could have done all of this, had we known that the visiting nurse would not be here at the time she told me she would be here.

AGAIN,  the visiting nurse from the Home Care had told me “9:30 a.m.” for Friday October 8th 2010. It was 10:20a.m. and I called her to ask why she was not here. She told me…it’s “12:00″

I have it marked on my calendar and in my list of things tablet for days of the week, plus I wrote that time and date in a blog ! Then she said ” oh ‘they’ sent me clear down to such and such a place.”

I have b een under so much stress and wasting time waiting around from this company that I could have a stroke, just from being treated this way.

I’m tired of being under “their thumb” and tired of being jerked around.

I no longer would like any of their so-called “services” they say they provide. Also, they do not mop floors or vacumn or take to doctors or appointments. THIS is what I need help with!

Medicare is being ripped off by these kinds of companies!

As far as I’m concerned I have fired them all.

This Monday it will be up to my doctor to fire them. He thought this would be a good home care company.

It turns out they are very in-competent and dis-organized. Written Saturday October 9th 2010 at 2:10p.m.

Not Walking, Anymore ?

I have always loved to walk, and now to find out in my later years because of the severe R.A. I have,  surgery is not an option for me. The orthopedic surgeon told me yesterday ” You are not a candidate for knee surgery. I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do for you.”

That was hard to take, and now  a little over 2

Pillars of Strength, I Need to be Like This

4 hours have passed. I’m going to accept this, as that’s really all I can do, being the person that I am. I’m grateful I’m still alive and have a scooter to drive down the sidewalks and across the roads.

I was referred back to my specialist R.A. and bone doctor. My regular every 3 months checkup is not until October 22nd, with labs to be done a week before the appointment.

My knee joints are still there, but not much is left of them. X-rays showed they are pretty much eaten by rheumatoid arthritis. My former RA Doc had told me around five years ago that this disease would progress and get worse, not better, and to be prepared. One cannot be prepared for something like this!

My life as I have known it, is about to change drastically. A broken wrist which I woke up with Monday morning, does not make matters any easier to tolerate.

God has our lives all planned out for us before we are born. I know in my heart “there’s a reason for everything.” I have to accept this and deal with it.

It’s going on 6:30p.m. here now and I have not made anything for supper. There’s just myself, so I think I’ll make a white albacore tuna salad sandwich and jello will be dessert.

I have several Lean Cuisine microwave dinners in the freezer, but am just not that hungry tonight. Methotrexate injections will do that to a body, lol ! That injection messes with the body, but does help with calming the inflammation without interferring with the coumadin I take.

Emotions and True Friends

I so wish I would have handled a situation earlier this year.

 I was also hurt but the person who I hurt, although I was going through the loss of my real Dad,  plus a dear friend who also passed away, plus physical health issues, I said (typed) words, words that hurt this person ( a very dear, very special friend )

 I did’nt realize or take the time to realize that they were going through the same thing . Looking back, it was silly really and was none of my business, but I “thought” it was.
I’m born in July and am very emotional, and most true friends last forever in my life.

I’m one that forgives and forgets but some say they can forgive, but cannot forget.

So a friendship that has been years , has been fractured, broken by both of us. It’s not just a one-sided thing. I was hurt also. I was struggling, also. But they were hurting too, so they could not see beyond their own hurt.

I’m very sorry right from my heart and if this person does not wish me to be in their life, that’s their right.

I just have to learn from *my own* mistakes and go on living the life God gave me.