Today was a day that started Bad, got Worse, and then at the end sped into Good. It was a rollercoaster of a day!
I had scheduled two appointments - 11:15 at the podiatrist for my hurty feet, and 1 at the eye doctor. One eyepiece cracked a couple of weeks ago and has been dragging out pieces of hair. It hurt, the glasses needed replacing.
I left work in plenty of time to get to the podiatrist, Dr. W____. I went into my purse while waiting at a light to discover I had a) my ATM card and b) my checkbook, but not c) my wallet. Bollocks, I remember quite clearly putting the wallet into the back pocket of the jeans I was wearing Tuesday night at quilt guild. So, no wallet means no insurance card and no medical savings account card. And no cash.
I get to GMBC, drive around for 10 minutes looking for parking. There is no parking. I park on a clearly illegal spot next to the stairs, right on top of the no parking lines. Screw em. There should be enough parking for patients.
Dr. W____ is a good guy. He takes x-rays and pokes around on my feet until he finds the sore spots. I think podiatrists may have a spot of sadism in their make-up, they look for the owies and mash on them, "Does that hurt? How much?" "Um, enough so that if you press any harder I am going to be forced to kick you in the face!"
He gets a needle, which is about 4 inches long and thicker than a toothpick, and jabs it repeatedly into my right heel. I knew this was going to happen, this is the third round of steroids I've had in my right foot in the past three years. All during the drive over to his office I was filled with dread of the large angry needle. Once the shot was over he had a tech give me a few minutes of ultrasound on the foot, and when I leave I am practically limp with relief that the shot is behind me. It's not fun, but once it's over, it's ovah! Until next Wednesday morning at 8:00 am, not that I am thinking about that already. Well, not much anyway.
Car still where I left it. I remove everything from the glove box hoping I can find a couple of "emergency dollars" tucked there. Dammit, no emergency dollars.
Note to self: when you use the emergency dollars, REPLACE THEM for the next emergency.
Write a $3.00 check for my hour of illegal parking in the garage. I found writing that ridiculous check both embarrassing and infuriating. Leaving the house without a wallet is just so stupid!
I drove back home at Mach 4 to grab my wallet and make it to the eye doctor on time. The tests all went swimmingly, and when I couldn't stop my eye from clamping closed before he could get any drops in, he used an alternate method to test for glaucoma. Dr. C_____ is a nice man too. Yep, I was feeling pleased with him right up until the time he cheerfully informed me that I, Amanda Graham, aged 45, need bifocals.
Perhaps I am not conveying the horror this news struck in my soul. I could feel my heart drop to somewhere around the bottom of my stomach. For one tiny moment I was afraid I was going to cry. Most people know that I am not particularly concerned with things like fashion and appearance. If everything I am wearing is clean and has no holes, I'm ahead of the game. I don't mind my gray hair that has started to come in this last year. I am getting fine lines around my eyes. All okay with me. But somehow when Dr. C____ said "presbyopia" and "bifocals" I wanted to pitch a fit. But it is what it is, the old graying mare, her vision is not what it used to be.
The doctor was convinced that I was worried that people would know that I had bifocals, and that wasn't it at all. Needing them just made me realize that like everyone else, I am aging and things in my body are changing, whether I like it or not. Facing up to that fact today gave me a couple of unhappy hours. I'm over it, because what else can you do? Aging isn't optional, but being bitter about it is.
I chose a pair of nice frames for my glasses, and a cool pair of retro frames for my Rx sunglasses. I was pleased with the choices, hope I like them as well as next week when I pick them up.
My parents were here at the house when I got home. They are here for a short visit. I wanted Mom to attend the Quilt Expo with me. We ate at Jumbo Seafood, our local Chinese restaurant, then Mom and I sewed (more of The Neverending Binding [me] and some X-stitch [her]) while my Dad played Angry Chickens on his iPad.
Now it's late and I'm off to get some rest.
No comments:
Post a Comment