I have been keeping a close eye on my Monday schedule waiting for someone to fall off of it right after our lunch hour. I have blocked time off to get my fingerprints done in two weeks, but I was hoping to get them done sooner (since Ray just completed this task last week). A co-worker told me that she "lost" her two pm patient (meaning the patient canceled), so we slid my patient over to her column and blocked my two pm slot with an "event". This way I could slip out of the office right after my one pm patient and get to the courthouse. Easy enough. I knew the routine since Ray had just been through it. I left my cell phone in the car, and without my asking, the Sheriff announced to me that fingerprints were still being done. I just needed to go around the corner and take a seat on the bench. I rounded the corner at 1:45 pm, and there was the line up. Actually (whew), there was a woman and her two children in front of me, and I don't think the children were getting their prints done. Once she went behind the closed door with the police officer, another woman came up to me from the wrong bench and sat next to me. I thought long and hard about letting her go next, but she said she wasn't in any hurry and was just happy that the Sheriff was now directing people where to go. When she arrived, no one said a word to her, and this is why she sat on the wrong bench.
Once I was behind the closed door, the Sheriff mentioned to me that Stafford County would finally be going "electronic" with its fingerprinting. This way our prints would be locked into the system and easy to look up when necessary. He asked about where I would be working. I forgot that people would be going to have their prints taken for new jobs. I told him I wasn't there for a job. I was there for an FBI background check. I told him Panama required this if I wanted to try and obtain a Residency Visa there once I retired there. He said, "Panama." He told me to live in a quiet part of Panama, and he also told me that if there was any shaking up going on there, "to just come home". I found that last sentence very interesting, because while the US will always be home to me, I hope that I can be comfortable enough in Panama eventually to call it home, too.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Monday, August 19, 2013
NEXT. STILL GETTING OUR DUCKS IN A ROW.
In Stafford County, fingerprints are taken at the Stafford County Courthouse on Mondays only from 1-3 pm. Ray drove to the courthouse today, walked up to the building but half way up he remembered "no cell phones", walked back to the car and then back to the building, walked through the metal detector, and was directed to sit on a bench. He was number three in line (no wonder with all of that back and forth!) to get his fingerprints taken. A Sheriff stepped out into the hallway asking who had the card filled out. Ray asked if he could get two of the cards, and walked back to the car for his glasses to be able to fill in the blanks (name, social security number, birthday, address, place of employment, height and weight). Once he had done his exercising for the day (remember he just had gallbladder surgery, and this was a bit taxing haha), he reported that it only took minutes, and he had two cards filled out with his fingerprints. He picked up two cards for me so that I could leave work at lunchtime one Monday in September to get my fingerprints taken.
The Sheriff told him to have me use moisturizer daily before having the prints taken, since we have read that healthcare professionals tend not to get the greatest prints due to the constant washing of hands. Our hands are more dry, so moisturizer helps with getting the ink to stick for better prints. For our Residency Visa, we now have our pension for life letter and the start of our fingerprints. Keep checking the list twice and scratching the "To Do" items off one at a time.
The Sheriff told him to have me use moisturizer daily before having the prints taken, since we have read that healthcare professionals tend not to get the greatest prints due to the constant washing of hands. Our hands are more dry, so moisturizer helps with getting the ink to stick for better prints. For our Residency Visa, we now have our pension for life letter and the start of our fingerprints. Keep checking the list twice and scratching the "To Do" items off one at a time.
 |
| Ray's prints. |
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
CHOLECYSTECTOMY
In other words, that cholecystectomy word in the title means the surgical removal of the gallbladder. The gallbladder being a small organ that aids in fat digestion and, also, concentrates bile that is produced by the liver. We can tolerate having or not having our gallbladder. This morning, Ray lost his. He has no problem with this since he has had about eight gallbladder attacks since January. He had a mild one late yesterday afternoon, so today's surgery couldn't get here any faster. We were lucky enough to have the surgery scheduled at Stafford Hospital which is brand new and about fifteen minutes from our house. There was a five car accident on I-95 North this morning which didn't get in our way at all, thank goodness!
With the short commute, we arrived to the hospital early, as usual, checked in at 5:30 am, got Ray prepped using two nurses (one was being trained on the how to's of this hospital), an OR nurse, an anesthesiologist, a nurse anesthetist and the surgeon. The double and triple check with Ray occurred with questions being asked such as what he was having done, who he was, why he was there, etc. At 7:30, they wheeled him away, and at 7:45 the OR Nurse put the call into the front desk nurse to tell me that it was "knife to skin time" in the OR--let the games begin. I had a light breakfast sitting at a table for two in the sunlight downstairs, headed back upstairs just in time for the "he is in recovery" call, and then the surgeon came out to me and said "it all went great". Within thirty minutes, we were being given Ray's discharge information (mostly what pain meds to take and when). Once home, I dumped Ray on the couch (okay, I placed him there), he passed out, and I ran to get the prescriptions filled (the people in his mom's hometown of Tazewell, VA would love bartering with him over that Oxycontin!) and onward quickly to shop for the things people after coming out of general anesthesia need to eat (jello, soups, bread--we have no toaster since I gave that to Carly on Sunday, and Sprite). Basically, he will be eating all normal things once the anesthesia wears off completely.
Then my daughter came over. Well, she drove the hour it takes to get here, and we purged through all of her "classroom stuff". The stuff had been put into boxes and totes and bins earlier this summer. These are the things she wants to fill her sixth grade classroom with next week. The two of us took many trips to her car to get it loaded up (Ray can't lift more than ten pounds for the next six weeks, can't swim in the lake for the same amount of time, and he is off work for two weeks), and off she went about five hours later. For me, it was a great day!
Now while I was sitting in the surgical waiting room for about ten minutes (after my enjoyable peaceful breakfast in the warm sunlight), I was, of course, thinking about Panama and picturing myself in a waiting room there. I thought about hospitalizations. And illnesses. I was thinking about our friends, Clyde and Terry (www.Alongthegringotrail.blogspot.com), and the medical conditions and circumstances they have been through with their retirement in Panama. She had a hysterectomy performed in Panama City, and he broke his toe on the cruise ship while in Columbia and had to have surgery there. I had a slight panic attack thinking about the surgeon coming out to me wanting to speak Spanish and realized that the doctors in Panama City are, many times, US-educated (and many speak English!). Or so I have read and been told this by a number of people who have already retired there. Then, I straightened myself out, went back to my happy place of sitting in the sun reading my Kindle a few minutes earlier, thinking about how Ray was in great hands here in Stafford and how much better he will feel now that the small organ is gone. And I also thought (now my big girl pants have been put on) that if Ray and I find out that we need any surgeries or procedures performed when in Panama, we would do our research like we always do, ask people questions, ask doctors questions and proceed from there. Like with everything (this two plus year plan for retirement comes to mind!).
I can't predict what will happen tomorrow much less what will happen when we get to Panama, but I do know that I need to take this one day at a time, one big girl step at a time. For now, Hakuna Matata (no worries). Time to dispense those pain meds!
With the short commute, we arrived to the hospital early, as usual, checked in at 5:30 am, got Ray prepped using two nurses (one was being trained on the how to's of this hospital), an OR nurse, an anesthesiologist, a nurse anesthetist and the surgeon. The double and triple check with Ray occurred with questions being asked such as what he was having done, who he was, why he was there, etc. At 7:30, they wheeled him away, and at 7:45 the OR Nurse put the call into the front desk nurse to tell me that it was "knife to skin time" in the OR--let the games begin. I had a light breakfast sitting at a table for two in the sunlight downstairs, headed back upstairs just in time for the "he is in recovery" call, and then the surgeon came out to me and said "it all went great". Within thirty minutes, we were being given Ray's discharge information (mostly what pain meds to take and when). Once home, I dumped Ray on the couch (okay, I placed him there), he passed out, and I ran to get the prescriptions filled (the people in his mom's hometown of Tazewell, VA would love bartering with him over that Oxycontin!) and onward quickly to shop for the things people after coming out of general anesthesia need to eat (jello, soups, bread--we have no toaster since I gave that to Carly on Sunday, and Sprite). Basically, he will be eating all normal things once the anesthesia wears off completely.
Then my daughter came over. Well, she drove the hour it takes to get here, and we purged through all of her "classroom stuff". The stuff had been put into boxes and totes and bins earlier this summer. These are the things she wants to fill her sixth grade classroom with next week. The two of us took many trips to her car to get it loaded up (Ray can't lift more than ten pounds for the next six weeks, can't swim in the lake for the same amount of time, and he is off work for two weeks), and off she went about five hours later. For me, it was a great day!
Now while I was sitting in the surgical waiting room for about ten minutes (after my enjoyable peaceful breakfast in the warm sunlight), I was, of course, thinking about Panama and picturing myself in a waiting room there. I thought about hospitalizations. And illnesses. I was thinking about our friends, Clyde and Terry (www.Alongthegringotrail.blogspot.com), and the medical conditions and circumstances they have been through with their retirement in Panama. She had a hysterectomy performed in Panama City, and he broke his toe on the cruise ship while in Columbia and had to have surgery there. I had a slight panic attack thinking about the surgeon coming out to me wanting to speak Spanish and realized that the doctors in Panama City are, many times, US-educated (and many speak English!). Or so I have read and been told this by a number of people who have already retired there. Then, I straightened myself out, went back to my happy place of sitting in the sun reading my Kindle a few minutes earlier, thinking about how Ray was in great hands here in Stafford and how much better he will feel now that the small organ is gone. And I also thought (now my big girl pants have been put on) that if Ray and I find out that we need any surgeries or procedures performed when in Panama, we would do our research like we always do, ask people questions, ask doctors questions and proceed from there. Like with everything (this two plus year plan for retirement comes to mind!).
I can't predict what will happen tomorrow much less what will happen when we get to Panama, but I do know that I need to take this one day at a time, one big girl step at a time. For now, Hakuna Matata (no worries). Time to dispense those pain meds!
 |
| Just a tiny little organ. |
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
DING DONG. REALTOR CALLING
Last night we had our first realtor visit the house. I had called her on a recommendation by a dear old friend of Ray's, and although she said "yes, you are pretty early in calling a realtor", she understood why Ray and I wanted her to see the house. We wanted her advice, suggestions and input on what to do with the emptiness of some of the rooms in our house, and what to do about the colors (do we paint or not, do we stage or not, do we leave as is or not). She was a wealth of information, and we liked what she told us about housing prices (they have increased $50,000 this year alone) and our housing price! We have two short sales in this neighborhood of twenty-five homes, so she hopes those will go away quickly, and she recommends putting our house on the market in early March.
What she told us in our ninety minute tour and conversation is that we have to tone the red office down a bit--repaint it. The purple bedroom of Carly's, the teal room she used as an office and her yellow bathroom--repaint them. The yellow would be fine if it were a lighter yellow. Nope, we will take it all the way to neutral. The steps going down to our unfinished basement--why not add a coat of paint to the walls, since they are splotched up? Sure. Exterior of the house--clean up the peeling areas (seven year old house) and repaint the trim. Prune the shrubs in the fall. Power wash the sidewalk and small faux balcony trim. Re-design the rooms in the house. Take pieces of furniture from one room and add to the other. May need help with this one. But we were given a great compliment when she told us we have done a great job maintaining the house, keeping it so clean and orderly, and that it will show well. Hope so.
Then today, more comparables came in from surrounding neighborhoods. As well as a house that sold in my neighborhood just this month (none of the neighbors knew what it sold for, but now I know) for a fantastic price! There are four models in my neighborhood. This house is the smallest model, and my house is the largest of the four. So in the spring, here's hoping Ray and I make enough money to pay the realtor. We are just hoping the market continues to go up, up, up and that it stays a sellers market (with low inventory and high demand), maybe throw a bidding war in there (lol), and that the house sells easy breezy next summer. Then what do we do? I know what Ray wants to do. I know what I would like to do, but I don't know if I can do it. Can I? Oh boy.
When the realtor asked what we will do if the house sells quickly (and she then says we have about 45 days usually to be out of the house), we did discuss moving into an extended stay apartment near Ray's office for a few months. There will still be things to do and finalize I would think (selling cars, quitting jobs and me making things up to do possibly stalling). We will know more in 2014.
What she told us in our ninety minute tour and conversation is that we have to tone the red office down a bit--repaint it. The purple bedroom of Carly's, the teal room she used as an office and her yellow bathroom--repaint them. The yellow would be fine if it were a lighter yellow. Nope, we will take it all the way to neutral. The steps going down to our unfinished basement--why not add a coat of paint to the walls, since they are splotched up? Sure. Exterior of the house--clean up the peeling areas (seven year old house) and repaint the trim. Prune the shrubs in the fall. Power wash the sidewalk and small faux balcony trim. Re-design the rooms in the house. Take pieces of furniture from one room and add to the other. May need help with this one. But we were given a great compliment when she told us we have done a great job maintaining the house, keeping it so clean and orderly, and that it will show well. Hope so.
Then today, more comparables came in from surrounding neighborhoods. As well as a house that sold in my neighborhood just this month (none of the neighbors knew what it sold for, but now I know) for a fantastic price! There are four models in my neighborhood. This house is the smallest model, and my house is the largest of the four. So in the spring, here's hoping Ray and I make enough money to pay the realtor. We are just hoping the market continues to go up, up, up and that it stays a sellers market (with low inventory and high demand), maybe throw a bidding war in there (lol), and that the house sells easy breezy next summer. Then what do we do? I know what Ray wants to do. I know what I would like to do, but I don't know if I can do it. Can I? Oh boy.
When the realtor asked what we will do if the house sells quickly (and she then says we have about 45 days usually to be out of the house), we did discuss moving into an extended stay apartment near Ray's office for a few months. There will still be things to do and finalize I would think (selling cars, quitting jobs and me making things up to do possibly stalling). We will know more in 2014.
Friday, August 9, 2013
EIGHT YEARS LATE AND ONE DAY EARLY
The reason this post has ANYTHING AT ALL to do with Panama is that I so, so, so cannot wait to get there and when I need simple medical care, such as a physical, yearly exam or even a mammogram, I will not have to deal with a flippin', flappin' insurance company! Okay, I am not stupid. I will be getting/paying for major medical insurance once there, but when it comes to a simple cold, sinus infection, toe problem, blood work, yearly girlie visit and so on, I am going to walk in and pay that (from what I have read) nominal cost in cash. And not hand over an insurance card, pay my co-pay and hope for the best when my Explanation of Benefits comes back showing that I owe nothing. Yeah right! Like that happens often with me. With Ray, he gets his colonoscopy, and it's all paid, the angels are singing overhead when he opens up the envelope, and I bet they even want to throw money back at him, but they (the insurance company little people) have to refrain from doing so. His gallbladder surgery this week, it will be all paid for (the pre-auth says so). (See my post about my physical that I had done back in May--still waiting for the Quality Assurance Board to review the coding, and yes, they told me I can call them daily to ask "how's it going in QA today?"). Okay, back to me and my day.
The reason I have never listened to my sister about having a baseline colonoscopy done at the early age of forty or even forty-two or before now is because my insurance company shows that the little people will pay for this procedure when I hit the age of fifty. It does not state anything about "family history and deaths due to colon cancer". They leave that part out. I have in the past asked (as in last year), but the PA at the office I went to for my normal yearly exam didn't seem concerned. The PA at the office this year did, and the doctor that did my yearly physical did, and he said that with family history the insurance company will pay earlier than age fifty. When Ray went to have his gallbladder evaluated, he was told by the gastroenterologist that he was late for his colonoscopy due to family history. Well, off I went this morning to consult about when I should be scheduling my thirty minutes of "the best nap ever" (Ray says) and colonoscopy. It was an easy appointment, but the computers were slow, down, and then slow. My prescription couldn't be filled (for those thirty plus pills I will have to take), and I couldn't schedule the procedure in the office. (This was another thing that worked so lovely for Ray. No kinks.) I left the office calling the other office to make the appointment. So eight years later, I will have this procedure done....in October.
Moving along to my other appointment--the good ol' yearly mammogram. I called the office, which is about fifteen miles north on I-95, and asked if I could be seen any earlier than 10:40. It was now 8:45. Can I come in for 9:10? Sure, no problem. Forgetting that it was a Friday morning (doesn't matter the day), and that the highway is a mess with construction. Hating to be late anywhere, I called at 9:00 and said that one lane was shut down on the highway (like the receptionist cares--I know this because I work in a dental office where you need to just call and be quick with your troubles, and let's move onto the next line that is ringing off the hook). I would not make the appointment. She tells me there is a fifteen minute grace period. Perfect. I arrive at 9:15 (the lane opened up). I had all papers filled out, declined the 3D imaging for an extra $40 and waited. I was called up to verify my information. Backing up here, when I made the appointment for today, I knew that I was a day early (I had my last mammogram August 12th, but with the 365 yearly calendar it comes out to today being a day shy of one year). I asked the receptionist about this and was told that my insurance pays for mammograms once a year. I checked my benefits booklet online this past week. It states the same. Today, the receptionist hands me a waiver to sign. Because it is one day before the one year mark, if my insurance doesn't pay for the mammogram, I am responsible for the cost. This waiver shows that I agree to that policy. "How much is the mammogram (without 3D)", I ask? $348. Uh, no. Absolutely not. I ask if I should call my insurance company (telling her what I was told when I scheduled the appointment and what my benefits booklet states). She proceeds to tell me that we are well into my appointment (not my problem that even though the forms are filled out at home, it takes them another fifteen minutes to process it all and call me up to review everything that was processed) and also tells me that even if I am told that the X-ray will be covered, if it isn't, I will owe $348. I reschedule and leave. Knowing my luck, I will owe.
What I did decide is that I will do the 3D imaging when I return and pay the $40 cost. A friend has breast cancer and the mammogram did not show the little guy of a tumor, so I will go for the extra depth most definitely.
I also decided that I will count my blessings for being so healthy up to this point, not sweat the small stuff so much as frustrating as my morning was, and just hope the healthy reports continue when I do decide to go to the doctor and play with the insurance company. And I think I only have one more year of these fun and games and then I get to experience these visits Panamanian-style. Oh boy. I better watch what I wish for here.
The reason I have never listened to my sister about having a baseline colonoscopy done at the early age of forty or even forty-two or before now is because my insurance company shows that the little people will pay for this procedure when I hit the age of fifty. It does not state anything about "family history and deaths due to colon cancer". They leave that part out. I have in the past asked (as in last year), but the PA at the office I went to for my normal yearly exam didn't seem concerned. The PA at the office this year did, and the doctor that did my yearly physical did, and he said that with family history the insurance company will pay earlier than age fifty. When Ray went to have his gallbladder evaluated, he was told by the gastroenterologist that he was late for his colonoscopy due to family history. Well, off I went this morning to consult about when I should be scheduling my thirty minutes of "the best nap ever" (Ray says) and colonoscopy. It was an easy appointment, but the computers were slow, down, and then slow. My prescription couldn't be filled (for those thirty plus pills I will have to take), and I couldn't schedule the procedure in the office. (This was another thing that worked so lovely for Ray. No kinks.) I left the office calling the other office to make the appointment. So eight years later, I will have this procedure done....in October.
Moving along to my other appointment--the good ol' yearly mammogram. I called the office, which is about fifteen miles north on I-95, and asked if I could be seen any earlier than 10:40. It was now 8:45. Can I come in for 9:10? Sure, no problem. Forgetting that it was a Friday morning (doesn't matter the day), and that the highway is a mess with construction. Hating to be late anywhere, I called at 9:00 and said that one lane was shut down on the highway (like the receptionist cares--I know this because I work in a dental office where you need to just call and be quick with your troubles, and let's move onto the next line that is ringing off the hook). I would not make the appointment. She tells me there is a fifteen minute grace period. Perfect. I arrive at 9:15 (the lane opened up). I had all papers filled out, declined the 3D imaging for an extra $40 and waited. I was called up to verify my information. Backing up here, when I made the appointment for today, I knew that I was a day early (I had my last mammogram August 12th, but with the 365 yearly calendar it comes out to today being a day shy of one year). I asked the receptionist about this and was told that my insurance pays for mammograms once a year. I checked my benefits booklet online this past week. It states the same. Today, the receptionist hands me a waiver to sign. Because it is one day before the one year mark, if my insurance doesn't pay for the mammogram, I am responsible for the cost. This waiver shows that I agree to that policy. "How much is the mammogram (without 3D)", I ask? $348. Uh, no. Absolutely not. I ask if I should call my insurance company (telling her what I was told when I scheduled the appointment and what my benefits booklet states). She proceeds to tell me that we are well into my appointment (not my problem that even though the forms are filled out at home, it takes them another fifteen minutes to process it all and call me up to review everything that was processed) and also tells me that even if I am told that the X-ray will be covered, if it isn't, I will owe $348. I reschedule and leave. Knowing my luck, I will owe.
What I did decide is that I will do the 3D imaging when I return and pay the $40 cost. A friend has breast cancer and the mammogram did not show the little guy of a tumor, so I will go for the extra depth most definitely.
I also decided that I will count my blessings for being so healthy up to this point, not sweat the small stuff so much as frustrating as my morning was, and just hope the healthy reports continue when I do decide to go to the doctor and play with the insurance company. And I think I only have one more year of these fun and games and then I get to experience these visits Panamanian-style. Oh boy. I better watch what I wish for here.
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