Tuesday Tweaking

And More On The Medical World

I had my physical therapy and a chiropractic adjustment today, so I did not work the Boys...again. Also, since I slept so badly last night, I ended up needing a nap in the afternoon.

I did, however, accomplish something which is the bulk of my Christmas shopping. I still have a gift cards to buy for my cousins, but the bigger stuff is done. We have a store here in the USA called Kohl's which carries all kinds of nice clothes, gift items, linens, and household goods. Their prices are usually good to start off with, but this time I had a 30% off everything in the store coupon--and that included sale items. I ended up buying a memory foam matress topper for my own bed, already marked down 50% with another 30% off that sale price. I have a good matress already--one of those air filled ones you can adjust for firmness, but I have been having some back issues likely related to my medical problem, so I figured this might help. Besides, when I get home from my surgery, I will need the best bed option possible.

All that said, I got some nice sweaters for gifts, and a few other presents, nearly completing my holdiday efforts. I will have to check my list again to see if I forgot anything, but I think I'm nearly there. I will be putting up the inside tree--an artificial one--and the outside lights and decorations right after Thanksgiving, so I won't have to worry about any of that after my surgery.

And yes, Mary Ann, I am going to stock up on edibles as well. I've already scoured the recent supermarket flyers for deals on things I might want to eat while I am laid up. I'm going to make sure most of it is "easy cook" to save me some work, but aside from cans of soup, I'm not into too many prepared foods. But, if there is a deal, I might get a few just to be safe.

Hay is not a problem as that is delivered and I still have a fair amount. I just bought grain, but I will have to stock up again just before I go to the hospital. I only have a limited amount of storage, so I can't really load up too much. And I would also worry that grain stored too long in this damp weather might go bad. Again, I do not have to load it at the feed store, and I have lined up some "muscle power" to do any such heavy work here once I get the grain home.

Meantime, for at least a little while, my physical therapy is at a standstill. Once again, the insurance company requirements complicate things. Last time they allowed me nine visits before I needed to re-apply. Re-application requires an exam report by the physical therapist and a session with a referring medical doctor. Then, I might get nine more visits, or six, or whatever whimsical choice the insurer makes. This, of course will run into the period when I am laid up for my surgery, so until I recover from that, I will not be able to use whatever visits I am granted. At that point, I will have to go through the re-evaluation process all over again!

In order to have my surgery, the surgeon recommended and scheduled the surgery. But then, I had to have pre-admission testing at the hospital, and then the reports are sent to my primary care physician and I have to see her for another exam and her approval. Hopefully all of the running around will not push my blood pressure up too high, thus causing questions as to whether or not I can have the surgery as scheduled!!

All of these visits add up to the costs of medical care, that's for sure. I suppose caution is important, but surely there must be a more efficient way to accomplish the same ends.