I have been observing lately, and at times very close to home, that lapses in judgement happen to everyone. I have my own list. For some of these incidences on my list, there were no good choices to be made, so it is down to wondering if a different choice might have been a better one. For most lapses though, hindsight allows me to consider alternative options that might have been better choices on my part, if not in outcome, then at least for my conscience. My feeling, at this point in my life, is that I am better to go with what my conscience allows, rather than what others expect, or what seems logical at the time.
It is never a good idea to give other people’s opinions, or your head, full reign over your decisions and actions. A balance must be worked out between your heart and your head, and often this requires hard work.
The weather has turned cold. The dawn was sunless. The weather people are predicting snow squalls with serious visibility issues for driving this afternoon, which should be in full swing as Attila makes his commute home from work. It looks like the snow shovel might come out for the first time since last March.
Plans this week have not worked out well. A night out was cancelled due to warnings of imminent snow squalls that did not materialize. My plans to visit a medical clinic tonight will have to go on hold, snow squalls again. Saturday is supposed to be much better though, with only snow flurries predicted.
I continue to work on my Plan B, it is taking shape, the thoughts and feelings around needing it are beginning to feel familiar, and not so scary. I continue to search for a counsellor. Every day I call and leave a message with a counsellor, who’s fees are eligible for the company health plan coverage, and every day I receive a call back to let me know they are not taking new clients. The list of people I would be comfortable with is almost exhausted, so I may begin again at the top of my list, and inquire about waiting lists. There is no point in seeing someone I am not comfortable with.
It is hard work not falling through the widening cracks in Ontario’s health care structure. A recent call to the medical clinic, where I have been on the waiting list for over two years, gave me a bit of a shock. In May, 2016, I was told that I was at the top of the waiting list of 400 people. When I made yet another call to check on things this week, I was told I was way down the list because I had requested to go on the list in June, 2016. NOOOOO Luckily I write things down, so I had the name of the person I talked to every time, and the dates I had called, and a record of what I was told at each call. The list was consulted again, using my dates, and indeed, I was at the top of the waiting list until someone transcribed the list last June and my name was shoved down the list “by mistake”. I am not sure I believe it was a mistake. I have to wonder if there haven’t been new clients accepted at the clinic, over the last two years, who have connections of some kind. If I hadn’t called, we would be so far down on the list that we would not hear from them for years to come, possibly not in my lifetime. They say they are hiring a new doctor and that I should get a call in the new year… I’ve heard this before from them, so I am not holding my breath.
Another health related gap, is that the report from heart specialist appointment last September did not arrive at the walk-in clinic office. The walk-in clinic did not notice the gap, and it took three calls to them to finally talk with a receptionist, who will request the records from the heart specialist. There were recommendations made that I need to follow up. There are other issues my kidneys and gallbladder that were not followed up as promised by the walk-in clinic, so I will have to after them about that too. Walk-in clinics cannot offer any continuity of care, they aren’t really structured that way. No senior citizen should have to live with this kind of fractured health care delivery.
These things tend to run in cycles, in my experience. So hopefully I will be able to address all of the current gaps, and then enjoy a period of rest before the next cluster comes along.
My Sister-The-Middle-Girl let me know last night that my little brother has had two strokes, which left him dragging one of his legs. The doctors had been trying to figure out why his leg was dragging, and a CT scan revealed that he had had two strokes, unnoticed by him. There are no other discernable effects, other than his leg. My siblings and I, we aren’t children anymore, we aren’t young anymore. And yet, when I think of each of them, in my mind they are the beautiful children that I knew in my early years. For me they are forever young.
We picked up the car from the garage last night, and at last I have a vehicle to use during the day. The bill was substantial, not unfairly so, but substantial on our budget. Belts will be tightened accordingly here at Mist Cottage. The car is working well now, ready for Attila’s commute to work, and for visiting our loved ones during this holiday season.
The errands requiring transportation had been accumulating, and I am now able to begin whittling down the list. The first one was to get the Drive Clean test performed on Tank. With that accomplished, I could pay the annual license fees. Because I was waiting as the doors were unlocked, at the garage for the test, and then the MTO office (Ministry of Transportation) for the license renewals, I was first to the wicket at both locations. Within an hour I was back home and taking care of the accompanying task of applying stickers, and filing. Hopefully next week the weather will be nice enough to make a few trips to the city to check off the other items on my list.
Worldly Distractions
Weather
-2°C
Date: 8:04 AM EST Friday 8 December 2017
Condition: Light Snow
Pressure: 101.4 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: -2.3°C
Dew point: -8.8°C
Humidity: 61%
Wind: W 13 km/h
Wind Chill: -7
Visibility: 24 km
Quote
“It is unbecoming for young men [women] to utter maxims.”
Aristotle
384 BC – 322 BC
I’m sorry to hear about your brother’s stroke. Oddly enough, the other week our older dog had a TIA – mini stroke – where he was dragging his hind foot at first. After several hours he was back close to normal, though he still groans louder than normal when he lies down.
I hope your brother will recover fully and have no more problems.
Thanks Teri for your good wishes. My brother didn’t know he had had a stroke, his leg was giving him problems and the MRI was the last test they did, months and months adn months… his leg is still a problem, and might always be. But now that he knows strokes are possible he can take measures to prevent them from happening.
Glad to hear your older dog recovered fully!
Hearing about your universal health care system is very scary. People down here in the States, I think, assume it’s so nice that everyone is covered but when you get right down to the nuts and bolts of the services that you get, it seems that patient care is not a bit priority. Waiting for months and even years to be at the top of a list seems archaic to me. Paul participates in our health care system and I do not, although I pay for coverage, still. Whenever he calls his doctor for a question or a quick appointment, he gets right in within a day or two. He just went the other day. It seems that putting off seeing patients for months or years defeats the whole purpose of the system!
The lack of accessible health care scares me too Bex, now there are a great many people falling through the cracks. I was first on list of 400 people, that was over a year and half ago, I can’t imagine how long the list is now! In Ontario we hear about people dying in Emergency Room wating rooms, waiting hours and hours for care that doesn’t come on time. Our hospital does not provide good health care to those without family doctors, and it is the only option in town for at least 400 of us, a shocking proportion of a small town population. The walk-in clinics are also an option, but seeing a different doctor every time you go in is a recipe or disaster as far as continuity of care is concerned, there are as many ways to approach a health issue as there are doctors, I end up getting a mish mash. The system is broken for many, many people here in Ontario, but this is almost invisible to the media, the powers that be, and the people who are lucky enough to have a family doctor.
For the record, we have had excellent healthcare on the Canadian system, including surgeries scheduled within 40 days of diagnosis and scans within 1 business day. What Maggie is experiencing is an unfortunate consequence of the system here in Ontario not paying doctors enough, so the doctors go to practice in the US instead and create a doctor shortage.