I started out late today and managed to get an unmetered parking spot at Spring Hill on the first pass and made it to my appointment with my dentist a little early. I have no cavities :), so it was just a scale and clean today and another item off the checklist. I spoke to Dr Tom about the surgery and about the report I read in relation to taking an antibiotic an hour before any procedure and apparently these precautions are more commonplace than I thought. It seems that these precautions are taken by other people with different fixed items aside from joints. I guess it stands to reason that those with a higher risk of complications due to infection should do what they can to avoid them. It is just something that I hadn't really considered until now. Poor dental health is even worse news than not taking antibiotics so making sure that I go for my regular checkups will be important. I've booked in the next one for six months time (which I did after I got home as the new receptionist forgot to ask if I ever wanted to come back again), by which time I should almost be able to walk there :) Maybe a little toooo far - a ten minute drive would equate to a pretty long distance, though I could catch the bus which would be a new thing for me.
After I left Dr Tom's office I went up a level to check at my old GP's office to see if all was sorted with the insurance company that was requesting my health information (which it has been so hopefully that will also be something that is checked off the checklist). The issue was the insurance company not wanting to pay for the time to collate my medical history (which is hardly light reading even though this GP only covers the last four or five years). I guess this is what happens when you have to search for someone to actually want to insure you. I would have thought that with the prevalence of arthritis in the community today that it wouldn't be such a big deal, however, it is apparently and there are few insurers that want to touch me (other than the really bad catchall, no medical questions type covers which don't do much for you anyway - don't get me started on that one - just know that I wasn't happy with them).
Next it was coffee at my old coffee shop, Two Cups, which was next door to where I used to live. That would have to be the big thing that I miss about living in the city - crossing the street for an awesome cup of coffee. The closest coffee near where I live now is a five minute drive. I'm not quite sure what the coffee options are when I am in hospital and this might be where I end up in trouble. Though I've cut back to a cup a day - I make sure it is the best possible cup of coffee that I could possibly have so that I can really enjoy it. It might be my husband's job to scout coffee before he arrives to visit in the mornings which will be somewhat reflective of what life was like for him on Saturday mornings when we did still live in the city :)
Next it was off to Milton to drop off some paperwork and then out to Coorparoo for physio where I actually arrived early again. This is highly unusual behaviour for me as things usually don't line up as well as I plan them so today was a bit of a surprise.
I had a bit of a break after physio and caught up with Paul and had a chat about all kinds of stuff. Ultimately it ended up with the big issue in my life at the moment - surgery - and what I want to eventually write about here that I am going to probably need some help with to make sure that I get it all right. It's a bit of a pet project that I have to work on when I have some time after the surgery. I might be crazy to think that I will feel like doing too much in the early days but I do have a lot of little projects planned for those few weeks. I'm not really starting on a lot of this until after as there is a fair amount that needs to wait until I am going through the rehab process as the work I've been doing to prepare is really to improve the surgical outcomes and reduce the impact of rehab. These are things that I really can't comment on until I actually am there and going through it. I'm not going to know what needs to be worked and where I feel weakness until later. Some of the focus of the pre-op preparation has come from comments made by others on discussion boards as to what things they found difficult in the rehabilitation process while the rest has come from discussions with my physios as to the things that they know that I will need to deal with.
Home again and getting some work done. There are a few reports that I need to organise and just little bits and pieces that fall due when I am away. Unfortunately most of them needed March to finish before I could get right into it so the bulk will be done tomorrow on the weekend.
Eight sleeps to go.
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