AleXander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

[Background Information #1: Tammy, my partner in life and art (and the right half of the Anomalous Duo), had been experiencing bouts of abdominal pain that turned out to be caused by a gallstone. After scans and ultrasounds and numerous video and in-person visits — including a 7-hour trip to the ER at Mt. Sinai a few weeks back, where it was incorrectly determined that there was no gallstone — she finally got an accurate diagnosis.]

[Background Information #2: The good insurance we had—which Tammy's last employer extended for a year after they shut down her job—was coming to an end on October 31st.]

Being ancient, I do have Medicare as a fallback. And as of November 1, 2020, Tammy has signed up for a Bronze health care plan as opposed to the better Silver, Gold, or Platinum Obama-care/Affordable Care Hack.

This country's health-care system, with the insurance companies' greedy hands around its neck, is pathetic. But you already know that. A discussion for another time. And maybe an election in 2024.

Now to the actual events:

Monday:

I went in for an epidural anesthesia injection for my chronic back pain. Had this before - it helps dramatically. In parting the doctor mentioned that if I get a headache I should give them a call.

Monday evening: a piece of a filling-heavy tooth chipped off.

Tuesday: I went to the dentist. The tooth was in horrid shape. Since I had insurance for five more days they recommended I at least get the root canal done. (There wouldn't be time, insurance-wise, to fit in the post/crown that would be needed afterward.) PS Medicare covers no dental or vision for us geezers. (Of course you can always buy supplemental insurance, just as you can always buy a Mercedes 230-SL — if you have the money.)

Wednesday:

Some of the filling on top of the root canal fell out. I called to make an appointment for Thursday to get it patched up.

Wednesday evening: the Postdural Puncture Headache arrived. This "occurs when the needle or catheter punctures the dura and arachnoid maters". Whatever! It can last a week or more and is a ski-boot in the head kinda thing. As of this writing my head is still aching five days later.

Thursday (Part One):

I go to dentist and they repatch the part of filling that fell out.

I had had a hearing test a while ago and some hearing loss was found. My insurance covered hearing aids (something Medicare will never do) so I decided to test drive some. I have them and will see if I can live with the adjustments. So far there is too much high end digital sound (like early CDs) for it to make it worthwhile. But due diligence and all that.

Okay, so I miss some of what people are saying. My experience since the pandemic began is that I can do quite well hearing less of what creatures of my species have to say.

Thursday (Part Two):

After her doctor jumped through all kinds of amazing hoops to make sure the procedure she needs happens before her insurance runs out, she gets scheduled for surgery the following day.

As she tells it, this meant an immediate swab up into the brain to test for COVID-19 as well as buckets full of bloodwork and an EKG.

Friday:

Tammy goes in for a Robotic/Laparoscopic Cholecystectomy - aka: removal of her gall bladder.

Meanwhile I go for an abdominal ultrasound to see what's up with MY guts - since I've had discomfort for month or two. (For the medically inclined: My latest blood tests came back with very high amylase serum. For most this can be a pancreatic death certificate but I have previously been diagnosed with macroamylasemia, a disorder that makes amylase numbers high. Double checking is highly important!)

And if I do get to stay on the planet I can start to figure out what IS wrong amidst all those organs I know nothing about inside this package of flesh bone and blood that I have rented.

What track is your patient departing/arriving at?

Saturday:

We sleep.

Another section of tooth filling falls out.

Sunday:

Tammy rests.

I go to my dentist's Brooklyn office — the only one open on Sunday (it's a chain) - to get tooth patched up. Again.

The post/crown will have to happen soon. No dental insurance so I am making plans to go to the NYC Dental School where the procedure will be cheaper; at just under a thousand dollars. Ugh.

The office is in Park Slope, my old neighborhood in the early 1980s, and I enjoy a slice of pizza, chewed on one side of my mouth, at the local shop that is still there.

Sunday night:

The headache goes on - a consultation with the anesthesiologist tomorrow. ANother druf prescribed and headache is sropping a few notched.

The guts still unhappy, the results of the ultrasound tomorrow.* Tammy, with the help of pain medications, sleeps. I make this list and check it twice.

These are merely the immediate problems of the Anomalous Duo.

Meanwhile there is also a pandemic raging outside our doors, the numbers of the infected and dying beginning to increase again.

And beyond that is the tragically corrupt politcal system being exposed as the USofTV plays the Voting Game.

* Monday:

Ultrasound results basically good — nothing obviously amiss amidst the cluster of organs. Based on persisting abdomen pain and past history it looks like an MRI is in my future.

I'm counting on things somehow mysteriously just clearing up after that. Healing time. I'm also counting on Trump being soundly defeated, Biden and Harris being arrested for impersonating candidates that give a shit about working class people, and Bernie Sanders chosen to be president, as should have been the case since 2016. I'll let you know how things turn out.