riding the shuttle to charleston

Progress.
After dealing with the pain in both hands from carpal tunnel syndrome for more than eight months, relief is forthcoming.
You may recall that the Veterans Administration had officially diagnosed the malady back in May, after a series of painful tests that left me in tears all the way home, driving from Charleston to Savannah, and for some time afterward.
I had resolved to never have that pain happen again.
That meant I would need to ride the shuttle for any future visits to the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston.
Shite.
Riding the shuttle meant I would lose any entire morning and afternoon for the sake of the doctor appointment.
Shite.
So, I put it off.
I tried to get permission for a non-VA care specialist.
Nope, that didn't happen.
I tried to get my care transferred to a closer VA Hospital, like the one in Statesboro.
No go on that option, too.
Meanwhile, I was teaching in the summer. I had heard the pain from the surgery was fierce for the first few days, so I certainly didn't want that distraction during the fast pacing of the summer schedule.
During the last two weeks of classes, I tried to set up the surgery in the two-week break between SavTech's end of classes and Armstrong's start of the fall semester.
No such thing happened.
Shite.
Before I could have the surgery, the doctor in the Plastic Clinic at the VA Hospital would have to re-assess the nerve damage in my hands.
Sigh.
So, this morning, I boarded the shuttle at 0645.
That's SIX FORTY-FIVE IN THE MORNING.
Shite!
I didn't even bother having coffee. I didn't even bother brushing my hair. I took my little Synthroid and got myself there a little early and went to sleep as soon as the driver left.
When we were near Ashepoo, we had a rest stop.
No bathrooms on the bus.
I went right back to sleep after I ate the breakfast sandwich I had packed last night.
When I awoke, it was almost ten o'clock and we had arrived.
Hooray!
(Yes, that was a sarcastic exclamation point.)
Just three hours and forty minutes until my appointment.
Sigh.
I checked in, anyway, and was told the doctor would not even be in the Plastic Clinic until one o'clock.
Fine.
So, I sat in the Green Team waiting room for a while.
Ugh. The television was stuck on CourtTV. Tiring of the examples of human stupidity and greed being trotted out, I opted instead to walk around and explore.
What did I find?
The research center!
Oh, how glad they were to see me!
Oh, how happy they were that I had already enrolled in the Million Veterans Program and had completed the MVP Baseline Study!
Oh, how ecstatic they were that I was willing to give my blood to the genetics research program today!
You see, the study had just hit its half-million mark in enrollees. That means it is now the largest database of DNA information.
Why is that important?
Well, as I told the scientist there, the larger your database, the more easily trends can be correlated, leading to useful results for the population at large.
She loved the way I simplified the rationale for the study.
Hey, as I told her, I'm an analytical chemist - puzzle-solving is in my nature.
Selflessly giving for the good of others is in my nature, too.
Giving up a tube of blood - not even a pint - for research that will one day benefit humanity?
Of course I did that.
Maybe you know someone who will, too?
Steer them, ever so gently, right here .
(smile)
Where was I?
Oh, yes, trying to patiently wait for my 1340 appointment with Dr. Herrera.
I had a very nice lunch of baked chicken, Brussels sprouts, honeyed carrots, and rice with gravy.
I read quite a few articles in one of the Readers Digest magazines I had brought.
I took a few more laps around the hospital.
At 1330, my vitals were taken.
At 1355, my vitals were taken again, by a different nurse.
At 1415, Mr. Rohan, the intern, squeezed and poked and hurt my hands for the next ten minutes. Squeezed and poked and hurt my hands, to paraphrase the Rain Man.
At 1430, Dr. Herrera entered the room. He looked at my hands, talked about having reviewed my EMG, verified that surgery was warranted, pronounced that I also had mild tendonitis as well as some other malady that was causing furrows in my left palm...and then he was gone.
It was barely 1440.
Dr. Rohan spoke with me about the surgery itself. What would be done, how long recovery usually took, travel arrangements that would need to be scheduled, a pre-surgery consult that would need to be done within thirty days prior to surgery.
Thursdays were the only days for the surgery.
We set up December 8th as THE day.
Then he released me.
I scheduled the consult for Monday, November 14th, at 1300.
That will be Dr. Herrera's first appointment that day.
Then I found the shuttle driver and we all headed back to Savannah.
I slept for a while, until the stop in Ashepoo.
After that, I enjoyed the scenery...
including this angel...
this beautiful, wondrous angel
who seemed to be assuring me that everything is going to be alright.

i thank You, God.

Now, to meet with Kevin for our Tuesday treat.
We're dining at Buffalo Wild Wings again, as I still have more coupons!
Then, it's off to "Sausage Party" at the Victory.
Definitely something distractingly different!