I
went to the dentist. For a major change
I was actually excited to go. Why? Because my new Medicare Part C insurance has
dental coverage included. Well, it has
it up until the end of the year. Then
that dental coverage changes to a health club membership or something like
that. I proudly presented the card to
the desk clerk. And she proudly told me
that they didn’t accept any insurance that was remotely related to
Medicare. Crash and burn. I was crushed. At first I told her to just cancel the
appointment, but after a few moments talking to Chris from the car, I went back
in. I ended up having to pay cash. I did get a 10% discount because I did, but I
still didn’t have that kind of money with me.
Kindly, they agreed to bill me for the difference. They will get their money. I also found out that the dreaded crown that
has been hanging over my head the last few visits (well, I guess hanging inside my head would be more accurate)
doesn’t have to happen. This time she
told me that I just need to be careful until the tooth breaks again. At that point she will just pull the tooth
and be done with it. Apparently that
particular one is only used 30% of the time anyway. And besides, it’s way cheaper that way. Yesterday … I liked my dentist.
And
then I went in for my doctor’s appointment.
Well it was my appointment, too.
Why do we say it that way, anyway?
Anyway, this one was officially a “yearly checkup” that the new
insurance (which they did accept)
insisted that I go get. I think it was
supposed to be a free visit, but they charged me $15 anyway. That was so much less than I was used to,
though, I was happy to pay it. They even
will take complete charge of having my medications shipped directly to my
house. That will be helpful. I did get the “65” treatment. In fact, they brought in a three ring binder
notebook with fifteen or twenty pages of questions for me to fill out. Each page was laminated, so I was issued an
erasable marker and told to get going.
The questions were the typical ones – “Are you depressed?” “Have you thought about how you might kill
yourself this week?” You know, simple
things like that. Oh, they did ask a few
medical questions as well. I was most
impressed with the fact that they used large print. Very large print. I think the whole thing could have been done
in two or three pages, but you know how it gets “when you reach a certain age.”
I
met the new nurse practitioner.
Wendi. Interesting spelling, but
I really liked her. She sat down and
took her time with me. I apparently passed
the basic tests with flying colors. They
are supposed to notify me about results of the blood tests they took. Wendi did recommend I get three shots. Flu, Pneumonia, and Shingles. I agreed to talk it over with my wife. She recommended I get them at the pharmacy
anyway. Apparently the shingles one isn’t
covered by Medicare, and it is considerably cheaper at the pharmacy. Did I mention that I like this Wendi?
The
doc came in and said they had discussed trying some new approaches with my medications,
but wanted to wait until I found out for sure what was going to happen with my
knee. She said they have been doing the
acid injection for years, but have found that it really only works when you still
have some cartilage for it to stick to.
Bone on bone … not so much. She
was rather adamant, “You need to go ahead and get a knee replacement.” Just do it.
Kind of Nike-ish, don’t you think?
Blunt. I do appreciate her not
beating around the bush, though. One of the
reasons I like my doctor, too. So, now I
look forward to the orthopedic appointment in two weeks to talk about
replacement parts for lower extremities.
Here we go …
Psalms
104:33-34 says, “I will sing to the Lord
all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I
rejoice in the Lord.”
Father,
thank you for medical people I trust (beyond my wife, of course). Amen.
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