Checking in

I went to see the hand specialist a week or so ago, and she said there isn't any other treatment available for my "trigger thumb" since the cortisone injections didn't work, so she's going to do the surgery. I scheduled it for Monday. It was originally going to be in a "surgery center" across the street from the doctor's office, but when the surgical scheduler called me to ask me about my history, when I told her I had a heart murmur, they called me back and told me that they had decided to move it to a real hospital.

Which is fine, of course, and probably a good idea, but lends a bit more gravity to it, I suppose. I had a pre-op appointment on Wednesday morning where I had an EKG, which came out fine, and met with the anesthesiologist, who seemed very nice. He may or may not end up working with me, but he said he's working that day, so who knows.

At least it's later in the day. The surgery was originally going to be at 7:30 a.m., and I was supposed to be there at 6:30. Now it's at 10:10, and I have to be there at 8:10, which is at least a little better. The doctor said she wanted me to take off work a couple of days, and she'd prefer if I could take a whole week, so since I had vacation left, I'm taking the whole week off.

I have at least one conference call scheduled, though -- on Wednesday, I think -- and I'm sure I'm going to end up working at least part of the week from home, but that's okay. As Bob has pointed out, I do have two hands.

I'm not one to get on the cell phone as soon as I get in the car. I always call Bob when I get in the car after work to come home, so he knows I'm safe and on my way, but that's about it. But tonight as I got on the highway traffic came to a halt for some reason, and I used to downtime to get caught up on phone calls.

I called my dad to tell him that they moved my surgery, and to tell him when and where it was, and we talked for awhile. Then I called my sister Lynn to tell her I was having surgery, and got her voice mail, so left a message. Then I called my other sister, Ann, got her voice mail and left a message. Then as I pulled into the grocery store parking lot, Ann called me back, so I sat there awhile and talked to her.

It felt like I was on the phone for far more than I ever am, at least at home (Anna, the office manager/receptionist at work says that I get more phone calls than anyone at work), but it was nice to check in with everyone, even briefly.

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