The only appointment we have this week (I’m shivering in delight at the idea of a lone appointment) was today, for x-rays of my knees. We’re still puzzling over those fall/collapses I have every so often, so what the hell.
We got to the Curtis Road facility and checked in at the kiosk. It said we still had to go to the front desk. Ok, so they asked us if the address and phone was correct and then sent us back to the lab. Just as I sat down they called my name. I had Big Red with me so we rolled on over and were told we had to go back to the desk and talk to somebody. We just talked to somebody we told them. They told us they had checked me in for bloodwork, not x-rays and they couldn’t fix it we had to go back to the front desk. Ok. Got that taken care of and sat down to wait. My appointment was at 11:00, only a few minutes away. Then we noticed there is a screen listing patients and their appointment times. I was up there listed at 1:00 and 1:15. We queried the person at the desk RIGHT NEXT TO THE SCREEN and she said she couldn’t help us. We asked who could help us and she told us radiation, but radiation had their door closed. I looked at my phone and sure enough it now said my appointment was at 1:00. Sigh. It was after 11:30 at this point. I dithered about what to do for a while and then suddenly they called me in. I gave a mental shrug and rolled along after the technician to x-ray land. It probably wasn’t that far a walk, but for me and Big Red, it felt like a long walk. I finally got into the room and there was a chair by the door and I immediately sat down. Big Red is great because I can sit on her but you have to put the brakes on and turn around to sit on her and sometimes turning around is iffy if you’re feeling a bit wobbly, so I was happy to find a chair…right place, right time.
We went through the name, birthday and various pain questions. She said she had orders for my left knee. I explained that it should be for both. She said, no, I only have orders for one knee. I sighed (but not audibly) and dug in my purse for my phone as I knew I had a message about the orders specifying both knees. Eventually somebody else yelled that she had the orders for the other knee. Ok, then. She pointed to where I should stand. Big Red and I headed over and then she said, “oh, do you need something to hold on to?” GEE, YOU THINK? She swung over a bar for me to hold on and I had Big Red on the other side. She got me in position and could tell I was wobbly. “Move a few inches to the left” sounds easier than it was. Then she went back into the little room they stand in and talked to everyone else for a while (for some reason it took me four people to x-ray my knees). Eventually she came out and I said, “ICAN’TSTANDFORLONG!” in a slightly panicked voice. So she had me sit down for a minute and then she said, “Oh, would you rather do this on the table?” WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CLUE? FOR GOD’S SAKE, YES, I WANT THE TABLE. Wouldn’t you think that when someone comes in with a walker and is clearly wobbly that they would offer the table option right away?
The four of them got me all x-rayed and then one of them said, “I’ll get you back to the waiting room.” She continued, starting with “It takes about a day or day and a half…” and I momentarily thought she meant it would take that long to back to the waiting room (I told you it was a long walk) but it turns out that’s when I get my results.
I made it back to Ernie and sat and rested for a bit. My appointments for 1:00 and 1:15 were still blinking on the screen above us.
Sometimes it just takes it out of me.
Ok. Now, back to regularly scheduled content:
Top photo: Sunday morning biscuit