Cam I Am

In the last couple days, I’ve received some news that I’ve been expecting and dreading.

First, I finally had my appointment with the neurosurgeon (that I’ve waited for 7 months) to determine that I do need back surgery, and that it should happen within the next couple months.  This is welcome news and not.  I need my back to heal, and clearly other methods have not worked.  There are risks involved, but the outcome could be very good.  I don’t have an exact date yet, but I should have that within a few days.

Second, I saw my doctor..   I’m off work again, probably for another 4-5 months.  This poses all sorts of problems such as money and plans that my wife and I have made.  I had only been back to work for 3 months after being off for six months because of my back.  The other problem is that my wife and I were planning to go on a vacation (without the kids) to Chicago.  We haven’t been on a vacation in over 10 years, so anyone could imagine our disappointment.

Other than that, I’m managing.  I’m glad that I’m off of the serious painkillers, but I haven’t found a reasonable substitute.  I’m hoping to see my doctor next week again to find something.

Please accept my apologies in advance for any poor typing or things that just don’t make sense!

I’ve had an interesting weekend, starting early Thursday morning.  I drove into Vancouver for my afternoon shift, in extreme pain because of my back.  I believe that I was swearing out loud to myself to try to relieve some of the pain I was experiencing.

When I got to work, it was very clear to everyone that I was in no shape to attempt a regular route of work, so  I was offered the easiest field task I could have possibly been offered, but after 5 minutes of driving there, I was in so much pain, I returned to the office in tears.  A couple of the supervisors lay me down and offered to call an ambulance for me, but I told them that my wife was coming.  At this point, I could barely walk, sit or stand.  I had to be helped info lying down face first.

After my wife arrived and loaded me into the car, we drove off to Burnaby General Hospital, because we were familiar with it.  After waiting 2 hours, I got a morphine shot and some tablets and was sent home.

They did virtually nothing for the pain.

So, the next morning, we went to our local hospital.  We were taken in right away, the doctor accessed me and figured that since I’m seeing the neurosurgeon for my back on Tuesday (today), that he’d prescribe my stronger pain killers, and introduce them to my through IV.

So..  now that I’m on Percocet, the pain is gone, and to a degree, my preception of time is too..

I’ve spent yesterday and today home from work.  Unfortunately, it’s not because I took some vacation time.  It’s not even because I’m sick.  My back is acting up again… 

I’m not entirely sure of what happened on the weekend.  I know that there was about a day and a half over the weekend that I didn’t have anymore of those wonderful little yellow pills that I’ve been taking.  I managed to get to the doctor to get a refill, but since then, I’ve been in a lot of pain. 

It usually takes a fair bit for me to phone in sick.  I don’t like missing work, even when I am sick.  I can only imagine what my supervisor is going to say when I go back (hopefully tomorrow).  I’m not going to be impressed if they put me on light-duties to “help me out”.. 

I see the neurosurgeon on the 15th..  it’s been a long 7 months waiting just for the consult with them.  Hopefully they have a real solution for my disc.  Everything up to now hasn’t worked.

That aside, we’re doing alright..  We are trying to look forward to the future, even though it’s uncertain about what’s going actually happen in the next 3-6 months..  I’ll know more in a couple weeks..

I just got off the phone with Telus.  I cannot believe how much they can screw up a simple task.

In early January, I switched phone providers from Telus to Shaw.  We transferred our number over and everything seemed to go well.  Since I do this for work all the time, I thought that it would be another simple transfer.

Apparently not.

Last month, we got another bill from Telus for around $139.00.  They tend to bill a month in advance, so my wife called them and asked what’s going on.  She was assured that the situation would be taken care of and that the next bill would reflect our final amount owing.  Great!  All taken care of!

Apparently not.

I come home today and find another Telus bill.  Great!  We can finally pay off the true amount owing!  I open it.  Amount owing: $210.

What the hell?  So I call them again!  I go through their extremely annoying voice-activated menu system on the phone and eventually get a person on the end.  She answers in the typical way, asking how she can help me.

I tell her that I got my bill…  and I shouldn’t be..

She seemed quick enough to react, put me on hold for a couple minutes, and then comes back to say that it is taken care of and that the next bill I receive will be corrected.

I wouldn’t think that a task such as finalizing and closing an account would be so difficult.  It’s very frustrating to deal with a company that you have no desire to do business with..

We’ll see what happens with the NEXT bill..

Later today, I’ll be driving to Richmond General Hospital for my third (and final) cortisone shot.

I’m looking forward to it.

As strange as it sounds, I welcome a man who will push a needle into my spine. 

Many people have warned my about the risks and potential problems that occur in having the shot, including my family doctor and the doctor who injects the shot, but I feel that I’m doing the right thing.

The first shot worked great!  It lasted just over 2 months.  The second didn’t seem to provide much relief.  But what about the third?   What if it doesn’t work?  What if it does, but doesn’t last long?  This is the last shot that I can have for a year.  I’m a little concerned about the what after this wears off?  Will I need to go off work again because I’m unable to stand/walk for long?

Time will tell I guess.  I’ve been focusing on April 15th for so long.  (This is the day that I see the neurosurgeon to see what happens next).   If surgery is required (which is likely at this point),  how much longer will I wait for it? 

I know that no one at this point has an answer for me.  I’ll go get my shot in about 3 hours, spend the rest of the night laying on the couch to let the cortisone do its thing and then go back to work tomorrow..

This past week proved to be a frustrating one at work.. 

On Monday, I had a call to install digital phone service for a customer.  Ordinarily, this is relatively easy to do for most customers, but this was no ordinary case.

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Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it appears that I am finally going to be returning to work on Wednesday, January 9th.. 

But it isn’t exactly on my terms..

A couple weeks ago, I went to see my doctor; one of the many follow up appointments regarding my back injury.  I explained to him that I needed to return to work because it won’t be long before we have no resources/options left.  (Yes, I know that “wii” went a little overboard on Christmas, but even without that, it wouldn’t be long anyways). Anyhow, at this appointment, I asked him for a note to return to work, but he said no.  He did give me a note for “work conditioning and strengthening”.  He wanted to have me do it for 3-4 weeks, but I convinced him to see how I was doing about 2 weeks into it. 

I’m sure some of you have been through this type of program.  It isn’t cheap.  I phoned around to a couple places, and the average price is $40-45 an hour.  That’s $160-180 per day..   and I’m supposed to do this 4 days a week.  Clearly, I’m not going to be able to pay for it one my own, but my doctor said that my long-term disability benefits should pay for it..

After a few days of trying to track down an answer, I got one today from BC Life/Pacific Blue Cross..  in short, they said that they “wouldn’t be likely to pay for it up front, unless it was part of a return to work strategy”.  I told the lady on the phone that I was attempting to return to work, and this was part of the plan.  Then, the lady said that “I could go now, and pay for it myself and TRY to get reimbursed later.”

I’m sorry?  I’m still waiting for the LTD Benefits to be approved.  I figured switching from Short-Term to Long-Term would have been fairly easy, but apparently not..  and where am I supposed to pull that kind of cash? 

At this point, I’ve called my doctor and arranged for a note to return to work next week.  I haven’t done anything for 5 1/2 months, and it’s going to take some time to get back into shape to properly do my job.  In the meanwhile, I’ll have a higher risk of re-injury because I haven’t gone through any sort of program to return to work..

So…  we’ll see..  I’ve wanted to return for a while now, and now that I am going to be, I am a little nervous about how I’ll do..  The last thing that I need is to hurt myself (even worse) and end up back off within a few days..  I’m going to do what I can to keep safe, but the risk is there..

Foolishly, I assumed that BC Life would have preferred to pay for a few weeks of therapy and then send me back.  Alternatively, I could stay on LTD for months still…

I’ve enjoyed staying home with my girls.  I’ve been able to spend time with them, play games with them, get Lizzy off to school, and put the younger two down for a nap..  The down side is that it doesn’t (financially) pay to stay home..  it’s too bad..  I could easily be a stay-at-home dad..

Oh well..  we’ll see how this returning to work goes..

Yesterday I went to see my doctor..   I went in hoping that I would be able to return to work in the new year..

Things didn’t work out exactly as I hoped…

Since I had my cortisone shot earlier this month, I’ve been able to do a lot more around the house.  I’m not pain-free, but I figured that I could return to work, as long as I was careful.

My doctor checked my range of motion and then said, “I can’t send you back to work the way you are”.  While I was expecting this answer, I was still disappointed..  He then said that if I was the determined to try, he said that I had to go to physio for “strengthening and work conditioning” for 3-4 weeks..  I managed to negotiate with him a little and had him agree to see how I’m doing after 2 weeks..  If I’m getting worse again, I’m off for some time to come..  Hopefully, things go well with it and he’ll let me return after a couple weeks of that…

This uncertainty still causes stress.  My poor wife and kids have had to put up with me being grouchy and short-tempered.  The frustrating part is that I can completely recognize when I’m in a mood, but find it difficult to snap out of it..  I’m really greatful for them, their patience and understanding…

So, in four more weeks when I see my doctor next, I hope that I get the news I’m looking for…

I’m a Facebook addict..  I freely admit that..  While I’ve been off work, I’ve spent more time logged into Facebook than I care to admit..

So, while I was on today, and one of my friends, John Giles,  posted an interesting link about Mac users vs. PC users.  At the end of this rant, was an interesting quote.  The author was commenting on the iTunes End User Agreement; specifically about how we are not to use iTunes to create biological or nuclear missiles..

After I laughed my ass off, I decided to check it out..  and sure enough, it does state that!  In fact, here is the actual wording:

“By using the Apple Software, you … agree that you will not use these products for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture, or production of missiles, or nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons.”

There it is..  I’m not allowed to make a nuclear weapon using iTunes..  That’s too bad!  I mean, that “Launch Missile” icon in it is just going to waste!   What are they thinking? I know that they are covering all the bases with endless possibilities, but still..

Something else that is bothering me is this political correctness crap.  “Season’s Greetings” or “Happy Holiday’s”..    We live in Canada, where we predominantly celebrate Christmas..  So say Merry Christmas!  What’s the big deal?  Are we REALLY offending anyone with wishing them a Merry Christmas?   I’m not knocking on their doors like JW’s trying to get them to convert to my beliefs!  (I’ll save my opinion on THAT issue!)..

It’s a holiday..  Yes, there is the celebration of the birth of Jesus, but it’s about being with family..  it’s about giving gifts to those who you love..  it’s generally a happy time of year..  If  you don’t celebrate Christmas, that’s fine!  When someone says Merry Christmas to you, just say thanks and move on!

The political correctness pendulum has swung too far…

The other night, my wife and I sat down for a talk..    The topic?  What are we going to do about Christmas this year?

We went through a few options, such as doing a name draw, like we tried last year, but that didn’t feel right only buying for one person, aside from the kids.  I’d like to get something for everyone in my family, even if it’s a small token.

How do you make a Christmas seem special when you have no money to do it?

Well, we’ve decided to go for broke, so to speak.  Despite our current financial situation, I refuse to let down my kids.  I refuse to tell them that it was a tough year for everyone, even Santa, much like the movie One Magic Christmas. 

So, with what little money we have, and high-interest lines of credit, we are going to try to minimize the impact of me not working for 4 months now, and have a good Christmas.  i don’t mean, let’s buy every single expensive toy out there..  But we are going to make it memorable.  I have very fond memories of Christmas when I was a kid.  They always “made it happen”, even the years that they had very little to “make it happen” with.

So, I’m on the search..  We’ve made a list, so we aren’t blindly walking into a mall, with a fistful of cash and credit cards.  We’re shopping around.  We know what we want, and how much we can spend on it..

My biggest challenge is trying to find a Nintendo Wii..  Apparently, I should have been buying this item about 1-2 months ago, because I think I’ve called every Future Shop, Best Buy, Radio Shack/The Source, Blockbuster, and Rogers Video looking for one.   They all have the same answer.  Sold Out….No, we don’t know when we are getting more.

Out of all of them, it was a Future Shop that offered to put one on hold.  They said that if I called them when they have them in stock, they will physically put it aside and put it on hold for me.  But they will only do it if they have it in..  I was surprised..  My impression of Future Shop has always been of sell, sell, sell..  I have never really had much luck in getting good customer service from them..  But we shall see..

Other than that, things are moving along at a snails pace.  Colleen made an appointment for laser treatment for me..  I’m not sure about that, especially since I’m supposed to see a specialist about a cortisone shot two days later, but it can’t hurt to talk to the guy..

That’s all for now..  Anyone know where I could find a Wii?