All these multi-part blog entries, as much fun as they are to write, and they are even more fun to live, have occasionally gotten me off track of what the whole point of this thing was in the first place. Granted, I like to let people know that I, as a person, have not really changed that much and still enjoy living life, although you probably don’t really want to hear about some of my adventures… they are not all exciting anyway.
Today there was some progress in what, in my opinion, has become a six-month battle of ‘hurry up and wait’. Finally there has been some movement on the Winnipeg front. I stress the word SOME, as I am still hanging in limbo for the most part, but at least I now finally know for sure that the wheels of Canada’s Sick-Care Program are starting to creek.
After about 2 weeks of trying to find out what the hell was going on with my travel plans, I finally actually SPOKE to Tammy in Winnipeg. Tammy is the Gamma Knife coordinator for the Winnipeg Gamma Knife Centre… who incidentally sounds kind of cute on the phone… and she is the one who I will be dealing with for the planning phase of the nuclear blast.
Apparently, Dr. West (the Gamma Knife Operator, who I figure must look like Marvin The Martian from the Bugs Bunny cartoons) is still waiting for all of my ‘images’ so he can confirm that I am indeed going to Winnipeg. I told Tammy that she had no idea what she had asked our medical system for, I have had so many broken bones that they have a special cabinet for all of my X-Rays. So I guess when the delivery truck finally arrives in Winnipeg, with all of my ‘images’, Dr. West will review them and schedule me in for a blast.
She was hoping to have an answer for me within a week and they will give me a week or two to get the travel plans in order. As I have said before, it is a good thing that I have a flexible job; this could be a real pain in the ass for a lot of people. Not that it is not a pain in the ass for me, but at least scheduling a few weeks off at the last minute is not one of the worries that I have to deal with.
So I am three-and-a-half weeks in since the General gave me my marching orders, and according to Tammy I will probably be up there in another three to four weeks, so I guess Batten’s six-week estimate was pretty much on the money… assuming that I am still going.
A small bit of movement on the financial front today as well. When I got home I had a letter in the mail from the NL Dept. of Health, approving my Gamma Knife Surgery if it goes ahead, and that billing will be directly to the Provincial Government. At least I know I don’t need to come up with that $17,000 now, although I never knew I was waiting for an approval letter. That really could have sucked if I got to Winnipeg and my Visa bounced and they just sent me home… seriously, health care professionals really need to take some customer service courses. As comforting as it is to know that they all treat this as routine because they are used to it, I am not used to it. This is, hopefully, a once in a lifetime experience for me and no one is keeping me in the loop on what is happening with MY head.
The frustration I have had trying to get information on this whole thing has been almost as stressful as my new little buddy. I know what good customer service is, perhaps I can get a nice consulting gig teaching the Health Care Department how it works.
Thanks to everyone who has sent e-mails, letters, cards and positive thoughts, it seems that just when I have had enough, someone calls, or drops me a line or does something to perk me up. Every little bit helps:)
From Achmed and Me… Live Life!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
U2 and a Brain Tumor - Part 1
It’s Friday night and sitting here at the Starbuck’s, in Toronto International Airport, almost seems like the whole last 3 days have been a dream and I just woke up.
Like any good road trip with your buddies, the main reason that you go turns out to be just one, in a series of events, which makes the whole thing memorable. Granted, seeing U2 is the reason we came and the most memorable event of the trip, but really that was just 4 hours out of a 50 hours stopover… not even 10% of the time. That being said, if KISS is the “World’s Hottest Band” then U2 is definitely the World’s Coolest! There was a lot of hype around the show and there was a lot of hype around the trip, they both lived up to reach beyond what I had expected.
I have been at a lot of concerts, and I have been at a lot of big concerts. One thing I now know…if you ever have the chance to be down on a field, looking up at the stage instead of down at it, with 62,000 people looking down on you… Take It!
The days leading up to the trip were really leaving me to expect nothing more than a great concert. Most of the guys I was going with all opted to stay out in the boonies and visit a friend while we were in Toronto and it looked like I was going to be stuck downtown, in the middle of everything (and in my opinion, the only reason to ever go to Toronto in the first place) by myself. Out of the 8 ticket holders, 2 guys lived there, 3 stayed in Scarberia and 3 stayed in the entertainment district, Bruce (a guy I barely knew a few days ago), the other Kevin (who I only go out with on the odd occasion) and me… if you count Achmed, I guess there were 4. When three business-minded guys get to consuming beers on a hot, sunny patio… well you just know that eventually an opportunity is going to come across the table that makes all the light bulbs go off at the same time and a potential business partnership is born. (if anything materializes out of that, you will all hear about it here)
To be honest, if it hadn’t been for the fact that a U2 concert was on my bucket list, I might have blown off the trip. Achmed was really acting up before I blew Dodge for a few days, plus the stress of waiting to plan my blind date with a nuclear reactor had, and still has, me on the constant edge of snapping. Throw all that in with the fact that I was staying in a strange city by myself for half of the trip, and I ended up going home early.
Over the years I have been on a lot of road trips with my friends and the one thing that they have always had in common was that the group always stayed together, ate together and did things together. This one was different, as we were all spread out all over Southern Ontario, each doing different things and just meeting at the show. That is not normally how I roll, and as it turned out, this trip eventually conformed to my kind of road trip anyway.
Wednesday morning I got a call from the Other Kevin, he and Bruce were hitting the pub scene for dinner and wanted to know if I was joining them. Well, it was more of a tell me what time they are going and we will all meet, Other Kevin knows me well enough to know that the answer was going to be yes regardless. When I landed I headed straight downtown; I hardly stayed at the airport long enough to say, “see ya latter”, to the guys I was on the plane with, they were all heading to Scarborough.
This is when it all got interesting. My plan had been to stay at the condo that my uncle keeps in Toronto for when he is there. To make a long story short, the last cousin who stayed there didn’t properly dispose of the keys and when I showed up I couldn’t get in. After a few phone calls, a couple of couriers and several hours of frustration, I eventually got in at LUNCH TIME the following day!!!
There was nothing I could do, so I went to the bar to meet Other Kevin and Bruce, with my luggage in tow. Luckily for me, I travel light on road trips; all I had was a carry-on… I still, however, got some strange looks when I showed up at the restaurant and walked past the hostess with a suitcase and said, “I am meeting some friends who are already here.” That was technically not really true. I knew I was meeting Other Kevin, but until I actually got to my table, I had no idea who Other Kevin’s ‘buddy’ was. Until that night Bruce was just one of the guys I knew to say ‘hi’ to at my Starbucks, as it turned out, we had a lot in common, particularly our propensity to live life and have fun!
I wasn’t even in my seat when I ordered my first beer and as soon as it came, I ordered my second. This proved to be a mistake… when you allowed for the time difference; it had been almost 12 hours since I ate! By the time my third pint was half gone, my dinner showed up, unfortunately 2-and-a-half pints on an empty stomach was too much to start the night with. When Justine came back to order more drinks, Other Kevin switched to rum-and-coke, Bruce switched to gin-and-tonic and when she looked at me, I just said, “I think I have had enough, I am a bit bloated and I can’t drink rum or I will be hung-over tomorrow.” Bruce piped up and said, “He will have a double gin-and-tonic also.” I had only ever seen this man at Starbucks, but I am sure he must have been my wingman in a previous life.
This was the pre-cursor of what let to be a great night out in a strange city where we saw a pretty good U2 cover band; met lots of interesting people and walked for, what felt like, 2 hours looking for a hotdog. Eventually we got pizza and I ended up “sleeping” at The Royal York. I wonder how many potentially homeless people end up crashing in a 5-star hotel?
One thing I love about being really on the go these days, is that it keeps my mind off Achmed, although not having a place to comfortably sleep probably didn’t help me any.
From Achmed and Me… Live Life!
Like any good road trip with your buddies, the main reason that you go turns out to be just one, in a series of events, which makes the whole thing memorable. Granted, seeing U2 is the reason we came and the most memorable event of the trip, but really that was just 4 hours out of a 50 hours stopover… not even 10% of the time. That being said, if KISS is the “World’s Hottest Band” then U2 is definitely the World’s Coolest! There was a lot of hype around the show and there was a lot of hype around the trip, they both lived up to reach beyond what I had expected.
I have been at a lot of concerts, and I have been at a lot of big concerts. One thing I now know…if you ever have the chance to be down on a field, looking up at the stage instead of down at it, with 62,000 people looking down on you… Take It!
The days leading up to the trip were really leaving me to expect nothing more than a great concert. Most of the guys I was going with all opted to stay out in the boonies and visit a friend while we were in Toronto and it looked like I was going to be stuck downtown, in the middle of everything (and in my opinion, the only reason to ever go to Toronto in the first place) by myself. Out of the 8 ticket holders, 2 guys lived there, 3 stayed in Scarberia and 3 stayed in the entertainment district, Bruce (a guy I barely knew a few days ago), the other Kevin (who I only go out with on the odd occasion) and me… if you count Achmed, I guess there were 4. When three business-minded guys get to consuming beers on a hot, sunny patio… well you just know that eventually an opportunity is going to come across the table that makes all the light bulbs go off at the same time and a potential business partnership is born. (if anything materializes out of that, you will all hear about it here)
To be honest, if it hadn’t been for the fact that a U2 concert was on my bucket list, I might have blown off the trip. Achmed was really acting up before I blew Dodge for a few days, plus the stress of waiting to plan my blind date with a nuclear reactor had, and still has, me on the constant edge of snapping. Throw all that in with the fact that I was staying in a strange city by myself for half of the trip, and I ended up going home early.
Over the years I have been on a lot of road trips with my friends and the one thing that they have always had in common was that the group always stayed together, ate together and did things together. This one was different, as we were all spread out all over Southern Ontario, each doing different things and just meeting at the show. That is not normally how I roll, and as it turned out, this trip eventually conformed to my kind of road trip anyway.
Wednesday morning I got a call from the Other Kevin, he and Bruce were hitting the pub scene for dinner and wanted to know if I was joining them. Well, it was more of a tell me what time they are going and we will all meet, Other Kevin knows me well enough to know that the answer was going to be yes regardless. When I landed I headed straight downtown; I hardly stayed at the airport long enough to say, “see ya latter”, to the guys I was on the plane with, they were all heading to Scarborough.
This is when it all got interesting. My plan had been to stay at the condo that my uncle keeps in Toronto for when he is there. To make a long story short, the last cousin who stayed there didn’t properly dispose of the keys and when I showed up I couldn’t get in. After a few phone calls, a couple of couriers and several hours of frustration, I eventually got in at LUNCH TIME the following day!!!
There was nothing I could do, so I went to the bar to meet Other Kevin and Bruce, with my luggage in tow. Luckily for me, I travel light on road trips; all I had was a carry-on… I still, however, got some strange looks when I showed up at the restaurant and walked past the hostess with a suitcase and said, “I am meeting some friends who are already here.” That was technically not really true. I knew I was meeting Other Kevin, but until I actually got to my table, I had no idea who Other Kevin’s ‘buddy’ was. Until that night Bruce was just one of the guys I knew to say ‘hi’ to at my Starbucks, as it turned out, we had a lot in common, particularly our propensity to live life and have fun!
I wasn’t even in my seat when I ordered my first beer and as soon as it came, I ordered my second. This proved to be a mistake… when you allowed for the time difference; it had been almost 12 hours since I ate! By the time my third pint was half gone, my dinner showed up, unfortunately 2-and-a-half pints on an empty stomach was too much to start the night with. When Justine came back to order more drinks, Other Kevin switched to rum-and-coke, Bruce switched to gin-and-tonic and when she looked at me, I just said, “I think I have had enough, I am a bit bloated and I can’t drink rum or I will be hung-over tomorrow.” Bruce piped up and said, “He will have a double gin-and-tonic also.” I had only ever seen this man at Starbucks, but I am sure he must have been my wingman in a previous life.
This was the pre-cursor of what let to be a great night out in a strange city where we saw a pretty good U2 cover band; met lots of interesting people and walked for, what felt like, 2 hours looking for a hotdog. Eventually we got pizza and I ended up “sleeping” at The Royal York. I wonder how many potentially homeless people end up crashing in a 5-star hotel?
One thing I love about being really on the go these days, is that it keeps my mind off Achmed, although not having a place to comfortably sleep probably didn’t help me any.
From Achmed and Me… Live Life!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The Blessing of Achmed
I don’t know if any of you are Rod Stewart fans, but when I typed “The Blessing of Achmed” I instantly thought of “The Killing of Georgie”, which was indeed, a great song, and according to the title, somewhat appropriate for what I did last night.
I was raised as a Catholic, and although I have spent about half of my life not going to church outside of special occasions, I still kind of consider myself one. I am not a fan of overly zealous people in any type of belief, and I am pretty sure that no one can ever accuse me of being a fanatical religious type, but I do have the utmost respect for other people’s beliefs and I would never mock any of them. Be that as it may, I am a spiritual person and I believe in the principals of Christianity, giving, do unto others, a higher power, etc… and as you all know, I am a big believer in positive thinking.
Well, last night I got a big religious dose of positive thinking. Most of you have probably heard of ‘Last Rights’, it is a Catholic sacrament that is administered to someone by a priest when they are dying (when the person is dying, not when the priest is dying). I am not dying, not yet anyway, but there is also a sacrament for the sick, or healing… I called it ‘Pre-Last Rights’… Father Bill (who is also my uncle) laughed, but I am still a little unsure if he thought it was funny or I was being inconsiderate. (Hey Fr. Bill, I know that you read this, so in case you were not sure, I was just joking).
So last night I was administered the Sacrament of Healing, by about 20 people who all prayed (or knowing some of who were there, they just emitted positive energy in general) and I got doused with oil that smelled like lavender. As Fr. Bill was putting this scented, blessed, holy oil on my head and hands, I thought to myself, “Hey, this stuff smells pretty good, I should take the leftovers and use it as massage oil.” As I thought this (luckily in silence) I also thought to myself, “When I finally do die, I think I am going to hell.”
Interestingly enough, I have to comment on the oil. My mother took the leftover oil and said, “We will bring this to Winnipeg with us, just in case.” As I watched mom bottle up the oil I couldn’t help but remember my wedding day. Melanie’s (my now ex, but then actual wife) cousin had brought a box of Viagra up from the states as a wedding gift for me and presented it to me with a big long speech, and asked me to open it and show everyone what it was. I like presents, so I didn’t even think about the fact that this could be a joke. I unwrapped the box and there it was; a blue sample box of 12 Viagra pills. It was pretty new on the market at the time and not easy to get your hands on without a prescription. Of course everyone at the head table wanted to see what the package looked like, so I passed it on down the line. I never got it back, but there is a clip on my wedding video of Dad admiring the box and sticking in his inside jacket pocket. I never was able to bring myself to ask for it back. Makes me wonder if I am ever going to see that oil again.
Really, one would think after a night like last night, with all the good feelings and everything that I would have slept like a baby. That unfortunately was not the case. Yesterday was one of the days that I heard static all day, and now I have come to realize when that happens, I am not getting any sleep. It seems to be a sign of a major headache brewing. I am not exactly sure what I can do about it, maybe when this happens I just need to lie down for a while and rest instead of pushing myself all day. I am sure I will figure it out eventually.
For now I am going to pack for Achmed’s next road trip, we are off to Toronto to see U2. This trip will be nothing like the 4 Guys in Halifax, but I am sure it will still be fun. Speaking of the 4 Guys and a Rock and Roll Band, the other instalments will be coming soon… I think.
So, let's all hope that the blessing of Achmed helps with the killing of him.
From Achmed and Me… Live Life!
I was raised as a Catholic, and although I have spent about half of my life not going to church outside of special occasions, I still kind of consider myself one. I am not a fan of overly zealous people in any type of belief, and I am pretty sure that no one can ever accuse me of being a fanatical religious type, but I do have the utmost respect for other people’s beliefs and I would never mock any of them. Be that as it may, I am a spiritual person and I believe in the principals of Christianity, giving, do unto others, a higher power, etc… and as you all know, I am a big believer in positive thinking.
Well, last night I got a big religious dose of positive thinking. Most of you have probably heard of ‘Last Rights’, it is a Catholic sacrament that is administered to someone by a priest when they are dying (when the person is dying, not when the priest is dying). I am not dying, not yet anyway, but there is also a sacrament for the sick, or healing… I called it ‘Pre-Last Rights’… Father Bill (who is also my uncle) laughed, but I am still a little unsure if he thought it was funny or I was being inconsiderate. (Hey Fr. Bill, I know that you read this, so in case you were not sure, I was just joking).
So last night I was administered the Sacrament of Healing, by about 20 people who all prayed (or knowing some of who were there, they just emitted positive energy in general) and I got doused with oil that smelled like lavender. As Fr. Bill was putting this scented, blessed, holy oil on my head and hands, I thought to myself, “Hey, this stuff smells pretty good, I should take the leftovers and use it as massage oil.” As I thought this (luckily in silence) I also thought to myself, “When I finally do die, I think I am going to hell.”
Interestingly enough, I have to comment on the oil. My mother took the leftover oil and said, “We will bring this to Winnipeg with us, just in case.” As I watched mom bottle up the oil I couldn’t help but remember my wedding day. Melanie’s (my now ex, but then actual wife) cousin had brought a box of Viagra up from the states as a wedding gift for me and presented it to me with a big long speech, and asked me to open it and show everyone what it was. I like presents, so I didn’t even think about the fact that this could be a joke. I unwrapped the box and there it was; a blue sample box of 12 Viagra pills. It was pretty new on the market at the time and not easy to get your hands on without a prescription. Of course everyone at the head table wanted to see what the package looked like, so I passed it on down the line. I never got it back, but there is a clip on my wedding video of Dad admiring the box and sticking in his inside jacket pocket. I never was able to bring myself to ask for it back. Makes me wonder if I am ever going to see that oil again.
Really, one would think after a night like last night, with all the good feelings and everything that I would have slept like a baby. That unfortunately was not the case. Yesterday was one of the days that I heard static all day, and now I have come to realize when that happens, I am not getting any sleep. It seems to be a sign of a major headache brewing. I am not exactly sure what I can do about it, maybe when this happens I just need to lie down for a while and rest instead of pushing myself all day. I am sure I will figure it out eventually.
For now I am going to pack for Achmed’s next road trip, we are off to Toronto to see U2. This trip will be nothing like the 4 Guys in Halifax, but I am sure it will still be fun. Speaking of the 4 Guys and a Rock and Roll Band, the other instalments will be coming soon… I think.
So, let's all hope that the blessing of Achmed helps with the killing of him.
From Achmed and Me… Live Life!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Still Waiting For The Final-Final Word
Although I am a pretty patient person overall in life, I have no patience for moron drivers, slow walkers and waiting just because “That’s the way it is.”
Today I spent a fair chunk of my day trying to reach the receptionist at Dr. Batten’s office. I can respect that they are all busy there, but they let the phone ring for 7 and 8 minutes at a time before someone picks it up, and then they tell me to call back because the person I need to speak with is busy, or on a break, or gone to lunch, or not at her desk right now…. Whatever! I am really starting to get the feeling that the medical professionals in Newfoundland think that nobody, other then themselves, are busy people.
I realize that there are administrative things that have to be done to get a nuclear blast to the head, but I have been waiting for 11 days to hear when I am going to Winnipeg and today, after a number of attempts, I finally found out that my file has “been passed along” to the Winnipeg Marines and they will get back to me IF I am a candidate for the Gamma Knife. They will probably be in touch with me by the end of next week.
So far I have been told on three different medical visits that the Gamma Knife seems to be my best course of action, and the sooner the better, and now I am finding out from the people in Winterpeg that they will let me know, maybe next week, if I am eligible. I am not sure if you can tell from my written tone or not, but I am getting pretty pissed off with all this F@(%!^G waiting! Trying not to yell is probably going to mean the end of this particular keyboard!
So, after six months of testing, waiting, initial diagnosis, waiting, doctor’s holidays, waiting, final diagnosis, waiting and now while I am supposed to be planning a trip, I am still waiting. Really, why do we pay such outrageous tax dollars if the biggest part of our medical system is used up with waiting? And since I am bitching about our taxes, why then, do I have to come up with $2000 of my own money for this racket. I wonder if I can send them a bill for my waiting time and apply it against the money I need to spend?
OK, the Rick Mercer part of my update is finished now.
So, as Robbie Williams said in the song, “I sit and wait…” in the song, I believe he, or someone, dies and becomes an angel while they are waiting… good thing Achmed is benign.
Just another reason to enjoy the weekend coming up I guess.
From Achmed and Me… Live Life!
Today I spent a fair chunk of my day trying to reach the receptionist at Dr. Batten’s office. I can respect that they are all busy there, but they let the phone ring for 7 and 8 minutes at a time before someone picks it up, and then they tell me to call back because the person I need to speak with is busy, or on a break, or gone to lunch, or not at her desk right now…. Whatever! I am really starting to get the feeling that the medical professionals in Newfoundland think that nobody, other then themselves, are busy people.
I realize that there are administrative things that have to be done to get a nuclear blast to the head, but I have been waiting for 11 days to hear when I am going to Winnipeg and today, after a number of attempts, I finally found out that my file has “been passed along” to the Winnipeg Marines and they will get back to me IF I am a candidate for the Gamma Knife. They will probably be in touch with me by the end of next week.
So far I have been told on three different medical visits that the Gamma Knife seems to be my best course of action, and the sooner the better, and now I am finding out from the people in Winterpeg that they will let me know, maybe next week, if I am eligible. I am not sure if you can tell from my written tone or not, but I am getting pretty pissed off with all this F@(%!^G waiting! Trying not to yell is probably going to mean the end of this particular keyboard!
So, after six months of testing, waiting, initial diagnosis, waiting, doctor’s holidays, waiting, final diagnosis, waiting and now while I am supposed to be planning a trip, I am still waiting. Really, why do we pay such outrageous tax dollars if the biggest part of our medical system is used up with waiting? And since I am bitching about our taxes, why then, do I have to come up with $2000 of my own money for this racket. I wonder if I can send them a bill for my waiting time and apply it against the money I need to spend?
OK, the Rick Mercer part of my update is finished now.
So, as Robbie Williams said in the song, “I sit and wait…” in the song, I believe he, or someone, dies and becomes an angel while they are waiting… good thing Achmed is benign.
Just another reason to enjoy the weekend coming up I guess.
From Achmed and Me… Live Life!
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Gimme Your Areoplan Points!
I feel like I have moved from one hurry-up and wait situation to another and keep repeating the pattern. Last week I finally got the word that Achmed is indeed benign, which incidentally made me feel about 40 pounds lighter around the shoulder area in an instant, and now I am still waiting for my schedule. Apparently I am going to Winnipeg in October for my nuclear blast. I guess the medical team figure that I have nothing else to do but sit around and wait and see when that will be... it is not like I have any plans to make, such as work meetings and events or possibly a social life!
On many occasions in the past I have referred to Canada’s health care system as a sick care program, and I actually started to feel a bit bad about my criticism of it after things seemed to be moving along so well for me once I actually had a problem (or opportunity) to deal with. Well, once I got my marching orders to get ready for my ‘vacation’ in Winterpeg, I had to look into a bunch of stuff related to insurance and costs related to the treatment. The treatment itself is covered, all $17,000 of it and to my understanding I don’t even have to front the money and get reimbursed. That is a huge break for me, as any of you who deal with government payables at all will know, it takes months to get your money back or just get paid from these finance departments.
My issue is that I do have to pay for all of the ‘non-treatment’ costs! Things like transportation, hotel, food, taxis, etc all come from me. Now, in fairness to the health department here, I do get 50% of it back, after a $400 deductable, once I submit my expense claim upon my return form Winnipeg. I did up a rough budget... my bill for this is going to be between $3000 and $3500, which is for me and my chief Lieutenant (Mom) to go to the middle of nowhere and stay on the flatlands for a week (I am not allowed to travel alone afterwards, so I need an escort). Eventually, and hopefully by the time the Olympics are over, I will get between $1300 and $1550 of that back. Aeroplan points for Air Canada will cut significantly into that dollar amount, so if anyone has a few thousand of them kicking around, drop me a line:)
This situation really does piss me off though. I am very fortunate that Mr. Visa enables me to afford this financial hit, but considering the amount of taxes that I pay in this country so that we can have a “Health Care” system, it disgusts me that I have to pay anything for this. Yes, they will pay for my treatment, but seriously, how do they expect me to get blasted (and not in a good way) if I don’t go there? This is not like optional, cosmetic surgery. Eventually this tumor will likely paralyse and kill me if I don’t do something about it. Besides, like anyone, I would much rather spend a couple of thousand dollars on a real vacation not a medical one. I suppose you have to look at the bright side, better to spend the money on a nuclear blast trip than on a funeral!
So, while I sit and wait for my travel schedule, I can’t help but think about how bad this could be if I was not in a position to look after things. A number of my close friends have offered me Areoplan points and I will accept them all. Whatever is left over I am going to be looking into setting up a trust for people like me who need to travel for specialized medical treatment. I have no idea how any of that kind of thing works, but I am sure that in the interest of good corporate citizenship, the people at Areoplan will be happy to help me set up a charitable fund where people can donate Air Miles to strangers for medical travel. If everyone in Canada donated 100 miles to this plan, the fund would start off with 300 million travel miles.
So, if you are reading this, think about how many miles you have been fortunate enough to collect, and consider how many of them that you would be willing to part with so that a stranger can benefit from your good fortune.
From Achmed and Me... Live Life!
On many occasions in the past I have referred to Canada’s health care system as a sick care program, and I actually started to feel a bit bad about my criticism of it after things seemed to be moving along so well for me once I actually had a problem (or opportunity) to deal with. Well, once I got my marching orders to get ready for my ‘vacation’ in Winterpeg, I had to look into a bunch of stuff related to insurance and costs related to the treatment. The treatment itself is covered, all $17,000 of it and to my understanding I don’t even have to front the money and get reimbursed. That is a huge break for me, as any of you who deal with government payables at all will know, it takes months to get your money back or just get paid from these finance departments.
My issue is that I do have to pay for all of the ‘non-treatment’ costs! Things like transportation, hotel, food, taxis, etc all come from me. Now, in fairness to the health department here, I do get 50% of it back, after a $400 deductable, once I submit my expense claim upon my return form Winnipeg. I did up a rough budget... my bill for this is going to be between $3000 and $3500, which is for me and my chief Lieutenant (Mom) to go to the middle of nowhere and stay on the flatlands for a week (I am not allowed to travel alone afterwards, so I need an escort). Eventually, and hopefully by the time the Olympics are over, I will get between $1300 and $1550 of that back. Aeroplan points for Air Canada will cut significantly into that dollar amount, so if anyone has a few thousand of them kicking around, drop me a line:)
This situation really does piss me off though. I am very fortunate that Mr. Visa enables me to afford this financial hit, but considering the amount of taxes that I pay in this country so that we can have a “Health Care” system, it disgusts me that I have to pay anything for this. Yes, they will pay for my treatment, but seriously, how do they expect me to get blasted (and not in a good way) if I don’t go there? This is not like optional, cosmetic surgery. Eventually this tumor will likely paralyse and kill me if I don’t do something about it. Besides, like anyone, I would much rather spend a couple of thousand dollars on a real vacation not a medical one. I suppose you have to look at the bright side, better to spend the money on a nuclear blast trip than on a funeral!
So, while I sit and wait for my travel schedule, I can’t help but think about how bad this could be if I was not in a position to look after things. A number of my close friends have offered me Areoplan points and I will accept them all. Whatever is left over I am going to be looking into setting up a trust for people like me who need to travel for specialized medical treatment. I have no idea how any of that kind of thing works, but I am sure that in the interest of good corporate citizenship, the people at Areoplan will be happy to help me set up a charitable fund where people can donate Air Miles to strangers for medical travel. If everyone in Canada donated 100 miles to this plan, the fund would start off with 300 million travel miles.
So, if you are reading this, think about how many miles you have been fortunate enough to collect, and consider how many of them that you would be willing to part with so that a stranger can benefit from your good fortune.
From Achmed and Me... Live Life!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Achmed’s First Trip to The Dentist
Going to the dentist is something that has never really bothered me in the past, my teeth are in good shape and Shaun, my dentist, is a pretty cool guy to chat with. Well, at least he always used to be.
As I am sure you all know having a conversation with your dentist is not an easy task at the best of times. I have no idea how they learn to understand someone, who has a hand stuffed in their mouth, reply to those questions. Every dentist does it. They talk to you and expect you to answer them, and then they actually know what you said. It must be a speciality course in linguistics that they all take in dental school.
Another thing that all dentists have in common… they all sit on your right side. That used to be fine, however Achmed occupies the primary listening space on my right side now and everything there sounds like the teachers on Charlie Brown cartoons.
So, as Shaun and the hygienist chatted me up while they were working on my choppers, I sat there, well, lay there I guess, and responded with grunts because I was pretty sure that no matter how good his interpretation skills are, he wasn’t going to understand what I should have probably told him before he stuck his hand in my mouth in the first place. The problem with telling him in advance, or at least I thought, was I really didn’t want to throw anyone, who was going to be sticking things in my mouth, off their game by giving them some news that could potentially make them uncomfortable. Can you imagine what might have happened if that little Greek man from Halifax was my dentist? I’d probably still be in the chair with a water suction machine sucking me dry as I lay there waiting for him to come back.
Anyway, I ended up not telling him at all. He seemed kind of quite when he left the room, perhaps I grunted the wrong response to one of his questions!
From Achmed and Me… Live Life!
As I am sure you all know having a conversation with your dentist is not an easy task at the best of times. I have no idea how they learn to understand someone, who has a hand stuffed in their mouth, reply to those questions. Every dentist does it. They talk to you and expect you to answer them, and then they actually know what you said. It must be a speciality course in linguistics that they all take in dental school.
Another thing that all dentists have in common… they all sit on your right side. That used to be fine, however Achmed occupies the primary listening space on my right side now and everything there sounds like the teachers on Charlie Brown cartoons.
So, as Shaun and the hygienist chatted me up while they were working on my choppers, I sat there, well, lay there I guess, and responded with grunts because I was pretty sure that no matter how good his interpretation skills are, he wasn’t going to understand what I should have probably told him before he stuck his hand in my mouth in the first place. The problem with telling him in advance, or at least I thought, was I really didn’t want to throw anyone, who was going to be sticking things in my mouth, off their game by giving them some news that could potentially make them uncomfortable. Can you imagine what might have happened if that little Greek man from Halifax was my dentist? I’d probably still be in the chair with a water suction machine sucking me dry as I lay there waiting for him to come back.
Anyway, I ended up not telling him at all. He seemed kind of quite when he left the room, perhaps I grunted the wrong response to one of his questions!
From Achmed and Me… Live Life!
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