…And the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say.
A couple of weeks ago my former daughter-in-law and her mom took an ambulance ride to the ER after they contracted COVID, because their current religious streak has them rabidly anti-vaxx. The daughter-in-law has largely recovered. Her mom… not so much. Her round of COVID triggered a stroke. She was non-responsive until the past couple of days. This morning early she was finally able to take a few steps, eat normal food, and speak a few coherent words. Nobody knows the full extent of damage yet, but it’s looking better than it was even three days ago.
My son – who thankfully was fully vaccinated – tested negative for COVID. He quarantined at home but was mighty relieved to get the all-clear.
The wedding is still on and we’re still planning to drive to the Midwest, taking along the geriatric furbaby for company. So there is that.
I hate the medical profession as a whole, but acknowledge there are times when they’re the only option. I appreciate dentists’ expertise and would love to get my teeth fixed. Just not to the tune of $16K plus. What I didn’t mention on FB is why the proposed bill is so steep. And frankly it doesn’t even cover all the things I realistically need done – just some of the more urgent ones.
I’ve got to have two teeth removed. That’s non-negotiable. We’re not talking bad cavities – we’re talking cavities/infection that has eaten deep holes into my jawbone, on opposite sides. I saw the X-Rays and when the dentist told me if I’d waited much longer it would’ve probably eaten through – he wasn’t exaggerating. This won’t be pulling teeth with pliers. This will be surgical removal. I’m also getting a deep-gum cleaning. It won’t fix everything but will give me a fighting chance to hold on a little longer.
Those things combined will be about $1500 after insurance, give or take.
The less important things include more cavities in need of filling; teeth with significant cracks that need to be capped to keep them from failing; a tooth that should have been a root canal five years ago but has been limping along on a temporary filling ever since; a couple of bridges – because with these latest teeth pulled, I basically can’t chew any more. I’ve already had both bottom molars pulled on one side. And so on.
But my budget dictates I deal with the catastrophic mess in my mouth in the cheapest way possible. Need is irrelevant. The rest has to wait.
One of our former neighbors asked us to help her sell her mobile home. She has a new boyfriend who’s moving here from (Syria? Arabia? Some middle-eastern country.) He’s supposedly a US military person who’s retiring, buying a house, and moving her in with him. We don’t think she’s ever met him in person. Nearly as we can understand, she’s selling her home and sending him the money.
Several people have tried talking her out of it, warning her it’s a scam and as a woman of 70+ it won’t be fun living on the street. She told us she understands our concerns but she’s sure she’s right, because, “God told me to do it.” She said she knows the risks and is going in with her eyes wide open, and if she loses everything, so be it.
G and I shook our heads, but we can’t make her decisions for her. I don’t know if we’ll get the rest of her story or not. It’s hard to tweet or FB anything if you’re homeless.
In addition to my dental fun, despite my intense loathing for the medical profession overall, I need to suck it up and see a doctor. I know I have cataracts, which means eye surgery is in my future. My blood pressure is through the roof, which is not ideal, either. Plus, I need to renew my handicap tags for the car. I can manage the BP meds and a general physical, but not sure how to deal with the cataracts. If I can hold out a couple of more years, I’ll sign up for medicare, which I think has a lower deductible. I’ll need to keep working even then, though. I believe it’s at 67 I can get Social Security and not be penalized for working, which in turn will mean doubling up on bill payments so I can – maybe, someday – finally retire.
I just hope my eyes will hold out.
All the added stress doesn’t contribute to the blood pressure, right?
Colleagues don’t check with me before making decisions about their lives.
What’s up with that??
I do a specialized job where I work. As in, only three of us (out of over 100 at the company) knew how to do it. I was the “filler” person, in a sense, doing the reports and reconciliations three out of five days a week. My partner on the project worked four ten-hour days and all of them on this project.
Until she quit, leaving the only people who knew how to do the job… me, and my boss, who already wears more hats than Bartholomew Cubbins. (Click for reference, if you’re unfamiliar.)
I immediately got bumped to full time on the project, TFN. That part’s fine by me. I don’t mind the work. My only concern was coverage while I’m on vacation in less than two weeks.
Well, that and consistent coverage for my two days off per week, because even if I were willing to work 7 days a week, my boss said absolutely no. She knows I’ll bust my butt even if it kills me, and she’s doing her best to make sure it doesn’t.
So I’ve been training our part-timer, who will cover those two days a week plus most of the time I’m gone. I compiled a reference sheet outlining in detail what needs to be done and when (it’s time-sensitive), links to additional reference materials on the company website (which I also take care of), and so on. Our new girl has a copy and our boss has a copy of the cheat sheet. It’s also been passed along to another person who’s helping with coverage – because the boss will be out of town for a few days overlapping my vacation. Hers isn’t vacation time, though. She’s going to a national convention of business owners, adding to the company’s bottom line – which is also kinda important.
I also say “new girl” with tongue slightly in cheek. She’s new to this job, but was already working on other projects. She’s a sharp cookie and I’m grateful for her.
If it didn’t involve, you know, my son’s WEDDING, I’d most likely postpone my vacation a few weeks. But here we are.
I’m simultaneously overseeing one other person – not precisely training her, but working with her while she transitions into our regular phone queue from a different part of the company. I’m her “what do I do” call resource, and listen to several of her recorded calls a day to see if she needs any coaching (she did and I did.)
And I’m still our fill-in when people can’t reach a supervisor. They call me with questions, for tech help, etc.
No, not saying I’m all that and a bag of chips. If I were, those chips would be smashed to smithereens by now. Pushing the limits of my limits, though.
Ugh, so sorry your dealing with dental issues. I will never understand how it is OK for the medical industrial complex to gets away with insane price tags while insurance covers little. The lack of decent dental and vision coverage is ridiculous. I hope the current administration succeeds in adding dental and optical to regular Medicare so eating and seeing become standard activities for seniors.
Yay vacation coverage at work!
Yeah I need new glasses, too… Forgot about that. With insurance they’ll be around $500
You only need to be 65 for medicare, 67 to get ss. I had medicare the last year that I worked. It made my work checks much bigger without the insurance deduction!
That’s good to know. I turn 65 next year. I’ll check coverage and so on.
I just had cataract surgery on my left eye yesterday. Of course, I am older than you so I have Medicare. I hope you can hold out until you can get Medicare too. It sounds like you do a fine job of filling in in many areas. I hope your health, teeth, eyes and so on, can keep on until you can get the help you need to fix your own personal issues.
I’ll definitely do medicare as soon as I can. What I have at work is insurance in name only. My part is free, so I don’t even mind that part – but I have to pay for my husband. The only reason I bother is because of him, otherwise I’d skip the medical insurance altogether. But with his heart issues we can’t risk having nothing whatsoever.