Medical

Watching Over Us

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Today was a day when we could really tell that Someone is watching over us!

This morning, my husband had an appointment to get a CT scan.  For this, we had to go to a small city that is an hour’s drive away.  The hospital is at the edge of town, though, so we didn’t have any extra driving beyond that.

He had to be there for 11:30, but with the winds the way they were, we decided to head out early, just in case.  Our route took us though another town where we stopped to fill the gas tank, then we continued on.

Through this.

20180213blowing.snow

When we tell people we live in the middle of nowhere, sometimes they think we are exaggerating.

The actual temperature today was quite mild – we warmed up to about -9C at home, and even warmer (-6C) in the city we went to.  The wind chills made it feel in the -26C range, making it potentially dangerous to be out in it for two long.

There isn’t a lot of snow, yet at times the road was almost completely obliterated, except for what I could see right in front of me.  I could always tell I was in the correct lane, for example.  The wind made it more of a challenge to stay on the road than the visibility did.

But the drive went well and even with our stop for gas, we got there early.  My husband got registered into their system and sent to the appropriate area of the hospital to wait for his test.

Unfortunately, an emergency came up and all the scheduled appointments got delayed.  He got in about 45 minutes late.  I could see he was really struggling, and by the time he was called in, his shirt was wet and his face beaded with sweat from the pain. pain.scale

I saw an “improved pain scale” being shared on Facebook lately.  I liked it, but decided to make up one of my own.  It’s annoying to be asked to rate your pain on a scale of 1-10, when pain is so relative and subjective – something his previous doctor admitted was a problem.  Most pain scales I see are just smiley to sad faces, which doesn’t work.

So I came up with this version.

I’d say my husband lives in the 8-9 zone.  Seven, on a good day.  When my husband was asked to rate himself on the pain scale, my husband answered relative to how much pain he was in before, and put himself at a 5.

With the delay, I knew we would need to get some food before we headed home.  Seeing his obvious (to me, anyhow) discomfort, I did a quick search for a rare treat while he was being scanned; McDonald’s.  Yes.  It’s a treat.  It falls under the “comfort food” area.  Thankfully, there was one nearby.

When he was done, that’s where we headed.  It turned out to be inside a Walmart.  We would have preferred a drive through, but oh, well.

I tried to find a disabled parking spot for us.  This place has probably 18 of them, and they were all full!  As I was driving around to find I spot that was at least close, I ended up having a vehicle riding my bumper, enough to interfere with my ability to try and turn into any spots I found.

So I figured I’d just get away from the tailgater and go around.

Just as I accelerated, it started.

A sort of smacking/clapping noise from the engine.  Something was loose in there!

We quickly parked, shut off the engine and popped the hood, but I couldn’t see anything unusual.  Leaving it, we went inside to eat.  Once back in the van, I started it and…

… the noise was still there.

Leaving it running, I popped the hood again.  This time, I could see something at the belt smacking a hose.  Shutting off the engine, I could see a strip with a frayed end.

20180213frayed.belt

I took a picture of it, then we went back into the Walmart and their garage.  Showing the picture to the guy behind the counter, he said it looked like the fan belt, and that they couldn’t do that kind of work.  There was, however, a Canadian Tire across the road, and they could do it.

Just in case, I phoned up my cousin for his advice.

One option we had was to simply cut the loose piece, then drive home and hope the rest of the belt didn’t snap along the way.

Not an option we preferred!

The other option was to drive it across the street and, hopefully, get it fixed right away.

We took option number two.

He also mentioned that he had looked at the belt when he worked on our van, and it had looked fine. :-(

At this point, we had two things going for us.  One was that it happened while we were still in town.  If we had started to drive home, rather than stopping to eat, it would have happened while we were on the highway.  Instead, it happened right near a garage.

The other thing we had going for us was funds.  We had nothing in the budget for this, but the money we got from the moving company to pay for replacing our electric pole was there.  We could use that, and replace what we used at the end of the month.  If we hadn’t got that money when we did, we would have been hooped.  Big time.

So, off to Canadian Tire we went!

Once inside, I showed the picture to the guy and talked about getting it fixed.  Unfortunately, he only had two mechanics in that day; lots of people have been calling in sick lately.  However, he had a customer to call with info about a part.  Depending on what the customer decided, they might be able to fit us in, instead of working on that person’s car.

In the end, the decision was made for the customer.  The part needed couldn’t be delivered until tomorrow morning.

Which meant they could work on our van, instead!

That was the third thing going for us.

Once in, the first thing they needed to do was a diagnostic (about $70), to make sure the belt was the only thing that needed replacing.  Depending on what caused it to break, the serpentine belt might also be at risk.

It turned out to only be the belt.

It took maybe half an hour (labour rate posted: $112 an hour) to get fixed!  Altogether, it cost quite a bit less than we were afraid it would.

The guy talked to us afterward, saying that there was a leak in there; either oil or power steering fluid.  I told him it was the power steering, but that several people have looked at it already, and couldn’t find where it was leaking.  He told us we would have to find it, because it was getting right on the belt, which corrodes it.  It’ll happen again.  Which we knew.  I’ve got to get the van saftied, anyhow, so I’m hoping the leak will finally be found.  He said that one way it could be found is if someone puts a dye into the fluid.  They would then be able to spot the leak using a blacklight.

Interesting.

Since we were there anyhow, and the fix cost less than we thought it might, we took advantage of the situation.  I needed a new headline bulb, so we got a pair of bulbs, slightly brighter than what we already had.  I didn’t want to go to the brightest, as I have no desire to blind oncoming traffic while driving at night.  I’ve had that happen to me too often, and I would never want to inflict that on anyone else.

We also picked up a new gas cap.  Just a couple of days ago, my onboard computer started showing “check gas cap” warning.  That was another thing on my list of items to replace.  I’m guessing the seal on the cap finally degraded too much.  The cold certainly isn’t helping.  If changing it doesn’t fix the problem, it’ll be another thing on the list of stuff to get it to pass safety inspection.

I just have to figure out how to remove the old gas cap, which has a tether.  The new one doesn’t.

Changing the bulbs will wait a day or two, when it warms up a bit more.

That done, we drove the hour home.

All together, we ended up being gone 6 hours, when we expected to be gone maybe 3 hours.

I made sure to drive right up to the house to drop off my husband, and he went straight to lying down. :-(

What a day.

Then, this evening, I heard a knock at the door.

Which was very disorienting.  We never get casual knocks at the door out here!

It was the electrician.  He had intended to come out this weekend to check how frozen the ground is, but never made it.  He made it today, stopping on his way home from the city.  He’d tested his drill out, and the ground is just too solid.

We’ll have to wait until things start to thaw out, then contact him again to get it done.

Which is actually kind of good, since we would not have been able to replace what we used of the funds for another two weeks.

Yet another thing that worked out in our favour.

Yes, Someone is indeed watching out for us!

The Re-Farmer

 

A Little More Progress… and not

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So today was the day our van was finally going to be fixed.

Except it didn’t.

Turns out there was a miscommunication.

When it was talked about, my cousin had mentioned picking up our van.  This was after I’d mentioned I was concerned about driving it with that grinding noise it was making. I wasn’t sure how he planned to do that, but no alternative was mentioned, so I waited on him to arrive.

Meanwhile, my husband phoned in some prescription refills, plus needed more distilled water for his CPAP.  So I left the keys with him while our younger daughter and I went into the next town to get some non-Costco shopping done at the grocery store, after hitting the pharmacy.  I made sure to text my cousin to let him know about the keys.

It wasn’t until he answered that I found out he’d expected me to have dropped our van off some time ago.

*sigh*

Which means he won’t be able to work on it until Wednesday.

I’ll be bringing our van to him and leaving it there, Tuesday night. :-D

Just a couple of days longer.

Meanwhile, a bit more progress was made with the unpacking.  I should have been working on the boxes in the office, but I decided to continue in the living room, instead.  I was getting tired of looking at the aquarium, all wrapped up in the corner.  So I took off the foam sheets duct taped around the outside, then had to use a stool to be able to get all the accessories from inside the tank and store them in the cabinet under the tank.  Then I could take out the foam pieces that were protecting the inside.

That done, I tucked the lights between the tank and the wall, along with the power bar we’ll eventually be using in that corner.  Got the ironing board put away.  There was also a taped together bundle with an umbrella, 3 shinai and a jo staff.

Curious, I took the stickers to see what these were listed as, on the sheet.

20180121_174912.25%The bundle with the umbrella and shinai was labeled “Anberallas”.  Or maybe it says, “Anherallas”.

The ironing board was listed as “Airlen Board.”

It hurts just to try and type that out. LOL

Now, all I’ve got left in that little corner to get rid of is my sister’s carpet shampooer.  A visit will need to be arranged, after our van is fixed. :-)

The only other thing left in that area that I need to figure out what to do with are the baskets of light bulbs on our piano bench that weren’t supposed to be packed.  They’ll likely just have to go to the basement. :-/

The next step for the area is to get a nimble daughter to climb over the piano and install the antique mirror of my mother’s that matches the piano so well.

We were planning to put some decor items on the piano itself, but one of the cats really loves it up there.  We’ll have to be careful what goes up there!

I’m totally procrastinating over the boxes in my office.  Totally.

We’ve got some progress in another thing that we had a delay on.  We’d done the paperwork to transfer our medicare coverage away from the province we moved out of, to the one we now live in.  We’ve had coverage here before and were even able to include our old health care card numbers.

The forms all came back.

They wanted ID. The girls each got their own form, but the one for myself and my husband had a handwritten note saying that we needed to include copies of ID for all the family.

Thankfully, my younger daughter was able to find her birth certificate that had gone missing – it turned out to be still in the suitcase.

Now it’s just a matter of signing the new form attached to the old ones, and send them in with the photocopies.  At least the postage is pre-paid.

While it doesn’t matter much for our daughters, who have no medical appointments or prescriptions to deal with, it might be an issue for my husband and I.  Our old health care numbers ensure coverage for up to 3 months after moving to another province.  We have doctor’s appointments (I made a “meet and greet” appointment with the same doctor for myself) in the middle of the month.  For me, that’s just a few days after my 3 months is up, but my husband got here 3 weeks earlier, so he’s already past the 3 months.

I’m not sure how that’ll be dealt with.

For the non-Canadians reading this, Canada’s medicare system is federally funded through our tax dollars, but provincially managed.  Each province is slightly different than others.  While the basics, like regular check ups, treatment, hospital visits, most medical tests, and specialists are covered, some things covered in one province might not be covered, or only partly covered, in another.  For example, when my husband was first diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea, we were living in this province, and the CPAP machine, humidifier, hoses and masks were fully covered.  After we moved, however, there was 0 coverage.  We’ve come back just in time for this province to change from full coverage to partial coverage.

Thank God for private insurance!

Yes, we in Canada do still need private insurance.  Especially for dental, eye care and prescriptions, which isn’t covered by our medicare system.  I know of one province that also has its own “pharmacare” for prescriptions.  There is a deductible, then the province covers the rest.

In a nut shell, we have medical coverage, but it isn’t “free”; we just pay for it through our taxes, like a group insurance program.  Some provinces also charge premiums.

It also isn’t universal as, while certain essentials are covered, each province maintains its own services.

It also isn’t all government run.  While there are certainly provincial health care clinics with both medical and support staff, many of which also include labs for blood-work and equipment for Xrays, we also have private doctors with private clinics (they bill the government for covered services), and private companies that provide a mix of services that can be covered by the government, private insurance or the patient gets billed.

Which can make things pretty convoluted, when you have complex health concerns, as my husband does.  Most of his medical care is covered by our medicare system, and the rest by private insurance.  So far, the doctors have managed to keep his prescriptions among those that are covered by private insurance.  Thankfully, my husband has a very good plan, so there’s a long list of approved prescriptions.

Did I mention, Thank God for private insurance?

I think I’ll just say it again, anyways.

Thank God for private insurance!

The Re-Farmer

 

 

Getting things done, and more deer

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This morning, we got a phone call from my husband’s doctor, following up on the fax sent from the pharmacy about that prescription refill.  We then headed into town to pick up the prescription (he ended up giving a bunch), since getting the pharmacy to do it might take a couple of days.  At the same time, the prescription dosage error on the other versions of this medication was fixed.  So my husband is all stocked up on painkillers again, which is making life much more bearable for him!

We also got a pair of deer visiting again today.  This time, they seemed less nervous about us in the window.  The deer came together, but kept their distance from each other, trading off eating.  They left, but came back soon after.  Interestingly, one actually started to drive the other off of the feed, with some aggressive posturing and jumping.  Then they went into the spruce trees and hung out there for an hour or more before one came back.  The other stayed in the spruces for a while, then drove the first one away from the food and started eating, while the first on stuck around and seemed to keep watch.

It was interesting behavior to watch.

I was able to get some good photos of them, too.

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2018.01.15.whitetail.deer.profile

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2018-01-15.whitetail.deer.tongue

In between taking photos, I finally started on clearing that linen closet, wrapping up a stack of mirrors to box up, then removing the plastic shelf liners.  The seeds that we think are mouse poison were only on the top shelf.  I swept most away, but didn’t get to vacuuming the ones stuck in crevices, because I didn’t want the noise to scare the deer.  Meanwhile, my older daughter was a sweetheart and started cleaning the set of decorative plates I inherited from my mother-in-law.  They had hung on her wall for many years, and my in-laws were both heavy smokers at the time, so they had to be washed twice.  Not all the nicotine quite came off, though, so a third washing will be needed to get the last of it off, but they look fabulous now.

Cleaning the hangers is going to be a challenge.  That and the one plate that is a relief of a Rockwell painting.  That one will need a toothbrush to clean it.

That will all wait until later, as my younger daughter decided to make up a double batch of sourdough dinner rolls.  I am looking forward to those!

All in all, a pretty good day.

Prescription for Pain

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When my husband had his first visit with a new doctor, one of the things he was able to get was a renewed prescription for one of his pain meds.  It comes in two forms; quick and slow release.  Because it’s an opioid, different rules apply.  Only hand written prescriptions, on a triplicate pad, are used, and they get signed for when they are picked up.  My husband had had a 3 month prescription, but could only get 30 days worth at a time.  As his files were to be transferred from his old doctor to the new, he got only a 30 day renewal, and was to book a follow up appointment for a month later.  That would be enough time for his files to get out here.

Well, the two versions aren’t in sync.  He was able to refill one of them right away, then the second one a couple of weeks later. Yesterday, the first one was one of several refills he called in to the pharmacy.  As he’d already used his 30 day renewal and didn’t have anymore refills left, the pharmacy needed to fax the doctor for a refill.  So I made arrangements to borrow my brother’s van to pick them all up today.

Except it still wasn’t there.  The doctor had never responded to the fax.

Even if he had, they could not fill it without the physical prescription.  Previously, the doctor had been able to fax the prescription to the pharmacy, but that’s not good enough, here.  They could get a fax and start it, but would not be allowed to give out the medication without the physical prescription.  This is one of those things that, once the doctor gives out the prescription, it must be brought to the pharmacy within 3 days. The clinic is close enough that the pharmacy can sometimes just send someone out to get it, though, which is good to know.

However, my husband is to see the doctor in less than a week.

Chances are, he’s not going to get the updated prescription until he sees the doctor.

Meanwhile, he’s out of the medication.  It’s one of the primary pain medications he uses.  One version of it is not enough.

Theoretically, he could have phoned the doctor and tried to make arrangements, but then I’d have to borrow the vehicle again to pick it up tomorrow, because it wouldn’t be ready by today.  Then I would need to borrow the vehicle again for the medical appointment a few days later.

What a pain.

For my husband, literally.

The Re-Farmer

 

 

The Trade Off – things we’re leaving behind

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Since I posted yesterday, I’ve learned that not only were we not able to have a tower installed to get internet at the farm, but not even dial up is an option.  The laptops are too new, and incompatible with it! Meanwhile, today is our last day with our internet and cable package at my end, too.  This afternoon, someone from our provider is coming over to pick up their equipment.  Any online activities from then on will be done through the data plans on our phones.

Which leads me to the things we will be giving up, in our decision to move from city to farm.  All of these, and more, we took into consideration when we made our decision to move. Continue reading →

The Best Laid Plans…

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Our decision to move to the farm was not an easy one.

BeepBeep

My husband popped back into the house for a moment, came out to find his walker occupied. One of the farm’s semi-feral cats, now named Beep Beep, likes walkers.

Before we could even say yes to moving at all, we had to make sure changing provinces would not affect my husband’s disability payments.  He is, after all, still considered employed.  It took some time for the answer to come through – apparently, no one had asked the person he spoke to this question before.  Then, just to confuse things, his employer changed their insurance provider.  Because he was already on long-term disability, anything to do with his injury, such as physio, is still with the first company.  But everything else, such as his prescriptions, dental coverage and my own coverage, is now with another company.

In the end, we did find out that we would still be covered the same if we moved to another province.

So after several months, this past spring, we could finally tell my mother that yes, we could move into the old farm-house. Continue reading →