IZEA

45e38fe4f37dbb7d7816d217703971713d18d2562e71754a8f

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Go Yankees, AFOs/Braces, Flu Shots, Fawssit Shower Unit,Missing Wallet

The New York Yankees are the World Series Champions! Those of you who know me, know that I am a Mets fan, but when the Mets' season ends, I either stop following baseball, or if the Yankees are in the World Series -- which unfortunately happens more to them than the Mets -- I just root for the Yankees, who are the other New York team. I don't know why I am such a Mets fan, but it's a combination of underdog favoritism, living in Queens for almost half of my life, and being from a Brooklyn Dodgers family [you see, the Yankees and the Dodgers were enemies when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn until the year I was born in 1955, and no self-respecting Dodgers fan became a Yankees fan. Conveniently, the Mets were born ten years after the Dodgers left, so that presented new opportunities for the Yankee-haters]. The ticker-tape [or should I say the toilet paper] parade was fantastic. And it's always nice to look at Derek Jeter, I must admit!!

I finally got fitted for new AFOs [ankle-foot orthotics]. The ones I have are causing me a ton of agony. The ALS clinic had wanted me to wait until the wheelchair is fixed before I got new AFOs, but the wheelchair approval is taking longer than expected and I can't wait anymore. Also, my night aides have been using the Hoyer lift to get me in and out of bed, and that has saved my wounded feet some.

My primary-care doctor ran out of flu-shot serum, so did the ALS/MDA clinic at Columbi, and the Cornell clinic, where I am a patient, never even got any. At Cornell, they are only giving the vaccine to in-patients. So they are giving me a "high-risk patient" letter to bring to Walgreen's or the NYC Board of Health.

Next week, I am getting the hand-held shower unit and the correct shower chair and I will be able to use the Fawssit portable shower I received from the ALSA loan closet.

My wallet is missing. Long story, but I am sure I dropped it on Access-a-Ride, whose office old me they had it and I had to come to collect it. So my aide and I took Access-a-Ride all the way there today, and nobody knew anything about it and nobody could find it. So here I am calling credit card companies by relay operator to cancel the cards and now I have to wait for new credit cards, Medicaid and Medicare IDs, Access-a-Ride ID. Luckily I am only out about $20 cash and of course a wallet. Every phone call takes me ten times longer than a healthy person, and the whole process is so aggravating. Fortunately, I was able to go to my Citibank branch to get a temporary debit card, but I can't use it at the store. Without that, I would have no money. I feel so out-of-sorts and we didn't need a three-hour trek to and from an armpit area of Brooklyn on a Saturday morning. They told me to call someone named Leslie on Monday morning, because my wallet might be in a safe, and he is the only one who has the combination. When I called Thursday night, the man I spoke to said "come in any time and we will have it for you". But the number to book a trip was already closed, and I had to call on Friday for the trip on Saturday. I am totally exhausted!

2 comments:

Steve said...

Hi Fern, I added the Fawssit site to my links page, pretty cool product, know you're looking forward to showering again. You may want to check out www.protectmyid.com, they have a lost wallet service, they make the calls for you if it happens again. Blessings...

J Rodney said...

I sure hope your wallet shows up Fern, that will make your life a lot easier I am sure.

I'm glad to hear that you got both a hand-held shower unit and a chair, I hope that will make everything much more comfortable.

As always you amaze me with your strength.