Looks like winter

Winter has finally arrived in force here in my neck of the woods.  We've had a bit of snow, and of course plenty of cold this winter, but not a lot all at once or even that stuck around completely.

Last Tuesday I was to drive to my orthopedic surgeon for a recheck, but the weather told me "nope".  Blizzard type weather meant I didn't want to drive 160ish miles by myself early in the morning.

I had another appointment in the same facility with my infectious disease doctor on Friday. My mother also scheduled her procedure to upgrade/replace her pacemaker that same day.  Soooo.... the plan was to go down the day before to be there on time.  Thing is, on Thursday, we 'had to' go to a bull sale at my uncles place before we could leave.  Consequently, we didn't get headed south until after 3 PM.

Of course there was weather again.  Ugly weather.  We made it, but the last stretch that usually takes an hour, took a good two hours.  Heavy snow, dark, fluffy whiteout conditions.   Fun!  LOL

We got home Friday evening, and today my dad and I went to another bull sale about 45 miles from here.  By the time we headed home, the next batch of snow had settled in.  I think we have gotten about 9 -10 inches so far and it's not letting up.  I don't think this was forcast for that much!

The turkeys kind of struggle with the deep fluffy stuff, but at least it's not blowing like crazy - which would be normal around here.

I'm thinking my brother may just have to push some snow after this lets up, even tho he doesn't believe in doing so.  Says it goes away eventually anyway!  HAHA

Pain in the buttocks....

I had a recheck today on my incision site this morning.  It sure is a pain to reschedule my recheck of the "buttocks", but this happened...

It started snowing yesterday and I decided I didn't want to fight 160 miles of this at 6 am this morning.  There was freezing rain yesterday between here and there, too, so I was like, nuh-uh!

Recovery from January 10 surgery is going well - hate to almost say it as I don't want to jinx the process.  Staples out, the site is calming down.  About half way thru a 6 week course of antibiotics.

My infectious disease doctor was able to identify an oral course that is not resistant to the Staph that I have/had in there- instead of twice daily iv thru a picc line.... thank goodness.  Drug was pricey, did a price check at local drug stores and price was 2100-2600$  PER WEEK.  Doctor helped me apply for a program through the drug company and I was approved for free drugs.  I'm pretty sure my medical response will be shared to help with getting this newish drug approved for more applications. Helps alot!

You know,  I'm thankful that I was not able to afford to get the available health insurance.  The positives are that I have paid less out of pocket by NOT HAVING INSURANCE.  My doctors and I also did not have to get preapproval for any of the treatments that we felt were needed, we just went ahead and did it.  

I feel I had MORE access to health care without insurance!  There are all kinds of programs and different ways to get help for paying bills if you truly have financial inability to pay.  You just have to ask and search them out.  The biggest irritation is that there is absolutely no way to find out costs prior to any visit or procedure.  I've also had basically the same procedure four times in 7 months, and the prices have changed each bill. 

So my advice is this.  Get done what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and be insistent on finding financial assistance.  Go the extra mile, keep records, and check your bills for errors.  You wouldn't believe how many I have found and had corrected.  And don't forget to ask for a discount.

It sure is pretty, but I'm ready for spring! 

If only I had a studio space, it's a perfect day to be weaving.

All for now,

Julie