Monday, I had a telephone follow up with the VA. They have decided to refer me to an orthopedic hand specialist. The soonest appointment is October 23rd. That will make it almost one year from the start of having my elbow problem. I know I probably should not have swam the mile or done as much kayaking last month, but if the therapy I have been trying was working those activities should not have been a problem, right?
Yesterday was a long day. It started with a 7:40AM orthodontist appointment to have my wires removed to get my teeth cleaned. The poor ortho tech was trying to figure out why my power chains were in so many pieces and overlapping on some brackets. While she didn’t say anything, I could see the questioning look on her face. I explained that I got the new ortho tech last time and he didn’t know the power chains were supposed to connect to all my brackets. He thought they only went on teeth 6 to 6 and not 7 to 7. Instead of removing them and redoing both chains, the person orientating him instructed him to add a segment of power chain that overlapped the existing one until the last tooth. It made it a bit more difficult to hook my elastics, but it wasn’t the end of the world. I couldn’t help but brush my teeth at the orthodontist before heading to my appointment with my back doctor. That appointment wasn’t anything special, just a check in to make sure I wasn’t having any problems and ensure my brace is fitting properly. After there, it was time to go to my dental cleaning. I gave them my updated insurance info when I checked in. Everything went well there. The hygienist was very happy with my upkeep. I need to brush behind my back teeth a little better as there was a little plaque, but no other issues. Additionally, my gum health is amazing. On my way out, the front desk informed me that my new insurance was an HMO plan (which they don’t take). I was caught off guard and pretty surprised because I knew we had signed up for the indemnity plan when my husband retired. I had a pit in my stomach. I spent sooooo many hours going through all the benefit options for medical and dental insurance to choose the best options for our family. I was trying to think where I went wrong. I went home and with my husband pulled out all the copies of the documents we had submitted back in March. Low and behold, I found the dental insurance selection form, and we had requested the indemnity plan. That required a call to the county retirement organization which took 30 minutes of waiting on hold. By the time a real person answered, my husband had to go pickup our daughter, while I had to go back to the orthodontist to have my wires put back in. I was able to talk with the representative who had to place me on hold again. She came back on the line and let me know she had found the forms, and she showed the indemnity plan as well. She submitted it for correction. My only hope is that it’s made retroactive to cover yesterday’s cleaning. Back at the orthodontist’s office, my wires were put back in and new power chains with a single piece for each top and bottom in silver were applied. By that time it was 2pm. In the short time of having my wires off, my bottom teeth separated as if they had just had the interproximal reductions done. I don’t know if it was a result of me tongue thrusting, or just the natural tendency of teeth shifting to where they want to be. I’ll try to remember to ask my orthodontist at my next appointment. Anyway, I got home and had to take my son to the doctor for his annual sports physical, then to his football practice. I got home and fed my daughter dinner then took her to scouts, immediately followed by basketball practice. I finally landed back home about 9pm.
This morning, I checked my social media - which I am not very active with at all, and came upon a post from my former civilian employer announcing the passing of a former coworker of mine. It hit me hard. He was a good 10 years younger than me with a wife and kids and had promoted to a supervisor. I broke down. I don’t know if it was only his loss, or also the loss of a coworker of my husband’s lay Thursday from the same employer (who had helped us with our backyard when we first moved in), or the fact that Monday was the 6th anniversary of my mom’s passing. I suspect it’s a combination of all 3. I was very tearful all morning, which isn’t like me at all. I’ve spent the rest of the day trying to keep myself distracted by staying busy around the house. It’s time for me to get dinner started, and then I can relax for the evening.
