Social Worker
The social worker needed to ask me some questions yesterday. Thank goodness it wasn't the one that was supposed to set up my vacation. I pretty sure I could hurt her if I had to have a conversation with her. This one asked me silly questions like, "I see you have your Masters, can you read alright?" And, "Does having this diagnosis add any stress to your life?" Really?
What The...
I'm not sure what's going on around me today, but the two patients next to me have their curtains closed. That usually means someone soiled their linens...great.
Fire Drill
Every so often they need to discuss fire safety procedures with each patient. Today was the day for me. If the dialysis machine catches on fire I'm supposed to put my hand IN the fire and turn the machine off. Sounds great. Then I'm supposed to clamp my lines and disconnect the catheter. Oh, Lord. I hope my machine doesn't catch on fire! At any time there is only 3 mm of blood in the machine, so that's what I would lose. They say that's not a big deal. Fire and blood at the same time...fun!
Medicare
I'm having another "meeting" with someone from Medicare today. I was supposed to find out how much Anthem is paying for and decide if it would be worth it for me to pay $110 a month for Medicare. As I said before, Anthem is paying for 100% of my treatments, so no need for Medicare. The social worker did tell me that some patients are required to get Medicare before they go through transplant surgery. That's something I'll have to ask the transplant team in a couple of weeks. They have open enrollment starting at the beginning of the year so if I don't enroll now I can still do that later on.
School
I spoke to my principal at school and he is totally on board with helping me next year. He wants me to come in this week with the exact number of sick days I have and we're going to go through a few scenarios. Scenario 1: The baby comes in October like planned. Scenario 2: Baby comes in August like was once suggested. He doesn't think I'll need to be part-time. I am scheduled to have a special ed teacher, Susan, in the room with me for the first 3 classes every day and he said he would feel comfortable having a sub take my place while Susan teaches. Susan is great, so I think it would work. But in the beginning that would mean she'd teach every day but Thursday. How would you feel about that if you were a parent? Not sure. Once I go to dialysis 3 days a week then I'll only miss 2 mornings a week (I'll do one on Saturday).
I guess we're getting closer to a solution, though. It will be a huge load off of my shoulders once we get it all figured out.
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Hi Kelly.... Martha sent me your blog address so I have just caught up on how you are doing. What a great outlook and attitude of positiveness you have!! I am learning a lot and I admire how matter of fact you are. I was a little worried you were talking about Kevin's Martha at first..... till you mentioned she has no legs. At first I thought, "Well maybe Martha goes to the hospital and meets you there to keep you company". Please know there are still people praying... lifting you up and sending positive energy your way. I love it that Alli is kissing your belly....I bet the wee one does too! Grace and peace with love....Bonnie
ReplyDeleteSaw this link about what questions to ask the transplant team:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.transplantliving.org/beforethetransplant/list/questions.aspx
I would also ask if they want you on only brand immunosuppressants or if generic ones are OK. We frequently review requests from transplant docs who specifically request name brand drugs. These will usually have a higher copay, but many docs feel the generics have not been adequately studied in transplant patients, and it is too much of a risk to try the generics.
Great to hear from you, Bonnie. And thanks for your prayers and well-wishes. Good thoughts are always welcome!
ReplyDelete