30 November 2009 I do care if it rains and freezes!

The sound of rain on a metal roof woke me before the alarm clock sounded off. I was able to hit the snooze bar and silence the alarm. No combination of buttons silenced the rain noise.


The trek out to the mailbox required water-resistant outer wear and the dog, as always when it is raining or has just rained; found enough new or fresh scents to completely distract her from the need to empty her bladder that she proclaimed before stepping outside. Between 0600 and 0940 we received 0.12 inches of rain. There was a brief gap in the rain cells that allowed time for a hike with Mike in a slight mist and then the rain resumed. Since 1030 we’ve had another inch. (Written at 1500)

The week promises to be full. Gloria can’t take her primary pain meds until 48 hours after her myelogram, Wednesday morning in Kingsport. She spent a good hour with various offices and departments to find out what backup pain meds she can use to help her in the next four days.

Add a rapidly passing cold front, falling temperatures, and she is unable to move without pain.

When she wasn’t on the phone, I was hunting for H1N1 vaccination locations with available vaccine and open slots. Greene County Health Department, the closest location to us, still tells us “call back_____” We’ve been hearing that for three weeks from them.

VA will eventually vaccinate me, but not Gloria. I spent 30 minutes on hold with VA this morning, finally was told to call another number, which put me right back at the bottom of the list I had been on 30 minutes ago. We know that VA was vaccinating staff two weeks ago when I was on campus for my ophthalmology appointment. The belief then was that the H1N1 shots would begin before Thanksgiving.

Local doctors haven’t ordered much vaccine, if any. At least, that hold for the ones Gloria sees.

The need to have some immunity built up before the third wave of H1N1 sweeps in as university semesters end and the vectors flee campus for homes is driving my search for vaccine.

Then, just before 1130 I stumbled across the information that Washington County Health Dept (most of our property is in Washington County with just enough in Greene County to provide some legal wiggle room at need) had appointment open 3 December, the day after Gloria’s myelogram. I called to try to finesse shots and slots, and was offered an appointment at 1800 today. It will be an uncomfortable trip in for Gloria but perhaps less uncomfortable than on the 3rd.

So we will drive into Johnson City about 1700 and visit the county health dept before finding something for dinner. Tacos sound very good to me today, or Mexican food of some sort – even Taco Hell Tex-Mex would go down pretty easily tonight.

In order to hold the pain levels down for Gloria I drove into Greeneville earlier to pick up her meds at the pharmacy, mail a couple packages, and hit the grocery store. Gasoline, when I filled up my tank, was $2.49/gallon.

Holston Valley Medical Center, site for Gloria’s myelogram, demands she bring in every bottle of medication she is taking when she shows up. We’ve offered a standard printed list, and photos of the bottles. The hospital staff claims this is a Joint Commission on Hospital Accreditation regulation. I plan on asking them how they secure those meds for people who are having procedures performed. If they sequester someone’s meds, do they obtain a pill count for each med, have it verified, and then perform the same procedure to assure the patient that all the patient’s meds have been returned?

JCHA regulations can be a bit idiotic. When I was managing hospital labs in small facilities that lacked the CAP seal of approval yet, JCHA inspections were a royal pain in the ass as they had little to do with the things that made a lab run reliably, accurately, and safely. Instead, the surveyor was usually an RN who had no knowledge of lab procedures or why labs are different than a nursing unit. I’ve had more than one argument with their surveyors. I’m really curious to see what the answer to my question about meds security will be.

Stay tuned for further misadventures of Crude and Vulgar, I can’t recall which I am today. That is determined by a complicated formula based upon the gravitational constant of a blue whale on Tau Centauri 4 and the velocity of a 4.2 inch mortar projectile at apogee in the sub-tropic latitudes.

My new glasses arrived by mail today. I think they used the wrong frames and wearing them will be problematic until I can find someone to adjust them to my face. I’d have taken the prescription somewhere else than to the company that has an office on the VA campus, except that they provide these glasses at no cost. I’ll use them driving in and home today. Rainy dark conditions will tell me if they are going to work. Fingers crossed.