Btw, I did get into the writing class at UCSD. They had an opening turn up after all and I was at the top of the list. So my ego is a little bit assuaged. ;-) The class starts on January 18, so now I need to plan the logistics. Life was so much simpler when I could just drive!! Grrrr....

:-/

Also, we got the x-rays from the Evil Dr. Phibes, er... T yesterday and my dad took them promptly to Dr. Freeman's office. No word today, but then it's a holiday week and everyone is goofing off. Dr. Landers's nurse practitioner did admit to me yesterday that there is "no love lost" between Landers and T. But, getting him (Landers) to do anything has been almost impossible. Landers's nurse said "Doctors just don't interfere with each other that way." Then they bitch and moan about malpractice! Seems to me there would be fewer losses if they would police themselves better, rather than waiting to react to lawsuits.

It's Christmas Eve!

A quiet day for me. My parents are having the festivities over at their home. The grandkids will be there, along with their parents. They will attend the 5:00 Vigil Mass: the one for all the kiddies. Then they will have dinner and open packages. This is the first time in my life I won't be attending. I thought about taking that MTS Access mini-bus over, but I've only been on that thing once and am not that confident in it. If MTS ended up stranding me at my parents', it would not be a good night for all!

Tomorrow my parents will come over and bring my uncle. A nice, casual day like that is much more to my tastes.

Weather-wise, it's been sunny and warm this week: low 70s throughout the urban parts of the county.

SOSDD

Today Sue, Dr. Landers's nurse, called before I got up and I wasn't able to reach her later, as Landers's office is closed for the rest of the week. Sharp's Patient Relations representative wasn't able to accomplish anything either. She called this morning and repeated what Paula had already said, that we will hear from Dr. T when he comes back on Monday.

It seems that no one really gives a damn....

Today the medical saga continues. My dad came over and picked up my written request about 10:30 this morning and drove to T's office on Frost Street, across from Sharp Memorial, where T is a practicing surgeon.

When my dad arrived and presented Paula, T's secretary, with the letter, she insisted that they "do not give out originals" of x-rays and wanted him to pay for them. Then Paula told him she could not release the copies anyway, since Dr. T is out of town and he has to personally approve giving the x-rays out. So my dad was sent away with nothing, and I have nothing yet for Freeman to look at. This is crazy!!

Iliana, my Maxim case manager called Paula later in the afternoon and got the same story, with a promise that T's office will call me Monday. Later today I called Dr. Landers's nurse practitioner, Sue (she was out of the office) and left her a voice mail about the situation. Then I called Freeman and left him a description of the problems with T also.

Finally tonight about 4:35 I called Sharp's Patient Relations hotline and told a woman named Patrice about the issues with T. She was obviously unhappy with the situation, especially concerning how T's secretary wanted to charge my dad and then refused to give the x-ray copies. Patrice tried to call T's office but they were gone. Since Patrice will be out of the office tomorrow she promised that an associate of hers will call T and see if her office (Patient Relations) can free up the x-rays before 'Xmas.'

More tomorrow!

A bas les medecins!

Today I finally got a callback from Dr. Freeman. He seems very cordial on the phone. He told me that he got the records from Dr. T, but not the x-rays, and it's the latest x-rays he really needs to see. So, tomorrow my dad will carry a letter to T's office, demanding that he be given the x-rays, which he will then carry by hand to Freeman.This is all worse than getting a root canal at your local dentist! I have been working on the second opinion since November, about six weeks....More tomorrow!

Right now I'm waiting for a technician to come check out the state of my air mattress. The guy called an hour or more ago and still hasn't shown up. When he called, he said he couldn't find my address on "Caminito Ruiz." Well, duh! Maybe because it doesn't exist! Then he said his company had no record of ever having installed the mattress. When I pointed out to him that we got his company's number off the tag on the mattress, he kept asking if we got the number from the motor housing...

I realize that air mattresses are not the equivalent of Saturn V rockets, but the idiocy of the medical companies never ceases to amaze me.

Speaking of idiots, the secretary of my orthopedist promised to send my records over to Dr. Freeman, the new doctor. That was on Monday. Today when I called to check, she admitted that she hadn't: "Oh I'm just scatterbrained sometimes," she said. Me thinks she doth protest too much. Freeman's secretary already told me that the other guy's office "isn't good about sending records." I think the original orthopedist, whom I shall call "Dr. T" from now on, may just be beginning to suspect the jig is up on his neglectful treatment.

I'm doing okay, but life is a tough struggle right now. I'd love to get outof my home and go shopping, hang out at Starbuck's, buy books, meet up withmy family for Sunday brunch. None of that is possible at present, since thestate still hasn't approved modifying my van so I can ride in it as apassenger. Driving again will be at some far-off date, if ever. I'm alsoseeking a second opinion from another orthopedic surgeon, as my originalone just doesn't seem to care about someone like me, who as he says is "notgoing to run or ski."Meanwhile, that anthology editor who had my story about the spiders (whichI turned in for SS II) wrote to me that he doesn't know when he'll finishthe book, since he lives in Florida and "lost a lot of stuff in thehurricanes." So I'm in the process of going over it again to sendelsewhere; eight months is enough for that work to hang in limbo. I'm goingto submit it to City Slab, even though a story set in suburbia (but, whatelse is there in San Diego?) might not be the perfect match for them. Thestory that Judy saw in part is also on my project list. But focusing ishard, after months of rotting my brain in the hospital and in bed at home.At least I'm back to writing every day now, even if it's only journalarticles in my website's blog.

Today hasn't been a particularly good day; another segment of a particularly bad year.

To start with, I went to a new orthopedist today. I was all set to get his second opinion on how my right leg is healing (or not healing). This was the leg that received the compound fractures during the accident. Unfortunately, when I got to the new doctor's office, it became apparent they hadn't looked at the documents I had sent them (at their request). Thus, they hadn't looked at the medical release form I had signed and hadn't gotten my records and x-rays from the first orthopedist. At least they seemed genuinely embarassed by the snafu. The new doctor promised to call me as soon as he got the records. At least they didn't charge me for the visit!

The second thing that happened was I just got an e-mail from Judy Reeves rejecting my application to her invitation-only "read and critique" course. I think this was my first rejection to a class since my sophomore year at high school. I'm not sure what happened. I sent her an excerpt of a rough draft, thinking that was what she wanted. Evidently not!

Oh well, back to the "writing board."