Blue-Footed Musings

Earlier this week I started physical therapy for my shoulder, which has been causing me excruciating pain lately. The diagnosis: shoulder impingement and rotator cuff tendonitis. I had physical therapy for my knee previously, which I kind of enjoyed, and I hope therapy for my shoulder will turn out to be similarly “fun.” Yes, I know there will be pain, and no, I don’t like pain. But, physical therapy will also give me a reason to get out of the house, meet new people, learn new things, and make good progress. Those things I like!

My daughter decided at the last minute that she actually did want to go to the homecoming dance and would I pretty-please take her dress shopping right now? It was Friday night, after my music lesson, and I was tired, but I figured I had just enough energy left to handle a trip to the outlet mall she wanted to go to. Having been dress-shopping there with her friend just a few days before, she knew exactly which store to go to, and she found a dress she liked quickly. We popped into a couple of other stores including, of course, Lindt, then headed home with our loot. All in all, it was a good trip.

But, wandering around an outdoor mall in cold weather while still recovering from a cold turned out not to be a great choice medically speaking. Between that and the flu shot I’d gotten Thursday, I relapsed Saturday and ended up spending part of the day in bed. I got up long enough to see her off to the dance. She looked fabulous.

Last week was a big week for doctor’s appointments. Not only did I see my eye doctor on Monday, but I had back-to-back appointments with my new GP and OB-GYN on Thursday. Still feeling under-the-weather, I would have preferred to reschedule both of Thursday’s appointments. I even called up my GP’s office to see if that were possible, but they told me they were booking into April of next year. So, just as I had on Monday, I put on my mask and hoped for the best.

I don’t know that I love my new GP, but as options are extremely limited these days, I’m just glad to have one. She listened to my concerns and wrote me some relevant scripts, and that’s all one can ask. Sick though I felt, she deemed me healthy enough for a flu shot, so I got one while I was there. I love the convenience.

My OB-GYN seemed harried, which was disappointing. I’d switched to her care because she’d seemed less harried than my old doctor. Oh, well. I don’t blame her. The medical field is pretty well messed up these days. Too many patients, too few doctors. On her way out of the room, she wished me well and told me that my job was to stay “medically uncomplicated.” Ha! I doubt my eye doctor would say I was medically uncomplicated, but I suppose it’s good that at least one doctor thinks that I am.

On Monday, I had an eye doctor appointment. I would have preferred not to go out, because I was still sick. However, appointments are hard to get, so I put on my KN95 mask and hoped I wouldn’t sneeze in it. Knowing that my eyes would be dilated this time, my husband kindly chauffeured me, and at least I got to relax during the ride.

It was a long wait to see the doctor, and the news, when I finally got it, was not good. Both of my eyes have gotten worse. The left is now so bad that I’m at risk of developing a hole in my retina. The doctor referred me to a specialist up in Boston to get a second opinion.

The specialist is not in my health insurance network, and I have zero out-of-network coverage, so I will have to pay out of pocket. That’s fine, I guess. I would have to pay out of pocket regardless, thanks to my high deductible, and my eyesight is far more important to me than money. But I do worry about how much money this will ultimately cost us . . .

My hubby and I signed up for a free 7-day trial of Apple TV. I wanted to watch Foundation, and we thought it made sense to check out Apple TV’s other offerings now, with the goal of maybe trying to get a reduced-cost subscription around Christmastime if it still seemed worthwhile. My hubby set it all up using my computer and ran into no problems. But the moment I tried to sign in to cancel the trial so that we wouldn’t get charged, suddenly the website had numerous additional demands (such as my cell phone number) and persistent glitches that couldn’t be gotten around. I literally couldn’t sign into my account, even after going through several different authentication processes, and it pissed me off.

Shortly after this frustrating ordeal, I got a receipt from Apple in my e-mail. They’d charged us for the month. Grrrr.

I realize that by the time I tried to sign in, it was probably too late to cancel. And that’s on me, because I’m the one who got the e-mail verifying our subscription, and I should have read the fine print. But just because it’s my fault doesn’t mean I can’t grrr over it, and certainly all those computer glitches were NOT my fault.

Meanwhile, on the bright side, now I’ll be able to watch more Foundation and Murderbot and all sorts of other things. Anyone inclined to call me a glass-half-empty, pessimistic type, should take note of this, because I’m very optimistic about my future TV watching. 😛

Last week I was looking at the “buy free” options at the Ocean State Job Lot website. It was a crazy hodgepodge of things, including such gems as “Colorful Juggling Scarves 12 Pack” and “Cupping Therapy Set with Vacuum Pump.” Stuff everyone needs, right? There was also a set of “CPAP filters,” which I initially misread as “CRAP filters.” And I thought, “Yes, wouldn’t it be nice if we could filter out all the crap? And even better if the crap filters were free?”

On Friday I finished The Boston Globe‘s Mini Crossword in 8 seconds. That’s a new record. I realize that nobody else cares how fast I can solve the Mini, but to me it’s a sign that my brain is still functioning properly, at least some of the time, and that’s reassuring.

One tiny upside of being sick is that it was a good excuse to skip my music lesson on Friday. Lately the lessons have been more stressful than fun, and I’m thinking about quitting. Weekly lessons feel like too much of a grind right now, but I’m afraid that if I quit lessons I’ll also ultimately quit composing. I think what I really want is a teacher who is closer geographically and willing to give biweekly, monthly, or perhaps even on-demand lessons. I couldn’t find one the last time I looked. That doesn’t mean no such teacher exists. I’m paid up through the first week of November. So I will give myself the rest of October to carefully consider my feelings while also looking at other options. Today I sent e-mail inquiries to a couple of local music shops. I’m not super optimistic that they’ll have what I need, but I figure they’re good places to start. Maybe they know somebody who knows somebody, etc.