Ash Wednesday Musings

Pics.

I have been sick with a bad cold since our first weekend in Florida, so I feel I'm not signing up for any Lenten penances. I'm actually feeling better today after a good night, but am worn out from coughing, sneezing and many nights of poor, interrupted sleep. On the mend, I hope.

St. John Vianney was crowded for 8:30 Mass -- no handshaking for me, but at least I didn't cough on anyone (how I think I got sick myself). The homily was the usual Lenten fare, full of resolve and good intentions. My mind wandered to the Ash Wednesdays of my childhood in Temiscaming, when all the schoolkids would show up for 8 o'clock Mass and have breakfast afterward in the classroom.

My breakfast was always a disgusting tuna fish sandwich which had been sitting for several hours by the time it finally got opened at my desk. The tasteless white bread, often old and stale, was by then soaked through with fish oil. I would sometimes open the damp waxed paper and sniff the sandwich before squishing it small and putting it back, uneaten, in my paper lunch bag, also blotted with fish oil. It was not a "store boughten" lunch bag, but, rather, a re-purposed bag from my mother's paper bag collection, too large to be considered lunch-worthy and altogether too conspicuous. I was envious of some kids' colorful tin lunch boxes or neat lunch bags.

Some students had milk, either white or chocolate, purchased from the teacher. I think some of them had strips of tickets that they used every day for milk. I rarely had milk, even the palatable chocolate stuff, since it made me want to throw up. Instead, I sometimes drank Kool-Aid or a related product called "Freshie", transported to school in an old jar that still tasted of dill pickles.

Some kids had cheese sandwiches; others  had pastries; many had salmon or tuna like me. Apples and oranges were shared as we talked quietly among ourselves. The jokers in the class created something of a party atmosphere, and we all tried to stretch out the meal to delay the start of the school day. Despite a late start, it stretched on an on, literally "ad nauseam".  With thirty or more paper bags full of garbage sitting in the classroom all day, the smell was overwhelming.

By the next day, we were firmly into the Lenten long haul.

Establishing Medical Care in the Tampa Bay Area

Pics.

Two years ago I had hoped that my gastroenterology clinic at the University of Minnesota would be able to find a center for my Entyvio infusion which came due during our visit to Florida. It wasn't possible, so I had to fly back to Minnesota for the procedure, and then return to Florida, all within 24 hours.

The infusion for Crohn's disease is critical to my health, and I really don't want to miss with timing. I decided that I would get the job done myself this year. I started with Health Partners, my insurance company, in the fall and got no help at all, except to assure me that the whopping bill (about $21,000 a crack, of which ends up costing Medicare about $6,000, plus the cost of the doctor's visit -- maybe $400 or so) would be covered.

I sat down with the phone early one day, thinking this would take me all morning. I tried first with a university affiliated infusion center, but had no luck. I then looked up gastroenterology practices within a 25-mile radius, and chose the one with a website that had a patient portal. I was lucky on my first call. The receptionist at Gastro Florida patched me through to Gastroenterology Consultants of Clearwater, where I quickly got an appointment and received new patient paperwork within a week. Shortly after, I got login instructions for the patient portal.

I've received the usual email and phone reminders over the last week and my appointment was this morning. The staff, both customer service and medical, are personable, competent and professional. I left with the promise of a call about my infusion appointment, scheduled for March 13.

Easy!