Monday's Mill

Monday was the second (and last day) of prep for the surgery. It involved two things: a class at the hospital followed by an appointment for medical clearance.

First, the class. It was well filled, and while most people were older, as expect, a few were closer to my age. The instructor was a middle-aged woman, a social worker I think. She spoke with unending cheer and condescension; there was a patronizing quality to her presentation that suggested she was used to speaking either to the very very old or the very very young. She spend quite a bit of time extolling the virtues of the binder they distributed, particularly the page at the beginning that was blank for us to use to write down questions. Seemed a straightforward feature to me but to her it was a marvel and a wonder.

And the questions asked by patients made us thing no one had done any reading or research in advance.

We couldn't get out of there fast enough, but soldiered through the whole thing.

From there we went to see the medical doctor for clearance. For once I couldn't use my own and was assigned someone. When Liv had her SAT tutor Sunday night one of the vocabulary words was "perfunctory" and that well describes the experience. Little warmth, just lots of questions that came with the regularity of machine-gun fire. Lots of typing on her keyboard, a quick exam and out. It all felt very institutional, and left me cold inside.

We came home and made our first-ever visit to a surgical supply store to buy the kinds of products I never wanted to think about to ready the house for my return. We were both glad to have gotten this over with and too be back home. Yesterday's work day -- packed with back-to-back meetings, needs and issues -- was an absolute pleasure.

I'll work a full day today and a half day tomorrow, so I have the afternoon to do my sort of prep: get my haircut, pack, think through any needs while we're gone, do Liv's laundry, etc. And then we'll get the call with the time of surgery so we'll know when we need to be there Friday.

Shudder.