Life's Path

Friday, July 29, 2011

February 2011

Okay, now that I think we finally have all the issues sorted out with my work in regards to my overpay and such, I think I can proceed with the whole back to work process.  Unfortunately, I just received a letter from my insurance company saying that my case manager has been changed and I have someone new looking after my file.  It really is too bad because the case manager that I had was really good to work with and our communication worked out really well.

So I call my new case manager and introduce myself and tell her what is going on.  I tell her of my doctor appointment and that I have been cleared to go back to work.  She seems very uninterested about the whole thing.  I tell her that I have never been on long term disability so I am unsure of how this whole process will work out.  The only thing she will tell me is that she is sending out paper work to my doctor for him to fill out and we will go from there.  I made this call on February 7th.  Now I wait.

February 9th, I had an allergy test as one of the doctor's (I can't remember which one at this point) wanted me to do this and Glenn and I had been thinking it would be a good thing to have done as well.  So I get poked and I get itchy and nothing unknown shows up.  Pretty much everything that I knew about allergies before, I still know now.  But it is good to have an official test done with an allergist.

I spend the rest of the month waiting to hear back as to what will happen with work.  I hear nothing.  I call my new case manager and she doesn't answer my calls, nor does she feel like she needs to return them.  I am really missing my old case manager.  But there is nothing that I can do about it.  I have done everything that I need to do, to the best of my knowledge.

I finally get a response around the 23rd of February...paper work is in from the doctor but it could take a week to get it into the system.  I ask if they can rush it as my disability runs out on March 31st.  I need to get things in motion as far as getting back to work.  Again, the case manager doesn't reassure me that things are going to get done.  It is extremely frustrating to sit back and have to wait for it to all play out...at a real slow pace.  I am learning some real patience this month.  Here is hoping that things will move once we hit March.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

January 2011

I am loving this New Year.  I feel great!  It is time to move on and get my life back in full.  I schedule an appointment with Dr. Boyko at the end of January as I know it is time to get back to work.

Half way through the month, I got a letter in the mail from my insurance company that said I was back at work and that they were closing my file. I contact them to say that there must have been a mistake, I was not back to work yet. They are all confused. I now have to contact work and they are all confused. In the end, it is revealed that someone with the same last name as me had come back to work and the lady that processed the paper work did not look at the first name and just assumed it was me. Oops, that is a pretty big mistake! I ask them to please fix the situation as soon as possible. I knew that something was up because my last pay was bigger than normal and thank goodness I have a good head on my shoulders and kept the money aside and didn't spend it because I knew it was not right. We then have to go through all the hassle of paperwork to pay back my employer the money and get that all straightened around. What an unnecessary headache because someone didn't do their job properly. How can you just assume it is someone without checking out all the paper work? I wonder what happened to the person who was really back at work? Did they miss their pay? Government workers I tell ya!

I first have an appointment with a surgeon, Dr. Moysa on January 19.  I have thought for sometime that I needed to do something about my breasts.  They are bigger, not the hugest, but big and I am tired of them.  They hurt my back and neck to have to carry them.  I have to pay $120 for one bra.  I hate shopping for clothes as it is more of a chore than anything.  I have to get them to fit bigger so that they fit up top, but then they are too big in the waist area.  Or I sacrifice and make it fit in the waist area and then everything pulls up top.  It gets really frustrating at times.  But the weight of them is the biggest thing that makes my choice to do something.  I have talked to some ladies who have had breast reductions and the stories sound similar to mine and I decide this is what I want to do.

So I meet Dr. Moysa on January 19.  We have a great appointment and he says that I am a good candidate for the surgery.  (Surgery is covered by my health care in Alberta).  We discuss what he will do, the recovery and everything that I can possibly think of for this surgery.  We book it for May 10...I can't believe it will be this fast as usually just to see a surgeon is a year waiting list and I am already being booked for surgery.  But more on that later.

I see Dr. Boyko on January 27 and basically tell him that I need to go back to work.  I have been well for over 3 months now and I am bored and want to get back to normal life activities soon.  He agrees that it is time and I can now make the moves with my long term disability insurance company and my work as to how I will go back to work.  This is a very exciting thing!!!

Okay, but one more thing...my pay at the end of the month was once again, too much.  I contact work, and they didn't fill out my paperwork properly once AGAIN and are all apologetic.  I now have the hassle of having to pay them back once again.  Seriously, this is getting to be a little ridiculous by now.  But I work it out and get it sorted out.  I hope.  We'll see how the next pay period is!  Good grief.

All in all, an exciting month with my appointments, but a hassle with my work.  February should be a month of lots happening now that I am cleared to go back to work.  Stay tuned...

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

December 2010

Once again, we are full on in the Christmas season!!  I so enjoy the days and nights being surrounded by all the decorations and festivities that go on in this month.  This year, it is a true blessing to be able to enjoy it in it's fullness, without having to worry about my health.

I do have a couple of appointments that I have to attend to early on in the month.  I have an asthma test, which I know is a complete waste of my time but once again it is the doctor's just finishing up on their end of things so I go to the Grey Nuns on December 3rd.  And guess what???  I don't have asthma!!  Phew, so good to know.  (The last line is filled with heavy sarcasm)

I see Dr. Sholter one last time on December the 9th and he agrees that there is nothing he can do for me and it seems like my body has sorted itself out.  I thank him for his time and effort to help me and I bid him farewell.  I think I am done with all this doctor nonsense!

We enjoy the Christmas season and this year, even though I am feeling good, because of all the craziness that has consumed our lives, we decide to stay home for Christmas this year.  We won't  be packing up and heading to the farm.  We want to stay in one place, enjoy Glenn's kids and just focus on the real meaning of the season and be together and full out RELAX.

We spend Christmas Eve with the kids at our place.  We have a wonderful time of sharing gifts, playing some games, talking and partaking of good food.  We end the night off with a Christmas Eve service and then are home to be with ourselves.  Christmas morning was so glorious.  Just Glenn and I, waking up with no schedule, enjoying opening up our stockings and seeing what Santa brought us and then just taking the day as it may.  It was perfect!

New Year's Eve, we always go to Moxie's for dinner to celebrate the year (and also because I refuse to cook the last meal of the year)  We went to a movie and then came home and quietly rang in 2011.  Here is to new beginnings and the start of something fresh!!!

Saturday, July 9, 2011

November 2010

I am getting bored!  Yup.  Now that I am feeling so much better, I need to get out and do things.  There is only so much cleaning that a person can do.  It is nice having time off but after a while, you need to be motivated to do something.

Luckily we are approaching another favorite time of year for me...CHRISTMAS!!!  I can begin the decorating of our place, which usually takes me about a week to complete as there are many many snowmen to put up.  I love all the lights and scents and just enjoy this time of decorating and getting in the spirit of Christmas.

We also have our 9th Anniversary to celebrate on the 24th.  9 years already...it is hard to believe.  We are already saving and planning for a big trip for our 10th Anniversary.  But for our 9th, we head out on a cold night to the restaurant "Chop" and enjoy a fabulous dinner and evening out together.  It is so nice that this year I am feeling good and we can enjoy our night out together.  Happy 9th hon!!

Now we have a big weekend ahead of us.  Grey Cup is in Edmonton this year and there are many festivities going on that we are attending.  The Friday night, we are graciously invited by our good friends Michelle and Darren to attend the "Night of Champions" hosted by Damon Allen.  What an incredible event this was!  Glenn got to meet up with many past teammates and it was a fun night of visiting and getting to see everyone once again.  There were a lot of champions in that room that night!  Thank you so much Michelle and Darren!  It truly was an event not to be missed.

The Saturday, the Eskimo Alumni hosted an afternoon event called "Grey Cup Spirits" and it was another event of meeting people, and mingling for the afternoon.  The spirit in the air was incredible in the city!  We then cruised around downtown checking out many of the displays and events that were going on.  There was so much to see and do.  We hit up Japanese Village for a tasty dinner and they catered to my needs of keeping my meal wheat free.

Eventually we made it to the "Spirit of Edmonton" party and there we continued to meet up with more people that we knew and were then invited to yet another gathering in a hotel.  Jamie Campbell of Sportsnet was hosting a party and invited us to come to it.  It was so much fun!  You really had to be there, it is hard to explain the atmosphere and all that went on but before you knew it, it was 4 AM and we had no clue! 

But think about this...remember my post about the Grey Cup in Calgary last year?  How I was suffering and we eventually had to cut the day short because I was not doing well??  Now a year later and I am out 2 nights in a row to the wee hours of the morning and I am doing FANTASTIC!!  What a difference a year makes and what wheat elimination did for me!  I HAVE MY LIFE BACK!!!

We eventually call it a night and take our friends back to their place and by the time I crawled into bed that night I think it was 5:30 AM.  Ha, I haven't done that in a LONG time!  After a quick sleep, we prepare, and when I say prepare, I mean bundle up as it is going to be a cold Grey Cup game.

We did enjoy our time at the big game itself, even though Montreal won again this year.  It truly was an incredible weekend of having fun, visiting, getting my life back and just enjoying all that Edmonton had to offer for this event.

On the Monday, the 29th, I went and saw Dr. Boyko again to discuss going back to work.  We have a great discussion about it and his recommendation is that I hold off until the New Year and see how I am doing then.  He doesn't want to rush me back into anything too soon and still wants to check a few more things out on me just to make sure that I am ready to go.  I accept his recommendations and am learning to be patient and to let my body get fully restored so that I can continue to live the rest of my life out to the fullest and in good health.

Thank you November...you were a great memory!