Letters to Mom

Words of Wisdom when dealing with the VA: 1) never assume the VA will send over/FAX/Mail or carrier pigeon a copy of your records/MRI film/X-rays/lab results to the outside doctor they sent you to. 2) never assume the outside doctor they send you to is the right kind of doctor for your problem. For example, let's say.....you need to see a specialist for a spinal problem and the VA can't fit you in timely. They send you outside to a specialist (after you wait a couple of months for your MRI and X-ray tests). You get to the office of your new doctor and discover they know nothing about you except you have an appt. - no MRI or x-rays, no history, no medical records.  Right.  You fill out all the appropriate forms and have x-rays done (if their office does that) and go over the history with your new doctor. Your new doctor is likely to be upset at this point. He has no MRI to consult, only the x-rays and you're describing problems with your disks. He's upset because you...

Hey Ma; I injured my elbow. Want to guess which one?  grrrr we had a big truck from the power company coming up behind the house on the slope.  Grady was hunkered down and frozen. I was worried he'd bolt under the tires so I grabbed him. He went left, I went right. Want to know who wins when you're struggling with a heavy cat? It isn't the human. I've got a badly strained arm that was hurting bad enough so that I took meds during the day. Not common for me. I'm just waiting for the arthitis in that elbow to get worse. We knew that would happen when they had to rebuild my elbow with pins and several surgeries when I was 5.  I can't clean, I can't garden, I can't cook - argh.  I also couldn't focus on writing, art or embroidery work like this.