Mondays with Mike: The Waiting Game

Hey all!

As that poppy America song goes, “I’ve been one poor correspondent.”

I’m afraid I let myself lapse into one of those phases in life where I succumbed to the sense that I’m too busy to do the things that’d I really like to do. And this little blog is something that I’ve always liked to do, and also something that is good for me. I collect and refine my thoughts in this little space, and am lucky enough to have people with whom I can share them.

I have been busy, though. I’m still working, and working hard, because, well, our retirement will be more comfortable the longer I work, yes—that’s one reason. But it’s more that I enjoy my work (most of the time) and especially enjoy working with younger people who keep me moving forward. And, having worked at Phius since it was essentially five of us against the world, watching it grow into the force for good that it’s become is pretty damn satisfying.

Besides work, well, doctors. Some are mine, some are Beth’s—we try to back each other up—two heads (and memories) are better than one. But we have reached that age where people say things like “I feel like I spend half my life at the doctor’s.” An exaggeration, but some weeks can feel that way. I mean, just my regular follow-ups take a fair amount of time. For the record, the good thing about all the doctor time is…I’m fine! If I wasn’t overweight and out of shape, I’d be even finer.

As many of you probably know, Beth has been less than fine. She’s OK, she’s still teaching, she’s still Beth, so don’t fret—OK, fret a little. She’s had a couple of vexing issues, one of which has mostly resolved, the other—lowish sodium levels—  still annoyingly stubborn. She flirts with low sodium levels and she’s just not 100 percent.

We’re resolved to figure it out, even if it takes the rest of our lives. And it might, given how long it takes to get a first appointment with certain medical specialists.

Before I go further, let me state outright that we’re lucky: We have good health insurance and we have great front-line doctors. But navigating the “system” is insane. In July Beth got an appointment (earliest available) with one specialist for Mid-September. That appointment was unilaterally postponed until December. Last week she called for another appointment with another specialist—that will be February. (I’ve followed up and nagged and will continue, but so far no luck.)

I hear similar stories from other folks. It makes me laugh (or cry) when I hear people talking about other countries’ health care being inferior. “You have to wait for care over there!” they’ll say. But I better leave that rant for another time.

For now, I’ll just say I’m glad to be back, and I’ll try to be a better correspondent.