It has been a very interesting and at times challenging journey so far. There is so much to do and so little time to do it. I have chosen to become frustrated at times, but I’m ok with that as long as I am not doing it all the time.
The hardest part for me so far, is wading through the bureaucracy. A good example of when I chose to do some frustrating happened when I visited the hospital on Monday. I drove three hours to get there for my 1.00pm appointment. I had clear instructions re time, date and place of appointment, I followed these to the letter, parking in the underground carpark which serves both the hospital and the specialists rooms next door. So far so good!
👌 Covid restrictions meant I had to be temperature checked and get a little happy face sticker to put on my chest to show I was all clear🙂, I passed that hurdle ok too! When questioned about my destination, I was informed that despite my appointment being in the specialist rooms, the doctor I needed to see was in the hospital and I had to go there.
Despite my insistence that the appointment was in the specialist rooms, I was refused entry and had to go to the hospital😳. Needless to say, the doctor was not there, they had no record of an appointment for me and had no idea what I was doing there.
It took over half an hour for them to listen to me and accept that my appointment should be in the specialist centre and contact them to confirm that. By this time my appointment time was gone.
After telling me I’d need to come back another day and my informing them that was not an option, they managed to fit me in for a 15min appointment. After my blood pressure was taken [I wasn’t frustrating by then so it was ok😂]
I was asked questions that I had answered on a prior occasion and which could easily have been asked over the phone or Zoom. I left the building and drove the three hours back home. A full day taken for a task that could easily have been done in 15mins on the phone.
Another example is my health insurance. The surgery on its own, without anaesthetist, assistants or hospital room costs, comes in at the princely sum of $7000, apparently because of govt regulations the most I can get back from my health fund is the scheduled fee of around $800, then medicare chips in another $500, the rest is out of pocket.
What the….? 😳 I am now reconsidering the value of health insurance at all. At least the hospital room is covered. 👍So keeping ones cool is a very important part of the journey😀. My surgery will be on Monday the 30th in the afternoon. It is anticipated that I will be in the hospital for around three days, then home.
Apparently, I will have the pleasure of having a catheter inserted and accompanying me everywhere I go for two weeks after that🤭 lots of new experiences! Then over the next twelve months or so I retrain my bladder and relearn how I will be able to have erections and a sex life.
The only thing certain is that there will be some dysfunction, but how much is really down to me and my preparedness to do my Kegel exercises and work with the physios and others to regain the best function I can. Like so many things in life, attitude will play a huge part, and importantly so will great relationships, and my wife Deb’s continuing support and love go a huge way to helping me through this time, as does the support of those of you who are part of Team Jeff.
