Albert's Place

Hospital just called. They are rescheduling Friday's esophageal dilation, because the doctor at the clinic saw something unusual in the chest x-ray that was taken at my last post-op appointment. They want me to come in tomorrow morning for a CT scan. They said the oddness in the x-ray was in the right chest area. That is where they had the drainage tube placed after my main surgery back in December 2018. The clinic doctor talked to Dr. Alley(who did the surgery) about it, and it may be just from the surgery, but they want to run the scan to make sure.

The clinic doctor had ordered the x-ray at my post-op appointment, because I told her the cough I've had pretty much since the surgery has been getting more frequent. I figured it was related to having the esophageal dilations every month, but maybe it's something else. I won't be eating or drinking after midnight, and they will have me drink a liquid before the scan for "contrast".

Scott Wilkinson on his weekly "The Tech Guy with Leo Laporte" segment said, "We all listen to music on our phones." when talking about headset converters.

Umm, no. We "ALL" don't. Only time I've ever listened to music on a phone is when I'm put on "Hold" when calling a business.

When I got to Ochsner Hospital this morning for my "pre-admission testing" appointment, I had no problem finding a parking spot close to the entrance for a change. When I entered, there were three tables set up by the doors directly inside. I was greeted by a nurse with gloves and a mask who took my temperature with an infared thermometer, then asked if I'd been experiencing any coughing, diarrhea, fevers, sneezing, shortness of breath, etc., and if I had been outside the country recently or if I knew if I had been around someone exposed to the coronavirus or not, and my reason for being there today.

I informed her I have coughing and occasional diarrhea, but it's side effects of my esophagus surgery, and I haven't been outside the country (heck, haven't even been outside the STATE in nearly 20 years!), and as far as I know, I haven't been in contact with anyone I know of who has been exposed to the virus. She then sent me to a second table, where a person, also in gloves and a mask, asked for my Social Security number, which was typed into a laptop. After they confirmed who I was, I was given a sticker to put on my shirt to show I went through the "checkpoint".

I then proceeded to Central Registration to check in. After that, up to the second floor where the pre-admission testing is done. Everything at that point was "business as usual", since I go through the routine monthly. They don't draw blood EVERY month, but did this time... two vials. I asked about the day of the procedure. They always want you to have a driver, since they sedate you completely while performing the procedure, and Mom is my designated driver. Normally, she sticks around in the waiting area with my bag of belongings until the procedure is finished. On April 3rd, she will only be dropping me off and picking me up afterward. No one else allowed but the patients. I assume they will put my bag of belongings in one of the lockers that are in the changing rooms. Not going to bother bringing my wallet, since I won't need it anyway (no one asked for ID, except for Social Security number). They got all the info they needed today, and I've had the procedure done so many times, most of the people in that department know me by sight now anyway.

When leaving the hospital, I had to stop at the third table by the front entrance and hand my sticker to another person in a mask. I also noticed, when entering and exiting, there were two armed guards present.

Spooky times we are living in, to say the least.

Geesh! I was just sitting here watching a live podcast, and a call notification on Skype popped up suddenly. Jumped about a foot out of my chair from the sound. Closed it, since I didn't recognize the name on it. Prolly spammers.

Mom is going to the grocery store (by herself) in the morning during the designated "senior hour" to pick up a few things. I'll be going (by myself) to the "pre-op testing" appointment at Ochsner Wednesday morning for my monthly esophageal dilation procedure on April 3rd. However, the day of the procedure, mom will have to come with me, as usual, to be my driver, since they won't do the procedure if you don't have one, and she's currently the only person I can rely on for that task.

Unless something else comes up, these will be the only times either of us will be leaving the house in the next couple of weeks.

Louisiana Governor issued a "stay at home" order yesterday. Unfortunately, due to my health issues the past year or so, I've gotten used to staying at home anyway, except for the occasional doctor and grocery store visits, so won't much change for me.

Andrew called from Baton Rouge this afternoon, where he's staying with my ex. He seems fine, even though south Louisiana seems to be "ground zero" in the state for the virus.

Mom had an eye doctor appointment scheduled this afternoon. They didn't call to tell her the doctor had gotten called out for emergency surgery, so it turned out to be a very short trip. Since it was just a "routine checkup" they are going to reschedule it for six months from now.

Kind of glad, in my case anyway, since they were only allowing the PATIENTS inside. I would have had to wait for her outside in the truck.

I imagine my "pre-op testing" Wednesday for my April 3rd esophageal dilation procedure at Ochsner will be "interesting" this time.

Got an envelope from the Social Security Administration yesterday, wanting me and a witness to sign a form giving them permission to access updated medical records. After they receive the form back, I'll be scheduled for a hearing (after 75 days) via video teleconferencing at a particular location.

Had to change the phone number they had on the printed form though. Guess they got the number from Myler Disability, but the WRONG number. They had my cell number as default. I only use the cell when I'm away from home, and mainly as an "emergency" phone. The rest of the time, it's plugged into the charger in another room, and I rarely answer it when it rings, since it only seems to get "spam" calls anyway. No one "important" has that number. If someone wants to get in touch with me, they need to call my HOME phone number.

It's bad enough I'm getting emails about steps the companies I've given my email address to are doing during the COVID-19 crisis, but no thanks to Gmail 's CRAPPY algorithms, I'm also getting those emails from companies I've never used or heard of before!

Then again, I've been getting emails meant for other people in Gmail nearly from the time I set up an account with them years ago. That was when I mainly just started using them as a "spam dump account". I NEVER get misdirected emails in my main primary Yahoo Plus account, JUST Gmail! I would NEVER trust Gmail with any sensitive information. No telling who might get it!