Pain in the Butt!

Next Wednesday will be the 7 month milestone since my tailbone surgery. 7 MONTHS! And it's still not fully healed yet!

And as if walking around like an old man with a bad back wasn't bad enough, we had a scare last night while changing the bandages. Let’s just leave it at this: after the scare, the wound is a little bigger, and quite angry, therefore it's more painful.

Ok, with that said, if you EVER need to have Home Care nurses involved in your recovery, as I do, you need to be on top of them every day! DON'T TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER! It is their job to help you. Don't give in to their guilt trips of "we're short staffed" and "the supplies you need are expensive so let’s just visit you once per week." That's not your problem, nor should it be mine. They have shifts of nurses available 24 hours a day. And I know for a fact that they can afford to send co-op students on paid holidays. And they are funded by the government - our tax money. A cliché argument, I know, but that doesn't make it less true. (Edit - Feb. 5: And they cannot turn you down. If you say you absolutely need someone out that night, they have to oblige. It is their mandate as part of the health care system.)

It was so frustrating getting one of them out last night to monitor the scare we had that Smartbottom, a typically polite young woman, was swearing up a storm while I fended her off from seizing the phone and giving them an excuse to hang-up on us. It was like separating a ball of alley cats fighting over a piece of food. She made the Tasmanian Devil look like a figure skater!

Anyways, don't let it happen to you. It's frustrating enough that they have such tactics - probably because there are some rude patients that overreact over minor issues. But trust me, it's far worse when you give them an inch.