You Wanna Talk Stress?

OK, my stress level has jumped considerably. Between the hospital, work, and insurance companies (plural), they have really put the screws to me this week. I thought I was supposed to keep my stress level down? And silly me, I thought that they’d help.

I’d really like to be able to talk about what’s going on, but I’m going to have to keep things quiet for now. The kids are aware of what is going on. But I may need to get some professionals involved.

But think about it. The hospital knows that I’m a cancer patient. They should know that in order for me to get better, they would have to keep their dealings with me at a low stress level. NOT!

Amy took a job in Florida working with a BayCare hospital in Tampa. I’m assuming that it is “Tampa Bay Care.” She says they’re not the same company. And that they call their “patients” “customers!” Looks like I need to move.

I had to call another insurance company that pays my auto premium while I’m “disabled.” They sent me a letter in late February, telling me that I have ignored the forms they sent to me and that they were going to discontinue paying my premium. I called back and said that they never sent any forms to me, because I never received them. They said they’d send them right out, again!

You guessed it; I still haven’t received any forms. I called today to complain, again. They said “we’ll send out more forms, blah, blah, blah.” I told them to fax the forms to my Doctor. While they checked to see if they had his fax number, I jumped on the Internet, and had his number very quickly. So I gave them the number.

Then I called the doctor’s office to let them know what was going on. It was just a few minutes after 5:00PM and all I got a recorded message. I hung on to get an operator and asked for the office voice mail. She said I’d have to call back after 7:15AM. I explained the situation and said that I just wished to leave a message. “Call back in the morning.” Customer service?

How much do you want to bet that I’ll still have to leave a frickin’ voicemail in the morning? How much? Anybody out there with a little sporting blood in their veins? Or are you too used to being treated like a nuisance instead of a customer?

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But enough about that, my stress level is getting too high, again.

I started my beard again. My hair, what little there is on the top of my head, OK on the side of my head, has been growing out. I actually had to trim a little around the ears today.

Since the stubble on my face seemed to be growing thicker, I figured that I’d give it a try and try to get back to my personal self-image.

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Have I mentioned lately how much I love my kids and appreciate them? You’re letting me slide here folks.

I got a call from my daughter today to catch up on a few issues. When my kids were little, I never “gave” them the answers. I made them think about things for themselves. Sometimes I actually gave them bogus answers on many occasions, just to make them discount what they heard and think about the answer they were looking for.

My son took things in stride and simply looked for the proper answer. But my daughter…. She liked to confront me with my stupid answers while looking for the answer.

I mentioned today that the stressful situation on Monday, nearly “blapping” after four decades of avoiding that situation, made me realize that I was, after all was said and done, still a human. And that I had had such higher aspirations than that.

Boy did she let me have it. I haven’t laughed so hard in quite a while. She was laughing just as much. She certainly helped relieve some of my stress today.

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After all that, I may be doing better physically. I hate to get my hopes too high right now. But, I missed a dose of pain meds today and didn’t really notice until it was almost time for my next dose. That’s always good.

Kunolunkwa, y te quireo!

"As a juror, I will exercise my 1000-year-old duty to arrive at a verdict, not just on the basis of the facts of a particular case, or instructions I am given, but through my power to reason, my knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and my individual conscience. When needful, I will judge the law itself." -L. Neil Smith