On Time For My Non-Appointment

I had a doctor's appointment yesterday. Well, at least I thought I did. 

I received a text Wednesday reminding me to be at the doctor's office at 8 AM Friday. Try as I may, I couldn't find the paperwork for it; I typically get a sheet telling me who I'm seeing, what's to happen, what to bring, and so on. So, okay, I must have lost it. I resolved to be at the Detroit Medical Center Friday morning.

Having been informed through the text to arrive twenty minutes early, I walked into the lobby at about 7:35. I was told by security, "You can't go up to registration (which was on the second floor) until 7:45." That makes it kind of hard to be 20 minutes early for an 8 o'clock appointment, but so it goes.

Allowed upstairs promptly at 7:45, I was called by a clerk to her workstation. I presented my driver's license as I.D. Typing into her computer the woman remarked, "Um, you just had a sonogram of your heart January 9, Mr. Cosgriff."

"Yeah, I know that," I replied.

"This says you have one scheduled today. I can't imagine why." She paused. "Maybe I should check before processing your appointment."

A few minutes later she returned. "I'm very sorry, Mr. Cosgriff. We scheduled this appointment inadvertently. Your sonogram was great and you don't need another." She paused again. "The med tech said she called and left you a message about it."

"Oh, I must have missed it, I suppose." I took my cell from my coat pocket, where I had left it on silent to not disturb anyone during registration or while seeing the doctor. Pulling up the call log I noted that the med tech had indeed left a voicemail. At 7:46 that very morning. 

Why even bother by that, uh, time? You're calling me at that late point to tell me I don't have to show? Where do you think I'd be fourteen minutes before an appointment that I was expected to arrive twenty minutes ahead of (even though I couldn't register until fifteen minutes before)? Just tell me when I get there. It's what happened anyway.

So while I had no necessary appointment, my heart had a workout just the same.

Breaking the Silence

Alec Brough was a crony of me Grandpa Joe when they were both working on construction sites together. Alec would also rent welding machines from Joe once Grandpa had left field work behind. Alec was a mountain of a man, the kind who impressed you with his size alone. Added to that was the loud, brash, and demanding way he carried himself. With his physical stature and intimidating nature, Alec was called the Bear. I'm told that it was easy to see why Joe and Alec got along. A birds of a feather type thing, although Joe was more average in build.

There came a time when the Bear had developed a serious health problem. I don't recall what ailed him exactly, yet it required a lengthy hospital stay. Me Grandpa Joe, being a man who believed in things such as visiting the sick (for as rough as he was, I can't say enough that Joe did have a sense of justice) took time to call on his old buddy as he recuperated.

Joe went to the hospital, creeping quietly through the corridors trying to show respect for the place and its current tenants. Finding the Bear's room, Joe pushed the door open slowly and deliberately so as not to disturb anyone or anything. The Bear looked to be asleep, so Grandpa eased over to the bed.

After a second or two Alec whispered, "Joe? Is that you?"

"Yeah, Alec," me Grandpa relied.

The Bear rose up to full sitting position and bellowed, "Why in the world are ya comin' in here so quiet? How am I supposed to know it's you if you ain't raisin' Hell?"

Yep. They got along all right. 

Begin the Week, End the Month

A few weeks ago I related that I'm having ankle pain, sometimes severe enough that I can barely walk, above my left foot. At the time I went in to have X-Rays taken.

They were inconclusive. Just my luck. So by the time you're reading this I hope to have had an MRI finished. My appointment was at 6 AM this morning at Harper Hospital in Detroit. It was the first appointment of the day and honestly, I leapt at it. Maybe I'm fooling myself with some psychological game playing, but I feel like I'm gaining a day on the results, being so early on and first in line. I especially like that last part. We all know how delays pile onto one another as time goes on.

What a way to begin a week. Or end a month I suppose, as it is January 31st. I truly hope that the MRI will find an easily handled issue. Perhaps the answer will only be to keep my foot out of my mouth after all.