Doctors, Dentists, New House & Hotel Life saga continues....

Nov 11 – Nov 28

I forgot to mention that it was time to renew my driver’s license and I should have been able to renew online, but I got a postcard telling me I had to renew in person and bring several documents proving who I am and where I live. I provided all of that last time (new law went into effect) as did Greg. Greg renewed his online with no problem. So, we went in prepared to do all that and when they asked if my address had changed and the answer was “no” I didn’t need to do any of that. They couldn’t explain why I got the postcard. I was worried about the vision test since I have been having blurred vision presumed to be related to this sinus issue. The lady really worked with me to pass it. I was 1 over what was needed to pass. She had me start at the top and work down instead of just reading the one line and that worked. I had a couple of days where I was having a hard time seeing anything my eyes were so blurry and of course one of those days was the day I went in to renew. 

Last weekend we went to a local Home Show. It was small and really didn’t have much in the way of displays other than about 5 different companies that do Bath Fitter types of jobs. We did see a Hunter  Douglas display that had quite a few displays of window coverings and that was helpful. I thought I knew which kind I wanted until I saw them in a larger display (instead of the tiny ones at Home Depot) so crossed those off my list. We saw another option that will go well in the family & dining areas. I wanted something for the sliding glass door other than vertical blinds and the vertical pleated shade looked very nice and the windows can have the same type only horizontal pleats. They have a local store we will check out when the time comes for picking colors/materials.

Nikon decided to replace my birding binoculars instead of re-skinning them. I have now received them and they truly gave me brand new binocs including new strap, covers & case. Wow, great service! They are guaranteed for life so that is great.

Wow, I’m starting to lose that nasty smell in my nose. Looks like the fungal meds worked and I’ve still got a couple of weeks of antibiotic left to finish.

Despite trying to get my sinus surgery scheduled for the last week in November, they said it was too booked up and the soonest they could get was Dec 5. She also said the surgery center could still say no, but she wanted to make sure I was available before contacting them for “special consideration”. She also said I need to come in for 3 to 6 weeks of debridement depending on how well I am healing. That’s cutting it pretty close. If it can’t be done then, I may need to ask if it’s possible to wait until we get back at the end of April.

Staying at a hotel often has some “annoying” moments. Often times, they have large groups of sports girls or boys and they can be loud and overwhelming. Right now we have neighbors that fight like cats and dogs. The woman screams and is always angry when she talks. It got so bad the other night I called the front desk as it was loud and threatening. The front desk called them, but they resumed fighting for another hour or so. Last night they started screaming, swearing and threatening again and one of them said “I can hear you A-Hole, I’m not deaf”. Without missing a beat Greg yells through the wall, “neither are we”. They did continue on and off, but not as bad as before. We’ll see what tonight brings.

The holidays usually bring an interesting crowd to the hotel. Though Thanksgiving here was not busy this year.

We went back to the models and the design center a couple of times and we feel we are as ready as we can be for our appointment on Wed.

We also took the car in to CarMax to see what they would offer for our car. We weren’t sure if it being set up for towing would be a plus or a minus, but they made a very good offer. Way more than we expected. We won’t sell it for a few more weeks and then will rent a car for the last month before the cruise.

We also did some furniture shopping just to get an idea of what’s out there. Also, helps us with making decorating choices for choosing floor and granite counter top colors. We won’t need furniture for a long time, but at least we got some ideas of what we like.

Our all-day design center appointment finished before noon. We had done so much research ahead of time that everything went pretty fast. Only a couple of “surprises”. One was that we had wanted to extend our patio past the screened in area, but our lot size couldn’t have one that long, so we will extend it as far as we can and then widen it to get the extra space. The other wasn’t a surprise, but we upgraded our tile to a porcelain. I initially was fine with the standard, but when she explained the benefits of the stronger tile, we both thought it was worth it. I was between 2 different colors of granite for the kitchen and the 2 bathrooms, and she gave me her opinion on which one she felt looked best for the master and I agreed. We both liked the kitchen one and she had a totally different option for the 2^nd bath and I changed to that. I was pleased that the house paint colors I wanted were available. (neither of our neighbors and chosen it) We went room by room making sure electrical and all other things were where we wanted them. We already knew that the decorators in our model had “flipped” the den and the tv etc. would be on the opposite wall so that wasn’t a surprise. We had a couple of other options that we said we were still thinking about and we can finalize them on Dec 31 on our final appointment.

We did the most upgrades in the kitchen. The gas range we upgraded to a convection oven, a larger microwave and we upgraded the dishwasher. We upgraded the pantry to cabinets to match the cabinets (a shiny glossy white which was the highest level) instead of wire shelves and bifold doors. Phew, glad that is over. The final appointment shouldn’t be much other than to make sure the contract matches our choices and payment of course.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We went to Orlando (a couple of hours drive) to Royal Pacific Resort and the buffet was exceptionally good this time. We took an extra long walk to Universal CityWalk and to a new hotel they have on our walk back to the Royal Pacific. Unfortunately, on the drive there we encountered an accident on the other side of the toll way and we saw numerous firetrucks, emergency vehicles and police cars streaming by us. Traffic was stopped and we were glad it had cleared by the time we were headed home in that direction. We heard later that they had been run off the road and there were 10 people in the SUV (only seats 7) and one woman was dead. Everyone else was taken to the hospital. The car that ran them off the road did not stop and they have not located them yet. So, their Thanksgiving was not so great and surely all the ones in the future will never be the same.

It was also our anniversary (27 years married and 32 together). Where does the time go?

I also found out that I can’t get my sinus surgery on the 5^th as they (and I) had hoped. The soonest the hospital had was the 19^th of December. Not enough time for return appointments for debridement 3  to 6 weeks after the surgery. So, the doc is on vacation until Monday and his nurse said she will contact me to see if the doctor has any tricks up his sleeve for getting me in sooner. If not, I’ll be going on the cruise and it will have to wait until we return at the end of April. Not ideal, but……

Monday, the ENT’s nurse called and he worked his magic to get my surgery scheduled for the 4^th of Dec. I go to the hospital for pre-op stuff this Friday. I also see the oral surgeon this afternoon on the dental tumor and see what he has in mind for treatment.

Well, the oral surgeon threw a wrench in the works. He said the tooth needs to be removed and he will suction the sinus at the same time. He was not pleased that I had such a tight timeframe as there was not time to do both procedures before we leave. IF, I healed extra fast he might have time to do the tooth then. He also said he feels the cyst is the cause of my recurrent sinus issues and he said if I just did the sinus surgery, I should be prepared to keep getting infections. Then, we discussed would it be prudent to have him pull the tooth and suction the sinus and reclose the opening and wait to have the septum/any residual sinus issues surgery after we got back. He agreed it was really the best plan. He said for me to call and discuss it with my ENT to make sure he agreed.

This morning my ENT’s nurse called and said she had discussed it with him and he agreed it was the best plan. So, they rescheduled my surgery for April 9 with an appointment with the ENT on the 6^th to go over the pre-op and post-op instructions and the surgery itself. Somewhere between those 2 dates I’ll have the pre-op appt at the hospital before the surgery. So, for better or worse that is the plan.

Phew! So, we now have all of our medical appts set up for when we get back. Dental cleanings on May 30, dermatologist on April 1. Somewhere in there I will need to set up an appt with my family doc for my annual visit with him. Geez, it’s true that after a certain age doctor’s visits become your social life…. Once all of that is done and I'm healed we can start traveling again until the house is completed.

Oh, our loud swearing neighbors here at the hotel got intolerable. It really is only the woman as the man is very soft spoken. She is very loud and says a lot of things that sound paranoid or just unusual. She swears about every other word. As the night goes on she gets worse and worse. Then, we noticed a strong cigarette smell coming from their room. (we have an adjoining room with a door). They had their windows fully open (not sure how since they are supposed to only open about 6 inches) and a fan in the window. That caused their A/C to pour in around the door and the smoke was strong. We called again to complain. Again, we hear the house phone ring and he answers it while she screams in the background saying it wasn't her with lots of colorful language thrown in for good measure. The yelling and the smoke did not stop. 

So, next day we go down to have a chat with the manager of the hotel. She said she would handle it. Smoking is illegal in any building here in Florida and it also is against Marriott's policy. 

Well, the solution was to move them one room over. At least we can't hear her anymore. We could hear her complaining to the maids that they were forced to move and mentioned our room number. So, that was unsettling. Not sure what you have to do to get kicked out of a Marriott, but seemed like that would have been enough. 

But, it's quiet and we're happy. So far, not too impressed with all the new staff here. We didn't want to move since we requested this specific room for the extra space for when we start our packing. 

We are pretty much ready for the cruise and will just need to pack everything we have gathered. 

I'm scheduled for Dec. 11 for my oral surgery unless they get a cancelation and I can get in sooner. The recovery shouldn't be as long as the other surgery so it should be sufficient time. 

Our final appt with the design center for the house is New Year's Eve. We found a few things wrong in the summary she sent us, but she said it can all be fixed at our appt. 

Never a dull moment with us..... Until next time......

Doctors, Dentists, New House and Hotel Life - Port St. Lucie, FL

October 22 – November 7

Finally, all doctor appointments have been set up. Vascular doc and ENT. Ct and ultrasounds set up and return appointments.

We visited the models and the design center to get a handle on the upgrades and color choices there are. I wish I enjoyed decorating more, but decisions need to be made and our heads are ready to explode.

We are both liking the high gloss white cabinets. I’m still not certain on the granite countertop color or the floor tiles. We added lights, patio extension, upgrading range to convection; It will take a few more trips to stare at colors and decide. Tile colors in showers and countertops in the bathrooms left to think about.

Had my sinus CT and will find out the results on Nov 1.

We counted down the last few nights in the coach and had almost everything packed and ready to go to the hotel or storage.

With an open afternoon we went back to the models and the design center and managed to spend the entire afternoon there. They have 14 models and we walked them twice looking for features to see how they look in person. Some friends of ours bought in a similar community on the other coast and they had some suggestions, which helped a lot. Thanks Janie! Spent quite a bit of time pulling out shower tile samples and putting them next to granite samples. I have the master narrowed to 2 and still debating the guest bath. Kitchen granite narrowed to 2 as well. Floor tiles narrowed down  to 2 or 3.

Sunday, we packed almost everything and moved into the hotel. Nice corner room on the top floor away from the pool. Monday, we need to go finish up a few of the smaller things and clean up and return the huge bedspread with all the pillows and shams to the bed in the coach. A couple of storage unit runs and tomorrow, they come pick up the coach in the morning. Phew!

The selling of coach went well. They came out and checked out everything (took about an hour or more). Everything was good and paperwork was signed and they drove off with it. Greg did a happy dance. Probably the easiest thing about the coach was selling it…..

Right before they got there we got a call from the design center of the house to set up the appointments. They are scheduling into mid-January right now. Greg explained we would be out of the country for 4 months and without hesitation they said let’s see if we can get you in sooner. (we were expecting having to wait until we return the end of April) So, our first appointment is the day before Thanksgiving and our second and final appointment is on New Years Eve. (gee, wonder why those dates were open? No biggie to us, so it works.

Hotel life: All of the management and staff has changed here so it has a very different “feel”. The upside is no cooking or cleaning. We do have full refrigerator and range and microwave and a dishwasher, but with limited cookware and utensils just not worth the bother. We are using Nutrisystem for convenience and weight management. Considering all the great food we ate while “on the road” we both didn’t gain all that much, but we both need to get down prior to eating on a cruise ship for 4 months and the fun and interesting food in the ports.

First garbage disposal I’ve had since 2013. It’s nice being able to flush a toilet and wash your hands  while it’s still flushing. (in the sink, not the commode…lol) In the coach you can only do one thing at a time. It's nice having lots of water pressure. I don’t have to springboard off the bathroom step to get into bed. The A/C in the hotel is “even” no hot/cold spots due to sunlight hitting the coach sensors.

My follow up appointment with my ENT could have resulted in better news. My CT showed complete blockage in my left sinus and a deviated septum. So, I’m looking at surgery. He saw a tumor that could be the cause of this. He also found a dental tumor and I am seeing an oral surgeon for that. I was hoping it was “just” a fungal infection and after I finished the meds I’d be better. (not that both can’t be going on at the same time) So, I’m now awaiting calls for them to get me scheduled. Hopefully it will be soon, so I have plenty of recovery time before we board the ship on Jan 5.

Since I did not have a positive experience with the first dentist we chose here, we visited a different one Monday. (the first one was very brusque and “dressed down” her staff in front of patients. Wasn’t much nicer to patients. Life’s too short to deal with that. The new office is very pleasant and over the top professional with cutting edge procedures. Despite having full mouth x-rays a year ago, they repeated those and more. (though less expensive than the other Dr.) So, we both had appointments each lasting 1.5 hours and they ran out of time to do the cleaning. They scheduled deep scaling/planing on both of us. I’m used to that with my mouth, but Greg has never had that done. We went back 2 days later to get half of our mouths done with the other half done in a few days.

Today, we literally spent from 11:30 to 5:00 at the Dentist. My appt was at 11:30 and she said it would be 1.5 hours. Greg’s was at 3:30 so we thought we would have time to go home between the appointments. I needed a crown and the hygienist asked if I had it scheduled yet and I said no. She said if the Dr. has time do you want to start it today. I said sure. So, I was there until it was almost time for Greg’s appointment. I go back Friday for the deep cleaning of the left side of my mouth.

I was down to 2 fungal pills and was thrilled I soon would be done taking extra meds, when I get a call from the ENT who did a culture and it was positive and they had called in another antibiotic to pick up. So, 3 weeks of that now. That one nauseates me, but I just keep crackers on hand to ward it off. They want that gone before doing the surgery. They know my tight timeframe and hope to have the surgery scheduled the end of the month. While I was at the dentist the oral surgeon called and I see him Nov 26.

I can honestly say this is getting ridiculous. I have never seen so many docs in a year (or 10 years).

I did do some “fun shopping” for a few new things for the cruise. Still have a couple of things to get. Plus, getting 4 months’ worth of cosmetic type stuff and restocking our JIC medical kit we travel with.

I have all tours full now, but one so I’m doing well with that despite so many people we know dropping out. (all for very good reasons) They all will be missed.

Well, sorry this isn’t at all interesting to read about, I too would rather be writing about travels. But, I need to get well so we can travel and I can post our adventures for the armchair travelers out there. 

'til next time...….