Down with Wednesdays

You know there's something about Wednesdays lately that flat-out stink. Mostly the weather is crap but they just seem to have been pretty awful for the past few months. Years even. In general, Mondays have been the day that gets people down. Not me. Mondays are fine, almost great. But Wednesdays . . . I'd rather stay up all night on Tuesday and then go to bed just as day is breaking, sleeping all day and night into Thursday morning.

Naturally, today was no exception. A steady stream of minor setbacks, annoying hurdles and seemingly insurmountable obstacles were thrust onto my path at several points throughout the day. I know all about the "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" philosophy as it is one I try to live by. But sometimes, several little things = one or more big things when they all happen within, say, ten minutes.

I had my pre-admission testing for surgery today. That in itself, was fine. I didn't experience egregious waiting times or have any wrenches thrown into the works. The plebotomist had a hard time tapping a vein to draw blood but that's to be expected; it happens all the time. And there was the following exchange with the nurse who was making sure I was physically capable of undergoing surgery and filling in all the holes in what will be my chart:
"Wait, you said you're not taking any medication. What about Omeprazole? Aren't you taking Prilosec or something for your GERD?"
"I don't have GERD."
"Yes you do."
"No I don't."
Pause.
"The pathology report says there was signs of mild to moderate blah-blah-blah. That's GERD. And you should be taking Omeprazole."
"Well I'm not. I was supposed to take it for two weeks following the endoscopy."
*whipped out my copy of the discharge instructions after endoscopy*
"See?"
*pointed to Recommendations: Omeprazole twice daily for 2 weeks*
"I didn't even take it the whole two weeks."
Pause
"Well okay, but it says you have GERD."
"Lemme ask you something. Does the path report say the mild to moderate blah-blah-blah is in the esophagus or the stomach?"
"Oh no, just the stomach. The esophagus was fine."
"And I'm having my stomach removed. So the GERD will go with it, right?"
"Yes."
"Then, ok, you can let it say I have GERD."

Of the major problems I had to deal with, the first one happened at about 8:45am. That was when I was going to put gas in my car and realized that my Unemployment Compensation that I had been expecting absolutely counting on had not been credited to my account. Then later in the day, after I was almost back to my mom's to drop her off, I realized I forgot to buy these special cloths that I need to prep my skin the night before surgery. I went to a nearby hospital to see if they had them and they didn't. A few phone calls to specialty pharmacies was to no avail. So it looks like sometime in the next three days I get to drive all the way back to Philly, burn ten bucks in gas and another ten bucks to park the car, all for a five dollar packet of Chlorhexidine Gluconate cloths. (Unless my niece can score some for me: hint hint Megz).

In between the BS, there were some very high points. The afore-mentioned easy Pre-Admission testing being one. Mom took me to lunch too at a cute little eatery with lots of cheese and cured meat. Very reasonably priced for the quality and totally casual, as we weren't dressed well enough, imo, for 10 Arts or Union Trust, which were my first two choices.

Later, the kids wanted me to play Capture the Flag and I was like, yeah right, are you crazy? It's still 100 degrees outside and it's nine o'clock, I had an awful day, the last thing I want to do is run around getting bit by mosquitoes can't you just let me wallow in my misery? Sure, what are the boundaries. When the game was over I jumped in the pool. It was like 10:30 and the kids thought that was pretty cool so they joined me. Good fun!

So it's important to always end the day on a positive note, right? No matter how awful a day it was. Even on Wednesdays.