Tuesday, March 22, 2011

That time of year

Time for the annual doctor & dentist visits!

Obviously our tax return money has been received!

Some people buy appliances or go on vacation with their tax return.

We get our teeth cleaned.

The boys each get their annual exams & any vaxes we are still behind on. I’m not longer sure where we are with either of them on that count because we’ve hit booster shot ages and the original shots were so staggered that probably some of those boosters are unnecessary right now but will be needed in 3 more years.

The vax plan I was loosely following stopped before the school aged boosters & does not mention how to deal with that. But I’d think if they only had a shot 2 years ago that they were supposed to have had 4 years ago probably the booster isn’t needed just yet.

Or maybe not.

And the doc I set all this up with left the practice 2 years ago & we’ve been randomly visiting other docs so no one has the core plan knowledge anymore.

Plus there will be an updating of ‘family medical history’ given the heart problems that have recently come to our attention.

I personally had an appointment yesterday with my main doc and was given a referral to a sleep specialist at last! Our family practice is part of a wider group all tied to a hospital about 30 minutes away (from the docs’, it’s an hour for us) so they obviously recommend specialists in group & are not so good with out of group recommendations. The group recently added 3 sleep specialists so I finally get to go see one!

The goal is to find the underlying cause of the problem & treat it so I won’t need meds regularly. I get to fill out questionnaires & keep logs & diaries & possibly do a sleep study.

Just waiting to hear back on when the appointment will actually take place.

Thursday I go to the OB for the annual stuff I should have done in December, plus I get to schedule a bewb squishing.

Go me!

The boys visit the dentist tomorrow morning for cleanings. I suspect we will hear the O word about Havoc – orthodontia.

That requires quite a bit more than tax return money so we are hoping he had a collision of the recessive ‘straight teeth’ genes that exist in both our families but neither of us was blessed with.

Visual evidence suggests we are back on that denial river & I should go make cookies.

I need a cleaning & a replacement filling for one that fell out recently.

The problem is I need to gather my courage to make that appointment & courage gathering requires time. I have to build up a wall against the knee jerk fear reaction that kicks in every time I see the word dentist.

It’s a really really big wall too.

It has 40 years of fear to contain.

And if they would just say “yep, come in in 45 minutes” I might be able to keep that courage long enough not to cry in the chair.

But they say things like “How is April 21?” on March 15th.

Courage does not stick around for 5 weeks. Getting it to last more than 5 minutes is a challenge. And it comes when it is ready, not when I want it. So I can’t sit around on April 20th hoping it will kick in.

And I am an adult. No one can make me go to the dentist. I have to make me go to the dentist.

And I don’t *want* to go to the dentist!

3 things I hate about adulthood are – paying bills, worrying about the future & making myself go do things I hate, for my own good.

What do you hate about adulthood?

16 comments:

Bunnyfreak said...

What I hate about adulthood is making myself eat healthy and exercise. Yuck.

I love the way you write by the way.

PS I am a fellow classmate in Blogging for Scrapbookers.

SciFi Dad said...

We got ours (direct deposit FTW) today too. More than half of it goes towards next years' repayment of a "loan" I took from my retirement account when we bought our house. (First time homeowners can draw money from a tax-sheltered retirement account to make a bigger down payment; then you have to repay that amount back into the account over the next 15 years.)

Rinda1961 said...

What I hate about being an adult is laundry. Oh, and making myself go to he doc for the between the leg tests and bewb squishing. Way overdue on both. Don't actually mind the dentist that much. Like my guy, and he gives me happy gas when I actually have to have any work done. That's the closest I get to recreational drugs at my age, and I kindof like it.
Congrats on getting all your appointments in - I"m jealous.
Rinda

Maya said...

I am the same as you - hate, hate, hate going to the dentist and OB and doctors in general. I am really trying. I went to the family doctor for a checkup few weeks ago. Now I just need to drag myself to do the blood work.
Hope you will find solution for your sleep problems!

LosingBrownies said...

I hate the dentist! Which reminds me, I'm due for a cleaning.

I also hate bills. I hate how complicated being a responsible adult can be sometimes.

Cheri Andrews said...

I'd have to agree on gyn appts, bewb squishings (thankfully done in October), and dentists - although I do all of them faithfully. The other thing I hate about being an adult - always being the one who has to "be the adult" - sometimes I would just like to throw an old-fashioned temper tantrum and see what my teens would make of it!

Smart Ass Sara said...

I effing LOVE the dentist. And I say this having had an unimaginable amount of work done on my teeth. My mother could have bought a trailer... a double wide trailer.. with the money she has spent on my teeth. Seriously. The key is having an awesome dentist. I still drive 30 minutes one way to the one we had when we lived in Cloquet because he is SO EFFING GREAT. And I can say that knowing that, for whatever reason, novacaine and all that doesn't work on me anymore. Seriously. I'm some kind of freak and that sucks. But it's ok because my dentist rocks. I look forward to my cleanings and visits. :)

Comfy Mom said...

Thank you for stopping by! I hate making myself eat veggies as a good example to the kids

Comfy Mom said...

Some years ours goes toward paying off loans too. Next year though we are going to Disneyworld at long last!

Comfy Mom said...

I wish one of the dentists around here did the gas, but I'd have to drive 90 minutes to get to one that does

Comfy Mom said...

I've put off various blood work tests too. I've taken to letting the doc schedule it because I procrastinate on it too much

Comfy Mom said...

Yeah, there have been times in the store that I have wanted to just throw myself down and wail like my kids

Comfy Mom said...

You are seriously whacked. :)

humel said...

I hate going to the dentist too. I try to make appointments at the same time as the kids', because then I *have* to be brave so I don't infect them with the fear. Is the theory...

What the heck is a tax return??? It sounds like money that the tax office gives to you, but that does not compute!

Ptooie said...

I spent so much time at the dentist & orthodontist growing up I refused to go to one for a decade. Then my oldest asked to go to the dentist, so I made myself an appointment too (that being a good example thing). I asked around at work for who liked their dentist on our insurance and boy I lucked out- our dentist is super nice to me and my girls. So far the oldest looks like she'll be safe from orthodontia but little one's got my teeth and that signals 2years of braces down the road...

Cheryl L. said...

I found your blog via the BFS class! Love your blog and your writing, so I'll be back! But to answer your question, I hate the bills too! It seems like just as soon as you've gotten them all written and mailed out, here comes more!! I also hate that I can't get the teacher's workdays we used to get in school. Well, we can take it, but we wouldn't get paid or guarantee that we'll have a job when we get back...