Cat scans and truck reviews...

Thursday, July 25, 2013

I arrived early and hungry for my cat scan at Hillcrest Hospital.  I was told not to eat or drink for four hours before the procedure and was rewarded with a delicious concoction, lemon flavored, to coat my stomach to help the machinery get a better picture.  An elderly woman in a wheelchair was sitting in the same waiting room when I began to drink.  She had a stocking cap over her head and was painfully thin.

“I’ve got plenty of this stuff if you’d like a drink,” I offered as a way of greeting.

She chuckled.  “Already drank mine,” she said. 

Her name was Florence and she was battling ovarian cancer.  She’d been in the hospital for several weeks, but was being discharged later that morning.  “I guess they want one more picture of me to see what progress is being made,” she said as she attempted to hike the skimpy blanket she had over her legs up around her shoulders.

“You need another blanket,” I said and left to find her one.  I came across a nurse who pulled two out of some kind of warming oven and returned to Florence and wrapped her in them.  It was such a small, simple gesture, but I could see how much she appreciated it.  We talked for awhile before I finished my drink and left for my cat scan.

Which took all of about five minutes.  I was told to call my doctor’s office in two working days for the results of that and the blood test they’d done earlier.

I met Jason after work to look over another pick-up truck.  We took it for a test drive straight to Dan’s place where he jacked it up and climbed underneath.   “It’s gonna need the oil pan replaced and the rear differential is leaking, too.  That’ll mean you’ll be spending a couple of thousand on repairs in short order,” he said.

To hell with that.  We returned to the dealer and told him the prognosis.  He didn’t want to lose a sale and offered to knock $500 off the price. 

“I guess you didn’t hear what I just said.  It’ll cost $2,000 to fix it and you want to knock off $500?”  We declined and left.

We drove to ‘The Local Tavern’ where I had a good burger and lousy service.  It was getting late and I knew I wouldn’t be exercising so we sat and talked for an hour before I headed home to load the car with all the supplies I’d be needing to paint Savannah’s apartment the next day.  Tour Ohio was closing in on me and I was missing workouts.  I would be concerned if I wasn’t in decent shape, though I always feel like it could be better.  It could.  I could definitely use some time in the water and a little long distance hiking wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world either.