To Your Health.

I'm afraid the blog has been very far down on the totem pole of priorities these past few weeks. With my dad still in the hospital, Christmas and dealing with the Mister's continuing dodgy kidney stones, there's not been much down time around here.

My dad's been in the hospital for two months now; two different hospitals at least. The second hospital is more of a rehab place; not rehab as in "he's a meth addict", but rehab as in "after six weeks in bed, his knees have seized up like the Tin Man on the 'Wizard of Oz'." It's still a hospital, though....same circus, different clowns. He'd rather be home, but until he can walk up the two steps into his house, he's in the hosptial.

They let him out for a few hours on Christmas Day and New Years Day (again, the parallels between hospital and jail are really very unnerving.) and we got in into the house in a wheelchair.
Luckily, we didn't drop him....can you imagine explaining that one to the paramedics? ("Well, I though he had him!"). Hopefully, Dad will be home for good at the end of this month.

Thing 1 had some nasty toe surgery in November, too. She's had a persistent ingrown toenail for the past few years, and if you've ever had a banjaxed toe, you know how it can take over your life. It's hard to think of anything else when your feet hurt.
The guy who did the surgery was very nice, and very enthusiastic about his work. A little disturbingly so....he has a website and everything. ("At least he's found his niche", oberved my mother.) He explained the whole thing to the Mister and Thing 1, in the most spirited manner; he even whipped out a photo album of "before and afters". ("And he didn't even warn us!" complained Thing 1)
Anyway, she was on crutches for a few weeks, and had to wear old man slippers for a few more, and was in a lot of pain. If she thought her toe hurt before the surgery, she redefined the word afterwards.
Now she walks like a normal person again, and can wear regular shoes, but is in no rush for flip-flop season.

The Mister has had kidney stones on and off for many years; his first bout of them was when he was 8. They don't bother him for years, and then they jump up and say "howdy" and he's cut off at the knees for the duration. Usually, he can pass the stone (always a fun night) and then he's okay for a few more years, but this has bothered him on and off since August. (He had an attack when we were in England, so we got to investigate the British hospital system, which was very nice, all things considered.)
We went to the emergency room a couple of times over the Christmas season, leaving with a percocet perscription and a hearty "good luck!" every time. Finally, he was able to get an appointment with a urologist, who's set him up with a lithotripsy appointment. (Lithotripsy is the procedure whereby they pummel the stone into submission with ultrasound waves from the outside of your body. The Mister had it done before, and said it's like having someone flick their finger in the same spot for about a hundred times.)
They are hoping this will break up the stone enough for him to pass them without passing out.

Thing 2 and I are fine; so far we are not costing the health care system anything. But if OHIP goes broke in 2012, I suspect my family will be the cause.