Sick, sick, sick, I get sicker every day!

Greetings. As promised, I am here with a new post. After saying that I was going to write a new post, I started thinking about what to write. It sometimes feels like nothing much is going on, which isn't the worst thing in the world, but it does make for a rather dull read. So, I decided to write about how I made full use of our wonderful health care system over the past 8 months, and I hope that whoever may read this may find it to be informative and entertaining, or at least worth reading.

Round 1.In March of this year I suffered a knee injury that left me somewhat disabled. A series of doctors visits and and x-rays, as well as a fair bit of pushing and pestering resulted in the decision to go for scope surgery, and in early may I visited the surgeon in penticton. I was put on the wait list, and thought I'd be there for quite some time, as I have heard the horror stories about our wait lists here in Beautiful British Columbia. Approximately 10 minutes after I left the surgeons office, I received a phone call from the receptionist at the surgeons office informing me that there had been a cancellation, and that I could have my surgery the following Friday. I realize that this doesn't always happen, but the experience left me feeling rather comfortable about the care we recieve, in comparison to many other places around the world. After a short recovery and a summer of working, my knee is back to normal and feeling strong.

Round 2. While recovering from my knee surgery, I came down with what I assumed was a normal cold. I wasn't working, so I wasn't too worried about being sick, until it came time for me to go back to work 2 weeks later, and the cold had only worsened. I managed to work a full week, but on the saturday after working for one week, I had to rush to the hospital, because my airway had shut, and I was unable to breathe unless I was standing up....not a good feeling when it is late at night and nothing sounds good except sleep. 3 days, many doctors, nurses, andtibiotics, a scalpal, and lots of blood later, I had had enough of Grand Forks' indecision and lack of results, so I went to penticton, where I saw a throat specialist. It turns out that I had tonsilitis, and my tonsil was getting so swollen that it blocked passage of air or food or water. The specialist made me feel like he actually knew what he was doing in the situation, and I recieved antibiotics, painkillers, and a mouthwash, all of which worked as they should, and A few days later I was back to normal.

Round 3. After returning home from a visit up to Prince George in late august, I started feeling severe pain in my right hip. after a week or so, the pain had moved, and for the next 3 weeks, I constantly felt like I was being kicked in the groin. More Doctors. More confusion. Of all the injuries and illnesses I've had in my life, This one worried me most. It wasn't the worst pain, nor the longest lasting, but there was just something unsettling about the location and persistance of it, and I will admit that it scared me. I saw the doctor 3 times, got some pain killers that didn't work, and had tests taken that didn't show anything. After 4 weeks of struggling to work with the pain, I was set to have time off from work to go north. Plans changed, and I instead took the time off to relax and hope for healing. Healing Came, I don't know why, I don't what was wrong, but it went away, and I am healthy again...except that it is cold season, and I seem to have caught one. There's nothing quite like the smell of vapour rub as it burns your nostrils on a crisp fall day.

I have seen hospitals; I have seen people go crazy in them, I have seen people losing hope in them, I have seen people healed in them, and I have seen people get worse in them. I do not wish to go back to one for a long time, but I am quite thankful that they are there, and that people are willing to look after the sick and hurt and disabled...It is a profession that I respect greatly, because I could not go to work every day and have to deal with sick, hurt, whiney, annoying people, and still have a smile on my face. Anyways, that is all for now.

these lyrics don't really have anything to do with my post, but they're from the new showbread album, and I like showbread, so enjoy!

The soapbox you stand on has got a few cracks
The horse that you ride is quite high
Perhaps you’re as wise as your words may suggest
or perhaps you wear a disguise
For all the wrong that you call to attention
some seems to have been misplaced
And since you speak so honestly
why don’t you point your finger right back in your own face?

-Josh dies