Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Covering All The Bases
So I found out last night that my husband has an appointment with Sloan-Kettering tomorrow afternoon. I have to be at the nursing home to accompany him in the ambulette, which the insurance will not cover. And naturally, I want to be with him to speak to the doctor, who is kinda surprised that my husband is still in the land of the living. Maybe they'll figure if he's this strong, it'll be worth another shot at the cancer.
I'm also checking out St. Rose's Home, a nursing facility run by nuns on the Lower East Side for advanced cancer patients. The administrators at Calvary had submitted an application for Jim a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to find out if there was anything else they needed. I had also heard they have a waiting list and I wanted to make sure Jim was on it.
It turned out that yes, they had the application, and they need a pathology report. And the nursing sister who answered my questions said that they were waiting for more beds to open up in the Men's Ward, and that Jim was #6 on the waiting list.
"Well," I said glibly, "he has six more weeks before they have to discharge him from the rehab home, so if a bed a week opens up we'll be in business." The woman sounded flustered and I realized in horror what a bed "opening up" means in a place like that.
So the next step, besides hearing what the doctor has to say, is to dig through our medical files for the appropriate reports and fax them to St. Rose's. I also want to visit St. Rose's and see if it's as lovely as I've heard. I hope the nun doesn't crack my knuckles with a ruler over my joke.
I'm also checking out St. Rose's Home, a nursing facility run by nuns on the Lower East Side for advanced cancer patients. The administrators at Calvary had submitted an application for Jim a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to find out if there was anything else they needed. I had also heard they have a waiting list and I wanted to make sure Jim was on it.
It turned out that yes, they had the application, and they need a pathology report. And the nursing sister who answered my questions said that they were waiting for more beds to open up in the Men's Ward, and that Jim was #6 on the waiting list.
"Well," I said glibly, "he has six more weeks before they have to discharge him from the rehab home, so if a bed a week opens up we'll be in business." The woman sounded flustered and I realized in horror what a bed "opening up" means in a place like that.
So the next step, besides hearing what the doctor has to say, is to dig through our medical files for the appropriate reports and fax them to St. Rose's. I also want to visit St. Rose's and see if it's as lovely as I've heard. I hope the nun doesn't crack my knuckles with a ruler over my joke.
