The Plan...(cough cough)

So, I see the new neuro on Monday for the consult.  The last couple of days have been really stressful.  The WTF? factor has faded away and now I can think more rational thoughts.  Thoughts like: What could go wrong?  What will recovery time be?  How much work will I miss?  What kind of rock and roll street creds will I gain if I suddenly develop a bit of a British accent?   What if the new neuro isn't at all different than the old one?

A plan has developed that includes a back up.  Plan A is going with the new neuro.  I can recover at home in Oregon and all will be well.  Maybe after I regain some strength I can spend a week in Southern California and "help" Jai help out her 93 year old dad or something while I've got short-term disability insurance to help me out.  Plan B is to go to LA for the surgery.  On a lark I emailed Cedar Sinai last night and at about 9:05 this morning I got a phone call from them.  They were able to set up an initial consult on Monday.  Yeah, Monday the 27th.  It was exciting and interesting, if not refreshing, to have such a quick response.  After some further questioning, I learned that they didn't want to schedule an initial consult without the MRI data.  I said I would call them back.  Jai and I made up a list of questions and then called Cedar Sinai back again.  The basic administrative questions (do you take my insurance, etc.?) were answered quickly, confidently, and in a friendly manner.  We came up with a few clinical questions and the gal went to ask a nurse.  When she came back, we had a few more so she forwarded us to the nurse.  We had to leave a message (it was 4:30pm on a Friday).  Seems cool and I'm not going to be too surprised if I get a call tomorrow morning.  

Two things I've learned today: 1. Stop calling and asking questions of medical professionals on Friday afternoon if you don't want to wait for an answer.  2.  Jai and I wrote down all of those questions we came up with so we can ask them again on Monday, aka: we know what questions we want to ask.  So, if things are cool on Monday, then excellent, we'll probably be in the operating room on the 5th or soon thereafter.  If not, we'll be flying/driving to LA on the 3rd or maybe the 2nd after the MRI and be in the operating room on the 5th or soon thereafter.

Sometimes this seems like a big sea tanker barge of bullshit to deal with.  The picture below is one I took this morning while I was at work.  Suddenly, it's all worth it.