Update: Knee

First in a series of updates because I've been reticent of late except about ephemera.

I need an operation on my knee to cut away a piece of miniscus that has come loose from the rest and is floating around in places it shouldn't, causing intermittent havoc. I'm not in much pain, just a new kind of discomfort.

What is making me uncomfortable is trying to get an appointment to be diced and sliced. First of all, my specialist has moved from a hospital in the neighbourhood to one a 90 minute transit ride away. I could look for a new surgeon downtown, but this would mean waiting months just to get the consultation before the months to wait for surgery.

And what's worse is the doctor's new secretary. I had to leave four messages over the course of two weeks before she'd return my call. The last one was something like:

"I'm not sure what to make of your lack of response to my phone calls. As I explained, the doctor has recommended me for surgery and all I need is an appointment. I am in daily discomfort and baffled by you not returning my calls."

She finally phoned, flustered and unorganized, leaving me a message wherein she denied getting my messages (!) and making noises about me getting a "surgical package". I don't know what a surgical package is and she didn't make it clear how I should get one. I left her my fax number in case I needed to sign something and made more pleas for clarity. Two days later, I've heard nothing.

Even if I get through to her, I'm probably looking at an eight month (!!!!) wait for surgery. Hope my knee isn't permanently damaged by then. Don't tell Stephen Harper any of this. Or do or something.

Update: Renovations

It's been about two weeks since the contractor finally pulled away from our lives. Hopefully forever. The renos are all but done. We are touching up the paint, hanging blinds, assembling kits of IKEA, etc.

The whole experience was more gut-wrenching and unsettling than I could have possibly imagined. I realized that I invested way too much self-esteem in a single-handedly forcing a positive outcome and tried to control things I could only partially control. This led to deep anger and panic until I finally had to learn to let go.

My home is a very special place for me. It is a sanctuary from fear and a place where I get centred. Having it turned upside down and invaded for almost three months was horrible.

What did we learn? The whole construction/contracting industry is out of control. There is no commitment to deadlines and no long-term concern for customer satisfaction. Contractors and the trades who work for them will take on any job that comes along even if they are already working at 120% capacity. Then they'll play a maddening game of keeping each customer just on the edge of revolt and lawsuits, trying to get all the work and all the money.

Even those with intelligence and concern for quality will act like desperate madmen and cut corners as their self-made catastrophic deadlines close in on them.

We also learned that we can be our own contractors next time. Sure, we'll make scheduling mistakes that will lead to delays, but the delays couldn't be any deeper than they were with the "professional" in charge. I bet we could have saved $20,000 if we had been in charge. Of course, we weren't ready to... we needed to watch it happen once.

But now our second floor is beautiful and warm and inviting and it will be a better sanctuary than ever. I am already using our new bedroom to draw in. By Christmas/Chanuka (same date this year!), we'll be sleeping there!