So I am now in full recovery from last Friday’s surgery. All went well, although the doctor said he had to cut a little deeper than he had planned. And while I do have some internal stitches, I have to be careful because the main incision is on the surface and must be left open to heal on its own.

Today was my first day back in the office, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be. But by 4:30, I was definitely ready to go home. Recovery’s been OK. I’m not in too much pain, and changing the dressings is only mildly annoying. The worst part, though, is the anesthesiologist caught my bottom lip between my teeth and the metal instrument they used during intubation, and now I have these enormous painful lip cuts from hell.

But it’s over. Hopefully, this means all my health problems will gone within a few weeks. Last month’s tooth abscess seems to have cleared up since I got the root canal, and once this incision heals, I shouldn’t have any more pain or constant infection from the undying cyst. Even my physical back in October reported that my extremely low Vitamin D levels had improved to normal. And of course, I’m still at my ideal weight (even if I’m on hiatus from the gym because of surgery).

Yes, 2010 was all about expelling the ill and trimming the fat… This year I get to focus on the good stuff.

IMG SRC: Cadavre exquis

I have very good insurance, but a high deductible ($5,000). My employer got us secondary insurance for gap coverage on our deductible, which means they cover $4,000 of it — I’m effectively left with a $1,000 deductible. This means, I pay $1,000 for my upcoming surgery. OK. Fine.

But the hospital wants payment up-front. Which means, they won’t wait for my insurance to process the claim, or my gap coverage to pay the remainder of my deductible. So, I have to pay the full amount up-front, sans the $473 allowable on my primary insurance.

Confused yet … or just pissed off?

UPDATE

Well, it’s a good thing I’ve got insurance. Total cost of upcoming surgery is $8,716.31. I am responsible for $1,000. IF I didn’t have insurance, the cost of surgery would be more than $24,000. Tell me, how are low-income citizens supposed to afford healthcare?

Well, I’ve had a few posts started, but haven’t mustered the energy to finish them. So I’ll just gloss over the past few weeks… Thanksgiving in the Valley was wonderful, came back with a swollen face due to an abscessed tooth. Had the root canal this past Monday and also saw the doctor about removing this cyst on my upper leg, which turns out is a larger (though not life-threatening) problem, which will be taken care of early next year. Work has been alright; I’m just ready for this year to be done with.

One of the great things about the past few weeks is that Brad and I have, once again, been able to hang out with our friends. Kat is one of my good friends that I met during my semester in Italy. She and her boyfriend Ryan live in Dallas, and we’ve finally been able to get our schedules in sync. Our mutual friend Kelly is in Dallas until the end of the year, and it’s been amazing to just hang out like we did back in Italy.

As a holiday gift, Kat bought us the paper wreath kit. The outcome is pictured above. We had a great evening of crafting and chatting, and even though it took a couple of “do-overs,” it came out beautiful. Monday, Brad and I put up the Christmas Tree, made some cookies, and yesterday we got all of our gift shopping done.

The holidays are here, and I’m ready to put all the dentist and doctor stuff aside, and just concentrate on what matters… family, friends, peace and love.

A nice, quiet end to an eventful week! As I mentioned earlier, the Resounding Harmony Singers performed “A Suppertime Celebration” on Wednesday evening at the Myerson Symphony Center here in Dallas. This was my first performance with the group. We’ve been practicing for this concert since August, and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. The music was fantastic. I had an incredible time. It’s been longer than 12 years since I sang in a choir, and all the joy just came rushing back. I expected to be nervous on stage, but I couldn’t have been more excited. It was wonderful. We sang our hearts out… and all for a good cause. Thanks to ticket sales, fundraisers and donations, we raised more than 200,000 meals for the North Texas Food Bank!

One of the best parts of this experiences was having my parents see me perform. They live more than 500 miles away and don’t have much money, so it’s rare that I even get to see them. They haven’t been to Dallas since last year. I really wanted them to see the show, so I bought them tickets front and center and they made the trek up here. They enjoyed it thoroughly. This was also the first time Brad has seen me perform on stage. Of course, he’s used to me singing songs from The Little Mermaid at the top of my lungs in the shower. But this was a whole new experience for him. I’m so happy he enjoyed it.

It was so nice to have my parents over for a visit. It was too quick, but Brad and I will be down in the Valley for Thanksgiving. That, too, will be a quick visit. But it’ll be nice to be with my sisters, nieces and nephew and all the family I rarely get to see.

Our fridge.

It seems we rarely get a nice quiet weekend to relax anymore. Saturday morning started out wonderfully with a trip to the dentist for a painful abscessed tooth, then rushing to the Myerson Symphony Center downtown for dress rehearsal for Wednesday’s Resounding Harmony choir concert. Despite the pain, I was somehow able to perform pretty well. The concert is going to be amazing.

But I still needed to get the final pieces for my concert outfit, which meant a trip to Aldo for some boots and JC Penney for a tie and pocket square. Then Brad and I began our two-day affair of grocery shopping. Sometimes it’s easier to split the grocery shopping into two days since we typically hit up more than one store. Saturday, we got our meat and poultry, along with some other items at Super H Mart in Carrollton. Sunday evening (after my regular rehearsal with Resounding Harmony), we stocked up on Oatmega3 bars, bulk items and a dinner for two at Central Market. We finished off with buying the majority of our groceries at Kroger.

Of course, Brad and I are so privileged that we are able to stock up on groceries — that we can afford these necessities. We rarely consider those who can’t afford food or who don’t have the ability to drive around the metroplex buying whatever they like. As I mentioned before, this Wednesday evening I will be singing with the Resounding Harmony chorus in a choral concert to benefit the North Texas Food Bank. Tickets are still on sale and range between $30 and $50, and it benefits the North Texas Food Bank. We are taking food and money donations, as well as silent auction items, and of course beautiful music. I’d love to see you there.

Today is my cat Lily’s 8th birthday. She was born a few weeks before Halloween, but that’s the day I brought her home. She’s definitely a handful at times, but I love her… despite the bites, scratches, blood and scars.

After spending the afternoon shopping for fall clothes (I love Zara!), Brad and I made ourselves up for a night out at the Cedar Springs / Oak Lawn Block Party in Dallas. We live only two blocks away from the event, but that didn’t make our evening any less stressful. We got home just as everyone had descended upon our neighborhood, and our un-policed apartment parking lot was full. Luckily, after alerting our landlord, I was able to squeeze my car into a legal spot behind the complex.

Since Brad had been feeling ill and we had things to do, we had to throw together some sort of costumes at the very last minute. We didn’t arrive at the block party until 11:30, but there was still lots to see. We had a good time overall — even if our costumes weren’t as top notch as last year’s.

Brad has created a brand new tumblr blog which documents his daily life… and many of his meals. Shown above: the meal I cooked this evening — fideo with ground turkey and black beans. If you’re interested, you can find it at http://goodbyecolumbus.tumblr.com/

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