The wait begins anew

Yesterday, I decided to clear up some medical issues that have been hanging over me.

First, I called the Sleep Centre to inquire as to the status of the study that was done on me back on March 25th.

"Yes, that was reported to your doctor a week ago.  We found nothing that would explain your sleep issues."

Surprise, surprise.  I told my doctor that I had slept like a baby that night!

But it is good to know that whatever is causing my interrupted sleep, it's not apnea.

I've requested a copy of the report from my doctor and expect to have that in the next day or two.

Then I fired off an e-mail to the Joint Assessment Clinic to see if I could get any information about the progress of my referral for that second opinion.  This morning, I had a very cheery response in my in-box:

"We have just obtained Dr. Au's dictated note and your referral has been sent to Dr. Paul Kim at the Ottawa General. You will be contacted by his office to arrange an appointment and the wait time to see him is approximately 2-4 months. If surgery is an option with him, then his wait time from consult to surgery is approximately 9-10 months"

So, based on that timeline, I can expect to see the second surgeon some time in July and if he opts for the surgical route, that won't happen before next March or April.

Oh fun!

Pain has become such a basic part of my everyday functioning, what's another year in the scheme of things?  Besides, Dr. Au (the referring surgeon) has already told me that it's going to get worse.  So by the time anything happens, I guess my doubts will be erased as to necessity for the surgery.

Obviously, it's time to get on with my life and to stop this "hurry up and wait" status that I've been in for the past while.

I just have to remember to pace myself very carefully.