Surgery on my mom's arm

Originally, when we went into emergency, the orthopedic surgeon thought that having my mom in a cast to heal her arm on its own was good enough.

I was surprised to hear from the fracture clinic at the hospital the following day, which was a Monday. The woman wanted us to come back to the hospital on Tuesday for a 7:30 am appointment for x-rays and more.

It was a super early appointment. Surgeons tend to operate during regular morning hours, so these appointments happen before and after surgery. We got the before.

At the in-person check-in area at the hospital, we got there at 7 am. I went up to one of the desks and got yelled at. Apparently, there is a lineup before approaching one of them. We were the only ones there at this hour.

The sign is roughly eight feet high. Although I am tall at nearly six feet, I don't look up eight feet to read signs. They should be at a normal eye level.

I said that it was confusing. I disliked when the woman at the desk said that it wasn't. First, it's how I feel. It's my first time navigating your hospital. You work here. You are used to where things are. I didn't appreciate this woman challenging my feelings.

I write user documentation for a living. I put myself into the target audience's shoes. Did you, know-it-all woman? Nope. If I find it confusing, and I'm fairly intuitive, I'm sure I'm not the only one, which includes my parents.

Second, give me a break. It's 7 am. My parents are old. We are the only ones there at this ridiculous hour. You are going to have us to go through your regular process of lining up when we are the ONLY people there? Ludicrous. 

We got x-rays on my mom's arm. The break was just above her elbow. The surgeon recommended that she get operated on -- that she get a metal rod and plates to have her arm heal.

My mom's surgery was the following day, the Wednesday, in the morning. Even getting that time was so confusing between the man who takes off stitches and the surgeon.

Thankfully, the not-so-cheerful experiences at the hospital on this day were the only ones that we had encountered. Maybe Tuesdays are simply days to avoid getting appointments here.

We have a follow-up appointment tomorrow. It's not so early. We'll see how things go.

My mom broke her right arm

Hello! I haven't been writing much here. Things have been busy.

On Sunday, July 27, at roughly 9:30 am, my mom broke her right arm. She was going up a set of stairs, gripping onto the railing on either side of her. She lost her footing, spun around, and sat down on a square platform between two sets of stairs.

She landed safely. The problem was that she was still gripping on to both handrails. My dad and I were with her. We both heard her arm snap.

I called 911. She went to the hospital in an ambulance. I drove my dad up to the hospital. It has not been easy hanging out with my dad. He does not express himself well. He has anxiety. He lets out his feelings by yelling. He is also hard of hearing.

Everything that I do is not good enough for him. He said that I was driving slowly. Um, no. The paramedics need to get my mom checked in first. It doesn't make sense for me to break the sound barrier and try and be there before the ambulance.

My mom was in emergency. She got a makeshift cast after x-rays were done. The doctor said that she'd be back in a week's time. We got a call the following day to come in on Tuesday.

It's probably my main beef. Folks at the hospital aren't great at telling patients what is going on. They also use hospital jargon that does not make sense to a regular person like me.

I'll rant about these points later. I thought that I'd document things now before I forget.

My ex never cleaned out his trolley at the office

Last Wednesday, I was in the office. There are a number of trolleys (lockers on wheels) that are locked at work. A full-time employee can get a trolley to store their belongings, as we don't have assigned desks.

The facilities manager unlocked a bunch of them. There is a high demand for them now that we are at the office more often.

I heard my manager look at the contents of one of the lockers:

This person has a toothbrush. He lived here. He was a trainer. He's long gone.

This trainer was my ex.  He left the company maybe two years ago. He never bothered heading to the office to fetch his belongings. 

The toothbrush detail was interesting. Frankly, he was more concerned about flossing, but the toothbrush was a close second.

I miss the good times being with him. I don't miss being treated like dirt and having my heart torn apart. It took a lot of strength to kick him to the curb when he wanted sex without a relationship. Dumb.

Skype

Microsoft is retiring Skype. Its two-decade existence will be a memory soon. It makes sense as Microsoft can focus on Teams.

In a way, it ends a chapter in my life. Whenever my ex-boyfriend and I would chat when he was on the road, we used Skype.

It's bittersweet. When our relationship was fresh and new, I loved chatting on Skype with him. There were a few times where he removed me as a contact. I didn't know why. He'd eventually add me back. I got anxiety when he did remove me as a contact. It was the same with Facebook. I feared that he didn't want to be with me when he removed me as a contact. I look back and it seems so silly, but it was real and caused a lot of anxiety.

I don't miss the various connection issues that we faced using Skype.

When he broke my heart, I removed him as a contact on Skype. He sent me a contact request. I ignored it.

It was a bit of his own medicine. I'm glad that I could reciprocate.

At work, we use Teams. Before that, we used Skype. I won't miss it.

The ex and I never communicated on Teams at work. He had left the company just before we switched to Teams.

Skype is a good marker. It cements how final our relationship is.

Messaging an old friend

I wrote a while back that I had found my best friend from grade 7. I was contemplating whether to contact her.

Since then, I have been watching her reels on Instagram and hearing what she has to say. It took a recent reel in which she talked about trying to tell folks about her torture through her body language that encouraged me to finally contact her.

I remember her jumping at touch. She would walk fast with her arms crossed in front of her chest when she was upset. She had that flee instinct.

She was brave to state in grade 8 that she was sexually abused. She didn't spill all the beans about being tortured in a cult because she was still a part of it. It was tough for her to escape and be safe.

I am glad that I contacted her. I let her know that I have always believed her. I hope that she writes back. We'll see.

Heading back to work today

I go back to work today. Luckily, our company goes into the office once a week. It's not Monday, so I'm happy.

I will admit that it was nice working a single day between December 13 and now. I will miss sleeping in and focusing on getting better health-wise.

I am down to a mild cough. I also find that I get tired faster. I'm not sure if it's because I have been indulging in carbs over the holidays or if it's a symptom of coughing up a lung.

If you are heading back to work this week, I wish you an easy transition. I am now trying to figure out when I should take my next vacation!

Happy 2025!

Happy 2025, everyone! I hope that it's a joyous, healthy, properous, and memorable year for you.

Earlier today, I got a text message from my ex, wishing me a happy new year. His text is likely due to my reaching out to him last month because I didn't have the funds to check in to a hotel.

He asked me a day later if I had called him. It was disappointing that it took him a day to respond. I felt like it reinforced one reason why I don't want him in my life. He was never there for me when I needed him to be.

I have been on the fence about responding to his text. I decided not to. My reaching out was out of urgency. I don't want him in my life and my calling him wasn't an invitation to start a text chat.