It’s as if we are committing a crime when the itch arises to explore the world. My physician heard I was going to India and recommended that I not go due to it being a 3rd world country and then recommended 10 different vaccines with all sorts of complicated instructions and I was told to let the US Consulate know I would be abroad and to have all sorts of anti-diarrheal pills and bottled water. I ignored everyone’s recommendation and came back two weeks later just fine aside from a bout of a sinus infection which was probably caused by all of those vaccines in my body.
To compound the issue of traveling, I had to pay for most things out-of-pocket. Despite having what my doctor called, “phenomenal insurance coverage”, they wouldn’t cover pills for malaria and something else I can’t pronounce. In fact, I can only get coverage for Malaria vaccines if I contract the disease. I took my chances and came back alright. I wasn’t going to pay $400 for a set of pills.
When I needed to get my wisdom teeth taken out, it was a scheduling mess. The folks at Aspen Dental were delightful and understanding despite the fact they charged $700 per tooth and $400 for the mouth numbing procedure and anesthesia. I’ll ignore that because insurance paid 90% of the cost. The scheduling was hard because I was in Florida then Europe and then India, Austin, Boston, Miami and Boston again. They were getting frustrated because the recovery takes so long and they wanted to extract the teeth prior to giving me a cleaning but I hadn’t had a cleaning in years so that was also a priority as I had a lot of plaque and a few traces of gingivitis that was preventable with care (I’m doing better now).
What ended up happening is a delay of all procedures for 90 days until I finally stopped traveling for 2 weeks to get it done. Imagine if your job requires a lot of travel & drinking and activity. You pretty much would have to take sick days just to get a procedure.
Today’s situation was another complicated interaction with the industry when I went to the eye doctor last month to get an exam and to apply for contact lenses. Four weeks went by and no call. I called today and they said, “you can come in and we can try on a few kinds and give you a sample pair” I said that I could come in this week or next but then I’d be out-of-town for 4 weeks traveling and they let out a sigh and said, “what are the travel dates?” I explained the dates and they said that the samples are really two-week samples and then I come in for the real box of contacts and, if I don’t show up, they bill me for the samples.
“Alright, well I’m back in town on May 26th. Should I just wait until then?”
She responds that is over a month from now and I should come in ASAP but be back in two weeks. I finally will be coming in right before my trip and they’ll just talk to me when I get back but I can’t wear the contacts for more than 3 weeks as they are just samples.
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It’s frustrating to me but I guess I am the one who is traveling and causing the burden for everyone. It’s my fault that I wanted to buy a car but then had wisdom teeth taken out and couldn’t drive or talk to sign paperwork and that it’s my fault that I had the audacity to go to India or Europe or want to fly to San Francisco to see a baseball game. I guess the town clerk is pissed of that I decided to go to Belgium instead of picking up plates for my car and instead opting to keep the dealer tag on there for an extra few weeks since the car will be in my garage anyway and not be in use.
I guess I am putting everyone out for having a busy schedule.
I’m sorry to the government and medical professionals but I enjoy traveling and I’m sorry that I don’t fit the mold with all of this free time where my only scheduled appointment is watching Wheel of Fortune every night followed by an 8PM bed time. Sigh.