When I arrived, lugging my ‘portable’ oxygen generator, the
room had about twenty people sitting in it. “You must be Mary Gilmour,” said
the examiner. Last in. Last out. After the close, those of us waiting for a
pickup compared knee surgery outside, sitting in a row on a concrete wall. I have now finished the online renewal and paid
my fee. All I need is to get off the oxygen.
Or get smarter with the tubing. I just ran over it twice
with my desk chair while trying to plug my phone into the charger. However, the
people who supply the oxygen are very accommodating. I just got by mail a supply of
clean canula rolls and a tubing length that JG had asked for. I also got a call from
the respirologist to explain about recharging the portable machine, a call that ended
with her decision to send us a recharge cord for the car and to visit us as
soon as her schedule permits to help me with things. Her schedule puts this
meeting into May, but that is a lot better than July.
JG is out picking up debris off the lawn in preparation for
his summer occupation of mowing a great deal of grass in the area around the
house.
As of today, a day later than the meeting described above,
my General Practitioner phoned me with the news that I can drive while using
the portable oxygen generator, as long as the oxygen level in my blood is 90%
or close. I have my wheels back.
Unfortunately, my GP had no better advice about getting my blood level up to 90%+
without the boost than had the doctor at the General Hospital. Nor did she seem
to know about the Lung Health program purportedly run out of our CHC. I guess I
will follow that up myself once I get calmed down. This whole thing is Getting
To Me, frankly.
And. I addition. As I was doing some typing following writing this draft, I had, as I too often do, a series of sneezes triggered by nothing identifiable. And the last sneeze sort of hung there and would not happen. I only know of one thing more immediately and overwhelmingly frustrating than that.
Yes. Of course.
Ugh, don't you hate those stuck sneezes. Someone once told me I looked like I was having a seizure when that happened. My father in law recently had to do his fitness test too. He thought it was a great lark.
ReplyDeleteThe test is a farce, really, although it did catch one person with major confusion. The tester actually held up a drawing of a clock before asking us to draw it. And we all had to read exactly the same line of text on the vision test. You could commit it to memory and be unable to see, but recite and pass. I guess it is better than nothing, and costs are minimum. Ah, Ontario. Home of the economical manager.
DeleteYour mind seems to be as clear as a bell, which is an odd expression that I am now contemplating.
ReplyDeleteSo, you are tested for mental competency and rules of the road? Am I understanding correctly? Is it an annual event after 80?
'Clear as a Bell', on a quick Google search, showed this citation. " This simile, which alludes to the bell's clarity owing to lack of overtones, was already a proverb in John Ray's English Proverbs (1670)." Another usage, nineteenth century, describes the bell tone announcing church time on Sunday. I bet there are older ones yet, if you search more closely than I did.
DeleteRegarding the Drivers' Test. Yep. Turn 80 and you get the call. This was my first run, at 82, because the test was not run during Covid. It is quite funny, in a sad, Ontario sort of way. I will write it up, shortly.
Great news about driving! Happy for you, Mary! Hope the sneeze happened. The Deviant Art is priceless.
ReplyDeleteYou should take a look at the web site for Deviant Art. Amazing stuff. And, yes, it is a great relief, especially to JG who was doing the chauffeur thing.
DeleteCongratulations on having that Freedom restored.
ReplyDeleteI recently watched a short video wherein a younger man (twenties) was flabbergasted to discover that A Quarter Past the hour did not mean 25 minutes. He could not understand why it didn't since 25 cents = a quarter in monetary terms.
Naturally, the comments blamed the educational system. Sigh. I know for a fact that telling time is taught correctly and often in the elementary grades and in foreign language classes as well. Not their fault if some people just don't listen/retain/apply.
Yeah to you on getting your license renewed, Mary, and on being told that you could drive with the portable oxygen generator although not having to be tethered to it would be better. Hopefully, that day will come but patience can be hard most times.
ReplyDeleteMy husband will have to get his license renewed soon. I don't think they do all those tests here in Hawaii... but we'll see. Congratulations on getting your license!!!
ReplyDeleteKay, it is really a silly kind of thing. The renewal is so easy that only folk well on in senile dementia cannot do it. So, I guess that is what they are looking to find. Statistics show that people over 80 have much the same accident rate as the teenagers with their new licences and lack of common sense. We have a stepped licence program in Ontario for them and should probably have one for us seniors. Only, we usually restrict ourselves. I do not, for instance, willingly drive on strange roads after dark or in bad weather.
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