Chapter 98

The next thing of any consequence in my life happened two and a half weeks later, when I went to the orthopedic clinic. I drove to the High Country Multi Discipline Clinic in Dobson. It was truly a one stop shop for the person with multi ailments. I only had one thing wrong with me, that I knew about, but it was an orthopedic nightmare.

Since I was running late, and I knew how doctor's were in general, I stopped for take out coffee and a biscuit. It was from the drive thru window of a restaurant that was supposed to specialize in that kind of thing. That didn't mean that it was good, just that they served the acceptable food all day.

"Hello, I'm Sylvia Porter. I have a 11:15 appointment," I said to the receptionist who tried to look like a nurse. The clerk needed to wear a scrub suit, like I needed to wear the military garb, which I still wore.

"Hello Miss Porter, would you fill out these forms." she said handing me a dollar store clipboard.

"Sure why not, I had to fill out those same forms while I was bleeding out in the emergency room," I said with a smile. It wasn't true it was just a joke. Since there was no one who knew enough about me to fill them out, the admitting lady had come to the treatment room of the ER to ask me the insurance type questions. Once they were sure payment was guaranteed, they backed off. I sat in one of the chairs, with an end table beside it, to eat my biscuit and drink my coffee while I filled out the forms.

I couldn't answer all the questions, so when I returned the clip board, I explained about the insurance and the payment. I also explained they should have all the missing information, because treatment had been approved by someone before I scheduled the appointment.

"Yes Miss Porter, it is just a standard form. I think we have everything," the receptionist said. Since she didn't even look at the form, I assumed it was all bullshit.

"Very well," I said. "Oh could you toss this out." I handed the the bag, which contained the biscuit wrapper. I hadn't finished the terrible coffee at that time.

Soon I finished the coffee. and needed more. Of course there was not way to get any before some other kind of assistant came for me. "Miss Porter," she said from a hallway door. "Come with me please." Then she led me to a treatment room. The room was white of course with a table where I guess I was supposed to sit. But I chose to sit on the doctor's stool. Hell I was paying, I would sit where ever I wanted. At least until someone told different.

Well technically the assistant had said sit on the examining table. I had just ignored her, Yes I was acting out, but I had enough of doctors, and even lesser employees telling me what to do. I hated even more that they were being paid to order me around.

The doctor walk in holding my file. "Miss Porter?" he asked.

"Yes that's me," I said. "Any you are?"

"Doctor Harper," he said. "Now let's see what we have here."

I held up my hand. "What I have is a fucked up hand. I have no idea what you have."

"I have a patient with an attitude," he said. He did smile thank god. "You really want to lose it. You don't have the power here, this isn't a adversarial situation."

"And you don't have a patient, who you can bully. So let's try to work together," I suggested.

"I don't have a lot of patience with patients who want to show me how tough they are," he said. "I did some time as a ER trauma surgeon during my residency."

"Well, seems I have spent a lot of time in the ERs and I'm not in awe of the people who work in them," I replied.

"So what do you need?" he asked.

"I need an evaluation of my progress, and a plan to get my LEC back," I said.

"Well let's take a look at you, so we can evaluate your progress," He said. "Now if you will move to that chair, we keep for observers, we can begin." After removing the bandage, he began an examination of my hand. He manipulated it till the movements were past painful then consulted the xrays.

"I can only give you an opinion. Nobody knows what will happen in a few years, but the LEC is not going to happen in the short term. I see you refused rehab, so whatever you are doing for rehab now, double down on it. You have made about the same progress, I would expect to see with rehab, so it is working."

"Can I leave the splint off," I asked. "I feel like my hand will benefit from normal use as well as the rehab exercises."

"Do you have a rubber ball?" he asked. I nodded. "Squeeze it while you watch TV," he added. "Wear the elastic bandage though. I don't want you going without some support."

"That's what my mother said when I went braless for the first time," I said.

"I notice you didn't listen to her either. Well you need to listen to me. Those bones have knitted pretty well but holding them together a while longer can only help your rehab and that's what we both want," he said with a smile. "Use the hand for anything that isn't painful. Remember that pain is a warning from your body to your brain. It is saying stop,"

"I got it doc. Well I guess this is enough for a while." I would xray your hand again, but the insurance company wont pay, and it is pretty expensive for you to pay, just to confirm what we already know."

"Fair enough, and thanks for putting up with the attitude," I said.