Yay! Yay! Double yay!

So let's just say I am really glad I was in the office at work when my phone rang today. it was the doctor's office calling to tell me that my test results came back negative on the inner biopsy and with mild dysplasia on the outer one which means she will sign off on a 15 month check up with a pap and colposcopy! Fingers crossed for this to be an acceptable accommodation!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

We PC Kids are all about the Clearances.

This being said, I sent in my dental stuff last Thursday because, in all honesty, I want SOME kind of clearance. 
Medical on the other hand, still waiting on lab results from the colposcopy.  Tomorrow's to do list is varicella titer testing!  I found myself quite annoyed I need a doctor to order the lab work when I called the lab last Friday, so after I called them I made a call to my doctor and found my way to her answering machiene.  I left a message telling her I need the test done and to find out if she could order them.  Lo and behold her assistant called today letting me know I could pick up the order. Yay!

On another note: I have found myself amused at the snowball effect of my Skype post. Copy Catters! ;-)

Bulgaria in March?!

AH! This whole time I have only been anticipating Albania or Ukraine for an EE March departure, but apparently Bulgaria is scheduled to depart in the last week of the month!  Now I REALLY REALLY want to get this stuff done.

Well that was no fun.

Thumbs down to a colposcopy. 
Discomfort is a bitch and I hate cramping.

Fingers crossed for not-bad test results (because in all reality, they will doubtfully be "good" test results as the HPV is there).

The doctor seems apprehensive about clearing me for a 15 month screening, even with not-bad test results.  We will see and hopefully everything will work out and I will be able to leave in March. 

I have a booster shot left for tetanus and, apparently, they don't have a booster for polio (according to the health department) but I did get a shot for it prior to 18, so I am confused on this part of the paperwork.  It would also appear that the doctor writing that I have had chicken pox probably won't do it, so titer testing for immunity it is.

It appears Skype is the thing to do.

Hello fellow PCers.  Do you have AIM  Skype? Hey! So do I (now)! Let's chat.  Support is definitely helpful, especially since, as most of us have learned, it is easy to wear out our friends and family with PC worries and hopes.

Skype Name: kimberley.rawr

Getting Anxious.

I have officially finished my dental stuff as of today and I have what will hopefully be my final doctor's visit next week for my colposcopy.  I am hoping the results are such that I can get away with being signed off for a full HPV screening in 15 months (which the doctor seemed okay with doing when I told her 6 month paps would get me deferred).  Fingers crossed I can get this packet out by the end of the month.  I also need two booster shots.  Fun stuff.

The closer I get to finsishing, the more anxious I am becoming about getting invited *fingers crossed* and leaving for the fatastic adventure that is the Peace Corps.  Seeing people getting medically cleared and invited for the first quarter of next year, only makes me think "That could be me!"

New glasses

I have never worn glasses in my life.  My eyes aren't bad by any stretch of the word, but I could be seeing better, hence the new glasses.  This is going to be an adjustment...

Anyone have any idea how long it takes for your eyes to adjust to lenses?

Goodbye Teeth of Wisdomy Goodness!

I had the wisodm teeth on my right side removed today at around 2p.  Suffice it to say, that side of my face is still numb.

It really wasn't so bad.  I didn't get knocked out or have them gas me up for it, just good ole shots to the gums for some numbing action.

Seeing as how the pain has not kicked in yet, I am not looking forward to it.  I head back to the dentist for wisdom teeth part two on Thursday and to finish my fillings on the left side.

So, to those who have not had them removed yet: don't be skurred! The actual removal part really wasn't so bad, scary, or painful.  But I will let you know about how the post pain is once my face regains feeling.

Update 9/19: Holy cow the left side of my mouth hurts. It is not a sharp pain, but a throbbing intense dull pain, if that makes any sense.  The bottom wisdom tooth was a stubborn little guy to get out, so basically more trauma=more pain.

Recent PCV Murder in Lesotho

WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 4, 2010 – Peace Corps Director Aaron S. Williams is saddened to announce the death of Peace Corps volunteer Thomas “Tom” Maresco in Lesotho. Tom, 24, died as a result of a gunshot wound on Sept. 3 in Maseru, the capital of Lesotho. The investigation into this incident is ongoing, but at this time it appears it may have been an attempted robbery.

I am pretty sure this is his blog.
RIP Tom.

Consults are pretty bogus.

Instead of a consult, it should be called a "money kidnapping session."  If I call to make an appointment of a colposcopy, I expect to have the procedure done on the day I made the appointment for, not to be charged for a talking session.  Stupid doctor's office! 

At least I know that I will be needing $500 when I go and have it done (eep!).  And I get to have it done a week after my wisdom teeth removal.  Fun week for PC related excitement. 

Edit 9/20: Thank goodness! I received a phone call today letting me know my co-pay for the colposcopy is  only going to be $189.68!  Far better than $500.

In Other News..

   I started volunteering on Friday!

   I am volunteering at a local library with a program that does ESL and Adult Literacy (reading and writing).  I am a volunteer tutor and I am charged with helping an older Chinese lady learn to read.  She is pretty awesome and has such a great attitude.
    She told me that she came from a very poor farming family in China and had a pretty wicked witch of a step mother.  For Chinese New Year, (if memory serves me correct from her story) she was supposed to get new shoes to wear every CNY, but her step mom refused to purchase new ones for her, so  she was forced to wear the same pair of shoes each year from the ages of 5 to 12.  I was also told that school was never made an important aspect of her life because farm kids went to school and then came home and worked, so there was no time for homework and it wasn't seen as important.  Some of the punishments she endured I could never imagine putting a child through.  For instance, she was in charge of getting water from the well every morning and cooking before school, so she was constantly late for school.  When her teacher finally said something to her about, she told him about her morning chores.  He didn't believe her because it sounded so outrageous.  Her teacher spoke with her parents, who denied it, and her parents punishment was that she had to stand outside all night with a piece of large circumference bamboo behind her knees and another just under her knees in the front, then they were tired together.  Imagine that for a second.  Your legs basically in a straight-locked position all night while standing as an adolescent.
    Her mom wanted to marry her off to get out the house she was in a 15, but J didn't want to because she felt she was too young, but eventually married a man (from what I gather) who was in the US military.  She came to the country knowing no English with what turned out to be a pretty terrible husband.  She is incredibly admirable in that she learned English from watching soap operas on TV and picked up more as she began to work.  She taught herself how to drive in an alley at night (since her husband wouldn't teach her) in a car she bought with $3,000 she saved so that she could leave and be independent.
     Now that J is retired, she wants to learn to read so that she doesn't have to ask others what her mail says and so that she can be more self-sufficient.  I really enjoy teaching her and putting the knowledge from my linguistics degree to use!  We have only had 2 sessions so far (we meet for 2 hours a day, twice a week).  They had been trying to find her a volunteer tutor since May, so she is very grateful that I came along, even if I am "a little baby!"


     Learning about J's life and upbringing really makes me realize how lucky we tend to have it here in the US, which is why it annoys me how much people take the small things for granted.  Especially when the "small things" are something as big as an education.  I was asked by the director of the program I am volunteering for what drives me volunteer, to which I replied: "I think it would be unfair and selfish of me not to use the knowledge I have to help others if, and where, I can."  Too bad more people don't take this stance as the world could use more selflessness, though I guess if more people did, it would be even more trying to get into the Peace Corps, haha.

/Forgive nonsensicalities as I did not proof read this, but hey, at least I used the word "nonsensicalities."

Holy Crap that is a BIG bill!

Click for bigger view!

Suffice it to say I am pretty relieved that I have heath insurance, and pretty good health insurance at that.  So far, it looks like I am clear on having to pay for anything except my dental stuff and booster shots, however I am sure I will be paying actual money for my upcoming colposcopy.  Bummerface.

I will say this: my doctor was so awesome about reading though everything the PC sent and making sure it was filled out fully and correctly.  I haven't double checked it yet, but we went over it together and I have a pretty good feeling it is fine and dandy.  I plan on using the checklist after I have all my tests done, shots shot up, and teeth ripped from my jaw :)

Perhaps I will do it over a glass of wine and some celebratory cheesecake.