Tonight's picture was taken in April of 2006. Mattie was four years old. That day I took Mattie to the Reston Zoo. This was a smaller and very hands on experience, which Mattie loved. If you look closely you can see Mattie's big smile..... it was so big that he it caused his eyes to squint closed. I remember all our visits and adventures to the Zoo. Now I live closer to the Zoo and whenever I pass it by car, I am taken back in time. A time when I had no idea about the loss of a child or the abandonment of a husband.
Quote of the day: Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world… would do this, it would change the earth. ~ William Faulkner
This morning I woke up at 6am. My right arm and hand were completely numb. The numbness was so painful it woke me up out of a deep sleep! Fortunately I know this pain is carpal tunnel, which I first developed when pregnant with Mattie. I have no idea what triggered another bout of carpal tunnel syndrome. Maybe it is house chores, repetitive movements from cooking, or how I twisted in my sleep. Either case, I have been struggling all day and while home, I am wearing my hand brace.
I got my parents in the car by 10:15am (which is a feat!) and we headed to my dad's cardiology appointment. This office insisted on seeing my dad within two weeks of his hospitalization. This heart practice has various office locations all over our region. However, based on when they wanted to see my dad, I had to go to an office in Reston, VA. Given that this location is far outside the city beltway, one would think that parking would be easy and that there would be easy access for people with disabilities. FORGET IT! Given that I experienced this location for the first time last week, today, I had the where with all to bring Mattie's wheelchair with me. Thankfully I did because I literally had to park blocks away from the entrance.
The problem with this entrance is there is no layby area for me to drop my parents off. So I literally had to park with them, and then get my dad in a wheelchair and push him several blocks. My dad is of significant weight and pushing him, carrying bags, his walker, and holding onto my mom was truly impossible.
The ramp into the building was a nightmare. It was SO steep, that I needed to get a running start otherwise I would never have gotten my dad up that incline! When I finally got into the building, I felt like I went ten rounds. But it only got better. The elevator doors didn't stay open long enough for us to get onto it, and if wasn't for another patient helping to keep the door open, I am not sure how I would have gotten both of my parents in the elevator. When we finally got to the office, I was like a provoked hornet.
I literally gave the entire front desk staff a diatribe. I wanted them to know that their facility is not accessible for people with disabilities and if my parents did not have me, there is not way they could have navigated their way from the parking lot and into the building. One of the office staff was aggressive, and she tried to stop me from talking. NOPE, that only got me further annoyed. She was telling me that they are aware of the problem and are HOPING that it gets resolved in the future. I finally said to her... I hear you and understand your hopes, but do you understand me? HOPES will not solve the immediate problem for my parents or any one else with a disability. I told this office manager that central scheduling needs to alert patients to this parking issue and a note needs to be inserted into email reminders to patients about these accessibility issues. Afterall they send a remind and in it tells you where to park, but more information is needed about how people with disabilities can access this building. She finally got it!
While I was talking or yelling at the staff, apparently a nurse came out and called my dad's name. I did not hear her. But you are going to love this! Apparently another man stood up, identified himself as my dad, and the nurse started an appointment with him thinking she was talking to my dad. As she was talking to this man, she realized his weight was different from what was reported in the chart and there were other irregularities. She quickly then deduced that the man she was talking to was highly confused and she was talking to the wrong patient. Do you love it? Eventually she came back out to get us and apologized for the appointment being 30 minutes late.
It has been a day, but it did not end there! The second floor is back to having no air conditioning. It is over 80 degrees on the second floor. Truly I am ready to scream. So naturally I called the HVAC company and have an appointment on Friday. I am so sick of this back and forth with the HVAC company because they come early and that means 5am wake ups for me, in order to get everything done before he shows up.
No comments:
Post a Comment