Dear Jim: Don’t worry about
being busy as you get older!!
People are often saying “what
will I do when I’m not working, retired etc.
Well if you haven’t gotten
there yet, fear not. You will be busy beyond description,
The first step is to make
sure you have a GP doctor. Think of him
as an orchestra leader and all the instruments are the countless specialists
scattered around the city.
First up is the blood test. This
is generally all your GP does for you. Early on everything will be in range and
you will feel proud of the fact you aren’t taking pills like those other
unhealthy friends of yours.
One day however, some reading
will have gotten lower or higher and the GP will begin the never-ending process
that will solve your problem of how to fill a day.
With requisition in hand and
picking from an outdated list of specialists within a 100-mile radius you will
have to fax it to somewhere to begin the process of getting that first
appointment. Now the only people using Fax in this day and age are doctors and
hospital workers. So, a trip to Bureau en Gros to send your Fax will take a
couple of hours right there.
After the fax is sent you can
wait for a few weeks, checking your answer machine wondering when you will hear.
Nothing? Next step is to call the
specialist.
Now they have been trained
not to answer the phone but you won’t know this right away so this will take
another couple of days. Finally, you will get into your car and drive to the specialist’s
office to ask what is what.
“Fax? Nope, never got a Fax
from you. When did you send it? Well we don’t have it.”
So, now you have added a few
weeks to the process, but you have hand delivered your requisition. They will
get back to you shortly with an appointment. Right.
So, now you have your
appointment and you show up on time. The waiting room is full even though you
booked the earliest appointment on the one day of the week the doctor sees
patients. This is sport for the receptionist who will tell you 45 minutes after
your scheduled appointment that the Doc isn’t in yet, had an emergency, went
for a haircut or whatever. So, you get to burn a complete morning. Not bad.
Now the specialist can’t do
anything right away. He will shake your hand and you will tell your friends you
have the top man in his field. (I haven’t found anyone who says “ I didn’t get
the top guy but I think he is in the top 10) He has a whole bunch of his own
tests that he likes you to do and he gives you the referrals for all of them.
This is great, because now you are on a program with things to do every day
between booking, taking and then waiting for test results
Now the specialist needs to
see you again to ..oo and ah… over the results. More tests are possible with
the really good Docs, so you get to repeat the steps above. Eventually you have
a program and usually some new pills. Some will make things go down and others
will make them go up. The fun is now you have something to anticipate as you
wait for the next round.
Back to your GP for
monitoring and sure enough it won’t be long before a new anomaly will show up
and you can begin the entire process as above.
This is great because there
is no end to this procedure.
And finally, your big task
will be sorting all the pills that look the same to make sure you are not
missing the morning or evening doses. You should buy new glasses for this
exercise to be precise because the shapes, colours and sizes are scientifically
calibrated to make this a skill equivalent to doing crossword puzzles to keep
your brain sharp. (If you happen to spill the pill box, forget it. Throw them
all out and start over)
So, there you have it. You
will be busy all the time. Nothing will be permanently fixed, just controlled
for a while, downhill all the way but you won’t wonder what to do with
yourself. If for any reason of great genes or lifestyle you are late in
starting this process you can accompany your partner to all the meetings
described here and it will be a nice bonding exercise for you both.
Oh, and by the way if you
have any major parts that need replacement you can burn up months at a time and
have great stories to tell when people ask, “how are you?” (and in case you are
naïve … nobody cares!
Finally, if you are looking
for some fill ins. Getting a tooth implant can burn up an entire year. So, keep
that in your hip pocket if you get bored.
Sincerely
Billmeder.blogspot.com
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