House sitting

That's where I've been all week. Not one, not two, but three houses. My own, owing to the Missus being out of town until Thursday past. My best friend's owing to the fact that she too travels for the same company and a co-worker had a business trip where she needed child care. My house is a piece of cake now that the fence is up and the dogs can be left to patrol their little piece of paradise.

Friend's cats are low maintenance. Towers of food and water so it's just checking to make sure they're well supplied and a scoop in the dish for the neighborhood cat she feeds. I hesitate to call him a stray. He's never been malnourished. Even if he was a stray, he wouldn't be malnourished with the wealth of mice and birds in mid-America. He's just neglected. Perhaps someones outdoor cat. We've treated him for ear mites which he tolerated quite well and gets along with her cats when they're all out in the yard together. He tried to come in the kitty flap one time and that's when her guys set the boundary, "NO, you are not coming in the house." So this past winter friend picked up a smallish igloo dog house on close out and a round foam bed and kitty's pretty much set any time he wants to come around.

Co-worker has a dog, cat and teenage daughter. The kid is out of school so she can care for the animals during the day, it's just the overnights alone that were a concern. The kid is a really good kid. Not snotty, not reclusive. Doesn't think she's a woman trapped in a teenager's body so she's low maintenance too. In fact but for the night we came back to my house for BBQ with the Missus, she cooked every night. Eats healthy so there was nothing on the menu to disturb my gall bladder.

I'm starting to lean more towards the surgery. I'm amazed at how many people I work with or know from around town that have been walking around for years without a gall bladder. And I've eaten with these people and I see that they eat well. They all say that every once in a while they pay for eating something extra fatty, but that occasionally it's worth it. And the really cool thing is that pretty much every one's had it done by the same doctor, the one that I have an appointment with on the 26th.

I didn't get all my questions answered by the nurse, because she didn't have the answers, but the surgeon will. She did look into finding out if there's anyone doing the sonic therapy that pulverizes the stones, but the few she found indicated that the size of my stone is an issue and they've not had success with larger gall stones. She also pissed me off the day I went in to talk to her. I was looking for a dialogue, not some health care professional handing down unquestioned recommendation, but someone to listen to my concerns, my opinions and if warranted, poke holes in my beliefs. I was of the opinion that the stone was a relatively recent development. She is not. But rather than say that while we were in the exam room discussing my limited options, she waited and made a comment over her shoulder as she was walking down the hall away from me. She said, "I don't think this happened in just three months." and was gone. Wait a minute. I don't give a shit what you think if you don't have some facts to back up what you think. I'm not there for your opinion, I'm there for your god-damn medical expertise. Trust me, I will revisit this with her when next we speak.

I have not heard back from my regular doctor since I dropped the letter off at his office and frankly I'm surprised. I thought he would have called and said he wasn't going to change his mind or yes he was. Either way, I at least expected the courtesy of a call back. I'm not as pissed as I was at first but I'm still mad enough to make some nastiness float about the 'net.

Everyone's back in town now so I'm down to watching one house again and I'm doing pretty good on the pain front by keeping my diet low fat. Tylenol keeps it manageable during the day and the kick ass meds the nurse prescribed knock me out an night. I'm getting some good rest. Hey, I hear having your gall bladder removed is good for about a 15 pound weight loss!