Talked to Cleveland Clinic…One day and counting…

With the utmost determination, yesterday I called Cleveland Clinic and spoke to Tina, the rep handling my file. I felt bad calling again after sending several email messages with no response over the past three weeks. Tina explained that the doctor has been on vacation and is returning tomorrow, Wednesday. Of course, he didn’t look at files in his absence to determine who takes priority in upcoming appointments.

Tina apologized profusely, especially when I jogged her memory, about how my UPS package was lost after delivery to the clinic, which was verified with the tracking order. At that point, until they found the file, I’d lost a week on the waiting list. Tina promised to work on getting me an appointment as soon as possible.

I am not holding my breath, but I am a little more hopeful that I will hear something soon. They will want me to see a cardiologist to do the ultrasound again. However, I sent them two of the three ultrasounds I had done: one in South Africa, another in Ecuador, and the third, most recently in Las Vegas.

In most cases, a medical facility wants to do its tests, and I have no problem with that. I expected another cardiology appointment. Tina is working on setting this up for me. We shall see.

So here we are, one day from departing Arizona to drive to Los Angeles to see my sister. As of this morning, before I started this post, I am fully packed. Tom will head to the Mesa Airport at noon to pick up the rental car, which we’ll keep all the way to Minnesota until May 30, which I hope is big enough for all of our stuff. We’re hauling the extra foodstuffs we’ll use in Minnesota at the Residence Inn with a full kitchen. It’s not that we’ll do a lot of cooking, but avoiding eating out when we’re not dining out with the kids will be good.

The hotel room isn’t big enough to have the family come for dinner, and since they don’t cook much, we won’t be dining at their homes. We will figure it all out once we get settled there.

Separating the packing for the road trip and the first few weeks in Minnesota was easy. Until we know when we’ll need to head to Cleveland, we won’t fully unpack. There isn’t enough drawer and closet space in hotels for all of our stuff.

Yesterday, on our way to Taco Tuesday on Monday at the VFW, we stopped by the Goodwill store to drop off a bag of clothes I no longer wear. This eliminated about ten pounds of unnecessary items. Each time we pack, I make every attempt to lighten our load.

Afterward, we stopped at Walgreens for Margie and CVS for Colleen and then went to the taco lunch. Once again, we had a lovely time and returned to our place around 3:00 pm. I did a little more organizing, after which we settled in for the remainder of the day and evening.

The taco salads we ordered were small, and by 6:00 pm, we were both hungry again. I made a huge onion, ham, and cheese omelet with bacon on the side that we shared. We are taking Margie and Colleen out to dinner again at JJ Madisons, which we all enjoyed. There aren’t a lot of restaurants we like in Apache Junction, so we’re happy to drive for 15 minutes to this establishment for today’s dinner.

Tomorrow, since we’re leaving early, I will write the post while in the car on our way to Los Angeles. Once we arrive there, the other days will be easy to do the posts in the mornings before we head to Julie’s home where we’ll spend the day. Julie has a severe ankle injury, and she’s unable to walk. Thus, we won’t be sightseeing. We’ll help her get into the car when we go to dinner each night and lunch with the cousins on May 4. It will all work out.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, April 30, 2014: