Monday, March 23, 2009

Blah!

It's times like this when I really wish my mom and stepdad didn't work for the floral industry. Rocky Mountain Ear Center's soonest opening for me to get a hearing test and to see Dr. Kelsall is May 5, which I really want to take. But there's Mother's Day, high school dances/proms and graduations, and even Memorial Day all in May going on, which stepdad NEEDS to be working, and mom will need to be working too (she doesn't work directly for the floral industry but she does help stepdad out by doing some of the floral work at her store). Mom's telling me maybe July to have the appointment. I feel that's too far off. This implant is real important to me, and I want to keep moving along if I can, which means getting stuff like the hearing tests and whatnot done as soon as possible. The sooner I get this stuff done, the sooner I can apply to the CNI Cochlear Implant Assistance Program, and the sooner I can get a decision from the CNI. I hate that I have to revolve around their jobs.

If I could, I'd just drive to Denver and take care of it myself. But I'm still too much of a chicken. I'm sure I could handle driving in Wyoming, but getting closer to Denver I'm sure I'd start to have anxiety issues. Just the thought of driving in Denver scares me. If I could get a friend or even another relative to help with the driving along with a GPS navigator to tell us where to go, great! I just don't want to have to rely on mom and stepdad so much for any Denver transportation. I'd take a bus, then have someone in Denver drive me around, but bussing it can be expensive (nearly $200 per round-trip basically). BLAH! There's going to be many trips to Denver throughout the process, I know that. But, I don't want to have to hold off appointments for so long just because of mom and stepdad's jobs. My job is more flexible, as long as my time off doesn't interfer with the supervisor's time off (we both can't be gone at the same time). Hopefully I can come up with another solution to this transportation problem (have already informed grandparents of the CT scan update, and emailed a friend [she's offered to drive me to Denver if I can drive myself down to Cheyenne, hm!] about it while asking for an email address of another friend who has gotten her implant from Kelsall, they might have some ideas). Will talk more with mom about this later, but blah.

Oh so frustrating!


(EDIT) You know what.. I'm just going to go ahead and take the May 5 date for the hearing test and seeing Dr. Kelsall (I've already emailed the Ear Center, AGAIN). I can get myself down to Cheyenne, and meet a friend there and the 2 of us will go to Denver together. She works for the state department of education, and works with the deaf kids/teens, and has plenty of experiences with kids getting cochlear implants. She fully understands the process, and has offered to drive me for this appointment (I emailed her updating her on my progress, scheduling conflicts and for an email contact for a friend who has gotten her implant from Kelsall). I already talked to my stepdad, and he says I should go for it, that I can get myself to Cheyenne just fine. It's mom that will probably be hesitate but, she'll have to realize I am 23 and growing up, and I can't be dependent on her every time. It would be nice if mom could be there so she knows what's going on and what Dr. Kelsall says.. But I'm sure I'll be taking notes somehow so I don't leave out anything. I need to be able to do things on my own without being so dependent on my mom, so be it, even if that means grabbing a friend for some of the trips.

2 comments:

sara said...

If sooner works better you could ask the implant center to let you know if they have a cancellation.

You could also see if you can meet any local (to you or to Denver) people who have been through the CI process who wouldn't mind being your friend and helping out with transportation.

I know how frustrating waiting is. I had to postpone my surgery 1 week so I could take an exam my boss wants me to do that is only offered every 6 months. I'd have been fine waiting until October!

CDM said...

I'm kind of impatient, and just really want to get things going with the process. i've already emailed the center back and told them I'd take the May 5 date if it's still available. I'll drive down to Cheyenne and meet up with a friend, and from there she and I will proceed on down to Denver together. She's fully familiar with the implant process (she works with deaf kids/teens and has had quite a few go through the implant process). Heck, she used to be my teacher at the deaf school years ago, and she's a really neat person. Step-dad's cool with the idea of my driving to Cheyenne, then going to Denver with her, but mom will be another story haha. But I'll work on her.