When you are on dialysis, it tends to subsume everything else. It takes over your life, liberty, and yes, the pursuit of happiness. Thursday I broke out of that mold and traveled to the VA North Texas Health Care System Audiology Clinic to have my hearing checked out.
Almost sorry I did. Seems my right ear has excessive wax buildup and as a result I have to put softening drops in it for three days before going to my GP to have it irrigated. I stopped on the way back from the VA and bought the drops, and made an appointment for 1315 next Monday with my GP for the treatment. BTW, my left hearing aid is broken so I dropped it off at the VA for repair. So for three days I will have no hearing aid aid and attendance which will make watching TV a pain for my wife, and conversation too.
There is a good side to this story. Normally going to the VA always results in my blood pressure going up. Not this time. I arrived there early because I did not know how long the run from home to the clinic would take. I was ushered in 45 minutes early and taken good care of. Get this. The doctor thinks that given I’m on dialysis, I shouldn’t have to drive clear to the Fort Worth Clinic for care and is putting in for a waiver, actually an appeal because the VA already has said Granbury is not far enough away to grant a wavier. What a waiver does is the VA hooks me up with a more local audiology clinic for my primary care and pays for it. I had this setup when we lived in Corpus Christi and it works like a charm. Standby for updates!
Hip Hip Hooray! Kudos to the doctor making a sensible suggestion and hopefully a waiver soon!