What a shame Roger. The older we get the more time we seem to spend waiting for things.

Graham Stewart
Agile, Rodes 22, 1976
Kingston Ontario

-----Original Message-----
From: Rhodes22-list [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of
ROGER PIHLAJA
Sent: Friday, March 25, 2022 9:32 AM
To: The Rhodes 22 Email List
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] My Left Knee Replacement Got Delayed & Rescheduled

Hi All,

As many of you know, I have been waiting all winter to get my left knee
replaced.  My surgery was finally going to happen last Monday, March 21st.
But, they gave me a rapid response COVID test at the hospital the morning of
the surgery and I tested positive.  Despite having no symptoms, they sent me
home.  From home, I contacted my family doctor and she thought it might have
been a false positive.  So, she sent me to Gladwin Hospital for a  Cobas
6800 SARS-CoV-2 test.  This test has to be sent out to a central lab
facility for evaluation, which takes longer; but, it's much more accurate
vs. the rapid response test.  Sure enough, the test result came back
negative!  So, I contacted my orthopedic surgeon.  COVID created a huge
backlog for surgical procedures in the hospitals.  Because of this stupid
unreliable test, I lost my place in line and the next available surgical
date is May 23rd.  That's 2 months away!  I was supposed to be pretty much
recovered by then, not just having the surgery.  Despite the situation, they
wouldn't bump me up in line.  They did tell me they would call me if there
was a cancellation, but not to get my hopes up.

Oh well, at least I don't have COVID!  I'm scheduled to get a cortisone shot
in my left knee next week, which should help a little.

This situation throws cold water on a family High Adventure Trip this
summer.  We'll see how I'm doing by mid July; but, that's awfully late in
the year to be reserving campsites for that summer.

Sigh, I'm bummed.  I hope everybody else's week is going better than this.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium


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