Plastic Perspective

So I've been too busy / tired / lazy / dazed and confused to hang out in the blogosphere lately. So I haven't been visiting my friends. I do have a little something I can say today but before I did so, I thought I'd go check in with everyone.

You see this morning, I helped Son respond to some email from a friend of his because I had just remembered to look at some cards Mr. T. (aka Teddy Bear) had emailed me yesterday but I couldn't see on my Mac. So he sent Teddy Bear-themed cards, I took a read and I saw Son had email. But before I let him respond so I could go get dressed for work, I noticed Lynn had stopped by! Well, lookey there! I know she's in deeper than I am so I was pleased. "Gotta go see what's going on in her world today," I promised myself. You see Lynn, and a certain someone else who knows who she is, has one of those lives you couldn't make up if you tried. It's not a slight against her at all. She's simply got a bloggable life and it makes fantastic reading but hearing it in person is way better. So I know it will be something good when I get there.

Knowing I need to catch up on Lynn and the certain-someone-else reminded me that Theresa had visited not too long ago and wished me a Happy Valentine's Day and I hadn't had a chance to stop back by her place too. Hey Theresa, got any suggestions for what I can do to entertain 4 8-year-old boys? I'm letting Son have a sleepover for his birthday next month - maybe - if I can stomach the thought. Should be a bloggable moment. I don't really have a ton of those, you know.

So at lunch today, I tore myself away from the millions of things I needed to do, and stopped in on Liz first. As usual her blog was looking super spiffy. (She did mine too, you know. Still grateful and loving it.) My poor Liz is having major back issues and they have been going on far too long. I know and I know she knows God has His timing but man, it just seems He's not always thinking about how WE see His timing, you know? As my pastor says, straight talk makes straight understanding and there is no sense in faking the funk as if being a Christian means you understand what God is doing at all times or feel the need to pretend like it's all right when it really isn't. I don't mince words with Him and I know He does the same for me. So Lord, I understand - in my limited ability - why people suffer and sometimes have to but I'll always yearn for you to give certain people a break sooner rather than later. Liz is one of those people.

Sigh.

So off to Theresa's place I go, where she mentioned the dinner she cooked for the love of her life and it made me laugh because his favorite part of the meal was, well, go see for yourself! And I can attest to the slight chagrin she felt. But hey, we do the best we can. Thank God people still love us for it, eh? Theresa had also talked about what BooMama was up to and man it had been too long since I visited her. BooMama's latest exploits are truly life-altering. Makes mine pale in comparison. But I thought about that.

Liz had mentioned on her blog about having a pretty quiet life (aside from the back pains) and not making too great a read lately but I told her I thought she and I were of a different sort for the most part. Liz has mega-family so she has way more interesting things going on daily, I'm sure. But I think her role in the blogosphere is probably a great part encouragement and inspiration and simply letting people know she's supporting them, you know? And I think I'm more like that as well.

So while I'll try to be mildly entertaining, I'll happily settle into my role as voyeur and soapbox resident and tell you what I was going to blog about for a brief moment - plastic surgery. Yep, didn't see that coming, did you?

Well, I may have mentioned that about 3 years ago I had a major eczema breakout during the time we were moving from my apartment of 10 years in with Mr. T's mother so we could save and look for our first house. I was also taking a 16-week business course so my partner and I could take things to another level. My daughter was also about 9 months at the time and walking around getting into things. I also HATED MY JOB with a passion I never knew I could muster, so I was looking to leave but knowing I would have had to give a work history to someone soon enough regarding a mortgage application. I was stressed to the max, my friends, and stress is a major issue for my skin. On top of that, I wasn't completely back to myself anyway since I had had Daughter a mere 9 months previously and pregnancy ain't good for my skin either. (My new doctor ought to be more accommodating than my previous ones were, however, so if I go for round 3, I'm a little more confident about keeping myself together.)

Anyway, things got REALLY bad to the point where I couldn't walk for two days. After 5 months of this, Mr. T's co-worker recommended someone and that is the man who God used to make a difference - and fast. So now, three years later I have one lingering, visible reminder of that breakout (I can live with the invisible and moderately invisible ones). I wasn't thrilled with it but I can deal, you know? With what, you wonder? My little friend there. See her? Of course you do, how can you miss her! But please excuse me if I don't blow her up for you, eh?



Anyway, one day the amazing dermatological doctor said to me, "Oh, a plastic surgeon should be able to take care of that easily."

Almost got whiplash but don't have time for a chiropractor right now. "I'm sorry, what did you say? Really? I had never even thought of that!" All those episodes of Nip/Tuck that I salivate over and it honestly never crossed my mind.

Because Amazing Doc said it was so, I trusted him and sought out one of the two people he recommended. I liked her website and I liked the fact that she was a woman. My Amazing Gyno is a male, so it's not a feeling of invasion or anything, but for this one, I thought a woman's touch may be in order. She was younger than I expected, pretty, great bedside manner and glancing me over while I pretended she wasn't. I told her how I never thought of this alternative until Amazing Doc said something and hopefully that told her indirectly, "You don't have an ongoing patient in me, my dear."

She sounded promising - until they did an insurance check. They weren't listed as an approved provider. Darn. Mr. T has great insurance but gotta run into a wall sometimes. So I checked up on Doc 2 and saw he was on the list. Whew. Made my appointment and he was less pleasing in the bedside manner - only slightly, though. There was some dry humor in there. He was also mega forthright when I asked questions. "I am going to tell the insurance company this is reconstructive surgery, not cosmetic. And most likely they will cover everything, I haven't had a problem yet, but it's always their choice to not cover it." Ah, sweet insurance ambiguity. On top of all that: "I can understand your hesitation," he says. "It's a risk for me too! They don't even tell me if they are going to cover it until AFTER it's done!"

What?! How can that be? But I can't go into insurance nonsense right now.
The potential hit if they say no? $750.
My self-esteem if I say yes? Priceless.

I had already made up my mind to do it. Plastic Doc took a look at my c-section scar to see how I'd heal and he was pleased with it. "Did it twice too. You ought to hear my Gyno," I told him. "He's amazed every time he looks at it." Despite the eczema, I am a fast, thorough healer and I don't keloid, like many African-Americans do, so it seemed I should be good to go. I just had to check on Mr. T's schedule because Plastic Doc said while it's an in-office procedure, someone should drive me there. About 5 days with however many stitches it takes and he should be able to remove them after that. "I go after them sooner when it's on the face," he explained. Hmm. Lady Plastic Doc would have let it stay longer. Interesting but he better be right.

So, I'm set for March 21st. How's that for a bloggable moment?