Pre-Screen
23 05 2008I got a call from Henry Ford Macomb at 6 p.m. yesterday. I almost didn’t answer in fear it was another bill collector. I answered anyway. It was this nice lady from Admissions I’d met when I did my myelogram and CT scan. She has a nephew in the Army. By strange coincidence, he and I have had similar experiences with Army medicine and Army bureaucracy. Weird huh? No problems. Nothing to see here.
I answered a bunch of questions, many of them personal in nature. What’s your favorite color? Have you ever trimmed your long-haired chihuahua to look like a lion? Have you ever been to a Turkish Bath? Bastinado or falaqua? (I’m Catholic. Bastinado of course.) I have to do some blood work next week. Other than that, all systems go.
The procedure I’m having has a 70-90% success rate. That is, if done in a timely manner and without other complications. Meaning, had the Army done what it was supposed to have done when it was supposed to have done it, there was a high probability I’d have fully recovered. Things aren’t quite so sunny now. When I asked the neurosurgeon, “What are my chances of being 100% again?” he answered, “You’re young.” But he couldn’t look me in the eyes when he said it.
