Song of the Day: Two Coins

Song of the Day: Two Coins, by Dispatch. Such a lovely song. Smooth, relaxing, great singing. Something everybody would appreciate. Go listen! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPa_UKVY4Rc

I feel today like my batteries have been on recharge constantly, and they just can’t fill up. This probably isn’t helped by the fact that most days this week I’ve got home late (1-3am), tried to sleep in late the next day – fail, wake up around 10, do something constructive, go out and do the same thing again. And so, all I have really managed to do is eat pancakes smothered in nutella (good idea… at the time), do a bit of my Serving it Right, and make some tea. Real constructive for four hours… I’m going to have to make an effort to be early to bed for the next couple weeks, while I work on getting my strength back.

I wandered upstairs earlier to have a natter with my parents and make some tea, and maybe get on with my day. I shared with them that I had been scheduled for 27 hours work at the cafe next week, which I’m very happy about. I’m a bit nervous about work right now; Casa can’t hire me full-time because I’m a minor and they’ve started serving alcohol, which raises issues. But if I want to be able to pay for my tuition in full in January, I have to be working a 40 hour week; while I look for a second job, as many hours from Casa as possible is ideal. So 27 next week is well appreciated 🙂 Anyway, they were excited, but my mum reassured me that while she’d like me to be able to pay my tuition myself, my parents haven’t disappeared and they can help out, too. Which will probably have to happen – I could pay for it if I was already working a 40 hour week, but I won’t be for at least two weeks, and any hours I’m not getting now is less money sitting pretty in my bank balance. Just have to see how it goes.

But in a way, I’m glad I haven’t been working this week. This first week back in Vancouver was a precious one. It was me getting to just laze around on Sam’s couch, talking, relaxing, playing Transformers, bantering with his parents, appreciating the knowledge that I could do this regularly again. It was me being able to wake up when I liked, stroll into the kitchen, sit down and have a family breakfast. Nothing to rush for. Being able to unpack at my own pace (incredibly slow), figure out my room so everything is in the right place. I am /almost/ unpacked – sure, it’s not even a full day’s worth of work, but hey, I’m very good at procrastinating – but by this evening I should be done. And it gave me a chance to get all the important bits out of the way – talk to Coho with questions about my marks, get to the youth clinic, see the doctor’s – that’s something I have to do today.

Bleh. I usually like going to see a doctor. I like to be able to sit and reflect on how good medical service is here; I can walk in, give them my care card (which I don’t have to pay for), and see a doctor. 12 hours a day, I can walk in for anything. The nurses are friendly, and who cares if it’s not most architecturally beautiful building, or if the chairs are a bit old and the lighting is florescent strip lighting? Those complaints are immaterial. I can walk in anytime, and I have the ability to see a doctor for anything, and take as much time as is deemed needed. Free. (Sorry, I love ranting about Canada…)

However, today I get to go see a doctor for anemia testing and referral to a specialist. The anemia testing is fine – needles don’t freak me out, neither does blood – but the referral thing is a pain in the ass. Many moons ago I went to my orthodontist because I had some weird pains in my jaw and it couldn’t fully open. The pain wasn’t much, and my jaw could open most of the way, but that is still a bit odd. They explained that my top jaw is too narrow, so my teeth can’t fit together in the way they would like to, so my jaw tries to move into a better spot, even if my jaw is shut – which obviously isn’t supposed to happen. According to them, fixing it meant some ‘minor’ surgery (total oxymoron), and a few years of metal and plastic in my mouth to fix the rest. I thought, nah, screw it. I ain’t having my parents spend thousands for something a bit of Advil could fix.

… Fast forward to now, and my jaw opens a good two inches. Put your index and middle finger together, and my jaw opens about that wide, and then stops. Simply doesn’t go further. Not because it hurts, just won’t go. I had needle pains in my left jaw joint, but I figured out how to stop those.

Doesn’t sound like a pretty situation, eh? My dad suggested I should head down to the quacks (err, sorry, medical professionals) and see if there was a specialist in Vancouver who could deal with my jaw joint issue more acutely than an orthodontist, who spends most of their life giving 13 year olds braces. So, off I go. If there’s a kind of specialty that would know about my jaw problem, it’s probably going to be in Vancouver – this place seems to be crawling with good doctors, which I would assume is thanks to UBC.

This whole thing wouldn’t bother me if I knew it wasn’t going to be ridiculously expensive and stressful. I detest the idea of my parents shelling out thousands for this, and the idea of another couple years of orthodontistry makes me want to crawl into a ball and cry.

So, just going to hope that there is a less draining option. Fingers crossed!

I had better hop off before I lose all motivation and don’t get to the doctors today. Plus, I need more tea. ;D