Toilet Leaks, Medical Issues, and Aussie Rules Football

This past week hasn't been one of my better weeks here in Australia but the good news is it had nothing to do with my work.  Every since I adjusted my attitude towards work I'm far less stressed (although it may be a little too late as you'll find out).  My students are making good progress and my more challenging student had a better week too.  We even went on an excursion via public transit in rush hour and no one got lost.  Unfortunately other things didn't go quite as well.

Last Friday/Saturday I received an e-mail saying that my toilet (in my apartment back in Vancouver) was leaking and that it was causing damage to the unit below me.  All this was happening while Sharon was at work.  Thankfully one of my neighbours was able to show Sharon how to turn the water off  at the toilet.  While she could stop the leak, the toilet still needed to be looked out.  It turns out the toilet was cracked and could no longer be used.  I had to replace my toilet.

Being over 12,000 km away from home I'm extremely thankfully for my dad who stepped in and saved the day.  He did the leg work, purchased a new "matching" toilet, and arranged for its installation.  He's also been in contact with my insurance company to deal with the damage to the suit below me.  That was stress number one.

My New Toilet

As I mentioned in my last post I was heading to the GP on Monday to check out a "functioning" problem I was having.  My dad and I had both thought it wasn't anything too serious but felt it was best that I see a doctor to confirm that.  Being from Canada if I chose to see any doctor here in Australia I have to pay up front first and claim the insurance later.  I did speak to my travel medical insurance people before heading to the doctor.  They thought I should just head to an emergency but I just didn't think that was the right thing to do because I didn't feel the problem was serious enough to warrant it.  Anyhow they okay'd my visit to the GP.

Unfortunately while the GP did think that my problem was what my dad and I most likely thought it was he couldn't see/feel any signs of it.  He referred me to a specialist.  Of course I had him call my insurance first and they agreed that they would approve me to see the specialist.  This doctor visit cost  me $60 AU of which I hope to get most if not all of it back.

Tuesday we went on our class excursion and my Vancouver Canucks were eliminated from the NHL playoffs.  That was a very sad day too.

Thursday I was off to the specialist to have a closer look.  Before I went to my appointment I was able to stop by the post office and pick up one final box of clothing from Canada.  My friend Katherine had shipped a motor home back to Australia and she kindly put a box of my winter clothing in it.  Before I picked it up I tried to list the things that I had put in it.  Boy was I surprised when I got home to see what I had actually put in it.  It felt like I was opening presents for my birthday.  That was the good part about my Thursday.  It's so nice to have a few more pieces to swap in and out of my limited wardrobe.

But, back to the specialist appointment.  The specialist did his thing and to my surprise he tells me that it isn't what we have all thought it was.  He also says that he thinks I should have a colonoscopy to confirm the severity of my problem.  At this point I'm thinking to myself, "how much is this going to cost me" and "what's really wrong with me?".  Remember everything is cash up front.  So I head to the counter to find out how much this specialist appointment is going to cost me, and how much a colonoscopy is going to cost me in Australia.  The specialist appointment with the procedure he did in his office was $200, and the colonoscopy may cost me up to $2100.  Wow, my heart nearly dropped.  We tried to get ahold of my insurance company while I was in his office but we didn't have much luck.  I then left the office called my dad on my mobile and practically started to cry.  What was I going to do?  When I booked the specialist appointment I was told that I was entitled to one doctor's appointment and one follow up visit.  The GP was the doctor's appointment and the specialist was the follow up visit.  Where did I stand with the colonoscopy? 

After several phone calls back and forth between my travel medical insurance company and my extended health care  I finally was given approval for the procedure.  But, during the conversation I couldn't get them to commit to actually how much they would cover.  Needless to say this has been a fair bit of stress for me.  Stress because I'm not sure what's wrong with me - although the specialist thinks it's Colitis, and stress because I really don't know how much of the $2100 I'll actually ever see again.  I'm also alone in a foreign country without my friends and family.  But I only have two choices.  Pay up front for the procedure here in Australia and find out what's really wrong with me (and hope I get most if not all of the money back eventually), or jump on a plane back to Canada.  It would probably be cheaper to head home but I'm just not ready to do that, at least not yet.

So once the approval was given I arranged for the procedure for this Wednesday.  I'll be off work Tuesday and Wednesday this week.  My acting principle has assured me that someone will be there to pick me up on Wednesday and now all I can do is wait for the procedure and stop worrying about the money.  I don't really have much choice.  It  bothers me that I save my money and now I'm spending it on something that wouldn't cost me anything if I was back at home.  It's just sad.  I wonder if this has something to do with all the stress I was under last term when I was trying to do the my job to the level that I'm accustomed too in a school environment that isn't conducive to that.  It just fuels my report for when I get back home about the good and the not so good with the Australian school system.

Most of the medical insurance issues happened on Friday so it wasn't such a great day.  Unfortunately there was more.

Friday morning I didn't ride my bike to work because I knew it was going to be a tough/stressful day.  Because I didn't have my bike I had to rely on public transit to take me home from work Friday afternoon.  I boarded the bus without any problem and validated my met card (bus pass).  I then got off the bus and headed to the train station. Some where between validating my met card on the bus and walking towards the train station I lost my met card pocket which had my weekly bus pass and TWO weekend bus passes.  I almost started to cry.  I looked every where but I couldn't find it.  So I had to head to the met office and purchase two new met card passes.  $45 later I was back in business.  I payed for my trip home (again) and made it home.  It was the end of an awful week.

This morning I was up early and dropped off something at the lab before taking myself out for breakfast on Brunswick street.  This afternoon I made my way to the Melbourne Cricket Grounds (MCG) to meet up with fellow International Teaching Fellows.  We were invited to attend an Australian Rules Football game (footy) between the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne.  My school is in Bulldogs territory and so I was equipped with a Bulldogs scarf and hat (thanks Tracy).  I know Sharon may not like that though as she has a Melbourne blanket in her home.  I guess I could have used the Melbourne blanket to keep me warm.

At the game we were given a "quiz" to fill out on Aussie Rules Football.  I decided to have fun with the quiz and I provided comical answers to the questions being asked.  While at the game I tried to learn a little bit more about the sport but I must admit I chatted with fellow exchange teachers and missed a lot of it.  I finally figured out the scoring though which is a step in the right direction.  The Bulldogs also WON so I was happy to be wearing the winning team's colours.  After the game we headed into chinatown for a meal. It was nice to see the other exchange people.  We also got the results of the quiz.  I certainly didn't have any of the right answers but I won a prize for the most creative answers.  I now own an MCG toque!

Inside MCG

You can tell by the empty seats that this wasn't a very popular match.  The Bulldogs are in the top five right now and Melbourne is last in the league.  Having said that Melbourne actually lead for a lot of the game but in the end they fell short and lost.  

Me in my Western Bulldogs Hat and Scarf

Here's hoping this will be a much better week and that the results aren't too serious and the insurance companies aren't total losers.  I think I was tested enough this week to last for a little while.