Day +56: Making Calls & Appointments

I felt like I spent the whole day on the phone.

I had a bunch of people I needed to calls, and after putting the task off for days, I couldn't hold off any longer.

Talking on the phone had become a chore for me. Prior to Sean's illness, I never had any problems with making or taking phone calls. I'd been known to stay on the phone for a couple of hours, chatting away happily to my friends. Since Sean's diagnosis, when I had to make what felt like 1,000 phone calls for various reasons, including letting my managers know I wasn't going back to work any time soon, I had become quite reluctant to deal with people on the phone.

If I had to contact someone, I would much prefer to send them text messages. The joy of talking on the phone had all but disappeared for me. Every time I had to call someone these days, I would think back to all those phone calls I had to make earlier this year to tell our family and friends what had happened with Sean. I would always think about one phone call in particular, made the day after Sean's diagnosis, when a supposed close friend chose that conversation to have a go at me about something that really could have waited, after she was made aware of Sean's condition and how scared and petrified I was feeling.

In a way, you could say I dreaded making phone calls. After that horrible phone call, I now expect to hear something nasty every time I get on the phone. I know this sounds unreasonable, but that phone call has scarred me quite badly.

I knew I needed to call Dr Gray at some time to let him know how Sean was doing. I was sure Dr Gray had been following Sean's progress with Dr Trahair, but I still thought I should give him a call to update him. While I was feeding Sean breakfast, Dr Gray read my mind and called me. We had a good catch up, and Dr Gray asked us to make an appointment to see him in Clinic. He gave me a number to call, and asked me to contact Annette to make the appointment. I didn't get out of making one of the phone calls after all.

So I called Annette to find that she was having a day off, so I left a message for her to call me when she was back. Phew. That call was quick!

The next call was to Dr Allen, as we needed to get a new referral to see Dr Trahair. We could have gotten a referral from our GP, but since Dr Siva moved to Melbourne, we had yet to find a new GP for our family. As it was, we hadn't spoken to Dr Allen for ages, and I wanted to give him an update on Sean. Dr Allen's receptionist Sam answered the phone, and she sounded very pleased to hear from me. I didn't want to bother Dr Allen as I knew he was always busy, so I asked her to get the referral written and sent to me. Sam asked if I'd like to speak to Dr Allen, as he was standing right next to Sam, so I agreed.

Dr Allen was thrilled to hear how well Sean was doing, and we chatted for a while before he asked if we could drop in to see him. It would be nice for Dr Allen to see for himself how big and strong and cheeky Sean was, so Dr Allen put me back on to Sam and we made an appointment to see Dr Allen on Thursday afternoon, after our morning at Clinic.

Last but not least, I called Camellia Care Cottage to make an appointment with JoAnne the counsellor. At the end of Margot's visit a fortnight ago, she had suggested that I make an appointment with JoAnne just to have a chat with someone about my woes and worries. Margot was quite worried about my mental health during her visit, and she thought it would be worthwhile for me to have a trained counsellor help me through some of my down times. JoAnne only worked 2 days a week, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and she had called me last week to try and set up a time. I returned the call to her today, and we arranged for her to pay us a visit at home next Tuesday.

I felt exhausted after organising so many appointments and talking on the phone. But I got through them, and felt a wave of satisfaction that I got so much done today! I still don't feel 100% comfortable speaking on the phone, but at least my day of phone calls was over. For now. There are still more calls to be made, but I think I'll leave them for another day.