Yesterday I had an appointment with my neurologist. I mentioned earlier how his staff insisted I needed to see the doctor (new to me) every 3 months, even though I said I was feeling fine and not having any problems. It was "protocol," they said.

He peppered me with a lot of questions while reading my charts simultaneously, and followed that up with a brief exam, after which he declared, I'll see you again in a year. I guess his staff was a little overzealous. This caused me to go off my meds, because they wouldn't refill the prescription until I saw him again; all I could do was move my appointment up by a few weeks and cut into work time to see him. savethelastdance4rosie@yahoo.com

As I was checking out, he rummaged around and gave me a 2-week supply of the meds to tide me over until the prescription can be filled. This is not unusual for many drugs, but the one I take is exceedingly expensive. It can take a week to get the mail order prescription going again. He pointed out the prescription expiration date was December but said it was probably still good. I agreed. Hey...a 2-week's supply at retail would cost me about $1,500.

Yes, since the patent expired, the price has actually been going up, not down. There are some generic versions now available for about one-third less money, but my doctor recommended I stick with the brand drug since the generics don't legally have to be identical. Same ingredients, different amounts.

I very carefully chose an insurance plan this year that would ensure my med would be covered. Although I now have a $250 drug deductible to pay, and my cost to see any kind of specialist is going to be $115 per visit instead of the $50 I paid last year, it is still worth it to me to pay this for as long as I continue to be on this particular medication.

I continue to believe that the best health plan involves paying attention to diet and exercise to improve your chances of not having to see a doctor in the first place.

This morning is the 2nd "Mastering Aging" class I'll be attending, and then I'll be returning to the same library with a friend for the "Best Public Gardens in the Northeast" program. She wasn't feeling well yesterday, so I dropped off some herbal remedies for her and will check in with her later today.

This afternoon I'll be back home and putting in an extra 4 hours of work time, from home. Yesterday I learned the person who shares my job was going to be out the rest of this week and there seemed to be some miscommunication and no one seemed to know about it. So I volunteered to pick up the workload today, and possibly tomorrow, if I can squeeze it in around some other things I need to do.

I want to spend some time with my dad, who is still convalescing at home now. He is in good spirits, at least when I am there, but he did express a longing to "be a productive member of society, if not for others, at least for myself." Which was his way of saying he didn't want to end up just vegging out at home and requiring others to look after him.

I tried to assure him as best I could on that account, explaining that it can take many months to completely recover from surgery. With my own surgery from 10 years ago, they told me wait at least 6 weeks before returning to work, which I thought was nuts. I returned to work after 3 weeks but found that by noon I was really lagging and just plain running out of energy. Fortunately my employer was very understanding and let me work half days for a period of time until I regained my strength. And of course, I was half my dad's age.

I wrote earlier about doing the little test Kiva.org sent me after I volunteered for an editorial position there. I admire the work they do and thought it would be interesting to volunteer edit a few hours a week. So I did the test, which took about an hour. I found out recently that I aced the test, scoring 100. Now they want me to do another, different kind of test. It's due tomorrow, so I need to make time to do that today also.

The little clump of snowdrops given to me by a friend, which I planted around the base of a large white pine, are now in bloom and slowly spreading.

My daffodils and tulips are also a few inches above ground. So great to see!