I got a date with a knife.

Yay! I think this time it's for real. My surgery is scheduled for October 29th, which works out well because Jed is going on a youth retreat to Vancouver Island from Oct 30 - Nov 2.

A month or so ago when I was phoning OR booking to see where I was on the waiting list she told me it would probably be the end of Sept or early October before I got in. As of yesterday I still hadn't heard anything. My EI ran out on Oct 3rd. Well it didn't really run out, it's just that when I first applied we expected my surgery to be in early August and Oct 3 was my expected return date. I need to get a doctor to sign paperwork so I can remain in a state of retirement until I get into surgery.

I called the ob/gyn's office yesterday and told her my story. She informed me that my family doctor would have to take care of it because the surgeon can only sign off for the actual surgery procedure, not time beforehand. She casually informed me that their surgery dates were booked up for the next month or so. She really wasn't sounding particularly sympathetic towards my cause.

I knew then that it was time to pull out my big guns. It was time to play the cancer card.

I reminded her that I am a breast cancer patient. And I should be taking tamoxifen, but have stopped because of the blood clot risk in surgery. And I played up the possibility of my breast cancer returning while they play wait list games with me. She suggested I resume taking my pills.

"Why? So the hospital can call me on short notice and I'll get to die of a blood clot after managing to survive cancer?"

The long and short of it is that she asked me to give her a couple of hours (because she was swamped) and she'd phone me back.

I never did hear from her again but ten minutes later the hospital called to tell me they had an opening on October 29th. Co-incidental? I think not.