Appointments before sunrise

I am not a morning person. I use to easily sleep till eleven as a child and college student. You would not want to talk to me during breakfast before high school and I still need my coffee before I can smile each morning. Therefore having to wake up at 5.30 am this morning to make it to my 6.40 MRI appointment and 7.45 eye appointment was not enjoyable. However, scheduling these appointments so early was my idea, in order to make two appointments back to back and still be at work before my first patient arrived. So I rolled out of bed before the sun rose and started the expected 30-45 minute ride to the hospitals in my city. However, some of you may have heard of the recent weather we have been having…

On the right is a picture of the current streets in my city and the left is my actual backyard. Needless to say traffic was not good and I was 20 minutes late. Luckily, they saw me right away and I made it to the MRI successfully (I’m investigating SI joint pain) and then my eye appointment on time (read about my JRA background and eye disease here). As I was negotiating downtown traffic in the snow, parking in one garage, walking in between two different hospitals, knowing exactly where I needed to go, I thought that my JRA has indeed taught me some valuable skills. I know many peers who will not drive into “the city” because it overwhelms them, or who would have taken the whole day off for these appointments. I feel fortunate that I have never been nervous to drive in the city (as soon as I got my license I drove to my own appointments) and that I can negotiate hospitals and appointments before I have even finished my morning coffee. So I was off to work for my 10 hour day. Today definitely felt like two days in one, but tomorrow is another day and more importantly a day I can sleep till 11!