Tuesday I had an appointment with my GI doctor (quite possibly my soon to be replaced GI doctor but that is another post) which is on the second floor of a brand new medical building by the hospital. I arrived a little early, only to find out that regardless of my 3:30pm appointment time the doctor was not expected in the building untill some time after 4pm. I need to learn his procedure days and refuse to take appointments on those days. So I read an entire National Geographic magazine, and the great and mighty doctor finally appeared. As I was wheeling back to the exam room I crossed paths with him and he stopped in his tracks and looked at me as if I has grown a third eye that was winking at him. He asked me how I got there. Okay, now I know the doctor has had a long day but what the heck is going on? I stare at him. He informs me that the elevator is broken and he had to take the stairs. My mind immediately goes into that place where you run through eighteen different scenarios at once. I am new to this wheelchair stuff, I don't know what you do when the elevator breaks while you are on an upper floor. So we decide to proceed with the appointment and pray that the elevator is resurrected during that time. The appointment sucked (more on that in another post) and towards the end the nurse comes in to report they have no time estimate on how long it will be before the elevator is repaired. I now start thinking if I could slidel down the stairs on my butt safely with someone carrying my chair and just how many bruises that would result in. On the same floor of the medical building is pulmonology, and they happen to have a patient in a wheelchair as well. Their nurses, being smarter, called the local fire department to come carry the patient downstairs so I am just going to be added on to their work order. Have I mentioned that last time someone tried to carry me down stairs I fell and it sucked? So first two EMS workers show up, apparently in case I get dropped rescue workers will be right on scene. I really don't know their purpose, the little chick EMT carried my purse down the stairs and my wheelie bars. Then the firefighters arrived. This is one hell of a way to meet cute guys, but I didn't mind a few of the views I got. :) They then explain they are carrying me, in my chair, down the two flights of chairs and I have to be tipped back to the same angle as the stairs. I think I hit a record new shade of white. But what choice did I have? I informed them that I was more than "nervous" and they encouraged me by saying they had already done this once so they wrked out the mistakes on the first guy. Two flights of stairs have never seemed so long in my life as I bumped along. Seeing as my wheelchair already needs some repairs, I was waiting for something major to decide to go as we were going down the stairs, like the back which is already askew. When we got to the bottom I was ready to kiss the ground, had I been able to reach it. I had to wait for EMT chick to come down with my purse and wheelie bars so the fire fighter and I were talking. Lord help him, he is cute but I wonder about the brains. He asked "Was the elevator working when you got here?". Seriously?? I looked at him and said "Nope, I hopped my wheelchair up all those stairs." Dude, Here's your sign.

I now pray over the elevators that I get in that not only will they get me up to my destination safely but that they will return to get me when I need them and safely restore me to dry land. I can do without the fire fighter escort.