Recovery Notes

As noted in earlier posts, life for us has been downright stressful this past week. Yet I've been a really good girl the past three weeks. No lifting or carrying anything (unfortunately, though, this has also included my cute boys). No vacuuming. No driving for two weeks. No housework. Basically, I've just slept, walked around, eaten, read books, or sat and painted the mural in the office waiting room.
Pain meds were discontinued about four days ago. And I had only been taking them in the evenings the preceding week. I have felt stronger this week, and have finally been able to give up the forever long midday naps.
Alas, I think I over did it today. I have felt so good that its hard to remember to take it easy. But I'm paying for it tonight. My back really hurts and I have quite a bit of lower tummy cramping and pain. I didn't think I had done too much, but evidently I was wrong. Guess I'm back to being 'lazy' again. Oy. It is so hard to see all that needs to be done at the Strawhouse and our house and not be able to do any of it. Frustrating!

Inspections, inspections, inspections!

What an absolutely crazy day! And I thought Matt was stressed out last week-hah! Seriously, it was a very nerve wracking day. Why? Because if we didn't pass inspections today, then we couldn't start seeing patients tomorrow as scheduled.

Yeah, we started thinking this morning that that was probably not the best way to go about having a first official working day with patients in the office. So we did a bit of fudging and were able to shift out working days from Tues-Thurs to Wed-Fri. Normally, there would be no way to feasibly do this, but we got lucky-it is GA (general anesthesia) week. Which means that we only have 4 patients a day instead of 40-50 patients a day. So rescheduling this week was still a viable option for us, thank goodness.

What did a day of inspections mean for us? What didn't it mean?
First, the architects came by around 10:00. They started the "punch" list for things incompleted or not done very well workmanship wise. There wasn't anything of serious concern, but definitely some cosmetic issues such as areas lacking caulking, a few "butchered" tiles around outlets in the bathrooms, etc.
Then came the mechanical and electrical engineers. The building has been rather warm in some areas. The air system had not be "balanced" yet and it could definitely be felt. The mechanical engineer made some suggestions, and within an hour, the hot spots were cooling down.
The fire marshall arrived at 11:00. If we didn't pass his inspection, then nothing else mattered. Well, we didn't. At least right away. Some extinguishers needed to be moved or replaced. Signs had to be placed on the medical gas room doors. A couple of emergency lighting units were not working and had to be repaired. And a few more things. But we were able to call him back later, and we passed then.
Plumbing inspections have been a bit tedious. First, we had to have a second party verifier come in and do his own inspections on the medical gas and piping systems. He came and did so on Thursday last week. Today we had the city inspections. A few minor blips that were resolved on the spot, and that was also a pass. Tomorrow, we have the state medical gases inspection. It should go easily since the verifier already passed us, but there's always the chance...
Electrical passed. No major issues there.
City inspection went alright. There are still some things that need to be addressed (such as railing around ventilation units on the roof).

But we did get our temporary certificate of occupancy. Via phone. At 5 pm today. Whew!

And here's what the waiting room mural looked like tonight:

Friday at the SWH

Countertops were put in on the rental side. This is the drink/prep bar downstairs. The countertop flips open to access the bar.

Wet bar upstairs.

Plant fossil in slate tile.

Shower in private bath. Seems like a really good showerhead. It will be fun to actually try it out. The tile in this bathroom is now officially completed.

Matt picked out the sink. Kind of different, but fun. I still need to plaster the room, but everything is functional, so it can be used anyways.

Mostly sky and ocean left to paint. Can I finish it this weekend? Sure hope so!

Thurs. at the SWH

The SWH side yard/street view. The entrances are to to the rental side of the building. Grass started to poke up today!

The parking lot is finished now. Crushed asphalt was laid and compressed today over the unpaved areas, so no more dirt and mud puddles to walk through now.

The triple sink was brought in for the kitchen. We have to have one in case we decide to get a permit for commercial kitchen use. For now, it's just a really oversized and over-equipped staff room!

The surgical suite is set up now and ready to christen this coming Tuesday- general anesthesia week.

Wall sconces in Matt's private office. They have cut bamboo rings embedded in them. Matt placed 15 watt bulbs in them so that they are more like strong night lights. Very calming...

Two of these wall sconces are in the recovery room. There are also regular overhead lights in there, but for the most part, the sconces will be the ones used. A bit friendlier on the eyes of those coming out of anesthesia.

This is looking down the back hall. Pic taken from the side wall. The digital xray computer station is out of view and behind on the right. There is a door (can't see here) on the angle that enters Matt's office. The slider on the left is to the recovery room. The adjacent door on the angled wall is to the surgical suite. The door beyond it, also on the left, is to the supplies room. Directly ahead is the doorway to the kitchen. On the right side, you can see a window in the wall. It is part of the sterilization room. Beyond, there is a walk thru that goes between the hall and to the operatory/main room. Further down is a doorway to a bathroom, then a back door to the receptionist/front office. Admittedly, the hallway IS huge. But we had the room, and it makes it easier to maneuver wheel chairs and other equipment around easily.

Taken from the same spot as previous pic, but looking towards the right. Here is the xray computer desk. The entrance on the left is to the sterilization room. Looking ahead is to the main operatory.

The previous couple of pics were taken standing in this area. The opening to the left goes to Matt's private bath. You can see slate tile in the background. Next to his bath are two connecting rooms that contain his compressor/vacuum system and then the medical gases.

Looking at the xray stations while standing in the main operatory area. If you walk to the right, you enter the main hall seen before.

The main operatory room. There are six chairs in here. Behind the pic is the xray area. The sinks to the left are the brushing station. The walk thru to the back hall is just beyond the sinks. The slider door on the left is to a pre-med room. This is where the kids will be given sedation medication and monitored until they are ready to be worked on. The door just beyond is to the reception/front office. The doorway straight ahead goes to the waiting room.

Standing in the waiting room by the front desk. The doorway ahead enters the operatory. There will be frosted glass in it. The doorway to the left enters the consult room. That room has the large glass block wall.

The mini-me door in the waiting room. It goes to under stair storage.

Standing in the entry. The blue thing on the wall is an acoustic sound panel. Obviously, the front desk. There are sliding glass panels. When they are closed, it really controls the sound between the waiting room and the office.

Good news again on the construction front today.
The medical gas line/plumbing inspection went very well-PASS!
The tiling is completely done in Matt's bathroom.
Mirrors and other accessories put up.
The range hood in the kitchen was given a thorough cleaning by a professional cleaner.
Construction equipment was moved out.
The parking lot was completed.
Trim work on the rental side is now about two-thirds completed.
Fire alarm and sprinkler system finished and tested.
Three bathroom sinks found and ordered. Should arrive next week and will replace the wrong ones that the plumbing supplier sent. Luckily we have what we need to pass inspections in the meantime.
Computer training continues...
The wall mural in the waiting room is three-quarters complete. Ocean, sky and palm trees still need their color.

Ready or not, inspections are coming on Monday and patients will be arriving on Tueday. Yikes!

Tuesday at the SWH

Pics coming later.
Again, lots more accomplished:
All the dropped ceiling panels (acoustic) were placed. What a HUGE difference in the sound! It is significantly quieter throughout the building now. Also lightened the rooms, as the light bounces off the white.
Matt's desk is now put together in his office. Our friend RJ is going to start working for Matt and he came over this week (he and family live in Kalispell right now) to help with the move. Lucky for us, he is also a woodworker on the side-he was able to fix a split that we found in the desk.
The tile wainscot in the private bathroom is now done. The shower is just about completed as well. Just needs cleaning and grout now.
The dental working units are almost all hooked up. The assembly of the remaining dental chairs is almost complete as well.
The medical gas lines are pressurized and seem to be holding steady. That was a huge relief. No gas lines, no dental office! The special inspection for these lines is on Thursday. Odds and ends plumbing work continued.
Training for our new software program began today. Yep. Right in the middle of all the construction. As the training started, glitches started popping up on our network. The poor IT guy was scrambling around all day to trying figure things out. Evidently, the computer we have at the digital xray station is too schmanzy for the xray software drivers. We actually have to get a downgraded computer so that the digital system will work correctly. So much for trying to go higher tech!
Kalvin came up with some drawings that can be projected onto a wall in the back delivery room. He is going to try painting his own wall mural. The current pictures include a beach scene or an alien attack. The alien drawing is so far winning. To be decided soon...

Monday SWH Progress

The surgical suite is about done. Just needs the dropped ceiling tiles put in. Matt's moving dental cart will fit underneath the middle counter.

The lab where night guards, appliances, etc. will be made. We had an RO and deionizing water systems put in. Now we won't have to clear out the distilled water section in WalMart anymore; I'll miss those weekly water runs. Ha!

Decided to have some fun with the sinks at the brushing station. Think it worked? We're really psyched with how it turned out. Sure hope the kids like it!

The day's update on the mural work.

Quite a bit happened at the SWH today.
The electrician finished putting in all the lighting (minus a couple of wall sconces not delivered yet) and worked on the appliances, and other odds and ends. The electrical inspector stopped by and remarked that a couple of things needed to be addressed. Nothing major, thank goodness.
The plumber installed the toilets. Of course there is a story to go along...Evidently, the Toto toilets we got are an anomaly in how they must be installed. Most toilets have a wax ring seal. Not these babies. Nope. They required a gasket seal. Naturally, the supply company didn't warn the plumber of this when he ordered them. It caused quite a stir figuring out what needed to be done to get these toilets installed. Luckily, no demolition needed to occur for the fix.
The tiler put the flat stone flooring into Matt's shower.
The dental supply company removed the xray equipment from the original building and reinstalled it here.
The flooring guys (FINALLY!!!) finished the Marmoleum flooring. They held the whole project up because they were SO slow.
Baseboards and trim were started on the rental side.
The painter was informed that he painted the wrong color for the ceilings. Throughout the entire building. We have compromised and asked that the rental side only be redone.
Wall mounts for TV's, bathroom accessories, etc. were starting to be installed.

We hear that all inspections are going to occur on Monday. Hopefully they all go well, as we have general anasthesia patients scheduled on Tuesday. Can we stay STRESS???

The Strawhouse

It's time to start showing it off! There are still a few things to get finished up, such as installing some sinks, countertops, tile in Matt's shower, a few wall murals, etc. But for the most part, our latest major construction undertaking (#2 in three years!) is nearing it's end.

The landscaping is done. The dirt you see is where a draining grass pave system was. Not real effective in Montana weather, so out it went. There will be crushed asphalt placed in that area later this week. We will probably have it tarred and finished completely in the spring.

Grass hydroseed was put in the "blank" areas.

Our landscaping friend felt like we should put a path here since it would be used as such by people regardless. Good choice. It's already being used!

Staff bathroom off kitchen/staff room

Other bathrooms. Two are tiled like this.

Matt's office. I've done plastering in here.

Doors and trim-pine/maple, I think this is in the kitchen.

Front office. Over on the right is the curved window/client area facing towards the waiting room.

The "right" side of the front office. Looks into waiting room and towards entrance.

Main operatory area. There are "kid height" windows between each working unit/chair setup. Six chairs are in this room.

Beach scene mural I'm working on in the kid's alcove of the waiting room. I've only gotten the sand and white colors filled in thus far. It's one thing I can do right now.

I must admit, I don't mind the fact that I'm not able to do any lifting or moving of any objects right now--It's one move I don't mind not being able to participate in!