Lots of great news today.  

First of all, OT went well.  Connie is quite pleased with my progress, and commented on my excellent form during all of the exercises.  At the end of the session I tried the 2# weight (which I was not able to manage last time) and this time I was; however instead of moving up to a higher weight at this point she wants me to increase my reps and sets.  

Second of all, when I just happened to mention to her the shocking bill for the surgery that came in yesterday (partly because I was worried about what all the OT was going to end up costing me) she checked with the office supervisor.  Long story short, it would appear that instead of billing Medicare they billed Aetna, my old, pre-Medicare insurance.  They will now submit the charges to Medicare, and in the meantime I can just toss that $8000+ bill.

Bet I sleep even better tonight after hearing that!