Fortuitous Turn…Kind Of

Well, it turns out that postponing my surgery might have been an extremely fortuitous turn of events though I was bullied into it by my co-workers who wanted to make sure I did my share of the work while they went on vacation.  Heh.

I’ve been seeing a GI Specialist, you know, and he happened to notice that no one followed up on one particular piece of blood work after my visit to the ER in December when I had my Gallstone attack.  Something about some liver enzyme level or something being high.  Anyway, this could apparently be a sign that I didn’t actually pass all the Gallstones that have come out of my Gallbladder.  One of them could just be loose in the duct, which could explain why I’ve been having painful mini-episodes and twitches that the other doctors and my parents have basically written off as some sort of ghost pangs or spasms.

What’s worse is that if the surgeon goes and takes my Gallbladder out before they do something about the renegade gallstone then it could get lodged in one of the passageways to one of my other organs like my pancreas and cause a major infection.  Apparently right now, the Gallbladder is providing bile or something to help keep it from being really problematic.

That is, if there’s a renegade gallstone.  The truth is that no one knows for sure.

Last week I had my liver enzyme level or whatever checked again and it’s still elevated so I’m off next week to have an MRI of my duct to see if there’s a gallstone hanging out in there playing hookie or something.  If there is, then I have to have yet another procedure where they’ll go in and take it out before they operate on me to remove my gallbladder.

My mother always told me growing up that I always had to do everything the hard way.

Anyway, if I hadn’t postponed my surgery, which had been scheduled for last Friday, I could be finding out the really hard way that I have a loose gallstone, so it could be worse I guess.

Tags: gallbladder, gallstone, MRI, surgery, wellness, health

Project 365 (Day 15): Convenience Food

I don’t feel well, but I was running low on a few staples like caffeine, bottled water, milk, breakfast, lunch, dinner…Because I wasn’t feeling well, of course, I headed right for the convenience foods. You can’t see that I have oranges and cut up fruit in there but I do. Honest. It’s just hidden behind the T.V. dinners.

Tags: project365, photoday, oneaday, groceries, sushi, comfort food, health food, photo blogging

Just Shoot Me

O.K. So, I think I forgot to take my meds yesterday morning and I’m paying for it today. Otherwise, I’m just really sick today.

Pugly woke me up at 7am because he wanted to go out.  I got up, took him out to do his business, put some birdseed in the feeder, fed the animals, and went back to bed.  I woke up again at noon feeling much worse and with a migraine.  I’d been having weird dreams mixing HBO’s  Rome with HGtv’s whole line up of home improvement and house hunting shows.

I’ve been very ill since then.  I’ve been wishing I would throw up. My stomach hurts so bad that it’s painful to touch and when I got up to do something my mother has been asking me to do (she wanted a photo of a curtain she mailed me hanging up to see if it fit before working on the next one), I felt a sharp pain where my gall bladder is.

I’m dizzy.  Not sleepy.  Even blinking hurts my migraine.  I’m horribly thirsty, but the act of drinking makes my stomach hurt and aggravates my migraine.  I’ve had a Diet Coke and water plus some tuna salad today.  Oh, and I’ve taken my meds and a Maxalt for the migraine.

There’s so much I wanted to do today, but I’ve gotten nothing done.  I don’t even trust myself to walk down the stairs to the basement to wash clothes.

Tags: migraine, wellness, health

Thursday Thirteen Things I’d Like To Do In 2007 (#18)

So this is the time of year when everyone is doing New Year’s Resolutions. I prefer not to do “Resolutions” because they’re generally broken and joked about by the middle of January and forgotten by President’s Day. Then, next January, they’ll be resolved again.

So, instead, I usually try to use the time to reflect and think about the things I’d like to work on in my life, changes, improvements, and so on. I don’t make myself any impossible promises though. I know my limits and I know physics. There’s no way I can lose 60 lbs in 2 months, for example; nor is it likely that I’ll be getting up at 5am any time soon to exercise 3 times a week.

Anyway, here is my list of things I would like to do in 2007, no promises, but I’m working on it. More

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, bloghopping, meme, New Years Resolutions, gardening, knitting, debt, weight, health, writing, Green Living, housekeeping, dysfunctional family

Thursday Thirteen Things To Worry About (#13)

I’m a worry-wart. I worry about all kinds of things and I can’t turn it off. I worry about whether or not my cats hate me. I worry about whether or not my co-workers are talking about me. I worry about whether or not the world is going to blow up today or if my house is going to burn down or if my headache means I’m getting a brain tumor.

I’m in therapy. At least I’m trying to get a grip, but it turns out that there are a lot of people who worry about a lot of things out there. Some things are worried about far more than they need to be and some things aren’t worried about enough. That’s what this week’s theme is.

Thirteen Things about N. Mallory

1. Don’t worry so much about getting a brain tumor. Apparently there’s less than a 1% chance that you’ll develop a cancer originating in your brain. If you must worry about cancer, worry about lung cancer; it’s the leading cancer killer of women. (Check out cancer.gov)
2. Don’t worry so much about being in a plane crash. As big a deal as I make of it here, the fact is that as few as 18 people died for every 41.7 million who flew on U.S. air carriers last year. The truth is that most people’s fear of flying stems from a fear of lack of control (like mine). The odds of you dying in an automobile accident are one in 237 over your lifetime, compared with one in 1.25 million over your lifetime for a commercial plane crash, according to the National Safety Council in Itasca, Illinois.
3. Don’t worry so much about having a miscarriage. One out of five pregnancies that is confirmed in a doctor’s office ends in miscarriage. Most miscarriages occur because of chromosomal abnormalities in the fetus and not because of something the mother ate, drank, or did.
4. Don’t worry so much about having bad breath. Only about one in seven people suffers from chronic halitosis. You wouldn’t know it from the gum, mint and breath freshener advertisers. Apparently the advertisers are winning because up to 1/3rd of the patients who see their doctor about chronic bad breath don’t have it.
5. Worry a little about being in a car crash. Motor vehicle accidents are the number-one cause of accidental death for women and the number-one killer of women under the age of 35. (whew! Just missed me!) Each year, 40,000 Americans die on the road. In fact, fear of vehicular death is unbelievably low in this country because Americans are familiar with cars and think they’re “in control” — so “in control” that one in five Americans still don’t wear a seat belt.
6. Worry a little about becoming disabled. One third of all Americans between 35 and 65 will become disabled for more than 90 days, according to the American Council of Life Insurers in Washington, D.C. A 20-year-old worker’s chances of becoming disabled are approximately twice as great as her chances of dying before retirement age, yet only 28 percent participate in group long-term benefits. (My mother was surprised to learn that I always carry both short-term and long-term insurance in case something happens to my hands or arms. Can’t imagine what a programmer would do without them.)
7. Worry a little about getting breast cancer. One in 13 American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer (one in eight if their mom or sister has the disease). It is the second-leading cause of cancer death in U.S. women, after lung cancer. But 94% of new cases of breast cancer are in women age 40 or older. My grandmother and great-grandmother both had breast cancer. I’m not waiting for my mother. If breast cancer runs in your family, find a doctor who will begin regular mammograms as early as 30 or 35. (To learn more, go to BreastCancer.org)
8. Worry a little about contracting diabetes. Diabetes is the fifth deadliest disease in America. The death rate due to diabetes has increased by 45 percent since 1987, due to the rise in type 2, the kind traditionally developed later in life — only more and more kids are getting it now. It’s also the leading cause of blindness, amputation and dialysis, and increases a person’s risk for heart disease.
9. Worry a little about going blind. An estimated one in 200 Americans is legally blind. Sixty-seven percent of blind Americans are female, mostly because women live longer, but other factors, such as genetics, sex hormones, and lifestyle differences, may put women at increased risk.
10. Be very afraid of getting skin cancer. Cancer of the skin is the most common cancer. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer, including nonmelanoma cancers, which are more common and rarely fatal, and melanoma, which accounts for the majority of skin cancer deaths. The rate of nonmelanoma cancers, including basal cell and squamous cell varieties, has nearly tripled in women under 40 in the past 30 years.
11. Be very afraid of contracting an STD. Your lifetime chance of getting an STD is greater than one in two. How scary is that? Made me cross my legs when I read it.
12. Be very afraid of having a heart attack. Two in five women will die from heart disease. And women are less likely to make a big deal about it while it’s happening.
13. Be very afraid of being in a fire. You have a one in 1,179 chance of dying in a fire from exposure to smoke or flames. Fires in homes caused 82% of fire deaths in 2004. Less than 1/4th of households have a tested escape plan, and almost a third think they’d have at least 6 minutes to escape. Most likely you’d only have two or three minutes. (For more information, go to NFPA.org) This one is particularly timely for me as I prepare to move into my first home with thoughts of my friend’s housefire on my mind. You can bet your wet-willies I’ll be making extra certain to fire-proof the house.

Source: Self, August, 2006.


Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
View More Thursday Thirteen Participants Thanks to Denise for the Pug graphic!

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, meme, bloghopping, risks, accidents, health, cancer, fear, interesting trivia

19 comments See also in Interesting Trivia, Geekery, Blogging & Other Blogs, Thursday Thirteen, Memes

244 - 680 - 9 - 70

244 - Average percent markup between the actual cost of a hospital visit or stay and what the hospital bills for it.

680 - Average percent markup at the nation’s 100 most expensive hospitals.

9 - Percentage of people in the last year who negotiated with a hospital to get their bills lowered.

70 - Percentage of those who say it worked.

Source: Health, June, 2006.

Tags: interesting trivia, healthcare, hospital costs

Finally, A Reason To Sleep In, Mom!

My mom is one of those God-awful early-risers.  You know, those people who are awake before 5 am and have had breakfast, are dressed, and have read the paper and gotten started on the day by 7 am?  Those are my parents.

The battle to sleep in on Saturday mornings began the moment I turned pre-teen.  Or maybe it was when Saturday morning cartoons stopped being interesting.  I don’t know.  Either way, I always wanted to sleep until 10am or later.  My Mom thought sleeping past 7am was a crime against nature.

Even after I moved out, it was not unusual for her to call me at 8 am and act surprised that I was still in bed.

Now, with me being on the East Coast in the Eastern Time Zone and them being in the Mountain Time Zone.  It actually works out quite well.  I’ve actually called and woken them up a couple of time and had the pleasure of saying, “Oh, did I wake you?”

Anyway, it turns out that catching a few extra zzzz’s may actually help you stay slim.  According to a study of more than 68,000 women presented at the American Thoracic Society meeting in San Diego this year, those who slept seven hours weighed 7 (seven) hours weighed 5.5 lbs less than women who slept 5 (five) hours or less.  Frequent all-nighters may slow your metabolism.

Talk about getting your beauty sleep!  From now on I’m going to tell my mom that I’m getting my skinny sleep.

(Source: Self, August 2006)

Tags: sleep, health, weight loss, wellness, interesting trivia

40

40 - Percentage of employees who say they eat more unhealthy snacks at work than they do at home.

Source: Careerbuilder.com via Eating Well, December, 2006.

Tags: snacking, health

How To Find Real Health Websites

There are a lot of websites on the web offering all sorts of advice to anyone searching for help and relief with real health concerns from hiccups to cancer. How can you tell which websites are the real deal from the ones that are snake oil salesmen or just random chit-chatters thinking they’re helping by offering their own version of advice?

1. Stick with recognized authorities. Sites run by the government, which end in “.gov”, universities, which end in “.edu”, professional medical associations or health insurance companies are good sources.
2. Read the “About Us” section. If it says something like “I was diagnosed with cancer,” it’s not as reliable as the sites mentioned in #1.
3. Look for a way to contact the organization. If you can’t easily find one, be suspicious of the site. (A good rule of thumb for any site, actually.)
4. Avoid websites that claim to evaluate your health problems online for a fee. You’re unlikely to get an accurate diagnosis without being examined by a doctor in person.

Source: Woman’s Day, May, 30, 2006, p.20

Tags: Wellness, health websites

One Diagnosis And A Trip To The ER

Well, yesterday, the Nephrologist gave me a diagnosis about my kidneys. Apparently I have IgA Nephritis, which is an autoimmune kidney disease. I don’t know much about it except that I’m taking the wrong blood pressure med for it and that she’ll be changing that to something that will treat both my high blood pressure and the IgAN — apparently high blood pressure can be caused by kidney malfunction. I’m seeing her on Nov. 2nd to get more details.

However, she did say that IgAN is not the cause of my muscular soreness/pain and many of the symptoms that sent me to the doctor in the first place. (I did see that IgAN does cause fatigue though.) So, I’m back to the drawing board there.

Also yesterday, I ended up in the ER where the Nephrologist sent me after I complained of pain in my kidney area that kept me up all night the night before. Tylenol just wasn’t doing anything and they’ve banned me from anything like Alleve, asprin, advil, etc. The pain was radiating across my back and I was feeling queasy. She wanted to get a cat scan of my kidney but the hospital refused to “fit me into it’s schedule”, so she sent me to the ER, which meant that I got a cat scan of my kidney at the hospital plus some blood work, but it took all friggin’ afternoon. I was starving when I left.

It turns out I have a hematoma, but it’s just the hematoma I had as a result of the procedure that they knew about and didn’t tell anyone. It’s actually smaller now than it was the day of the procedure. They think what’s happening is that my body is just getting around to re-absorbing the hematoma which is why the increased pain. So…they’ve given me a prescription for Vicadin, told me to put heat on it 4 times a day to speed up the process, and call my doctor on Friday if I’m not feeling better…oh, and rest a lot.

So, now I’m at work, about to fall asleep at my desk with a bunny-shaped heating pad stuck to my back…

And it still hurts.

Tags: IgA Nephritis, ER, autoimmune kidney disease, hematoma, health, wellness

Demythtifying Mental Illness & The 100 Comment Challenge

I found the below on demythtifying mental illness at Brony’s blog, Parenting with a Mental Illness .  She closed out Mental Health Awareness Week by posting her 100th post on a blog she started “in part to create awareness of what it is like to have a mental illness.”  With this 100th post, she wants to meet 100 new people and generate 100 comments.  So please head over and comment on her 100th post and add your name to the 100 new people.  While you’re there, you might check out her other 99 posts too and become a little more aware about what it’s like to be a parent with a mental illness.
Oh, and here’s a teaser:

In Honour of Demthytifying Mental Illness, here are some common myths:

• People who have a mental illness are just “crazy
• Depression and other illnesses, such as anxiety disorders, do not affect children or adolescents.
• People with a severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia, are usually dangerous and violent.
• Addiction is a lifestyle choice and shows a lack of willpower. People with a substance abuse problem are morally weak or “bad”.
• Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), formerly known as “shock treatment,” is painful and barbaric.
• People with mental illness are poor and/or less intelligent.
• Mental illness is caused by a personal weakness.
• Mental illness is a single, rare disorder.
• Mental illness only happens to people with a family history.
• Mental illness is the same as mental retardation.
• People with a mental illness are unable to function well.
• Depression and anxiety disorders are part of growing up.
• Mentally ill employees tend to be second-rate workers.
• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) happens only after you fight in a war. That’s why it’s called shell shock.
• Depression is all in your head.
• Mental illness is the result of bad parenting.
• Schizophrenia means “split personality,” and there is no way to control it.
• Mental illness does not strike the “average person.”
• Mental illness is not a serious health problem today.
• Most people with a mental illness are receiving treatment.
• Mental illness is not like other “Physical” diseases.
• Most people who are mentally ill live in mental hospitals or on the streets.

Fact: Don’t be too quick to judge. Someone you knows suffers from a mental illness.

Tags: mental illness, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, Mental Health Awareness Week

9/11: Around The Blogosphere

Remembering the Day

• For Thou Art With Us — Sarah Bunting @ TomatoNation.com was there.
  

  We come up the rise to the corner where a crowd of people has gathered, all looking up, and the towers come into view — the south tower closer to us and to the left. “Ohhh, man,” we both say, and “Jeeeesus Christ,” and “This is not good. This is not good at all. This is fuckin’ bad.” So dumb. So dull. We sound like frat boys when the keg is dry, but there’s nothing else we can say about what we’ve got in front of us. In front of us, high above us, the south tower has a huge hole torn through it, a burning, screaming maw with thick black smoke pouring out. Occasionally, flames lick up one corner of the twisted mouth of the hole and then retreat, only to reappear on the other side. It doesn’t seem real. It doesn’t even seem that serious at first, actually, until I remember just how big the building is, how many stories high — and that the hole must therefore cover twelve stories, at least. “This isn’t the kind of history I want to be present at,” I say, lamely, to Bob. “Me neither,” he says.

  More

  Tags: 9/11, World Trade Center, terrorism, New York, American flag, Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden, Conspiracy Theories, George W. Bush, Matt Lauer, Rudy Giuliani, ABC, tragedy, patriotism, Ground Zero, We Will Never Forget, al-Qaeda, CIA, Pakistan, Taliban, Joint Special Operations Command, NSA, National Counterterrorism Center, Tora Bora, al-Zawahiri, Paul Krugman, NATO, Bill Clinton, Rush Limbaugh, Pentagon, healthcare, Iraq

  comments See also in Politics & Causes, In the News, Geekery, Blogging & Other Blogs, The World, Featured, 9-11 & Terrorism, Iraq & Afghanistan, Conspiracy Theories, The Middle East

Honey, We’re Killing The Pets

I totally got freaked out during the “nutrition” lecture during obedience class last. I was so sure I was doing so well buy buying Pugly Beneful because it claims to be made with things like “real chicken” and it’s advertising promises to be balanced nutrition.

Heck their website says:

Beneful® serves up a whole variety of superb formulas for the perfect balance of healthful ingredients, quality nutrition, and great taste. For your best friend, that means pure contentment.

And that cute guy in the commercial says it’s good for the dog. OK I didn’t buy it because of the cute guy. However, I did kind of fall for the front of the packaging that claims things like are also on their website:

		Moist chunks made with chicken are rich in protein for growing muscles.			Enriched with all the calcium of real milk for developing bones and teeth. Formulated to be lactose free.
		Contains vegetables, including peas and carrots, and other vitamin & mineral sources to help build a healthy immune system.			Crunchy rice, a highly digestible source of carbohydrates, for the energy active puppies need.
		Contains essential fatty acids and other nutrients for development of a glossy coat.			Contains iron for healthy blood.

Now, when I buy things for myself, I alway check the ingredient lists. I don’t know why it never occurred to me not to do so for my babies.

So imagine my horror last night when the trainer pulled out a package of Science Diet and Beneful and said that those were the worst two you can feed your dog! I mean, I thought I was giving Pugly a nice balance diet with real chicken and vegetables and rice and calcium and iron. How could I be that wrong?

Have you ever looked at the ingredients on a bag of dog food?

Ground yellow corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, whole wheat flour, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), chicken, rice flour, milk, soy flour, sugar, sorbitol, tricalcium phosphate, water, animal digest, salt, phosphoric acid, potassium chloride, dicalcium phosphate, sorbic acid (a preservative), L-Lysine monohydrochloride, added color (Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 2), calcium carbonate, dried peas, dried carrots, calcium propionate (a preservative), choline chloride, DL-Methionine, Vitamin E supplement, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, Vitamin A supplement, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin B-12 supplement, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, copper sulfate, brewers dried yeast, biotin, garlic oil, thiamine hydrochloride, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), calcium iodate, sodium selenite. A-4093

OK The first ingredient, “ground yellow corn” is just filler. It’s probably most of the food.

The second ingredient, “chicken by-product meal” that’s the diseased part of the chicken that’s too nasty to feed to humans; would you really want to feed your dog that? That is how things like CJD (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease) gets passed from one animal to the next, by feeding diseased animals to others.

The third and fourth ingredients are more fillers and the fifth ingredient is there because fat makes things taste good and otherwise the dogs wouldn’t eat it.

I’m really afraid to look at my cats’ IAMs Healthy Weight bag or their little pouches of Whiskas meat packs.
The trainer apparently is a “home cooker” for her pets and follows Dr. Pitcairn’s New Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats methodology. However, she recommended doing some research using the website DogAware.com and the magazine The Whole Dog Journal. (Note:You can get a subscription through their website for $29/yr for 12 issues or through this link at Amazon.com for $20/yr.)

The DogAware.com has a huge amount of information about the selections but it’s information overload. I don’t know that it’s all that helpful on giving me an idea on what’s the right choice to make except that I know now I don’t like the idea of continuing to give my babies by-products and fillers.

Through DogAware.com, I’ve also found The Dog Food Project and I guess I’m going to go pick up a copy of Dr. Pitcairn’s book from Borders today. I think this is going to require some research and no snap decisions. However, I’m going to stop on my way home and pick up some real meat to mix in with Pugly’s dry food for now.

This pet parenting is hard stuff.

Tags: Pug, the puppy, the cats, Pet Health

Why Buying Drugs Online Could Be Bad For Your Health

I admit that I’m often very frustrated with doctors and the medical process of trying to get a diagnosis. Let’s face it, I’ve had chronic headaches and migraines since I was in elementary school and some sort of chronic stomach/gastric B.S. issue since I was 17 or 18 and something wrong with my back since early college and etc. I’ve been going around and and around with doctors and their ilk for most of my life and I feel sometimes I like know just as much or more than them with all of my own research in books and online.

I’ll admit to wanting to self-diagnose and self-treat at least homeopathically (which would be my preference). I wouldn’t ever buy real medications online, but in case, some one else might be considering it, I ran across this scary true story:

LONDON - Buying medicine online without consulting a doctor could well lead to complex health conditions, warn doctors. This latest warning comes after a 64-year old woman was nearly blinded after consuming medicines that she had bought from an online pharmacy store in Thailand.

After diagnosing herself to be suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome, the 64-year old pensioner took the drugs for four years before she realized that her eyesight very getting weak. In February, she consulted doctors at the accident and emergency department of the Sunderland Royal Infirmary, who after examining her found out that she was suffering from glaucoma and cataracts due to the steroid, prednisolone, that she had been taking for the past 4 years.

Dr Scott Fraser and Dr Philip Severn, who examined the patient, then decided to make an online search, which revealed that they could purchase as many as 1000 tablets of the same steroid for just £25.23.

Mr Fraser admitted that though the treatment would have been right for her condition, the patient had taken a larger dose than necessary and was not able to realize the side effects caused by it. In a report written in The Lancet medical journal, the doctors warn that many of the drug therapies sold online will be counterfeit and even if they get hold of a genuine one, they require close medical monitoring.

“Some of the drug therapies can be counterfeit and contain a concoction of compounds that bear little resemblance to the drug named on the bottle. Even if the patient receives the actual drug, there are many problems with this unchecked availability, including interactions with coexisting treatment, side effects and the lack of careful medical monitoring,” the researchers write.

“The expansion of the Internet is relentless and, from the perspective of patients seeking information, in the main, positive. However, the online availability of controlled and uncontrolled drugs therapies needs to be carefully monitored,” they conclude. [“Online drug stores may sell fake drugs, warn doctors” (Eartimes.org)]

Tags: health

Closing The Door On The Botox Option

Well, I had my second Botox treatment last week. I meant to blog about it then, but with all the problems with my web host, it got lost in the shuffle.

I handled it somewhat better. No passing out this time. However, knowing about the 22 shots and what was coming was worse, I think. I felt very ill the whole time, very light-headed. It wasn’t nearly as interesting an experience. I did keep trying to focus on my happy thought, which happened to be Pugly since I was going to go see him immediately after.

The good news is that I kind of think that the Topomax in combination with the Botox is working. The bad news is that my insurance, Anthem, will not be covering my Botox treatment anymore after July 1rst. That little tiny vial which only contains an even tinier amount of toxin currently only costs me a $30 co-pay every few months, but it would cost $600 without the insurance. Mind you, Botox is the treatment of last resort for migraine sufferers; it’s the option doctors take when medications don’t work. This is not something I want to inject into my body. Heck, I don’t even like taking medications. Every time I get to drop a medication from my daily list, I’m ecstatic. I used to be one of those people who was into the whole all-natural lifestyle idea.

So, I guess I’m upset that I pay for insurance that repeatedly thinks it’s not cost effective to treat my conditions. I understand that I’m the expensive end of the gamble, but maybe the guy across from my cubicle never goes to the doctor. I don’t smoke. I don’t drink. I’ve never done illegal drugs. There’s no risk of pregnancy or STDs. All I ask is that I get what I pay for, which is often more than my co-pay.

I’m tired of someone deciding whether or not my daily agony fits on his bottom line.

Tags: botox, topomax, migraine, health insurance

Quote of the Day: Molly Ivins

From Molly Ivins Freepress.org article “A Giant Snit“:

So here are all the liberals going into a giant snit just because George W. Bush appointed a veterinarian to head the women’s health section of the Food and Drug Administration. For Pete’s sake, you whiners, the only reason he chose the vet is because Michael Brown wasn’t available.

Tags: Quote of the Day, politics, Molly Ivins, George W. Bush, Women's Health

Reflections On Last Night’s Debate & Related Things

• Why do Congressmen get $7700 per family health insurance packages? Obviously these people have far more money than the people they represent so why are the taxpayers forced to pay this enormous amount to ensure these people when something like 5 Million or is it more are unable to afford health insurance. John Kerry mentioned this number in his promise to give everyone this option. He said that obviously those who could afford health insurance would have to pay for their own, but that those those that didn’t would get the same deal Congressmen do. I think that Congressmen are obviously wealthy enough to afford their own health insurance, why are the taxpayers are not burdoned with it.
• In response to a question regarding job loss in the United States, President Bush said that it was important to re-educate people for jobs of the 21rst century. He suggested that there would be programs at community colleges for this to happen. Fifteen years ago, careers in computers were going to be the jobs of the 21rst century. Now, IT is one of the top industries hit with unemployment in the U.S. As we watch our 21 century jobs being shipped overseas, what jobs does President Bush suggest we re-educate ourselves to do and why is it that my 4-year Bachelor of Science degree is now worthless and needs to be replaced by a community college education?
• President Bush indicated that one of the ways to cut Healthcare costs is to bring the medical sector into the 21rst century with technology. I agree with this. However, as one of my IT co-workers at the hospital pointed out, most hospitals cannot afford to go all the way to electronic medical records. In fact, the very conversion would be a complete nightmare. It would take a decade per hospital probably. And I suppose that the best way to cut costs on this is to ship the IT conversion part overseas. Though likely the consultants would be astonished at the snail’s pace and red tape dealing with a hospital requires.
• Bush refused to answer the question on whether or not he supports overturning Roe V. Wade. He even accused Kerry of wanting to purposely appoint people who he knew would not do this rather than choosing the best person for the job. However, looking at the people Bush has chosen to nominate to key positions where Pro-choice and the option for birth control could be decided and/or taken away, I think that President Bush does in fact have a lithmus test for his appointees, despite his smoke and mirrors claim.
• Kerry correctly pointed out that while “No Child Left Behind” is a good program, it is severly underfunded and this is Bush’s fault. Bush’s reply was to claim that only a liberal would say that increasing education funding by 49% is not enough. The fact is that it wasn’t enough to fund the “No Child Left Behind” Act.
• Why, oh, why, can’t people laugh with their candidate’s opponents when they make a joke? At least recognize that not everything that comes out of Bush, Chenney, Edwards, and Kerry’s mouths are to be interpreted seriously. One of my co-workers was all pissed off at her literal interpretation of something Bush joked about. I didn’t like the joke myself when I heard it last night, but I at least recognized it was a joke not to be analyzed with the regular propoganda and rhetoric.
• Neither candidate is pefect and neither is the devil. While I don’t agree with either candidate 100%, I do agree more with Kerry. I’m tired of people suggesting that a vote for Kerry is just a vote against Bush. It’s not all about Bush, you know. Some of us actually do care about the environment, pro-choice, a better world reputation, a better funded border patrol, better healthcare, better benefits for those in poverty, better paying jobs, less tax breaks for the wealthy and companies sending jobs overseas, and a balanced budget. Yes, I am pissed off at Bush too. I don’t like that he’s taken us into a war that was unnecessary at the time and that he’s not caught Osama yet. I don’t like that N. Korea and Iran actually have moved forward with their nuclear progams and that the number of terrorists is on the rise. I really don’t care for the deficit. Everyone says that Clinton didn’t do anything he promised either but truth be told, one of the things I liked about him when he first ran was that he had a plan to balance the budget and get us out of debt and then once elected, he did it. We had a surplus when he left which was earmarked to help us with the social security issue but that money is gone and now we are in the largest debt ever.I fear for this country. I really do. I am terrified that no matter who wins we will remain divided and that some sort of rioting will occur. I imagine the worst. Obviously something isn’t working with our two party system. I don’t know how to fix it though.

Tags: politics, 2004 election, health insurance, Congress, jobs of the 21rst century, George W. Bush, John Kerry, Women's Rights, outsourcing