I am not convinced that the NHS does work better than our system, even in ours' current state of crisis. I'd like to address the lawyer point mentioned above. The real cost of lawyers is the adaptations that hospitals, physicians, and the entire health care system must make in order to stave off huge lawsuits that would threaten their practice/institution. Patient care is #2. The charting on patients done by nurses like me has ballooned to ridiculous mountains of unnecessary, time-wasting, cover-your-butt information input into slow and repetitive programs. The real reason is to make it difficult for lawyers to go through and find pertinent information in the hundreds of pages of garbage spewed out as 'medical records' these days. As a hospital RN, I am required by law to do continuing ed every year; the large teaching hospital I work for requires yearly training on what things not to write in the chart. There is also a special computer program on reporting "incidents" (mistakes or accidents) directly to our hospital lawyers before charting anything about it. The lawyers also draft all of the consents that patients are required to sign for care, procedures, surgeries, privacy documents, etc. I'll be 60 years old this year, and have seen patient care in the hospital worsen unbelievably since the ACA doled out hundreds of millions to the health care community to get them on board with electronic medical records. So now when you are hospitalized, your nurse is likely looking at the computer more than she is at you, the patient--even when she is in your hospital room. And at the physician's office--are they looking at you more than in a cursory fashion? Or are they filling in boxes on the (likely non user friendly) medical record while you tell them your symptoms? In addition, most hospitals and doctor's offices I am aware of are still using Windows 7 for their operating systems. Yes, insecure 7. And Win10 is not considered secure for electronic medical records--so what happens when Windows support for 7 ends next year? Our large urban public hospital had to switch from XP(!) a year or two ago when Microsoft stopped supporting it. Recently I had a short hospitalization, my first since my childbirths. Although I was there for cardiac issues, not one nurse touched a stethoscope to my body the entire time. The nurse would come in the room, shielded by her huge wheeled computer on wheels, and each one spoke to me from behind the computer, so I was not even assessed by the eyes of a nurse, her most important tool. Not one nurse touched me in any way, although I know they were all charting full head to toe pretend assessments every four hours. The PCT did vital signs, and the EKG tech did EKGs every four hours. The RNs? Came in and asked questions while typing and then left. Before the forced switch to the EMR, nurses had time to assess patients properly, even fluff a pillow or two, sit with a scared pediatric patient for a few minutes, reassure a worried spouse. Nurses are the front line; if we don't see changes in condition, the doctor will not know, as he only sees the patient once a day for a couple minutes. These days? Nearly all the time for both RNs and physicians is used on charting. And most charting is for the lawyers.

Your example proves that single payer in most places is a two tier system, with the top tier only for those who can afford it. Why is that great physical therapist working for private insurance in the UK rather than helping the masses on the NHS?

I think you are doing a great job. Your daughter is getting a far better education than she would be at ps. Family members who have kids in school often try to find things wrong with a homeschooler. Grilling you about what you are doing with your daughter is a bit rude and intrusive, imo. If she were in school, you wouldn't be giving every detail of her work to your sister.

I use actual spit then rinse with my dive mask, not sure why it works!

I'm sorry you have these terrible medical bills. The health problems are enough to worry about :(

I would not use that cream. I would do exactly what @ktgrok recommended, bacitracin (and you can mix monistat or whatever you were using for yeast if you want) and cover with desitin or other thick zinc oxide type diaper cream.

Well oops it is $14.99, sorry, I had it confused with another addon price.

Paying 1/3 of your income for health insurance is ridiculous! I would choose a cheaper plan and put some of the money saved on premiums in a tax free hsa to help with the deductible.

This. ^ We have the Roku 2 and gave my adult daughter the original roku. We watch Amazon Prime and Netflix the most. And the yoga channel. You can get hbo and the other premium channels through amazon prime for around $8/month each. We get hbo during Game of Thrones and then cancel it. The little remote is adorable, but we mostly use our phones as remotes.

I eat bento 5 days a week at work abd have a few boxes; I get the bento boxes and accessories online. I've bought from Amazon in recent years, but prior to thatI bought from a bento site, can't find the link. They were a little pricey anyway, tbh. The one I'm using the most at the moment is https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NAOWFBW/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apap_8m9NY3aMxbEG4. It says for kids, but holds plenty, and one section is waterproof enough for soup. :) If there's an Asian market near you, they may have some. The best local selection I've seen in person is at a Korean market near me.

Because heaven forbid little boys should have a refuge where they can be themselves and earn recognition for new skills without having girls in the mix. Getting all dirty and loud camping without worrying about what that girl might think. Like the difference between an all men camp trip vs one in which the wives attend. Oh, and enrollment in BSA has dropped, so this is a way to boost it up.

The day of celebration doesn't matter to me. I worked night shift for years, and had to work many holidays in the hospital. And I purposely try to forget the dates my parents passed away, it's just too sad

I agree. So sad. The girl scouts are a wonderful organization..

We have a local pita place that has Meatless Mondays with huge veggie pitas (falafel yum) $3 apiece.

Glowsticks for treats are a fantastic idea, I am going to steal it, thanks!

It's a small blender, makes great smoothies. I have a Magic Bullet, its predecessor. :D

Uh oh. Avocados go from under- to overripe really fast. ETA: they're ripe when they 'give' just a bit like a ripe pear.

I love avocado toast! Also guacamole-- with a spoon if there are no chips.

((((Hugs))))

Avocado toast!

Well, I'm a 59 year old RN who is currently reinventing herself as a lactation consultant, so you can do whatever you want, you spring chicken! I just wanted to add that you can simultaneously work and go to school. I did it with 2 little kids and a disabled husband and I was working 30 hours a week.

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Often doctors are using lovenox now in pregnancy rather than heparin, switching to heparin the last few weeks.

If someone is upset and crying and can't talk, we hug them and bring them a glass of water, maybe a sandwich, and wait until they calm down enough to talk, and then we listen. That's the way to treat people.