We help run two charities that do this with the Sawyer water filters. For Honduras, we follow up every 6 months with the families that received one, checking to make sure that they are using them correctly, taking water samples, and such. It has made a HUGE difference. In Honduras, we have been doing it for several years. I will have to look us up on the website, but we are so small, I doubt they have heard of us. We have no salaries and just eat the overhead expenses. For Africa, hubby and I just bought the 100 water filters ourselves.

So just to update the board...LOL, you guys will be the only people that know other than my husband. So I went in and knew immediately they actually did see something by the way the tech was so purposeful. Then she said, "let me take it to the radiologist to see if he wants to run an ABUS on it. Don't get dressed, just sit in the dressing room. So I waiting in that horrible hospital gown for over 20 minutes. She comes in, "Yep, he wants to do an ABUS. They will come and get you in a few minutes." Shut the door. They did the ABUS, but couldn't see it as it was too small and too deep, but it is a change. So then came the discussion about whether to do a biopsy as the radiologist thinks it is probably benign, but again, cannot be sure without the biopsy and with my family history I and he agree we should biopsy it. But we were leaving for Africa two days later. I will be gone 3 weeks. So much back and forth. Fine to wait. Hubby not sure. Turns out the soonest I could schedule the biopsy was first week of February anyway which is after I will come back. Rather be here actually doing something than sitting at home by myself just fretting. So we will see. A ten percent chance it is cancer, but a 90 percent chance it is not. We are not telling anyone, especially the kids until I know something definitive and if it is nothing, they will probably not know anything at all. I did a good job of hiding my worry when our daughter was home.

LOL, this has absolutely nothing to do with you. Not sure why I would want to block you. If it is because of the insurance discussion, that is no big deal at all and nothing to get upset about. Yes, this. Like so many things I didn't even know it happened until I saw the thread. It just makes me so upset and I can do absolutely nothing about it. I stay off the news or any discussion of politics because I have no power. I do have the power to give the young doctor the 100 water filters for him to take to his mostly Muslim community living in the slums in Africa. I do have the power to help 2 Honduran young people get an education, clean water, etc. We see them twice a year. I am on a board run by a Honduran to help others get the same opportunity so that maybe they won't need to leave their country. Regardless, they have a better life. I have the power to just sit and give encouragement to the sick and the dying and offer prayers on their behalf. Though I feel a bit like that episode of Star Trek. You remember where there was a woman who could take the wounds of Kirk away, but then she carried them? That is how the prayer team often feels for me. But I feel called to do it. It helps them for someone to actually SEE them. It isn't good for me to see threads or news stories or whatever about elections that I have no power to change (yes, of course I vote), environmental stuff, plastics, etc. The amount of caring it would take to care about even a little bit of what people on this board do would put me in a mental hospital. I know I should probably just not come here, but I cannot help myself. But I do enjoy the lighter threads. And many times I don't know what the thread is about until I read it or I get sucked into it and then cannot leave it alone. One thread ( and no, not the insurance one LOL) kept me up for over an hour and a half last night ruminating and discussing it in my head when I went to bed, though I am sure the 9 hour time difference didn't help. ( And it is a thread I have made no comments on at all. LOL, I have so many conversations with y'all that you don't even know I have.)

Not ones that you wrote. But others like so they don't even show up in the thread anymore? (So you can't see them, not to make them disappear off the board.)

OP, I would never ever NOT use my insurance. (They will get the other guy to pay. And yes, it takes awhile.)

Yes, i understand. That makes no sense at all to me. The at fault insurance agency has NO impetus to help her like her own insurance does.

But the other insurance company has NO reason to pay you. None. Your insurance works for YOU. They owe you. We don't even have an agent. They ARE concerned about getting their money back. (Obviously this is if the other guy is at fault just like the OP) HEr insurance company will have a vested interest in getting the money back . They will not want to pay tens of thousands of dollars and just let it go. The at fault insurance company can just string her along forever. What does it cost them? Nothing. She isn't their customer.

Ok, I am a little confused with the advice and why you would have her cancel with her own insurance. In this type of situation, USAA ALWAYS went to bat for us. For example, in 2016 my honda oddysey was t-boned ( She would have hit me on my driver's side door, but ended up hitting where the front and rear door met on my side when I managed to swerve to get out of the way a little bit.) The lady did not have a driver's license ( was illegal), but the car she borrowed did have insurance on it. USAA did not total it at first, but when they actually got it into the shop and started working on it, it was totalled. They went after the guy's insurance, but of course they didn't want to pay. USAA paid us for the car to be a total loss. They were then suing the other insurance company. I have no clue if they got their money or not. So that would be my fear if she cancels with her insurance. If the other lady's insurance refuses to pay, then SHE has to sue them, incur court fees and all of that instead of letting her insurance company go through all of that hastle.

My mammogram was the yearly one I always get. I scheduled my December of 2024 one while I was there. Likewise, this appointment with my ob/gyn is my yearly one where he does a physical exam, PAP smear, etc that was scheduled at last year's appointment. It just so happened that I had that appointment shortly after I got that email about the diagnostic mammogram. If I had not been planning to see him anyway, I would have sent him a message asking what the test showed, which again, the imaging system hadn't sent him. He had to actually go into the system to look up my records at the imaging place during my appointment. The doctor's office doesn't have my results. I am guessing from my talk with the imaging schedular that they won't send that result until after the diagnostic mammogram and then they will send them together. The scheduler just kept repeating, "She prefers not to give results until all the tests are in.

Ok here are a few more. I have never seen them: Carrie the Musical from 1988. It was a tv movie, so it should fit the PG-13 and under. Sweeney Todd with Johnny Depp is rated R.

Ok here are a few more. I have never seen them: Carrie the Musical from 1988. It was a tv movie, so it should fit the PG-13 and under. Sweeney Todd with Johnny Depp is rated R.

Into the Woods, Phantom of the Opera I haven't seen this one, but have heard my daughter play some numbers: Jekyll and Hyde ( the reviews of the movie look horrible, though)

Yep. We are powerless to do anything. So why discuss.

Update: So it went pretty much as I expected. He happily greeted me as I walked by the desk into the exam room. "How is it going?" he asked as he smiled. When he came into the room, he started to make small talk and then saw me with my notebook pen in hand. Looking confused he asked, "Why the notebook? Do you have a lot of questions for me or something?" " I wanted to talk about the mammogram results." "Mammogram results?" (This was just my yearly one, so it isn't like he ordered it or something.) Your last mammogram was....looking at chart December of 2022?" So his office didn't have the report, which I figured because it doesn't show up in my portal ( the test does, but not the result). "No, the one last week. I got an email saying they automatically scheduled a diagnostic one for next week." He rolled his eyes, and sighed, "I really wish they wouldn't do that without letting me know so I can call you. Hang on, I bet it is nothing to worry about. This happens all the time if they can't read it, but let me check." So yeah, my breasts are dense and they couldn't get a good picture, there are shadows which are normal with dense breasts. As I think I mentioned above, I didn't care for this tech. All of my other ones took their time, looked at the images, sometimes repositioned me and took another one, etc. This lady was extremely rough and didn't feel careful at all. I was done in like 10 minutes. So I will go Monday and the nice thing is that the radiologist will be there reading them as they do them and will come in to give me results immediately. After I get the results, I may see if I can talk to the scheduler or someone about how their system is just not acceptable at all IMO. The doctor said my clinical exam was absolutely normal and that although he obviously couldn't guarantee anything, he would be surprised if the test on Monday showed anything.

I have absolutely no problem with them scheduling it without my permission to start with. No problem at all. What I DO have a problem with is no one calling me within a reasonable time period ( though honestly, preferably before but I would be ok if someone had called me that day sometime) to tell me why they are scheduling the follow-up diagnostic mammogram. They didn't notify the doctor so he could talk to me. He didn't know about my results. And they are all part of the same umbrella ( diagnostic clinic), so we are not talking about two different systems that don't communicate.

Absolutely. With both of my parents gone and so many in the generation above us in church dying at a rapid rate, and even a few in our generation, I have been painfully reminded at how little time I have left. I think your plan to talk to him sounds wonderful.

I am truly struggling with what and how to set goals for 2024. I have been pondering them and trying to figure it out since a workshop I attended in late October. I did another challenge. Now I am trying to write my rule for life to see if I get any clarity. I guess for this week my goals are 1. Enjoy my daughter before she goes back to school on Sunday. 2. Continue to pack and get ready for flying to Kenya next Wednesday: get groceries, create the song to teach the chaplain asked me to, figure out her family's gift, etc. Yet knowing that depending on what the test shows Monday I might be trading the trip in for biopsies and cancer treatments.. Hard to hold both possibilities in my head. Other than that I have no clue what my overarching goals for the year should be. None.

Yes, I had already told my husband that I didn't like this tech. I have been getting mammograms for over 20 years now faithfully every year. She was very rough and very fast. Everyone else I have ever had has been much more gentle ( Now yes, the thing squeezes you, but they aren't rough with you.) and very particular about how they do them. I wondered if they had trouble reading them. But then you should call and say, the images were not what we hoped, so we need to redo them. Fine. No problem. I am very grateful that they did schedule it quickly. Honestly, I wonder if my doctor even knows that they did it. I think this was all the breast center imaging center at the hospital. Normally, when I have had some other results come back (I once had an abnormal result from a pap smear.) he called me that evening, but I had actually already seen the results in my portal before he called. But he has called me every single time. There are no results in the portal. So, I am leaning toward the they didn't get good images. My guess is when I have my regular appointment in the morning he will be surprised/angry and leave the room and call the radiologist/get into the system and look me up. I am also hoping maybe he could get me in to get the diagnostic test tomorrow or Friday. He also goes to serve on mission trips often and knows I am flying to Kenya next week (if everything is fine). I think he isn't going to be happy about the way it was handled.

You also have to be careful about tying your identity to what you do. I notice you said part of your identity so I think you know this, but when retirement comes many men die soon after because they are so tied to what they do. Also, one other cautionary note and this is SO coming from someone who still struggles with this, but make sure you are able to lovingly detach yourself from his suffering. It is hard when they are such caring, wonderful men, but you have to stay afloat. Part of my complete collapse almost a decade ago was when I realized that it didn't matter how supportive I was or what I did, his angst would always be there. Somehow I thought that if I was the perfect wife I could somehow eliminate any suffering he went through or at least alleviate it somehow. His journey is his journey. Yes, be supportive but also detach.

Well, sad that it happened, but looks like he will eventually be better off than he was as the "dream" job. Still sucks. Sad for other people, but glad it helped your dh see it wasn't him, but the company. Praying he finds something soon. I'm betting he will have some good recommendations from some of the other workers. Hang in there. You are doing great, even if it doesn't feel that way...

Thank you. Yes.

So I had a mammogram last week. Yesterday, was heading to meet my daughter and her boyfriend for a fun outing when I get an email: We have scheduled your diagnostic mammogram for such and such a day next week. Click here or call to reschedule... So I call the number because I am supposed to be in Kenya the day it is scheduled. "I guess something abnormal was seen and so this was scheduled FOR me. No one has talked to me. I will be out of the country can we make it earlier and can you tell me what they saw?" "She prefers to talk to the patients after all of the tests are run." She then changed my appointment to Monday. My doctor is a he. My husband is guessing that the radiologist ( I am guessing the she)is the one who scheduled it and my doc may not even know anything yet. I will see him tomorrow for my yearly exam anyway.. He has always been so good and calls me as soon as he gets results even if it is after hours. But really, you just automatically schedule another test without any information on the test that has already been done? It just shows up in my inbox without any warning? GRRR.... Update 2/5/24 So when I got back in the country last week, I called because I didn't have the time for the biopsy on my calendar. They told me 12:30 on the 7th. I just called again today because I have gotten no instructions at all and didn't know if I could drive myself or about eating or anything..... They don't show me on the schedule..... She went off to talk to scheduling to figure out what is going on... Waiting for a call back.

You will probably be unhappy with a guy as well. It won't make you happy.

Again... I will give this advice. You need to swear off dating for a minimum of a year. Do not date until you can be completely happy with yourself and your life. Until you don't really need it. That is pretty much the only way you are going to find a healthy relationship. If you are happy with yourself, you will not get so attached so quickly and just shrug off and be like, ok that guy wasn't interested. Glad I found out. But seriously... forget men for at least a year, maybe longer.

Praying Scarlett!!!