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kroe1

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Everything posted by kroe1

  1. The hospital I work for has stated morphine will not be available until January. Yes, the shortage is here. Of course, morphine ran out last year, too. Crazy world we live in.
  2. The problem is that much of what was gained by ACA are expected costs and should not be insured anyway. What we lost is the number of doctors willing to take the insurance, more claims being denied for whatever reason, and such higher costs for coverage for many that being “insuredâ€is merely a label. In actuality, the premiums preclude the ability to pay co-pays and deductibles for even simple, but, necessary doctor visits. What has transpired is that ER visits have skyrocketed which increases overall healthcare costs for all. For me personally, since ACA, my monthly premiums have gone from $400 a month to $1600 a month. I just got the notice that I will be paying $2400 a month as of January. Whether that is entirely because of ACA, I doubt it. Nonetheless, healthcare is quickly becoming a higher expense than housing for many, even for those perfectly healthy. DH and I will most likely drop all insurance as of January. We figure pocketing $30,000 a year, Crossing our fingers, shutting our eyes and saving like crazy is the best way to handle healthcare at this time for us.
  3. Weaning the elderly from narcotics, even when they have been used for many years, has nothing to do with cruelty or an opioid epidemic. It has to do with preventing a fall risk. As we age: 1. We lose a sense of balance. After about age 65 or so, we lose the ability to stand on one foot. This progresses to a wider based gait and some shuffling of the feet, the older we get. 2. The liver and kidneys do not process medications the same way it did 30 years before. 3. Weight changes. We lose more muscle mass with a disproportionate increase in adipose tissue. This also changes the drugs are processed and stored in the body. 4. Elderly have more comorbid conditions and more interacting drugs. For example, someone may be on a blood thinner to prevent another stroke. A simple fall on the tile floor can be life threatening. 5. Hip fractures in the elderly can mean a 50% chance of death in the next year. There has been a big push to get elderly off of all sedating medications, not just pain medicines. This has been going on for at least 10 years. Also, pill mills in Florida were shut down about 3 or 4 years ago, at least the bulk of them. Florida has been quite progressive in attempts to end the opioid crisis. But, now it seems it will just be replaced with a marijuana one. Sigh.
  4. There is now a way to do home monitoring for Coumadin.
  5. I could fix healthcare, easy. 1. Ninety percent of healthcare dollars are spent in the last 5 years of life. Eliminate those last five years by focusing on hospice care rather than prolonging life. Ouch. This is like killing grandma. 2. Also, eliminate risky procedures. Did I see the UK is thinking of postponing some surgeries for the obese until there is weight loss? (I hope this was a Facebook fake news) Obesity is just one risk factor for surgical complications. I would guess it should be OK to eliminate surgeries for anyone who has any type of risk factor. 3. Get rid of lawyers. 4. Get rid of unnecessary tests. Do not allow patients to request expensive testing. 5. Get rid of insurance covering expected expenses. Go back to Major Medical. We all know we will have to buy birth control pills, a couple of doctor visits a year for colds and sore throats. This regular, routine stuff should not be insured. We all know we will get hungry after church on Sundays. There is no reason to purchase insurance, which would add to the costs, of Sunday dinner. 6. Get rid of government mandated medical practices. It is not the recommendations that are bad. Most are based on decent evidence. But, the government requires more administrators to prove healthcare is in compliance. Administrators now outnumber those actually taking care of the patients. I am sick of seeing hospitals continually cutting staff in patient care areas just to add more administrative positions. 7. Get rid of all the middlemen. Healthcare should be between the patient and the doctor. No one else should get a vote, certainly not some foreigner sitting in a basement office deciding what tests will be allowed. The back and forth crap between healthcare providers and payers has gotten beyond ridiculous. 8. Get rid of malpractice lawsuits. While surprisingly, this doesn’t add a ton of cost to Medicine directly, indirectly it does. The amount of over-prescribing and over-testing is beyond out of control. 9. Life sucks and then you die. Get rid of the perception that healthcare is the road to happiness. It should not be considered a way to be totally pain free, stress free, emotion free, and glamorous appearing. These perceptions have created a bunch of addicts, very expensive procedures, and even more expensive drugs.
  6. Check with college. Most have a recommendation. DD17 was told to get the Surface Pro with the pen. It is working well so far.
  7. That list of her symptoms that you typed above should be in your hand during the appointment. Also, write out your questions in advance. This helps you remember everything during the few minutes you are with the physician.
  8. I could not agree with this more. However, I am not sure if I would feel the same way if I had a teen who needed a pelvic exam or testicular exam. I would probably leave the room for those. Lol. But, I would not be happy with a provider offering my teen medications or immunizations without me being a part of that discussion. Luckily, it never came up in my parenting years.
  9. I do not think anyone should get fired who was trying to follow department policy. Teaching and retraining, as well as policy change could, most likely, change future similar events. But, I would trust that a proper investigation was done. I would also hope the patient involved got an opinion, as well. Finally, I would hope that people who saw 30 seconds of a transaction would not jump to conclusions about a person’s employability.
  10. Nothing screams love to me more than big, fat, diamonds. Lol. I would go back and wear the ones you already have. I do very detailed work with my hands, ring and fingernails included. I have never hurt anyone. Just consider the ring a natural extension of your body.
  11. I see you have 5 young children including the newborn. You do not have time to police their behavior, so I doubt you would have time to police the consequences. I do not see how anyone would and try and work, too. My kids did better with things that were not off limits. For example, if I didn’t want the toddler messing with the new stereo, it was better if I taught him how to use it. If I kept asking him to turn it on for me, he didn’t want to play with it anymore. It became a “choreâ€. In regards to kitchen utensils going outside, I certainly ran into that. I thought that was just boys being boys. It is why I had mismatched utensils for 35 years of my adult life. Bottom line, all punishments have to be supervised. One cannot ground a kid if the Mom stays in the basement doing her job all day, for example. I mean, one can do it, but, then there’s just one more thing to have to punish later when the kid goes outside anyway because he thinks he won’t get caught. Personally, I think you would be better off buying cheap stuff that is easily replaceable and keeping your kids safe as best you can.
  12. I like stuff too much. I will never retire.
  13. Many of us on this board homeschool to avoid the situation you are describing, or at least benefit in this way even if it is not the primary reason we homeschool. So, my guess is most of us would advise you to homeschool if you are able.
  14. Some people are the social butterflies, the rest of us are grateful they check on us and keep us in the loop. It always saddens me when people feel like I do not care because I am not an initiator of social encounters. I just am not that organized, thoughtful, motivated,....whatever excuse one wants.....to get the job accomplished, not even simple phone calls. But, I am so GRATEFUL to those who keep hanging in there. I truly love a good friend, good family, and a good party.
  15. So sorry for her. DD’s big toe nails eventually just quit growing and fell off because of all her years of dancing. Until then, they always looked tragic. But, an ingrown toenail would hurt so badly. I am glad you are going to the podiatrist.
  16. I would just spend it on me. Lol.
  17. No sleepovers, period. The reasons for our family were many: 1. Sleep habits not disrupted. 2. Creepy dads whom no one suspects. (I was attacked as a child, but, luckily, got away.) 3. No need to have to explain why some families were OK to sleepover and some were not. 4. No worries about teenagers sneaking off for the night, or telling me they were at one house, but, really somewhere else. 5. Allowed my kids an "out" as they were early risers anyway. 6. Did not mess up the extra-curricular activities which were always time consuming.
  18. If this is JAWM post, then please disregard. But, this would not be a child I would want on amphetamines. I know you say that Concerta helps, but, the long term anxiety issues alone from chronic amphetamine use would mean he is destined for worsening symptoms. What is everything you have already tried?
  19. Do they have Dream Duffles? There are a lot of add-ons if they do. Most of the older dancers quit wearing dancewear per se to dance class if they can get away with it. Check out Nike and Addidas booty shorts and bra tops. Call their studio to see if gift certificates are available. Maybe buy a private lesson.
  20. Just built a new video game room for me, still working 500 miles from home, and just trying to convince DH we do not need this big house anymore. I am tired of cleaning it.
  21. It is already happening here. Back in the 2000's, all the walls in Florida started having recessed areas. Some were small, some were floor to ceiling. Those of us with these now 15 year old homes are paneling those little alcoves with all kinds of stuff including siding, stone, glass tiles, murals (although that is a little passé ), wood, and wallpaper.
  22. I was just at Paula Deen's a few weeks ago. It was packed. I could have layed my face down in that pecan pie. I have never been that close to heaven.
  23. Why is it that the more people throw out the race card, the more I am reminded of melatonin counts? I look around at the local gas station this morning as I read this post. There are all kinds of people sitting around eating breakfast together. (A really cool gas station with gourmet food.). No one seems to recognize any physical features of anyone that I could tell. So everyone who keeps telling me there is a race card to pull, let me take you back a few decades. Until then, I am going to understand that the race card sells newspapers and keeps people in unrest which sells more newspapers. The more we stay in unrest, the more children learn to pull a race card. I would venture to say that people in poverty, people obese, the elderly, homeless, the handicapped, those wearing certain religious articles, those passed out behind the wheel of a car, and those scratching their buttocks get more discrimination, in today's America. But, I am not sure anyone is keeping any statistics on such. At least I have never looked for any.
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