Things Shared

Wordless Wednesday

2011-09-28T10:12:00.002-05:00

what a great day for smokin weed

2008-10-14T10:14:00.004-05:00

and leaves too, of course! Well, probably mostly leaves but definitely some weeds.

I found out today we have the poisonous weed/bush "Pokeweed" thriving all over our yard. Pretty but unwanted.

just random stuff

2008-06-19T10:22:00.010-05:00

I have made it a point to carry the camera with every time we go out now because of some photo opportunities missed early on. While downloading everything off the camera I was reminded of some I wanted to share...

The first is of a couple I watched from my car in the Lowe's parking lot. I guess it would have been more neighborly of me to point out their error (in just stacking all that wood without tying it down to anything and just leaving the gate open) but I figured they wouldn't get very far without learning on their own.

We have a large family and because of that when we were looking at houses we didn't consider anything less than 4 bedrooms. We didn't find too many houses that were affordable because of this. But who knew this was an option?!

This next one I wasn't sure how to post but I'll try to be sensitive.

We all had crushes on superstars when we were younger. For me and most of my friends it was Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital (none other than Rick Springfield). I believe 9 out of 10 of my "boy" friends had it bad for Farrah (that oh so famous poster). Princess Leia was a close second. As an adult those crushes pass...usually.

For Stan, Morgan Fairchild has stood the test of time. I gotta be honest, I tried to find some pictures of her looking her age (almost 60) but was unable to. I did find out that the reason for that is because she has implants and admits to keeping phone numbers of the best plastic surgeons for when she needs "help". She also stated that she undergoes a lot of laser & botox treatments. I felt a little better for knowing those things. Stan won't admit he still has his crush but I know better and that means every time we drive past this sign I get to remind him of that!

Oh, and the next time your VCR (if you still have one of those) is making a rrrrrrruring sound, check to see if maybe Batgirl is the problem. I was not previously given that advice so it took me a day to look inside!

sad news to share

2008-06-09T12:06:00.004-05:00

We got our dog, Lily, from a shelter last August. After several visits to the shelter we had plans to go forward with getting a pitbull. We were told we could not even take her for a walk until our application was approved. So we filled out the form. The woman in charge told us background checks are done by a friend and they sometimes take 2-3 weeks to get back. Well, we really liked Iris so we figured it was worth the wait. After several visits, Iris started to recognize us and when she would see us coming to her cage she would get really excited. Our daughter had just turned one and Iris was so gentle - even when she would stick her hand in her mouth! Iris was the exact opposite of what people believe of these dogs. Weeks went by and no news on the application. I started to wonder if the shelter ever approved anyone's request for a pitbull. There were a ton of them there.

We decided to look around at other dogs there. We had liked a few but a couple were pitbulls and some were older than I wanted to consider. The woman (who was clearly not going to approve a pitbull adoption) suggested we consider a German Shepherd mix who was brought in by a family with kids. We were very attached to Iris and it was not easy to consider but that changed after we took her out for a walk. She was very mild mannered and was easy to walk. She wasn't rough with the kids. Weighing in at about 60 lbs she was the perfect size dog for us.

Lily came home with us that afternoon.

She has been a terrific dog. She was easy to train. She is gentle with the kids no matter how rough they play. You can take the food out of her mouth while she is eating. Things she didn't already know she picked up very easily. She is a very loving dog.

In the last week she has quit eating which has caused her to suffer extreme weight loss and she has very labored breathing. The vet said it could be caused by an infection or it could be cancer. Today we found out she has lymphoma. All of her lymph nodes are swollen, very badly. It has been aggressive and grown rapidly. Our options are to send her to U of I for chemo & radiation and after spending upwards of $7000. it is still very possible within one year's time she would die anyway or we can put her to sleep or we can bring her home and wait for her to die a natural death. Well, we cannot afford chemo for her. It's not that we have it and are choosing not to spend it, we don't have that kind of money. Bringing her home and having her slowly dying isn't very humane to me. She is not getting enough air in and she can't eat. It would be extremely selfish to have her continue this way until her body quits.

I brought her back home today so everyone could say their good-byes. I have an appointment to bring her back to the vet tonight at 7. It is not going to be an easy drive there or back. We will miss her terribly.

2008 spring fashions

2008-05-08T10:41:00.029-05:00

I had picked up mail from the PO box and got into line to send a package. While waiting in line I figured I would go through my mail since 80% of it is junk and there is NO reason to bring junk into our house at this time! In walks crazy. She stands next to me in line but I think nothing of it. I went to grammar school with a girl who hated to stand behind someone so I figure this woman has a similar mental issue. So when the postal worker states she can help who is next, crazy walks up there. Well, my tolerance for ignorance is gone, if I ever had any to begin, so I too walk up. I put my day planner on the counter and my package in front of that. I (maybe not so) politely say "Excuse me lady, I am next in line". With an angry, flustered, crazy voice she tells me that I was checking my mail and I had no business doing that so she is next. The postal worker rightfully feared I would turn on her if she took care of crazy first so she put my package on the scale. This enraged crazy but as she is not a rational person her response to this is:

"You're not even wearing socks! Real classy Lady!"

As usual, the post office was busy so now everyone does two things

1 - Looks at my sock less feet. Yep, no socks - but I was wearing shoes! My favorite pair of black Mary Janes as a matter of fact.

2 - Waits for what would be escalating to a cat fight if I were still 20. I am not though so although I wanted very badly to knock crazy down to the ground in the hopes that it would make it so she doesn't think she can get away with atrocious behavior (at least for the rest of the day) I instead laughed at her and concurred that she is of course superior to me.

Maybe one day someone will present me with clothes. Maybe, just maybe, I will be so lucky as to have Harry Potter present me with a sock!

HD CEO given $8.28 million in 2007

2008-04-28T11:01:00.009-05:00

For shits & grins I like to look at HD, Lowe's, Menard's or any home improvement ads. I like to dream about the things we won't be purchasing for a very long time, if ever. I love the outdoor stuff that goes on sale in the spring - gardening tools, patio furniture, fire pits, even tool sheds catch my eye. Well we happened to be at HD last week. We usually stay away from this store because they very rarely have what we need and even less frequently have employees that are helpful. Buuuuut, we did break down one day because it was 40 miles closer than Menards. (They didn't have what we needed.) Funny thing though, this was their outdoor display.

Now I understand that at the end of the season these barns may look a little weathered having been in the rain and under the hot sun, but at the beginning of the season this is just ridiculous!

I was curious to see if HD's profits have dropped so considerably that they are cutting back but this article on Frank Blake states otherwise!

what a perfect day

2008-04-22T11:23:00.022-05:00

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day. By 7 AM it was climbing past 60° and when we enjoyed our dinner outside at 8 PM it was still very comfortable out. We weren't the only ones who welcomed the sunny 75° day...

I was slightly concerned with the one at the back of this photo

We almost drove right over this guy

We couldn't get him to come out of his shell

Turkey vultures were EVERYWHERE
and to give you a better idea of the size of a turkey vulture

A stray cat, who would think

things can always be worse

2007-11-22T06:35:00.002-06:00

I want to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving! As things worked out this year we found we are only cooking for my mom so our day should go by with only a few arguments!!

As your day unfolds and you need to take a break because you now remember why you only see these people on holidays, take a look at the videos above... you'll may find it slightly easier to deal with your family!

And if watching people dumber than your own family doesn't make your day easier, just for a moment imagine what the turkey went through today...

good news to start the month

2007-10-09T08:09:00.000-05:00

With October being National Breast Cancer Awareness month, it is fitting that I just had my first mammogram. I was scheduled to have my baseline 2 years ago (at age 35) but between the time I was told to schedule one and the actual phone call to do so, we found out we were expecting another baby and the test would obviously have to be put off.

Last week I had to have an SIS (Saline Infusion Sonogram) and a biopsy so my doctor figured it would be a great time to have that baseline done.

I'll be honest, even with several women in my family having a history with breast cancer I wasn't concerned. I don't see the point in being concerned beforehand. It's not like concern changes the outcome.

My mammogram came back looking normal. Thank you for the good news. See you in a couple years.

My SIS on the other hand did not produce the same results. Although it confirmed I don't have fibroids, it does appear that I have two large broad based polyps that are causing me so many problems. Endometrial polyps are considered "common" and are easily removed by D & C. I am not looking forward to the procedure but it could have been so much worse. Thank you for the good news. See you in a couple weeks.

Speak Out For Autistics - Blog Against Abuse

2007-09-27T00:01:00.001-05:00

We all have events in our pasts that are able to stir up such strong emotions inside that it’s almost as if it has happened all over again.

One of my such events is about an autistic girl I used to babysit.

Autism is a confusing developmental condition of the brain which even in 2007 can’t be fully understood. Wikipedia is a great resource for trying to sort through degrees of and behaviors.

The 3 year old girl I cared for, I’ll call her Hope, had severe autism. She was unable to communicate her needs, did not talk, refused to eat many foods, avoided all eye and physical contact and spent most of her days rocking back and forth on her hands and knees. On a good day with Hope, her therapists (she saw 5 every week) might get her to pick up a ball or picture book just to throw it back down and try to get away. Her therapists constantly changed due to the fact that there was never any progress. She did occasionally show signs of being happy about something by flapping her hands wildly and squealing but the very moment I would try to share it with her she would shy away.

Hope was living here in the US with the woman who had adopted her. Her 40 something year old “mother” was here from England and told me she had come here to adopt Hope from Russia because the US has the easiest screening process. I thought that was a little odd but as long as she is adopting a baby who would otherwise be neglected and abused then good for the baby. My first meeting was with the mother only. That’s pretty typical…fathers usually don’t get involved when choosing the daycare provider. It was only several weeks later that I found out that there is no father. What there was, was a creepy boyfriend who sometimes slept over. I say he was creepy because he was. I believe Hope felt the same way. When he would come to pick her up she would go upstairs as quickly as her bony legs would carry her. I had to be the “bad guy” and carry her down and hand her over to him.

On the last day I saw Hope she was dropped off at her usual time, 5:30 AM. She was almost always sleeping when she was dropped off and I would just carry her into her bed and see her when she woke up. She woke a little before 9 and I went up to get her. I combed her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. And then I saw bruises. On the top half of her left ear was a bruise as dark as night. In the back it was deep red and swollen. On her right ear was the same, only not as dark. Next to her left eye was two red lines that ran the length of her forehead and temple. It looked like she had been slapped so hard that the blood vessels were broken. Below her right eye was slight bruising.

Hope is unable to answer questions. She is also unable to volunteer information. This left me wondering by myself what may have happened. It looked like her ears had been pulled VERY hard and she had been slapped and hit so hard she bruised. I have a friend who is an EMT and I had him look at her marks. He agreed. There was nothing else even remotely possible.

As a licensed child care provider I was required to report suspected abuse to DCFS and the local police…which I did.

The local police said it would have to be investigated at Hope’s home with her parents. I advised them that she was autistic and they would get no answers from her and clearly the parents would not admit to such a heinous act. I was told that was how it would be handled and I could do nothing about it.

DCFS, headed by crook and liar, Rod Blagojevich, employs nothing but idiots but I had to report my findings to them as well in the hopes that they would investigate. I was told that within 14 days they would send someone to the home to do an investigation. I again mentioned the extraordinary facts about this but I was told protocol would be followed as usual. I mentioned that Hope had seen a therapist the night before and surely she would have called in to report these marks. Nope, nothing filed.

I made a phone call to the therapist who had seen Hope the night before. She claimed that when she left the home at 9 PM Hope was unmarked and well.

I called Hope’s “mother” and informed her that she needed to come pick her up. I wasn’t going to have her show up late in the day and say the marks weren’t there when she dropped her off. When she arrived I told her the police had been called and they would be meeting them back at her house. She told me Hope had fallen off the bed. Of course she did – when you pulled her by her ears to the floor maybe!

So I said goodbye to this little girl whose birth mother had decided it was better for her to be raised by someone else not knowing that it would be a silent nightmare. As her “mother” was leaving with her she mentioned to me that they were going back to England in 2 weeks and this about to begin investigation would be over.

I called the police later that night to find out what had happened. They would not tell me anything except that they had been to the house and there wasn’t an arrest. No arrest! Did they switch Hope with a friend’s kid for a couple hours?? Because that is the only way an arrest would not have been made!

I started calling DCFS everyday to follow up. And every day I was told that the investigation had not started yet. I informed them that the “mother” had family in England (where she had come from less than one year ago) and told me they were going there in two weeks. The lazy, ignorant, uncaring man who was assigned to this case said he would make a note of that.

After the first week the man had stopped taking my calls. I left him messages twice a day every day. On the 12th day he called me back. He said the investigation might take another 14 days to begin. I explained by then that the family would be gone. He told me “Kids fall through the cracks”. I hung up on him. Here I had worked for a department that required so much of me in order to hold my license and now they were not doing the one thing that is required of them – PROTECT THE KIDS!

After 12 days of nothing happening, knowing that they would soon be leaving the country, I tried to contact local news teams, newspapers and even Oprah. Channel 7, ABC, had just run a segment on how DCFS had lost kids in the system so I figured they would be all over this. Channel 7 did contact me via email asking for more details but apparently they didn’t want to step on anymore toes because I never heard from them again.

I waited 15 days and then I called Hope’s “mother” at work. I was told she no longer worked there. A drive past their house had proven them to be gone. I made one last phone call to DCFS letting them know they had waited too long and it no longer mattered. And that I was turning in my license. No longer would I work for a department that I had lost all respect for.

I think about Hope often and I pray the abuse didn’t continue or escalate.

*******************

My story is not the only one that tells the tale of an autistic child abused by his/her parents, adopted parents or foster care parents…

As reported on Central Ohio's News Leader :: WBNS-10TV
Baker, 25, testified at Liz Carroll's trial that it was the foster mother's idea to bind the child up before the trip, as they had done before when running errands or going to another child's football practice. … David Carroll suggested burning the body, and Baker told him about an abandoned, outdoor chimney in a neighboring county.
He put the body in a box, and the two got three cans of gas and burned the body in the chimney in a rural area, she said. …”

Taken from The New York Times
Inside the apartment, police found Ulysses naked in the bathtub, his throat cut from the left side to the center, Kelly said.Beside the tub was a bucket of bloody water and in the kitchen were two large, bloody kitchen knives that had been partly wiped clean in what Kelly called an "attempt to clean up the crime scene."
The father, sources said, had custody of Ulysses for at least 10 years because the child's mother, who lives elsewhere, is addicted to crack. … The father, who is unemployed, has 10 arrests on his record, two for assault and eight that are sealed, police said…”

Those looking to adopt or provide foster care to a child should not only be required to go through a very thorough, borderline invasive, application but there needs to be a system put in place that continues to track these families. Don’t tell me that we don’t have enough money to provide continual care for these children because we continue to provide care for children in other countries. How about we spend those dollars here at home where children are being abused and killed?!

*******************

I can’t even begin to imagine what it does to a family when they believe their child’s school is a safe environment and the child suffers abuse at the hands of the teacher! A special education teacher in the local school is not sufficient! These families need facilities in place where the caregivers and educators have been schooled and are dedicated to providing a specific and proper surrounding for autistics so stories like these no longer are a reality…

The Sparks Tribune out of Sparks Nevada reported
”… Hubbard-Washington is accused of verbal abuse and physical force including hitting, pinching, scratching and grabbing five autistic students she taught from April 2006 to March 2007, according to a criminal complaint. … Hubbard-Washington was placed on paid administrative leave May. 4, Clark County school officials said.”

And on the other side of the country Orlando Sentinel reports this
The mother of an autistic teenager on Monday became the 11th parent to sue the Seminole County School Board over allegations that former teacher Kathleen Garrett physically and emotionally abused her child. … Garrett, 51, was convicted in state circuit court in January of abusing one of her students, pinning a 60-pound boy to the top of his desk and staying on top of him until his eyes bulged and his lips turned blue…”

And we have all heard the stories of people in nursing homes being abused…

Found on Newsday.com
“…A hidden camera captured the beating of the 50-year-old woman at PLUS Group Home Inc. on Newport Road in Uniondale. The footage showed the aides kicked the woman, hit her in the head with their hands, a wooden clothes hanger and a shoe, the police said.
The severity of the woman's autism leaves her unable to care for herself, speak or express emotions or pain, the police said. …”

Autism affects 1 in 150 children. Autism affects 1 in 150 families. 1 in 150!! That is alarming yet it is not getting the attention it needs. What’s even more alarming is the number of those children that are abused and even murdered, with the most sickening abuse being carried out by parents who clearly haven’t been given enough support, education or resources.

Unfortunately it is impossible to strive for a day when people learn tolerance and understanding for those with disorders. Our society is riddled with ignorant people willing to turn a blind eye towards subjects that should be brought into light. What we should be aiming towards is affordable care and available resources for those in need and zero tolerance for those who are committing these crimes!

*******************
I tried to write a blog packed with emotion on this subject but the more research I did I became aware that the best way to bring attention to this matter is writing “just the facts man”.

Joel Smith is an autistic adult who maintains This Way Of Life, a site of facts and resources. On his page, Murder of Autistics he notes the following:

“In Loving Memory...
This page is dedicated to those autistics who were killed because they were autistic, including:

Casey Albury (Age 17, died 1997)
Angelica Auriemma (Age 20, died 5 Dec. 2003)
Dale Bartolome (Age 27, died 29 July 2002)
Charles-Antoine Blais (Age 6, died Nov. 1996)
Eric Bland (Age 38, 2004)
Jeffrey Bogrett (Age 9, died 1 Dec. 1995)
Gabriel Britt (Age 6, died 3 March 2001)
Casey Collier (Age 17, died 21 Dec. 1993)
Maggie Caraballo (Age 38, died 20 Aug. 2003)
Jonathan Carey (Age 13, died February 2007)
Terrance Cottrell, Jr. (Age 8, died 22 Aug. 2003)
James Joseph Cummings, Jr. (Age 46, died 16 Nov. 1999)
Jason Dawes (Age 10, died Aug. 2003)
Christopher DeGroot (Age 19, died 19 May 2006)
Brahim Dukes (Age 18, died 29 Dec. 2001)
Marcus Fiesel (Age 3, died August 2006)
Lillian Leilani Gill (Age 4, died March 2002)
Matthew Goodman (Age 14, died 6 Feb. 2002)
Jim Helm (died 1998)
Stephanie Jobin (Age 13, died 17 June 1998)
Daniel Leubner (Age 13, died 4 Sept. 1999)
Katherine McCarron (Age 3, died 13 may 2006)
Patrick Markcrow (Age 36, died 29 March 2005)
Justin Malphus (Age 5, died 19 April 2000)
Charles Mancill (Age 24, died 13 Feb. 2002)
Sean Miles (Age 37, died 2 May 2006)
Abubakar Nadama (Age 5, died 23 Aug. 2005)
Mark Owens-Young-Rogan (Age 11, died 17 Sept. 2001)
Pierre Pasquiou (Age 10, died 28 Dec. 1998)
Tiffany Pinckney (Age 23, died 2 April 2005)
Michael Renner-Lewis (Age 15, died 25 Aug. 2003)
Nozomu Shinozaki (Age 22, died 25 Feb. 2003)
Craig Sorger (Age 12, died 15 Feb. 2003)
Ulysses Stable (Age 12, died 22 Nov. 2006)
Tanaka (Age 14, died 24 July 2002)
Matthew Vick (Age 23, died 25 May 2002)
Wayne Winter (Age 39, died 15 Jan. 2001)
Willie Wright (Age 15, died 4 March 2000)

When these lives were taken from the world, some of the world's beauty and wonder was taken with them. We have lost that beauty and wonder forever. “
Visit his site to read the sentences received (or not received) for these murders…it is sad and disgusting.

When researching statistics and facts about autism I found neurodiversity.com There too you can find story after story of murdered or abused autistics.

*******************

what happens in your neighborhood while you are at work

2007-09-18T07:46:00.004-05:00

I was clearing the table from lunch when I saw a man standing at the edge of my grass with a camera. I realize that it is legal to photograph or record anybody doing anything at anytime from anywhere but he is clearly not a peeping Tom because he had what looked like an ID hanging from his neck so why is he here? He took a picture of my house, talked into a recorder and went across the street to stand in front of our neighbor’s house. After a few moments he took a photo of that house, talked into his recorder and moved on to the next house…

I called the Village Hall to find out if a company had registered with them in order to take pictures or solicit in any way. I explained to the woman who barely knows her own job, let alone anything out of the ordinary, that he was taking photos of every house as far as I could see and surely this was something the village ought to know about. Nope. I was told to call the police and check with them. The dispatcher confirms that this company is registered under the name ZAIO. They are taking pictures of every house in the zip code but I can tell him if I don’t want my house photographed. OK, let me go back in time so I can be outside waiting for him to come down my block. Thanks for all your help.

ZAIO.com states "Zaio is in the process of photographing and appraising each and every property in cities across the country…The resulting database of images and valuations is called "GeoPic," and is a useful resource for real estate, mortgage and insurance industries…" A Google search brings up a lot of comments from both sides of this type of company.

I understand that companies like ZAIO benefit some but I think most homeowners, if given the chance, would ask that their house not be photographed. It doesn’t make sense to me that these people can come into town, register the name of their company and immediately invade our privacy. They, and everyone who must register with a town (solicitors & such) should be required to wait 48 hours before they begin whatever it is they have requested permission to do. Just because the police give the okay to wander around the neighborhood taking pictures or ringing doorbells does not in any way mean that I too welcome them. How about we make them wait 48 hours and in that time the police or village must post on a public board somewhere that during certain hours on certain days XYZ Company would be here for whatever purpose. This way those that would opt out if given the opportunity are in fact given the chance.

I did go to their website where I was able to request that my property not be included in their search but I was not given confirmation and without paying for access to records I have no way of knowing if it is in fact done.

I was curious afterwards as to how many similar companies there are. My house and all public record information (last sale date, price, # of rooms, sq footage) along with a satellite image, which also shows my car parked out front, is posted on many websites (cyberhomes.com and zillow.com just to name two) along with approximate appraisals.

Maybe some, or even most people don’t mind all of this…I do though. It is an invasion of my privacy and just further confirms that little by little all of our rights are being taken from us.

Have a similar story? We'd love to hear from you!

Have an opinion on privacy? We'd love to hear what you think!

if you listen closely you can hear them getting richer

2007-09-07T07:51:00.001-05:00

Attention Guys: This is a girlie post - If you get creeped out by hearing about women issues, skip this one!

I am closer to 40 than I am to 30 and after having several children, my body is starting to change. Nothing too radical but enough that I felt I should go get my parts checked.

That started 6 weeks ago which breaks down to 4 visits to the doctors office and $120. in co-pays.
The first office visit was titled a "consultation" (apparently my doctor has attorney envy).

On my second visit she gave me an order to have some labs done and sent me on my way. Why I wasn't being given a physical with pap exam, I had no idea but obedient (stupid) me said OK and went to the lab. Can't wait to see what gets covered by my insurance and what doesn't!

My next visit was finally my pap. I have never been excited to have one done! This doctor didn't even remember why I was having these tests done at this time. I know there is a chart on me because she had it in her hand. What is written in there? Recipes? Directions to the blond factory?? Jibba Jabba??? So I again covered the facts. Things have presented themselves and because of my mother's family's hereditary background I wanted to rule out the big issues. She goes on to tell me that my excessive bleeding every two weeks is due to having a baby and my body is just getting back to "normal". Well, I have had numerous children and this has never happened so thanks for your opinion but that is incorrect. And she conveniently looks over the fact that I repeatedly told her my abdomen has been growing over the last two months. I am healthy and fit and this is highly irregular! She tells me I should go on the pill to regulate my bleeding. I spent my younger years on the pill...about 12 straight and then on again off again for the next handful of years. At almost 40 I don't want to go on the pill. When I tell her this she balks at it (I think she's within a couple years of my age and took it as a personal shot). When I realized talking with this woman would get me nowhere I decided to get the visit finished and get the hell outta there. But first I had to ask her the results of my blood test - because again, she had no clue of my visits over the last 12 days! She says my blood work came back fine. After the pap she tells me results will be sent to my home. Great. Well, she now tells me I should return in a week to have an ultrasound done to check for fibroids and hands me an order to again go to the lab to schedule. Pissed off that she didn't have one scheduled for me during this visit, I go.

Stan is at this point furious. We have been waiting several weeks for answers to my concerns and all we know is my blood work came back fine. Which in and of itself is odd because for over 20 years I have been anemic but she failed to mention if that showed up. Stan and my mother decided I need to immediately get a new doctor. Unfortunately this took place right before the holiday weekend and I wasn't going to be getting in touch with anybody and with my ultrasound scheduled for Tuesday I figured I may as well keep that appointment.

So Tuesday was my ultrasound. Thank goodness that the technician was human. I explained to her that I know she is not a doctor but I would like for her to give me her honest opinion as she viewed it. She assured me there were no fibroids but mentioned that she thought there might be further testing on my endometrium. OK. Finally someone is saying there looks like there might be something that is causing my symptoms.

Today is Friday and I have not heard back from my doctor's office yet. I guess once again my doctor received something pertaining to my health and has no idea what to do with it. Maybe she has placed it in my file that she doesn't read. Either way I now have to call to inquire and then schedule my next visit in another week (or longer). Oh wait, no I don't.

I'm getting a new doctor. My soon to be previous doctor can get rich quick by charging her other patients and their insurance companies. Me and mine are moving on.

Have a similar story? We'd love to hear from you!

Have an opinion on doctors? We'd love to hear what you think!

more people offended - who would think

2007-08-31T08:31:00.002-05:00

Here in the US, our freedoms get stripped from us ever so slightly that we don't realize it is happening. Well, most people don't. We have become a nation that is so blinded that we never stop to realize the freedoms that are enjoyed by others.

A prestigious religious art competition in Sydney, Australia has stirred up quite the controversy with this (among others) image.

Might I first congratulate the artist! By stirring up such debates, you are for certain headed towards a successful future as such. And although I wouldn't choose to decorate my home with this piece I do truly appreciate it. The fact that it has stirred so many emotions proves it a success.

As with most controversy, it is religion based. For some reason this subject remains taboo in a world of everything goes...which is ridiculous to me.

Those yelling the loudest over this work are those offended by the relationship between Osama and Jesus Christ. That is funny to me. Every Sunday people put on their Sunday best (actually I don't think they put the effort forth anymore) and go sit among others who believe that they will be saved because they believe and then go home and beat their children, cheat on their spouses, lie, steal and abuse themselves.

What exactly do they believe? Well... That Jesus Christ loves every one of us, good or bad. That God created us all in His image. That we should not judge others, as He will judge us. That we were all given free will. And whatever else they are told they have to believe.

So what if an artist has depicted Osama bin Laden in a double print that morphs into Jesus. So what. If we believe what we preach then these are the facts:
- Jesus loves Osama bin Laden
- he (Osama bin Laden) has a soul, just like everyone else created in His image
- he (Osama bin Laden) will be judged in death, just like everyone else
- he (Osama bin Laden) has made choices, mostly bad, but they are his choices to make

FREEDOM OF SPEECH - The word speech in the First Amendment has been extended to a generous sense of "expression" -- verbal, non-verbal, visual, symbolic. It is bad enough when government gets in the way of this (and other) so-called freedom, now we are turning on each other.

We have been told what to think, believe, do, say and support for so long that when an independent thinker comes along, he/she is condemned...by all of the hypocrites, and by that I mean Catholics, and everyone else who thinks they are the perfect being.

People are offended. Offensive simply means not pleasing. Alright, so not everyone is pleased with this art image. But is their anything anywhere that doesn't offend somebody? How about if instead of Osama bin Laden the artwork had shown a more accepted, well liked respected figure...Brad Pitt or Bill Gates or Oprah or any celebrity (other than Mel Gibson of course - He's already proven to be way too controversial for those religious folks)? Would it have been as big a deal? Probably. You know why. Not because people take offense to using such an evil person when creating religious toned artwork but because people can't believe, imagine or accept the fact that we all have different opinions on what is offensive or not.

It is art. It is an expression. It is a right.

Maybe all of these critics/people wold be happier with this image?

what exactly is a medical necessity?!

2007-08-16T15:14:00.001-05:00

I have had asthma for over 10 years. At the onset of this horrible disease, I was spending every weekend in the hospital ER receiving steroids via a needle in my butt. This went on for several months. The doctors didn't actively try to find a preventative medication for me until after an occasion when the EMTs showed up after I had stopped breathing and turned blue.

It was decided I would get rid of my cats (Charlie, Annie and Frankie) although not necessary because scratch tests concluded my asthma was not allergy induced. But with my family starting (my oldest son was about one week old) I figured it would be a good idea. I also removed all of my stuffed animals and books from my bedroom. That is really suggested to everyone as breathing in that stuff night after night can eventually lead to breathing problems. Although by this time it had been decided I had chronic asthma and there wasn't anything I could do to reverse it. Great.

I eventually found a doctor who was actually concerned for his patients. He was disgusted at the amount of steroids I had received in the ER and wanted to steer clear of traditional mist/aerosol inhalers and prescribed for me a dry powder inhaler PULMICORT TURBUHALER.

Pulmicort Turbuhaler has been a lifesaver since. After just 4 days on this preventative medication I was able to breathe easy. No more nebulizer! No more rescue inhaler! Thank you Dr. Miller.

10 years and 3 doctors later and Pulmicort is still the drug for me. Only problem is this: AstraZeneca has discontinued this drug as of MAY 2007. I did not receive notice. My doctor apparently did not either. Two weeks ago I was written a new prescription for 3 months supply of both Pulmicort Turbuhaler and an Albuterol inhaler (generic). I faxed it into our local CVS pharmacy and they called two days later letting me know I could come pick them up.

It turned out that I was only able to pick up the Albuterol and the Pulmicort would have to wait another day. No problem. She charges me $30. Which is double what I thought my co-pay was but maybe I had the two mixed up. And then I got in the car. What was usually a white plastic casing the length of a finger turned out to be a red, very short case with the name Pro-Air on it. Wait a minute. I know my doctor checked OK to substitute. I now knew why I paid $30.00. I figured no big deal. I’ll mention it to the pharmacy before my next refill. And then I took a breath off of it. My husband and I both knew it wasn’t the same. It didn’t sound quite right. You can hear the generic inhaler working to get the medicine into your lungs. This Pro Air one sounded like, well, barely sounded. I called the pharmacy and inquired. She told me that both of the inhalers I ordered are no longer available because they are destroying the ozone layer. The Albuterol is no longer offered in a generic and my Turbuhaler has been replaced with the Flexhaler.

OK then. So I’ll pay full price for Albuterol but it better work better than it sounds. And I assumed that the Flexhaler would be the same, just a change in how it is expelled.

The next day came and I picked up my Pulmicort. It tasted off and I could feel it sitting in my air passages. It wasn’t right but I thought it might have been due to the fact that I had been off of it for a few days or because of the Pro Air (because after 24 hours of hitting this inhaler several times I knew it was very different).

Several days went by and my breathing worsened. At this point I don’t know how to figure out which inhaler is causing me problems. The pharmacist had mentioned that the Flexhaler was different in that the canister has only 120 metered doses (as opposed to the 200 in Turbuhaler) but she made no mention of the fact that those metered doses were both different formulas and less mcg per puff. And how terribly wrong it is that she let me walk away with a prescription drug without telling me everything I needed to know! She makes how much money?!

A couple more days of coughing and now a sore throat combined with breathing which wasn’t getting any easier and I decided to find out if others were having the same problems.

I didn’t find too many people commenting on how it is or isn’t working for them. More often found were people stating they are allergic to something that is in the new Pulmicort that wasn’t in the old formula. What I did find was AstraZeneca has posted the results of the Turbuhaler’s effectiveness vs. Flexhaler and just I like already knew, Flexhaler is considerably less.
Read about it here ---> pulmicortflexhaler.com
For every 180 mcg of medicine you should receive in one puff, you in fact only receive 160! Which in and of itself may not be a huge deal, maybe an extra puff every other day to compensate, but that isn’t the biggest problem.

The real issue is this: asthma sufferers like myself are finding that not only is this new drug not working but it is actually causing worse problems!

I tried to find out under what conditions this medication could still be purchased. There are some loopholes that sometimes allow something otherwise forbidden if it can be proven a medical necessity. They allow people to purchase and smoke pot…Most certainly life saving drugs will fall under this clause.

NOPE! Even though no other steroid inhaler is able to control my asthma and even though this replacement one is worsening my condition, it is not a medial necessity.

Again I get the same lie about how these inhalers are doing such damage to the ozone layer and AstraZeneca will under no circumstance supply this product anymore. Now maybe the morons who believe everything that government wants them to believe won’t question this but I am NOT one of those people. The pharmacies have found a way to sell a desperately needed product for the same amount of money for less quantity and quality!

For curiosity's sake I decided to find out if it is available in Canada and ya know what? It is. It is available and out of the several pharmacies I spoke with ZERO of them knew anything about it being unavailable anytime in the future. And buying from them is simple! They receive a medical history from you or your doctor and once they have your prescription written by your own doctor, the pharmacist there rewrites it for you.

Some people have been confused/brainwashed into thinking we cannot buy drugs from Canada and have them shipped to us here in the states. That is not the truth. Do a little investigating and you will find the Bush administration advises against it (shocking that they would get involved in my personal business) but there is nothing that can be done. There must be a few people in congress who realize there are much more dangerous things and people getting into our country than prescription, life-saving, drugs.

Kelly Montgomery, your guide to Health Insurance at about.com, has posted this article Customs Will No Longer Seize Prescriptions From Overseas
Thanks Kelly!

I will advise you this though. Visit websites like

NAPRA National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authoritiesto ensure you are dealing with a licensed pharmacy that meets the highest of standards. Also, check and double check that the pharmacy stated has a physical location with a phone number to speak with a pharmacist. There are a ton of websites that claim they are legitimate…that doesn’t mean they all are. If there is just an 800 number to call and order through, continue looking. Also, be sure to check as many prices as possible. Some vary by as much as $20 and don’t forget to check on shipping charges. Some pharmacies charge you to rewrite your prescription…continue looking, you will find one that doesn’t.

I do plan to join the group of people who get their prescriptions filled in Canada. I know most people turn North for more affordable drugs. This is not the case for me. I have insurance here. My co-pay is $30 for brand names, $15 for generics. I will be paying upwards of $75 to have one month’s supply sent to me. But as I see it, Pulmicort Turbuhaler IS a medical necessity so I’ll pay.

open your eyes people in Illinois & beyond

2007-07-24T10:36:00.000-05:00

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Children's Mental Health Act of 2003.

Section 5. Children's Mental Health Plan.
(a) The State of Illinois shall develop a Children's Mental Health Plan containing short-term and long-term recommendations to provide comprehensive, coordinated mental
health prevention, early intervention, and treatment services for children from birth through age 18. This Plan shall include but not be limited to:
(1) Coordinated provider services and interagency referral networks for children from birth through age 18 to maximize resources and minimize duplication of
services.
(2) Guidelines for incorporating social and emotional development into school learning standards and educational programs, pursuant to Section 15 of this Act.
(3) Protocols for implementing screening and assessment of children prior to any admission to an inpatient hospital for psychiatric services, pursuant to
subsection
(a) of Section 5-5.23 of the Illinois Public Aid Code.
(4) Recommendations regarding a State budget for children's mental health prevention, early intervention, and treatment across all State agencies.
(5) Recommendations for State and local mechanisms for integrating federal, State, and local funding sources for children's mental health.
(6) Recommendations for building a qualified and adequately trained workforce prepared to provide mental health services for children from birth through age 18
and their families.
(7) Recommendations for facilitating research on best practices and model programs, and dissemination of this information to Illinois policymakers, practitioners, and the general public through training, technical assistance, and educational materials.
(8) Recommendations for a comprehensive, multi-faceted public awareness campaign to reduce the stigma of mental illness and educate families, the general public, and other key audiences about the benefits of children's social and emotional development, and how to access services.
(9) Recommendations for creating a quality-driven children's mental health system with shared accountability among key State agencies and programs that conducts ongoing needs assessments, uses outcome indicators and benchmarks to measure progress, and implements quality data tracking and reporting systems.
(b) The Children's Mental Health Partnership (hereafter referred to as" implementation=""
approved by the Governor. The Children's Mental Health Partnership shall be comprised of: the Secretary of Human Services or his or her designee; the State Superintendent of Education or his or her designee; the directors of the departments of Children and Family Services, Public Aid, Public Health, and Corrections, or their designees; the head of the Illinois Violence Prevention Authority, or his or her designee; the Attorney General or his or her designee; up to 25 representatives of community mental health authorities and statewide mental health, children and family advocacy, early childhood, education, health, substance abuse, violence
prevention, and juvenile justice organizations or associations, to be appointed by the Governor; and 2 members of each caucus of the House of Representatives and Senate
appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate, respectively. The Governor shall appoint the Partnership Chair and shall designate a Governor's staff liaison to work with the Partnership.
(c) The Partnership shall submit a Preliminary Plan to the Governor on September 30, 2004 and shall submit the Final Plan on June 30, 2005. Thereafter, on September 30 of each year, the Partnership shall submit an annual report to the Governor on the progress of Plan implementation and recommendations for revisions in the Plan. The Final Plan and annual reports submitted in subsequent years shall include
estimates of savings achieved in prior fiscal years under subsection (a) of Section 5-5.23 of the Illinois Public Aid Code and federal financial participation received under subsection (b) of Section 5-5.23 of that Code. The Department of Public Aid shall provide technical assistance in developing these estimates and reports.
Section 10. Office of Mental Health services. The Office of Mental Health within the Department of Human Services shall allow grant and purchase-of-service moneys to be used for services for children from birth through age 18.
Section 15. Mental health and schools.
(a) The Illinois State Board of Education shall develop and implement a plan to incorporate social and emotional development standards as part of the Illinois Learning Standards for the purpose of enhancing and measuring children's school readiness and ability to achieve academic success. The plan shall be submitted to the Governor, the General Assembly, and the Partnership by December 31, 2004.
(b) Every Illinois school district shall develop a policy for incorporating social and emotional development into the district's educational program. The policy shall
address teaching and assessing social and emotional skills and protocols for responding to children with social, emotional, or mental health problems, or a combination of such problems, that impact learning ability. Each district must submit this policy to the Illinois State Board of Education by August 31, 2004.
Section 95. The Illinois Public Aid Code is amended by adding Section 5-5.23 as follows:
(305 ILCS 5/5-5.23 new)
Sec. 5-5.23. Children's mental health services.
(a) The Department of Public Aid, by rule, shall require the screening and assessment of a child prior to any Medicaid-funded admission to an inpatient hospital for psychiatric services to be funded by Medicaid. The screening and assessment shall include a determination of the appropriateness and availability of out-patient support services for necessary treatment. The Department, by rule, shall establish methods and standards of payment for the screening, assessment, and necessary alternative support services.
(b) The Department of Public Aid, to the extent allowable under federal law, shall secure federal financial participation for Individual Care Grant expenditures made by
the Department of Human Services for the Medicaid optional service authorized under Section 1905(h) of the federal Social Security Act, pursuant to the provisions of Section 7.1 of the Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Administrative Act.
(c) The Department of Public Aid shall work jointly with the Department of Human Services to implement subsections (a) and (b).
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.
Effective Date: 8/8/2003

In addition, all pregnant are screened for depression.

Somehow, it is the middle of 2007 and there are still many, many, many people unaware of laws that have been passed here that violate our rights. Our Governor, currently under investigation but somehow voted in for another term, signed the above "Act" supporting Bush and the pharmaceutical companies. For those who look just at the surface you can see that this means teachers & school officials determine if our children are mentally stable or if they should be medicated or worse, hospitalized. That alone should provoke some sort of revolution, yet it hasn't.

So what happens to all of the children who have undiscovered allergies to common things like dye in foods? An allergy to Yellow No. 5 commonly shows itself through behaviors previously labeled ADHD. So now we have kids doped up on ADHD drugs for however long it is mandatory and it isn't the correction to the problem! How about kids who have never been given the opportunity to express themselves or speak freely about their feelings/emotions? Put them in a situation such as divorce or death in the family and now they risk being medicated for depression???
Schools, doctors and government should not be in control of our children’s health!

Our Governor tries to get us to believe it is for the good of the schools to decide to drug those that may be a problem in the future. I can't even begin to wrap my brain around all of the thoughts I have over this.

Please people, pay attention! Our children's & their children's futures are being decided by big brother and most people don't even know it's happening.

remember when

2007-07-23T14:05:00.000-05:00

When I grew up in the city, summer nights were spent outside. Moms sat out on the porches coffee clutching while dads were gathered around the hood of some car with a 12 pack of some cheap beer and anywhere you went you would hear the sound of children laughing. We were laughing because we were out playing with our friends. Swimming or running through the sprinkler, playing baseball in the alleys, hide'n'seek all around the block, ding dong ditch and just running around. And we stayed out until 10:00 or later, until our moms & dads were ready to go in and go to bed. And we did this every night.

Last night was an absolute beautiful end to a perfect weekend. It was a slightly breezy 75 with a clear sky to view the stars. There are still a few cicadas around that were loudly doing what they do. We had opened a bottle of "two buck chuck" (that really costs 3 bucks) and decided to play hide'n'seek with our kids and their friend from down the street. It was a great time! 10:30 PM arrived much sooner than later!

I couldn't help but feel a bit sad though. Sad for all of the families we didn't see. Everyone, with the exception of the occasional person walking a dog, was inside their house watching TV. Not just watching TV, but so involved in it that they did not realize what they were missing by being indoors.

What is everyone watching while their life goes by? How are people building families when they aren't talking to each other? Have they completely forgotten what they did on summer nights all those years ago? How has everyone let this happen?

Don't worry, all you people who don't care to partake in outdoor family fun, you can live vicariously through us!

state provided health insurance - what a joke

2007-07-19T14:30:00.000-05:00

I understand that most people are under the misconception that we are fortunate to be "Americans", but these folks need to take an honest look at things.

We live in Illinois. We have AllKids here...a program to provide health care for all kids. There are different plans under this program, depending on a family's financial situation. As we have a large family, we are accepted into the program at a level that pays 100% of most visits after we pay a very small co-pay. Well, we were told it does but haven't used it yet so I can't be positive that it is in fact that simple.

There is an extensive list of providers who accept the plan since they get reimbursed from the state for being a part of the program. You get to choose which doctor will be your PCP (primary care physician) based on the criteria you specify.

Sounds terrific for families in need of an alternative to our outrageous private health insurance costs! It has gotten so that even taking insurance through an employer is too costly...obviously they hope you opt out of the plan which in turn lowers their costs.

Only problem is, just because it sounds terrific doesn't mean it actually plays out that way.

We were accepted into the plan in January. We have not been able to pick a PCP yet because every single one of the doctors we have called is "not taking any new patients". Now granted, I am a little particular in choosing a doctor for my children...
He/She MUST hold a degree from a medical university here in the US!
He/She MUST have English as their first language...nothing lost in translation when it comes to my family's health care please
Ideally he/she is young enough to see my children through their teen years but old enough to know a few things
He/She has to understand that I know my children better than he/she and I need to be in control of health care choices for my family

But I think everyone should set these standards when choosing a pediatrician. In the meanwhile, I am not certain what happens in the event of an emergency. We have been fortunate so far. I am hoping that continues until we find a doctor in the plan that actually does care about the children in this country who need health care instead of further lining their pockets with kick-backs from insurance companies & pharmacies.

I hope we see the day when health insurance is billed the same as life insurance...those that are healthy will have affordable coverage and those who are overweight or those that make foolish choices when it comes to taking care of themselves (heavy drinkers/smokers & such) will be charged appropriately. Until then, local clinics for immunizations it is.