General Discussion, Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Stella

12OclockPointIsleRoyale

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175 Responses to General Discussion, Wednesday, May 25, 2016

  1. MaryfromMarin's avatar MaryfromMarin says:
    May 25, 2016 at 12:36 am

    ECHO…Echo…echo…e….

    Liked by 4 people

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  2. czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
    May 25, 2016 at 12:47 am

    Sorry, I was still wading through Tuesday when y’all snuk Wednesday in.

    Liked by 5 people

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  3. SwissMike (formerly ZurichMike)'s avatar ZurichMike says:
    May 25, 2016 at 12:55 am

    That’s an especially beautiful photo.

    Liked by 8 people

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  4. MaryfromMarin's avatar MaryfromMarin says:
    May 25, 2016 at 12:56 am

    Liked by 8 people

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  5. lovely's avatar lovely says:
    May 25, 2016 at 1:11 am

    And who was it that stormed the stage and screamed like a loon, blew a whistle and a stopped free speech at DePaul? According to Milo it was student Edward Ward who happens to also be what? A church minister. Yep.

    Milo did give him the courtesy of telling Ward that all the information was being shared with Chicago PD.

    https://twitter.com/Nero/status/735325590438481920

    Go to hell Edward Ward. Go to hell. You have been so rude. (Thanks to Andrew Breibart)

    Liked by 4 people

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  6. MaryfromMarin's avatar MaryfromMarin says:
    May 25, 2016 at 1:12 am

    No particular reason.

    Liked by 3 people

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  7. SwissMike (formerly ZurichMike)'s avatar ZurichMike says:
    May 25, 2016 at 6:02 am

    One of my nieces went to Haiti with a college professor and her team, who had started some kind of “teach the locals” program they felt was essential to getting Haitians back on their feet after the earthquate a few years ago. The program is linked to a church of do-gooders from Mississippi. Apparently there are no poor blacks needing help in Mississippi.

    The program was a disaster for a number of cultural arrogance reasons, including the usual “feel good — we can fix this in a week” mentality. I had to make a point about her somewhat naive reaction that nothing ran as planned or was as organized as it would have been in, say, Switzerland. So I sent her this clip from the spoof movie Airplane in 1980. Enjoy:

    Liked by 6 people

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  8. WeeWeed's avatar WeeWeed says:
    May 25, 2016 at 7:38 am

    Mornin’ y’all!

    Liked by 6 people

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  9. sandandsea2015's avatar sandandsea2015 says:
    May 25, 2016 at 7:58 am

    Happy Hump Day! Morning Wee, Michelle, Stella, czar, Nyet, Zurich Mike, Col. Ken, auscitizenmom, lovely, Menagerie, and Mary. Hope everyone has a good Wednesday. 😊

    Liked by 8 people

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  10. Sha's avatar Sha says:
    May 25, 2016 at 8:43 am

    Good Morning everyone ! 🙂

    Liked by 5 people

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  11. nyetneetot's avatar nyetneetot says:
    May 25, 2016 at 9:26 am

    Mornin’ stella! (Smiter of those that ought to be smote) 😎 🍸 (Long Island Iced Tea)
    Mornin’ WeeWeed! (Master Mixologist Extrodinare) 😎 🍸 (Old Fashioned)
    Mornin’ Menagerie! 😎 |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| (Jack Daniels)
    Mornin’ Ad rem! (Queen Felis catus) 🐱 🍸 (Flaming Lamborghini)
    Mornin’ Sharon! 😎 🍸 (earthquake)
    Mornin’ ytz4mee! 😎 🍸 (cosmopolitan)
    Mornin’ partyzantski! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ texan59! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ ZurichMike! 🙂 🍸 (fuzzy navel)
    Mornin’ Col.(R) Ken! (hand salute) 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ czarowniczy! 🙂 |_| ( and Czarina 🙂 🍸 )
    Mornin’ letjusticeprevail2014! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ ctdar! 🙂 🍸 (grasshopper)
    Mornin’ tessa50! 🙂 🍸 (flaming volcano)
    Mornin’ waltzingmtilda! 🙂 🍸 (sidecar)
    Mornin’ varsityward! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ MaryfromMarin! 😀 |_| (Mortlach)
    Mornin’ Wooly Phlox! (aka “taqiyyologist”) 🙂 |_| (Roy Rogers)
    Mornin’ Howie! 🙂 |_| (Classic Daiquiri)
    Mornin’ TwoLaine! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ Sha! 🙂 🍸 (Lemon Drop)
    Mornin’ BigMamaTEA! 🙂 🍸 (Harvey Wallbanger)
    Mornin’ cetera5! (aka “Cetera”) 🙂 |_| (Blackberry wine)
    Mornin’ The Tundra PA! 🙂 🍸 (bailey irish cream on the rocks)
    Mornin’ lovely! 🙂 |_| (Backdraft)
    Mornin’ michellc! 🙂 🍸 (Salty dog)
    Mornin’ auscitizenmom! 🙂 🍸 (Kiss on the Lips)
    Mornin’ Margaret-Ann! 🙂 🍸 (White Russian)
    Mornin’ Auntie Lib! 🙂 🍸 (Tom and Jerry)
    Mornin’ holly100! 🙂 🍸
    Mornin’ Pam! 🙂
    Mornin’ ImpeachEmAll 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ Monroe! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ Les! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ shiloh1973! 🙂 |_| (Jack Daniels)
    Mornin’ TexasRanger! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ Ziiggii! 🙂 |_| (B52)
    Mornin’ oldiadguy! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ smiley! (“stuck in spambucket”) 🙂 🍸 (Spanish coffee)
    Mornin’ derk! (“Stellars”) 🙂 🍸 (Mudslide)
    Mornin’ Jacqueline Taylor Robson 🙂 🍸 (Shirley Temple)
    Mornin’ facebkwallflower! 🙂 |_|
    Mornin’ Ms. Cindy! (aka “Ms Cynlynn” aka “ms cynlynn”) 🙂 🍸
    Mornin’ sandandsea2015! 🙂 🍸
    Mornin’ whiners and complainers! ⭐ 😛 (No drink for you!)
    Mornin’ to people posting that I missed. 😳
    Mornin’ to all you lurkers! 😕

    Also just in case someday; mornin’ to Elvis Chupacabra and F.D.R. in Hell! :mrgreen:

    Breakfast!

    NEW and IMPROVED breakfast with extra bacon for ZurichMike!

    Doughnuts for coffee!

    ⭐ = Unprintable phallic symbol

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  12. Pam's avatar Pam says:
    May 25, 2016 at 9:34 am

    “Doctors always think anybody doing something they aren’t is a quack; also they think all patients are idiots.” Flannery O’Connor (Me: They also think patients are liars.)

    I have a doctor’s appointment Friday. This is really bad. Doctor’s aren’t so hard to deal with if you are basically healthy and just go when you have a problem that some medicine or minor surgery will probably fix and then you’re ok again.

    It took me over a year to even get a doctor’s appointment. He is 1.5 hours from my house. This unknown man will have the power to decide things that will hugely affect my daily life and the actual quality of my minutes and hours. I cannot say enough how I resent this, and resent the anxiety that this brings to me. Doctors don’t want a person like me as a patient. I am a problem. I finally got one doctor, who knew me 13 years, to admit this to me.

    If I could have one thing right now, it would be to have a doctor who is a member of my family, someone who knows me and cares about me. I know this with the utmost certainty: no doctor who even resembles anything human would treat their mother, father, spouse the way doctors have treated me. They would never, ever stand over someone they love, watch their pain and suffering, and dispense the advice and treatment they dispense to me. I struggle so hard to not hate them.

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    • SwissMike (formerly ZurichMike)'s avatar ZurichMike says:
      May 25, 2016 at 9:46 am

      Make a list of questions in advance. Do not leave the office until he answer each of your questions. Don’t trust your memory. Write them down now. Good luck — keep up posted — prayers coming your way, too!

      Liked by 7 people

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      • Pam's avatar Pam says:
        May 25, 2016 at 9:58 am

        Thank you, ZM. I have done this for years. Everything is written down: four pages of everything. I was at the Cleveland Clinic for surgery. Later, I saw some big muckety-muck specialist because I wanted a more general opinion of the vascular/inflammation process of the entire body, not just my artery. The big man has many “fellows” (I think that’s the word…the doctors who help him out and continue to learn). One of his entourage was a young man, I think a Saudi. He came in to see this old lady with an attitude (both of us had attitude but they weren’t the same). I don’t get all in their face. I just get very specific with my questions. I am not afraid of them and have learned much about dealing.

        Long story short…the young man did his thing and went off. The big dude came in with the young guy and four others, who stood around the wall of this little room. The big dude and I had a long conversation. At the end, he said: “You have grasped the issues, and now you know we do not have the answers.” They all left but the young Saudi. He said: “Madame”,…then blah blah I don’t remember. Then he bowed to me. I still sometimes think I hallucinated it.

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        • Stella's avatar stella says:
          May 25, 2016 at 10:02 am

          My mother had an Indian gastroenterologist once who treated her with the utmost respect. I was very impressed (ps: He was also a very good doctor.)

          Liked by 4 people

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          • Pam's avatar Pam says:
            May 25, 2016 at 10:24 am

            The Saudi guy did not treat me with respect…at first. After it was all over, he had a change of attitude. I didn’t expect it and it doesn’t give me a big thrill of victory, if you know what I mean. It was just sort of remarkable. I do all the things you all have suggested, and thank you, because you are correct. The difference is if the doctor actually has to commit to being the one who actually decides what to prescribe.

            When I go on Friday, I am going to have a lot to say. I can talk and express myself. Sometimes it makes no difference. I hope it will this time. One of the very things that makes me so angry is that I personally know so many women and men like me, who can’t go in there and stand their ground. I’ve heard so many experiences. I have had a doctor walk in the door and just almost instantly light into me, with a face of loathing and disgust. I am not a disgusting person worthy of being loathed. I am not a liar or a cheater or a manipulator.

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            • Pam's avatar Pam says:
              May 25, 2016 at 10:32 am

              That doctor read my chart wrong. He thought something was going on that was not going on. I was so stunned by his attacks that this time I was at a loss for words. Thank God my husband was there. If my husband had got up and punched his lights out, I think it may have been worth it. Instead, my husband jumped in and asked him to look at my records again. Well, the doctor had to say he was wrong. But he didn’t say it. What he said was “Oh, I should have had my glasses on.” He was just an awful person.

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              • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
                May 25, 2016 at 12:06 pm

                Bottom line: it’s YOUR health. You own it, you are going to them to buy their expertise in what amounts to a mechanical problem, it’s not a mystical experience where you are worshiping at the feet of a minor god.
                I spent too many years dealing directly with the medical-industrial complex to blindly trust them. I get second opinions, a detailed summary of my visit and condition and then settle down with a glass of something soothing and start internetting the problem. I look at it as I do a visit with my truck to the mechani; the doc and the mechanic both have a depth of training in their respective skills but where a slip up on the doc’s part can kill me a slip on the mechanic’s part can kill my family.
                My primary physician’s part of a doctor-owned hospital and they refer in-house, a real money maker. Upside is the facility in in the top 10 percent of US hospitals, downside is you can get caught up in corporate tunnel vision. I try to avoid that by having physicians I like and trust outside of the corporate structure, a time-consuming practice but worth it to me.
                That recent report that pointed out medical mistakes being the third largest cause of death after cancer and heart disease should have been a wakeup but lots of folks are still going to stay in denial. You don’t have to be pleased when a doctor treats you with respect and deference, you expect and demand it. You are employing that person, not having an audience with the Pope, he’s your employee and should treat you as such. You are paying your money to him for a service just as you would that mechanic and should expect no less of a level of respect from him. I have found doctors who treat me with the same respect I do them, no more and no less, it wasn’t easy. I don’t treat them like the pool boy and they don’t treat me like the guys in the Home Depot parking lot they’d hire for short hoe work around the house.
                I have to drive 50 miles one way for doc visits too, but it’s my health and I know it’s what I must do to keep it as whole as I can. Just don’t trust them to get everything right, check and follow up, and look until you feel comfortable with the doc and get the respect you deserve.

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            • lovely's avatar lovely says:
              May 25, 2016 at 10:49 am

              When I was pregnant with my second child I was still nursing my first. Something every neonatal doc says is just fine. I told my OB I was still nursing and she read me the riot act. I calmly explained that all the studies said that it was fine.

              She said “Pediatricians disagree”. (Eh? She was GYN/OB). She then walked out the door and in a few minute her nurse walked in with my chart and said Dr. IamanAss will no longer be seeing you.

              Okie Dokie with me.

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    • nyetneetot's avatar nyetneetot says:
      May 25, 2016 at 9:56 am

      We have gotten to the point that we treat “Doctors” like auto mechanics. We demand the proposed work in an itemized list of parts and services (what used to be called a quote). If they don’t provide it, we don’t let them perform work. However, we find now that most “Doctors” seem to have received a sheepskin without ever learning any actual medical work. Dentists are the worst so far.

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      • Stella's avatar stella says:
        May 25, 2016 at 10:04 am

        I agree about dentists. And about auto mechanics – and doctors.

        Liked by 4 people

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      • Pam's avatar Pam says:
        May 25, 2016 at 10:12 am

        I think the doctors think like auto mechanics. Everything is a blood test or MRI or something. If you have a condition that no test can confirm, but there are obviously problems, then they don’t know what to do. If they have to rely on what you tell them is going on in your body, they can’t stand it. They are trained to believe everyone will lie to them, especially if medication is involved like some of the medication I have to take. They are scared to death of some government “hand” coming down on them, so tough for you if you happen to be one of those who have fallen into the cracks.

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        • Stella's avatar stella says:
          May 25, 2016 at 10:16 am

          I think they believe that patients are ignorant (sometimes true) and they are afraid of being sued (with reason).

          Liked by 4 people

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          • lovely's avatar lovely says:
            May 25, 2016 at 10:40 am

            My husbands uncle was a pill of a man, he thought he knew more than anyone and once he came to a conclusion there was no other possibility than the one he had drawn.

            He had the same doctor for years, the doctor listened to his ideas and treated him in a way that they both agreed was the best course. The doctor retired and Uncle Omar requested his files, I believe they were mostly hand written but he got copies, often enough on the records his doctor had written something along the line “Very comfortable thinking he has medical knowledge when in fact he has no idea what he is talking about. Be gentle”.

            😀

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        • nyetneetot's avatar nyetneetot says:
          May 25, 2016 at 10:19 am

          Western medicine, the way we know and think of it, is only about 130 years old and was driven by self-serving frauds and quacks. It’s gone from a market driven services to secret society without competition in that short time.

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        • lovely's avatar lovely says:
          May 25, 2016 at 10:34 am

          I think doctors are generally go by the numbers and the norms, it is too much of a bother for them to connect on a human level and see the individual circumstances. It is far more monetarily advantageous to them to take cases with simple solutions than to figure things out and work with someone who has to be seen as more than their disease or particular known problem.

          That said there are good doctors out there who will see you as a person so my prayer is that you find one of them. Ask your guardian angel to go to the guardian angel of the doctor and open up a path of beneficial communication.

          I have had the same doctor for 14 years, she helped my girls grow up and still asks about them by name. She is a true blessing and gift.

          I’ve had enough experience with bad doctors to know that they are out there. I almost died after my second child was born, my husband walked into my room and didn’t say hello, he just walked out and then came back with a nurse, apparently I was as white as sheet, the nurse said “Maybe that is her normal skin tone” .

          🤔

          The doctor had visited me that morning and never had a word of concern.

          It ended up taking 4 pints of blood to get me back to my “normal skin tone.” If the doctor had lifted the sheet that morning he would have seen that my stomach was as black and blue as a midnight sky.

          Then I had the nurses, I was in tremendous pain where the cold blood was going into my arm, “nothing to do about it” is what the doctor and all the nurses said. Then the head nurse came on and I told her about the pain, she immediately got a warming pad and put it on my wrist over the IV and there was no more pain.

          She was a great advocate and became my source of knowing how to get things done. She made my day nurse apologize to me.

          Mike and Stella gave you good advice. Prayers being said for a good visit.

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          • Pam's avatar Pam says:
            May 25, 2016 at 11:32 am

            I am so sorry that happened to you. It happens too often. Two doctors, a radiologist and a neurologist, were totally responsible for my almost dying of the blocked carotid artery. For two, maybe three years, I had had MRI’s. The radiologist wrote the summary incorrectly, that my blockage was only 50% (not a problem). The first year may have been correct, maybe not. Then the next year he said it was the same. The third year, he figured out he had made a mistake. It was and had been 99% blocked. The neurologist, who is trained to read MRI’s, never looked at the pictures, but just took the summary. So, instead of having surgery within like two weeks, as is the procedure, it was almost 3 years. And I was almost dead. I went to Cleveland Clinic. The vascular surgeon was one of the “good” doctors. When the surgery was over, she was white as a sheet in the recovery room as she talked to me (which I wish she hadn’t right then.) She said it was the most awful thing she had ever seen and she had no clue why I had not had a major stroke or died. Well, of course, I thought “it was the Lord.” The fact that I can even sit here now and think and write is probably a miracle.

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            • Stella's avatar stella says:
              May 25, 2016 at 11:47 am

              I think sometimes God sends a good doctor to help us. A friend of mine was in the hospital in Cleveland. He had had back surgery, but still had terrible back pain. His roommate’s doctor overheard part of a conversation, and told him “I think I know what your problem is.” He had bone cancer, eventually had a bone marrow transplant (not successful in ridding him of cancer), and was on drugs for several years, including thalidomide.

              I have another story about a doctor who helped my mother in her final days, just by interjecting some good advice for her and for her care givers. We never saw her before or after. I assume that she was an associate of my mother’s doctor, but she may have been an angel!

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              • Pam's avatar Pam says:
                May 25, 2016 at 11:53 am

                Love this! Yes, there are angels among us. I have no doubt of that. Please tell us the story about your mother, if not now, then another day.

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                • Pam's avatar Pam says:
                  May 25, 2016 at 11:58 am

                  The vascular surgeon who saved me was a petite Asian woman. She wasn’t an angel in the real sense, but I think she was touched by angels. She was so kind to me, not gooey or obvious. It was just there. She asked me if I would consider coming back to her for follow-ups, long past the one follow-up after surgery. She wanted those tests performed under her watch. I went back for two years. Then she moved away to Texas.

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        • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
          May 25, 2016 at 3:08 pm

          They are also pimped out by pharma, let’s not forget how hard they and their professionsl ‘unions’ fought to get the Federal site shut down that reported how much money or favors that doctors received from pharma for pushing their drugs. If they didn’t have state licenses and did that on street corners they’d be in jail. As long as they prescribe within the limits the FDA and pharma havecset their asses are covered if that med they prescribe for a minor issue inturn creates a major problem.
          They also read off of a supplied script prepared by their lawyers to keep them out of civil court. There’s a fine line between what the insurance company will pay for in testing and what needs to be tested to limit liability exposure, your health isn’t the only issue on the table when you visit the doc.
          Of course they take whatever a patient says with a grain of salt, they are the Great Poobahs in white coats and you are a broken mortal. You have slithered into his office for help in fixing your broken self. Care to guess how many times my old clinic scripted a drug to me that was antagonistic with another drug they’d prescribed? That’s why I have my scrips sll filled at one pharmacy that knows all my scrips and supplements. They’ve saved my cookies more than once. They are human, regardless of what they imply, and are as fallible as any of us.

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          • Menagerie's avatar Menagerie says:
            May 25, 2016 at 6:13 pm

            My father, who would lie to anyone if there was any tiny advantage to be had, always told me never to lie to doctors. He always said they could only diagnose something correctly if they were given all the facts. I have always followed that policy.

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      • Menagerie's avatar Menagerie says:
        May 25, 2016 at 10:21 am

        Some years ago I read an awesome article in Reader’s Digest about a reporter who decided to go around the country and see what various dentists said about his teeth. No two were the same out of many, many appointments in all kind of states, cities, small towns. Some were ridiculous, telling him he needed thousands of dollars of work done.

        In the end, the two that most closely agreed were his own dentist at home, and a patient in a dental school.

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        • Stella's avatar stella says:
          May 25, 2016 at 10:23 am

          I remember reading that article!

          Liked by 5 people

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        • nyetneetot's avatar nyetneetot says:
          May 25, 2016 at 10:27 am

          The Mrs, has been abused by the Dentists, wrong tooth drilled, healthy teeth removed. We can’t do anything other then ask another to fix the work of the last one.

          Liked by 5 people

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          • Pam's avatar Pam says:
            May 25, 2016 at 12:18 pm

            It’s just plain scary to put yourself in the hands of doctors. Because you don’t know what you’re getting. Maybe you can find out, maybe not. We need them. There are many excellent ones. Right now I have a really good dentist. I’ve had some rotten ones. How was I to know, until another dentist told me, that the previous one was incompetent?! You can’t always tell what they’ve done.

            I remember when almost everyone thought doctors were like gods. Not so much today. I still see it though…people who are totally cowed and submissive.

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            • nyetneetot's avatar nyetneetot says:
              May 25, 2016 at 12:30 pm

              I see the employees and staff of hospitals that seem to do a lot of kowtowing toward the doctors. Some of the doctors are dumb as rocks, but they got the sheepskin so kowtow away.

              Liked by 2 people

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              • Stella's avatar stella says:
                May 25, 2016 at 12:36 pm

                The “dumb as rocks” doctors are often the ones who require the most kowtowing.

                Liked by 5 people

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                • nyetneetot's avatar nyetneetot says:
                  May 25, 2016 at 12:39 pm

                  Yes. Very true. Seems to carry over to management in administrative support of health care as well.

                  Liked by 3 people

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                • Menagerie's avatar Menagerie says:
                  May 25, 2016 at 6:26 pm

                  When little Conner was born he was in NICU either four or five days. His heart rate was too high, his breathing was shallow and he was barely able to eat. At first my son and DIL were told he had fluid around his lungs. That changed to someone saying he had a partially collapsed lung. There was an on staff doctor who was the primary caregiver for all the babies in NICU, ranking even over the pediatricians. I believe I remember that it was a woman, and on her off day there was another doctor there. When my son asked how Conner was early that morning, and specific questions about his HR, other metrics, the doctor said “Look, I am only here on Dr. xxx’s off days. I don’t know the history or the status of your baby or any of these other babies, and quite frankly, I don’t want to.” The DIL was of course in tears, and my son pretty hot, yet they did nothing at all for fear that Conner would, what? Be cast out, not cared for? I don’t know.

                  I do know this, he spent days in NICU with millions of dollars in diagnostic equipment that was never used on him. Weeks later they finally, finally decide that boy hat holes in his heart, after telling his parents, at age 3 weeks that he had an irregular heart beat which was common and nothing to be alarmed about. I was standing on my damned head by the time they woke up and saw that the kid had purple feet, could not eat, and was in retraction with his breathing. His parents desperately wanted to believe their pediatrician and the doctors in NICU. I knew that child had serious problems and like to never got any body to care.

                  The excuse made for the pediatrician was that she only sees kids for a few minutes very rarely. I call utter BS on that. She went to med school to learn exactly what to look for in those few minutes, and she should have been taught questions to ask parents, especially when a baby was in NICU for days. I loathe the woman, and all the Chattanooga docs who passed the buck and let that little guy suffer.

                  Liked by 2 people

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                  • Stella's avatar stella says:
                    May 25, 2016 at 6:35 pm

                    And thank God that he finally got the treatments that he needed! And it was in large part because you kept asking for answers.

                    Liked by 3 people

                  • Menagerie's avatar Menagerie says:
                    May 25, 2016 at 8:33 pm

                    I played a role in it, and it mainly consisted of making some people mad. I do not regret it. It’s important to speak up. Sometimes you almost have to yell.

                    Liked by 3 people

              • lovely's avatar lovely says:
                May 25, 2016 at 12:38 pm

                Reminds me of a truism.

                What do you call the guy who graduated at the bottom of the barrel at Medical School?

                Doctor.

                Liked by 3 people

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            • Stella's avatar stella says:
              May 25, 2016 at 12:34 pm

              As a friend pointed out one day, “Doctors are practicing medicine!”

              Liked by 2 people

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        • lovely's avatar lovely says:
          May 25, 2016 at 10:51 am

          I remember that article.

          Liked by 3 people

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        • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
          May 25, 2016 at 3:16 pm

          I had some dental pain and went to a dentist in a big shiny office. He took x-rays, did an exam and came back telling me I had a really bad periodontal condition that required major mouth surgery, opening my gums, scrapings, you name it, total cost was going yo be thousands.
          I went home, looked in the phonebook for a second dental opinion and found a local dentist and one jumped right out at me. He afvertised with his family’s picture and had a fish symbol right by his number. I went to him with the other dentist’s estomate. He did the same x-rays and exam and said he saw a filling that needed to be replaced and that I needed a cleaning but there was no sign of any periodontal disease and I certainly didn’t need the surgery/scraping. Since then my entire family’s transferred to him and he not only been scrupulously honest when he could havevtaken us but caught my son’s very serious medical condition the docs missed. Guess what I look for in a medical ad now?

          Liked by 4 people

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    • Stella's avatar stella says:
      May 25, 2016 at 10:00 am

      Pam, . ZM gives good advice. Having a list of questions, as well as a list of medication you are taking, symptoms, and history of treatment that you can give to him for the records is a good idea.

      Here is my advice: Treat your doctor politely, but as if he is a plumber you have hired to unstop a plugged drain. In other words, he is a professional being paid to perform a service, and whether or not he likes you or your problems, it is his job to do his best to solve them. Try not to let your emotions overtake you, and remember that you are the customer. Because doctors derive their income primarily from insurance companies or the government, I think they often forget that.

      He is nothing particularly special just because he went to medical school, although there are many doctors who think they are all that. There are good and bad doctors, just as there are good and bad plumbers. I hope you get a good one! I’ll be optimistic about it, so let’s see if you get the luck of the draw.

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      • Stella's avatar stella says:
        May 25, 2016 at 10:05 am

        PS: I think there are many more good plumbers, electricians, and other tradesmen than there are good doctors.

        Liked by 5 people

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      • Pam's avatar Pam says:
        May 25, 2016 at 11:16 am

        Yep! Everything you say is absolutely correct. I have had to see way more doctors than I ever wanted to see. In the last 20 years, since my problems started, I have had four doctors…four…who were what I would assess as a “good” doctor. One of them was good because he experienced some of the things I experience, so he learned some empathy. The others were good because they had minds open enough and were just the kind of human being who will check you out but be willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and work with you.

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      • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
        May 25, 2016 at 3:22 pm

        Note: try keeping a copy of your major medical conditions, if any, so that if the doc/hospital you are visiting does not have your records they at least have a leg up on your state. Despite yeras of trying and milliobs expended that ‘transparent’ system that would allow docs and hospitals to share bital info still ain’t there. I also carry a synopsis of my medical issues when I travel as well as the 24-hour number of my hospital’s record section just in case. Don’t expect some doc or ER in a strange city to take your word as to your condition.

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        • Pam's avatar Pam says:
          May 25, 2016 at 10:55 pm

          I got it all, Czar. Six pages. Conditions, meds, longer list of meds I can’t tolerate/allergic to, diagnoses, year diagnosed and doctor who diagnosed, tests, surgeries. blah blah blah blah. I started the list 15 years ago. I can’t fill in their dumb forms…too little space. So I just say: see list provided. The ironic thing is I take only 4 prescription medicines. I can’t take all those NSAID drugs they tried to put me on for the rheumatoid arthritis, including that methotrexate they developed for cancer, all those neurontin-type nerve pills or sleeping meds. I can’t tolerate most drugs. They don’t know what to do with me. But there’s one thing they know: they sure don’t want to let me have anything that reduces that pain. Big no-no. I couldn’t get high on it if I tried. It never even removes the pain, just tamps it down enough so I’m not curled up on the bed in the fetal position, crying.

          Lol–the last time I was high was 30 years after I stopped drinking. An ambulance took me to the ER. It was before they discovered their “mistake” about my artery and I was having a TIA. They plopped me in the bed and hooked up an IV. I said “what’s that?” It was valium. I was a tad anxious when I got there. They gave me such a dose that in about 20 minutes I was out of it. All of a sudden I realized “I’m high!!” It was a very strange feeling. I instantly knew though. It was a TIA, but the ER doctor said “oh, you are having a reaction to the bad air and pollen. I had someone else like you in earlier. It’s probably your inner ear.” I wasn’t able to walk when the ambulance arrived. At least they did give me an aspirin, very thoughtful of them.

          My husband has to take Vyvanse (an advanced med for ADD.) This is on the “X” list, too. The d**n criminals and addicts have caused horrible consequences to people who have any sort of chronic pain and even my husband with this one med that helps his brain chemicals balance out better with the symptoms of what ADD can do in an adult brain. Without his meds, he would be impossible to live with.

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          • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
            May 25, 2016 at 11:17 pm

            I can’t take most NSAIDS and have no desire to get caught up in the hillbilly heroin pain killers. I have a bad back courtesy of Sam and have a good deal of pain as a result. I could go to the VA where Dr Nick, graduate of the Calcutta School of Surgery and Air Conditioning Repair would, between shifts at the Kwikie Mart, gladly slice me open and, using his Spinsl Surgery for Dummies VA manual, install a 1-ton cooling unit.
            Anyway, now that I have that out, there’s a physical therapist at a major hospital ‘here’ who does a ‘dry needling’ procedure ( a lot like acupuncture ) that is supposed to ease pain. My insurance will pay for it under PT so I’m gonna give it a stab, so to speak.

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            • Pam's avatar Pam says:
              May 25, 2016 at 11:45 pm

              I tried that needle thing. They did some on part of my back. I think it might work nicely for some people. My problem is that I don’t have a specific place, except the back because of rheumatoid. The worst pain is caused from whatever my brain and body are doing with my muscles and tendons and stuff. My body isn’t just some tender points or trigger points. I have tons of bad trigger points, but it spreads or something. It’s every single space on my body, except my nose and ears. They couldn’t possibly stick enough of those needles in me. You might really get some help from those. If I could get a correct sort of massage every day, along with someone who is expert at trigger points, it would take a while to get there, but it might help some. But of course, I can’t do that. No insurance for that and it would be sort of tough to do it every day. I had a chiro who knew how to do trigger points. He couldn’t ever get to them all. I would go twice a week. He got some of the worst places calmed down a bit. But it just seems to go right back very quickly.

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              • Pam's avatar Pam says:
                May 25, 2016 at 11:47 pm

                I think you’re right to be somewhat leery of back surgery. My first good doctor, who diagnosed me, was an exercise gym nut. He injured his back doing weights. He had two operations, both ending up with him in worse shape. He was good because he knew what it felt like. He finally had to sell his practice and stop being a doctor because of the pain.

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  14. lovely's avatar lovely says:
    May 25, 2016 at 10:59 am

    I have no words.

    The men who live as dogs: ‘We’re just the same as any person on the high street’

    https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/may/25/secret-life-of-the-human-pups-the-men-who-live-as-dogs?CMP=twt_gu

    Liked by 2 people

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  16. Pam's avatar Pam says:
    May 25, 2016 at 12:41 pm

    I just noticed Wee has a nurse’s cap on? What??!! I saw someone refer to her as Nurse WeeWeed the other day. Is there some explanation for this startling change? 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

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  17. czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
    May 25, 2016 at 12:58 pm

    Woo Hoo! The ‘Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act’ seems to be gaining some traction. Might want to check and see how your Senators/rep stand on it, especially with elections coming up.

    https://www.clarionproject.org/analysis/8-more-members-congress-support-brotherhood-bill

    Liked by 3 people

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  18. Menagerie's avatar Menagerie says:
    May 25, 2016 at 1:04 pm

    Yay me! Another third of the other side of the driveway from hell done. This time the ditch side. With a few boulders and other assorted gargantuan rocks thrown in.

    Of course, when I get really puffed up about it I always remember that I’m leaving the really crappy hardest part for my husband. Who does that part in about a third of the time I take for the relatively easier parts. And he doesn’t brag about it either. 😉

    I’m actually getting a lot stronger and building up my endurance too. It’s good for me. I keep telling myself that as I fantasize about a nice big glass of iced Jack.

    Liked by 6 people

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    • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
      May 25, 2016 at 1:10 pm

      Only those with the problem can appreciative the problem. We’re arranging for another 14 yards of gravel to be spread on the upper end of our never-ending outdoor project.

      Liked by 4 people

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      • Col.(R) Ken's avatar Col.(R) Ken says:
        May 25, 2016 at 9:05 pm

        Same here Czar! 10 yards of 2b stone, with 5 yards of slag( crushed red dog) mixed in. Think the raccoons who patrol the lane at night are taking the stones.

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        • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
          May 25, 2016 at 9:19 pm

          We’re looking at about 170 yards total which will put about 6″ down the entire length. If the raccoons are making this stuff disappear they’re building their own road somewhere. I know that the red mud sucks up a lot of stone but at tomes it feels like we’re building our own bedrock. In any event a dirty truck’s the sign of a rancher/farmer, defines us from the visiting weekend cowboys.

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    • Pam's avatar Pam says:
      May 25, 2016 at 11:52 pm

      Wow – good going!

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  20. Stella's avatar stella says:
    May 25, 2016 at 2:10 pm

    Want To See How Corrupt The #NeverTrump National Review Is?

    http://dcwhispers.com/want-see-corrupt-nevertrump-national-review/

    Photos now circulating of a Hillary Clinton operative meeting with National Review editor Rich Lowry to discuss, “HOW TO DEFEAT TRUMP.”

    The National Review was/is collaborating with those who on the surface one would think to be their political adversaries but in reality, appear to be quite willing accomplices.

    Liked by 3 people

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  21. The Tundra PA's avatar The Tundra PA says:
    May 25, 2016 at 3:23 pm

    Have pretty much stopped reading at American Thinker any more, but happened to catch this piece–which was good.

    http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/05/but_is_trump_nasty_emenoughem.html

    Donald Trump is fighting to become the new broom in the fetid swamps of DC. His voters don’t care much about nice manners, maybe because they know or suspect the Augean stables that need cleaning. They are right on the facts and right on the moral issues. They are placing their hopes in Trump, who is a mere human being, no more and no less.

    It will take more than one person to make things better. Trump has been quietly telling the truth about taboo subjects like Jihad and the puritanical strictures of PC. The newsies are predictably fainting in horror, or pretending to. But morally they are fluff, blowing with the winds of fashion, from day to day. Total lightweights, every single one.

    The whole piece is worth reading.

    Liked by 4 people

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  22. Stella's avatar stella says:
    May 25, 2016 at 6:22 pm

    Just had a minor emergency. I was clipping the dog’s nails, and hit the quick on a rear foot. I thought I would never get the bleeding to stop. The worst part was getting her to be still. My styptic powder was dried up and hard, so I had to use corn starch. Finally got it stopped with that and cold compresses. Luckily I received a mail order food package today, and the gel packs were melted but still very cold, so I used those. Nevertheless, the kitchen floor looked like a slaughter house, and the dog will definitely need a bath tomorrow (don’t want to risk starting the bleeding again).

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  23. czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
    May 25, 2016 at 11:44 pm

    On the medical side, we have a chiropractor who had an accident and ran afoul of regular medicine. Don’t know if her problems were due to bad decisions bybthe dox or if they were turning on the standard bearer of alternativevtreatments but they did not do her well. In desperation she bought a small clinic sized hyperbaric chamber that worked to solve her problem. Later due to the dox inabilities to effectively deal with some pain issues she bought a laser treatment system that even the hospital PT at the BIG GIANT HOSPITAL’s thrying to buy. She said it worked.
    So, rather than listen to another performance by the Pharma-Doctor Drug Choir I’m gonna try them too. At worst I’ll be out of pocket but at best I’ll get some relief with kinimal, if any, side effects.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Pam's avatar Pam says:
      May 25, 2016 at 11:57 pm

      Explain in simple words what you are going to try please. You lost me. I’m too tired maybe.

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      • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
        May 26, 2016 at 12:12 am

        She has a laser treatment for pain that I want to try on my atthritic fingers before I try it on my banged up knees. The PT at the hospital has talked the admin into buying one for theirvuse somit’s not just in the alternative treatment arena any more. The laser in some way seems to reduce inflammation and pain without the side effects drugs have.
        Ditto the hyperbaric chamber. Unlike the big steel ones hers is more in the line of a reinforced bag that you sit in for an hour or more and breathe in pure oxygen under pressure. There are already known mainline medical uses for the hyperbaric chambers duch as wound healing, there’s also a doc in town that’s doing promising work on traumatic brain injuries and hyperbaric oxygen. I’m planning on using it after sinus surgery to soeed healing and see if it has any effect on my diabetes. In the matter of diabetes my regimen, along with plain old metformin, has dropped my A1c to near normal levels so it’s time to try something else.

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        • Pam's avatar Pam says:
          May 26, 2016 at 10:47 am

          I know someone who did the hyperbaric chamber. Her body was burned badly when she was young and later she developed something they haven’t been able to diagnose where she has nerve pain. The laser sounds interesting. I hadn’t heard about that. I think I’ll bring that up when I go Friday and see if it’s used for my kind of issues.

          My husband has researched hyperbaric chambers. I didn’t know it. He is trying to get this idea in his head about buying one. I was just telling him what you said. $8000!! I said “are you nuts?” No way we could afford that. He did say he read that the bag ones supposedly did not work as well as the old big ones.

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          • czarowniczy's avatar czarowniczy says:
            May 26, 2016 at 11:37 am

            First that irritating disclaimer: I’m not sure what chamber she has and I’m just including these as examples.
            Now onward. Here are two I just found on the net, they are designed for home or clinical use, not like the far more expensive professional models that run well into the five figure range:
            http://www.rehabmart.com/product/summit-to-sea-shallow-dive-hyperbaric-chamber-42430.html?gclid=CKfo6veB-MwCFQsPaQodWAMM2A

            http://www.rehabmart.com/product/solace-210-hyperbaric-chamber-31945.html?gclid=CIfRvdGD-MwCFQ6oaQodjNsFjA

            There might be a practitioner ‘in your area’ who has one and that’s what I’ll do, get the treatments to see if they work on me. The treatments run, here, about $50 a session and you should know if they are helping within a few treatments. No change, no need to continue.
            From what I’m told the bag ones work as well as the steel and plexi chambers as the pressure isn’t all that high, the steel ones are for heavy use while the bag units are for a more personal level of treatment. Point Is getting the pure oxy into your yissues and grape-presing oressures aren’t needed.
            My wife has been following the NOLA doc who’s been using his heavy-duty chamber yo treat soldiers with traumatic brain injury, appears he’s been having some good results. We used to have one at a local hospital thst was used to treat divers with ‘the bends’. I believe there’s another one in another hospital but theybuse it for more billable treatments like wound healing.

            Here’s a link to the laser: http://www.spine-health.com/treatment/pain-management/types-conditions-treated-cold-lasers

            I might not have given this a second look except that PT at the major hospital I’d mentioned is getting them to buy one. The tretments at the chiropractor ain’t all that expensive, each one’s less than a Mickey-D’s lunch, and again I’ve been told that if I don’t see resilts in a few treatments I’m not obligated to continue.
            There may not be a medically scientific explaination as to why the laser might work but then if you ask your doc EXACTLY how the arthritis mechanism works to zap your joints you get some used car salesman line. Then when you ask why they don’t have a treatment that doesn’t zap your entire body and not just the affected area thingsreally get interesting. Again, I’d rather spend less than a hundred bucks to find out if something thst doesn’t zap my entire immune system might work.

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  24. Pam's avatar Pam says:
    May 25, 2016 at 11:58 pm

    Good night, my fellow rascals. Thank you, by the way. You have helped me today. I really appreciate it.

    Liked by 2 people

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