lagilman | Entries tagged with medical

1. L'Shana tovah to all, even if you don't celebrate - may the next 12 (lunar) months be full of joy, peace, and good-health.

2. Bits and pieces of things accomplished today, but most important: "Promises to Keep" (the follow-up to "Miles to Go") officially started! Opening lines: “Hey boss. Coffee maker’s broken.”

3. My shoulder has decided to make like b'fast cereal (snap crackle & pop). And my previous massage therapist has left the area. I'd ask my local folk for recs, but I suspect they'd give me names in Brooklyn, and spending an hour on the subway is NOT the way to maintaining that post-massage calm... Meanwhile, I ice and wince and try to NOT use my right arm. Yeah, good luck with that....

4. Today is the one-year anniversary of OWS. The fact that we're still fighting to be heard over the Corporate Money is... sad. But there have been changes over the past year, too. And people aren't going to sit down or shut up any time soon - the more citizens told to be good little sheep, the more we channel our inner sheepdog, instead. Wolves, beware.

5. I owe people a Gilman Quarterly. in fact, I owe people TWO Gilman Quarterlies. I should write it all up and send it out, shouldn't I? Yeah. Along with everything else.... (see #3 for part of the reason why it's all delayed)

(and a bonus, reposted from FB):

You know what would make me believe in God? A worldwide visitation of the faithful by all incarnations, saying "humanity, cut that out. If I want someone smited I will do it Myself."

Then? I'd be "okay, God, you got me."

Until then? It's just people being assholes in the name of "mine's exactly the same as yours, only better."

Today's World Suicide Prevention Day. According to the stats, every 18 minutes, someone dies from a suicide. Every 43 seconds, someone attempts one. In memory of Katherine, and others, who are still sore-missed, learn the facts. Learn to talk about it.

I respect everyone's right to choose their path...but nobody should ever feel it's their ONLY choice.

----------------------

In other news, the fact that there are stupid, willfully misinformed, emotionally stunted and otherwise oblivious people out there should not be a surprise to anyone over the age of 8. Can we please stop pointing at them and howling? They're not going to change, and the howling doesn't get anything fixed.

Boomer did not entirely disgrace himself today - although he was VOCAL about how UNHAPPY he was to be there, god knows. He took his booster shots like a champ, managed to weigh in without protest (yep, still needs to lose a few pounds, so we're tweaking the diet again), and despite the pouring rain on the walk home, his delicate snowflake self did not melt.

One Cat, Indignant

But it was sobering to come out of vet's exam room to see large dog being carried in on makeshift stretcher - s/he just collapsed. Owner frantic. :-(

This trip only cost me $170. Which is good, cause I came home to my ConEd bill covering electricity use for the past few heat waves. *wince*

Today, it was Pandora's turn.

Normally, my sweet ElderCat is merely unhappy and shy at the vet's. Today? Her preferred tech wasn't there; she did not show grace under pressure (or needles). In fact, she was an utter yowling, head-hiding wench, clinging to the side of the exam table, trying to climb into my ribcage during the vaccinations and temperature-taking. When the vet tried to pick her up to take her into the back for the full blood screening, she flipped. After I calmed her down, we tried again, but the vet eventually had to put the mommy scruff-hold moves on her, just to get her from one room to another.

$400 later, we are home. She is still yowling. I need a drink. That $400 was for the exam, 3-year Rabies & FVRCP vaccine boosters, blood count & blood chemistry screen, T4 testing & urinalysis. Ah, the joy of older pets...

Boomer goes in on Friday.

ETA: 2 hours later, Pandora has emerged from hiding, and wants pettins. Also, noms.

(I should dedicate any/all sales of "From Whence You Came" to the ongoing Feline Medical Fund, considering the sea-serpents therein were based on cats...)

This morning's brief-but-fierce thunderstorm has done its job: it's no cooler out there, but much steamier. Ugh. The Transformer Office has been relocated to directly in front of the AC, along with the cats. I have deadlines that wait for no weather front. :-( On the plus side, Transformer Office can handle it.

Working on the revisions to HEART OF BRIAR and the draft of MILES TO GO. A day spent writing is a good day, no matter what else happens. I keep reminding myself of this...

Spent much of yesterday reading the SCOTUS decision on the Affordable Care Act, and the fallout therein (including Rand Paul's OMGWTF exposure of his own stupidity OMGWTF?). Am somewhat disgusted that so many people are focusing on the "oh noes they're MAKING ME GET INSURANCE!" aspect of the law and ignoring all the many other very important bits that improve the health care situation for much of the population. It's reminding me much of all the "YOU CAN'T TELL ME TO WEAR A SEAT BELT!' complaints I heard when those laws were pushed through. Dude, put on your seat belt, prepare for eventualities, and read the actual law already, okay?

Toward that, I give you this:

http://artinfo.com/news/story/811251/how-artists-will-be-affected-by-the-supreme-courts-decision-to-uphold-obamas-affordable-care-act

"Under the ACA, states will set up group exchanges by 2014, which will.... allow individuals and small businesses to band together to form groups, just like if they were part of a large corporation. The exchanges will not be able to consider pre-existing conditions when creating groups — currently one of the biggest reasons why individuals or small businesses have a hard time getting affordable insurance."

In other words, folks: the ACA is the reason why I don't live in fear of ending up in the hospital and having my life savings wiped out by medical costs - because the Freelancer's Union was able to set up exactly that. And if you work for a small company that doesn't offer health benefits, or are self-employed and can't afford insurance, the ACA could change that*.

Yeah, I think this is better than what we had before. You're not going to convince me otherwise, no matter how much you say "oh noes the taxes! oh noes the loss-of-my-freedoms!" Dudes, the Patriot Act was a loss of freedoms. This is just a reminder to be a fucking responsible adult. IMGDO.

*Catastrophic, to cover your ass, or more as your situation required. And if you want "Cadillac" insurance, you can pay more for that, too. Market options. not perfect, but yeah again...better.

From Twitter:

@LAGilman We never know how long we're going to get - we just get this chance NOW to do something. Anything. Don't wait. #fuckcancer

If you don't know someone - probably several someones - with cancer, it's only because they're not talking about it. Cancer hits everywhere, in small doses and large ones, and every form of it is terrifying, our own bodies turned enemy. And the clock that is always ticking, suddenly becomes that much louder.

I know too many people with cancer. Some of them have been fighting it for years. Some have only just been diagnosed. Some have hopeful outlooks - some have a death sentence. I'm honored to know them, because each one of them has said, in effect, "fuck cancer. There are things I need and want to DO."

Don't wait until your doctor looks at you with That Expression. Don't wait for the ticking to get louder. If you have something you need to do, if you have something you want to do.... do it. Now.

Don't wait.

My cold seems to be settling in nicely.... meh. I am draggy and dopey and sleeping more than usual. Which I know is a healing thing but it's playing havoc with the stuff I'm supposed to be DOING.

On the other hand, there are e-books to be bought!

First: Angry Robot (not my publisher, no affiliation with me) is having a 50% off sale! angryrobotbooks.com For those of us in the US, that makes their ebooks Actually Affordable! Also: no DRM. Ever. So what are you waiting for?

Second: there's only 18 more hours to go to get in with Danny Hendrickson and Sylvan Investigations. $9 gets you two novellas. $15 gets you two novellas and a short story. $40 gets you two novellas, and THREE short stories! And yes... DRM free, in mobi, epub and pdf. But you'd better hurry, 'cause once that window closes....

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/980297055/miles-to-go-promises-to-keep-a-cosa-nostradamus-pr

EtA: being sick does not excuse me from reminding you that there are 40 hours left to pre-order your copy of MILES TO GO and PROMISES TO KEEP! . There. I done did it. Back to the sofa...

Headache, minor but present.
Nose: clear, but overly dry.
Throat: sore and swollen
Chest: clear but hesitant, like expecting a press of bricks at any moment.
Voice: scratchy.
Ears: clear but with variable pressure.

Yeah, I'm sick. Operation Work in PJs is officially in play.

[mind you, OpWiPJs is much like my normal day, only with sweats rather than jeans and a top...and tea instead of coffee]

The timing is bad, but it could have been much worse. I'm going to keep reminding myself of that....

Anyone else wondering if Dick(ish) Cheney's new heart is currently doing its damnedest to reject its new surroundings? "Get me out! I can't work in here!"

Or - is the body going "what the hell is this? I don't need this, get it out, ew ick!"

I will not comment on the fact that he got a heart while someone else didn't, after a (relatively) short time on the list. I'm just going to hope that he was the nearest best match and nobody else's chances would have been better (yeah, I know. Leave me this one delusion, ok?)

When you live with a CatofSize, there are certain things you learn, and certain things you do. I've compared it to living with a tiger cub, and that's not at all inaccurate. Boomerang is 20+ pounds of mostly bone-and-muscle, and he has damn fast reflexes, and the usual feline instincts.

The fact that he also has an abiding affection for me does not, therefore, keep him from doing damage when he gets too wound up, and forgets to be gentle (and I forget to be cautious about the signs he's getting too wound up).

Fortunately for my work schedule, his teeth got me in the fleshy part of my palm, which means I'm still able to type, once antiseptic & bandages were applied...

Ten minutes later, of course, he came sidling up to me, asking for his ears to be pulled. Because he still doesn't grok that momma-two-legs is more delicate than the average cat, and she's still ow-ing.

(have I ever told the story of how he managed to knock me over? His three foot frame vs my five foot frame, and it wasn't even a contest)

Feeling slightly less sick this morning, in that I'm able to think without the heavy fog of wet cotton wrapping my brain (for the moment, anyway). Throat still sore, nose still stuffed, body still achey, fever still above meerkat-normal. And no ice cream materialized in my freezer overnight. Damn ice cream fairy, I'm going to write a letter of protest.

No matter what I feel like, though, Stuff has to occur today. I have a brief window of opportunity between handing in one book and the revisions letter appearing for another, and if I do All The (non-writing) Things today through Thursday, I can take the weekend off for Lunacon with a clear conscience. They're all GOOD things, things I'd normally be leaping on, I'm just...not up for leaping, right now.

And then there's The Project I'm Not Working On Right Now, that is trying to claim this open window for itself. Sorry, darling, but I have to be on the top of my game for you, and this ain't it.

This is, BTW, day four without coffee (I had one cup yesterday, but it tasted wrong and seemed like a bad idea, so I replaced it with tea). I can't bring myself to drink coffee while I'm sick, which is another reason to get well.

And we're out of cat food, so at some point, no matter how crap I feel I have to haul out to the store. Ugh....

Things learned:

1. The multi-colored kitchen cloth is too thin to use as a proper pot-grabber (unlike the solid-color ones)

2. My scone pan will not break, even when dropped.

3. Burns HURT (ok, I knew that already)

4. Audrey3 gives up her sap quite beautifully (that's my monster Aloe plant, for those who missed that story)

5. Even ice and aloe aren't making this hurt any less. Ok, a little less. And hopefully no blistering. And thankfully it's just the tip of one finger. But can I say - OW!

6. No I do not immediately run to the internet to report such things. I take care of the damage, first. THEN I report in.

My dentist is an older, very cranky Ukrainian woman who manages to be both abrasive and funny as hell (and drives her staff crazy, but they're weirdly loyal despite that). She is also very fierce about her patients taking responsibility for/having knowledge of their mouths, which means that I not only get to see my digital x-rays, but I have a layman's knowledge of exactly where everything is in my mouth, and how I'm mistreating it.

(or, to quote Dr S, "You have such a good mouth, nicely aligned teeth, straight jaw, it could be perfect if only you took better care of it.")

My flossing skills, let me show you how they suck. I'm 44, you'd think I'd know how to do it better, by now?

Anyway, what we also discovered this visit is that I have chipped a molar. How? Who the hell knows. But it amuses me because it is a left molar, which corresponds almost exactly with the fang Pandora chipped toward the end of last year.

The ex-guy once called her my barometer-cat: look at her to see what's going on with me. Apparently, it's dental, too. 0-0

On the plus side, my teeth seem to be in otherwise good shape, and my gums haven't abandoned ship yet. I call that a win.

ETA 11:15am Friday: Rumor has it that the Komen Foundation has backed down, and agreed to restore funding to Planned Parenthood. I have yet to get a confirm on that from a certified news source, tho.

ETA2 1PM There is some serious confusion as to if the funding will actually be restored, or if the Komen Foundation is doing some pretty tap-dancing to 'restate their position.' Either way, I trust them about as far as I can throw their main HQ.

Since Nea puts it so well, I give you her post, in full:

Originally posted by

neadods at MUST READ: Founder of Komen's Own Words

I was going to just write a rant about my personal experience when a Planned Parenthood-enabled mammogram told me I didn't have breast cancer. Then I was going to put a link to a beautifully succinct message from the Komen boards from a woman whose breast cancer was discovered via a Planned Parenthood prescribed mammogram.

Then I found this article from the LA Times: Komen Officials Say It's Not About Abortion in which most of the points that I wanted to make have been tangentially made by Nancy Brinker, founder & Chief Executive of Komen, falling over her own feet.

Reading it, I planned to discuss the double standard of paragraph 6, where Brinker said that they were cutting funding to all institutions under investigation, but neither she nor the reporter made a peep about grants going to Penn State (currently under federal, state, *and* local investigation for covering up long-term pedophilic predation).

Then I was going to crow about Brinker herself putting the lie to "poor women can just go elsewhere" in paragraph 8, when she admitted that several Planned Parenthood branches will still receive funding "because it provides services that cannot be replaced through grants to another organization."

But it's paragraphs 9 & 10 that stopped me in my tracks:
Komen officials also said that the Planned Parenthood's breast-health programs may not be the best use of its funds. While women can receive clinical breast exams at Planned Parenthood clinics, patients are referred to other medical facilities for mammograms, biopsies and cancer treatment. Brinker referred to this model as "pass-through" services.

"We look at the quality of the grants," Brinker said. "This isn't about funding the same thing over and over. It's about how can we get better? We don't like to do pass-through grants any more."

You know who else doesn't do mammograms, biopsies, and cancer treatment? ALL OB/GYNs! My doctor writes me a presciption to get a mammogram; she sent the stuff she removed from me out to a lab for biopsy; and if it did turn out to be cancerous, we would have discussed her referring me to an oncologist. She is the coordinator and the medical expertise, but she does none of this work herself. She passes it through to the other experts.

THE FOUNDER OF THE KOMEN FOUNDATION JUST TOLD A REPORTER THAT KOMEN CONSIDERS THE WORK DONE BY EVERY OB/GYN IN THIS COUNTRY -- INCLUDING MAMMOGRAM REFERRALS -- TO BE SOMETHING THEY "DON'T LIKE" TO GIVE GRANTS TO ANYMORE.

Spread this far and wide. This isn't about abortion, this isn't even about Planned Parenthood. This is about the expressed opinion of the director and founder of Susan G Komen for the Cure regarding mammogram referrals, no matter where they come from.

Working working working. Like a good little meerkat, I am. And so I stop to have lunch, which for the record was a chunk of my home-made meatloaf and a cookie, a plain marbled cookie, nothing fancy, from the local bakery. Ok, the cookie was as large as the chunk of meatlaof, but it was much flatter, and I did not even eat the all of it....

But something has most direly upset my system, and I feel all oogy. I dislike oogy most of all the things I dislike, body-wise (pain can be medicated, ick can be medicated, all you can do with oogy is wait it out).

And so I am not working, but huddled on the sofa, cats asleep left and right, waiting it out. I need tea. *looks at cats. cats slumber, unmoved* sigh

Soon, I will be back to the working working. And, for your pleasure, this is where I left off...

“What?” She tried to free herself, but his grip was painfully strong. Should she scream? Would the bus driver help her?

“Off the bus, now!” He sounded worried, suddenly, and that scared her all over again, although she couldn’t have said why.

The other one had already pulled the yellow cord that called for a stop, and the bus driver was jockeying through traffic to pull over at the end of the next block, even as she was being yanked toward the exit.

Current Mood: oogy

Yes that's right, this writer has a use for you. Sing out about your meds, your treatment, what it feels like to have an attack, the things you HATE about having asthma... whatever you want. I'll be in the corner, taking notes and hrmmming with real interest and sympathy.

This is for posterity. Tell me, how do you feel? And please, be honest.

Yesterday morning, the Ick I'd been battling over New Year's came back with a vengeance. High fever, aches, chills, headache, the whole megilla. The only thing missing was the sore throat and cough, for which I'd have been thankful if I hadn't felt like something two weeks dead, already. I managed to make some pasta, but that and herbal tea were all I could handle.

I did managed to get some work done, but at about 1/4 my usual pace.

This morning... the fever's broken, but it seems to have taken all my brain cells with it. Which wouldn't be a problem except there's a matter of this BOOK being DUE on the 16th.

*sighs*

Don't mind me, I'll be the whinging puddle on the sofa, typing as fast as I can....

ETA: READ THIS BEFORE YOU COMMENT: As I said, this is not a political post. It is about putting people above money, about taking care of a real and ongoing problem.

However, Suri's Law is in effect. If you want to disagree, then come in, the discussion is open. If you come in with insults and "neener neener"-level arguments? You will be shut down. If you say anything that could be considered threatening, you will be reported. Please, sign your posts - don't be a coward about what you believe. Nobody takes "Anon" seriously.

-------------------------

There is a move afoot in the nation -driven by the GOP - to repeal the new health care laws, to protect corporate interests, to defend against fear-mongering (and stupid) cries of "socialism!", and to ensure that people are forced to choose between keeping a roof over their heads or getting necessary health care.

This movement is killing people.

Think I'm overstating the fact?

Ask the friends and family of writer/reviewer Melissa Mia Hall, who died of a heart attack last week because she was so terrified of medical bills, she didn't go see a doctor who could have saved her life.

One person. Not the only one. That could have been me. Yeah, I have access to insurance -- I live in New York City, which is freelancer-friendly, and have access to freelancer advocacy groups. Through them, I can pay over $400/month ($5,760/year) as a single, healthy woman, so that if I go to the hospital I'm not driven to bankruptcy. But a doctor's appointment - a routine physical - can still cost me several hundred dollars each visit. So unless something's terribly wrong? I won't go.

Someone who lives in a state where there is no Freelancer's Guild or MediaBistro to put together an insurance plan for freelancers? Someone who has been laid off or downsized, and can barely make ends meet? SoL.

That could be you. That could be your best friend. That could be someone you've never met. That could be any of us - because there are people out there who think that taking care their neighbor is someone else's problem.

No. It's our responsibility. All of us, together. As a nation.

EtA: Nobody is trying to put insurance companies out of business. They will always be able to offer a better plan for a premium. We simply want to ensure that every citizen - from infant to senior citizen - doesn't have to choose between medical care, and keeping a roof over their heads, or having enough to eat.

We're trying to get this to go viral. Pass it along:

I won't watch another friend die because they can't afford healthcare. Save the Affordable Care Act! http://ow.ly/3QAD7 #ForMMHall #HCR

-------------------------------------------------
EtA: guys, I don't mind you using my wording. But if you're going to quote my specs above (about being a freelancer) you might want to specify it's not YOU talking, but me. Better yet, delete that part and put in your own story.

I remember a world before AIDS. I remember the way people tried to shove it into the "gay men" box, at first. I remember how people were terrified of even saying the name. I remember the shame that was shoved onto people who were infected, no matter how it happened. I remember when the disease exploded into the general population.

I remember when my first friend died of complications from AIDS.

I think, often, of how much the world has lost, because of AIDS. Not only the disease itself, which is terrible, but the fear and shame and denial that dimmed so many bright lights.

according to the most recent statistics*:

* 33.4 million people currently living with HIV/AIDS.
* Two million people died from AIDS in 2008.
* Young people aged 15-24 account for 40 percent of all new adult HIV cases.
* 2.1 million children are currently living with HIV, there were 430,000 new infections in 2008 and 280,000 deaths.
* There are approximately 17.5 million AIDS orphans - children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS - worldwide.
* 1.4 million North Americans living with AIDS in 2008, with 55,000 new cases.

You may not be able to do anything about that. But you can get tested. You can talk to your partner(s). You can talk to your kids, BEFORE they're sexually active, and after. You can use protection, if you're not sure about yourself OR your partner.

You can help save a life.

*via my Congresscritter's website

Maryland physician Andy Harris (R) just soundly defeated Frank Kratovil, one of the most endangered Democrats on Capitol Hill going into the November election. And he did it in large part by railing against 'Obamacare' and pledging to repeal Health Care Reform. But when he showed on Capitol Hill today for an orientation for incoming members of Congress and their staffs, he had a different question: Where's my government health care?

Apparently, Andy (a doctor!) never heard of COBRA, and never actually experience the normal-to-most-of-us 1-6 month wait before we're covered under our employers' health care. [EtA: to use a phrase I learned from

fashionista_35: "What a cheeseweasel."]

Yet another - particularly specific and glaring - example of the GOP's "for ME, but not for the likes of YOU" mentality....

Current Mood: angry

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Laura Anne Gilman

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Where Personal and Professional Life Collide...

My life in 8 words: Organized chaos, by preference. Exhausting, but never boring

Entries tagged with medical

Five Things make a L'Shana Tovah Post

World Suicide Prevention Day 2012

And this concludes Vet Week...

This is the week of going to the vet.

I have actual content. But it's going in a book.

Don't Wait

Oh Friday..... ooo, bookses!

meh

Meanwhile in the world.....

Life Among Felines, Part Ow.

State of the Meerkat

Ow.

on tooths and the care and cleaning thereof...

MUST READ: Founder of Komen's Own Words

Thus, Thursday

Asthmtic? Tell me about it....

whinge

this is not a political post. it is a post about what we are, and what we choose to stand for.

Today is World AIDS day.

In case you missed this particular bit of OMGWTF selfish stupidity...