We love our Chemung River!

One the ice again!!??!! Yep, only this time solo. GrammaDog holding the leash tight and ready to return her to safety. Go to RiverFest2006 for the full story.

Geez...

Four days now with a lousy cold. Head all stuffed, eyes totally runny, and a cough even straight Dextromethorphan can't touch.

See, the first few days, I am usually quite chipper. You know. "It's just a cold. No big deal." I handle it all with aplomb, if I do say so myself. Sure, there's that nasty cough, right from the very depths of my lungs. The tickly throat that makes my eyes tear constantly. No really sick feeling, life goes on. But!

But by the fourth day, there's not enough sleep in the whole world. It's time for a hot toddy and fuzzy bathrobe and slippers. But nooooo. The last half of the week is the worst at the paper. It's not a good time to leave people handling a third workload. And in a three-person department, it really hurts.

So naturally, just as the body is screaming, "Bed, bed, please, bed!" the worst worknight awaits me. So it's plenty of Dextro, Tylenol extra strength, cough drops and hot decaf all night. And comfy, sexless clothes. Hey, we're all guys, right?

The only way past it is through it. There's cold beer and video games waiting for me this weekend.

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Little Pond

Asthmas is bad today

You can see here, maybe, why. My own fault, so I'm not complaining, just offering an explanation for the very short post.

Grunt Doc says the Grand Rounds are up, and hosted by intueri. I never got past this post, the first I chose to read. I've always wanted to work with babies in the neonatal unit, just as a volunteer. Now, I don't think I have what it takes. Not at all.

Back to Grand Rounds when I'm feeling better.

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Little Pond

What a relief!

My doctor wasn't miffed in the least by my changes in the prescriptions. He was most sympathetic regarding the alarmingly high copays.

I can't help but feel a little sheepish over the whole deal. We could scrimp and save to afford them, but why give up so much just to have the name brands? Between Husband RJ and I, our drug costs are well over $200 per month, without those extra drugs. With one important exception: The Copaxone copay is $20.00. The County insurance pays a staggering amount for us. So it's not like we feel worked over by them. Perhaps we can cut back on the less essential ones.

My bloodwork was excellent, even my calcium readings, and my blood pressure seems totally under control. Closer to my readings from my early twenties!

Unfortunately, I experienced low blood sugar at the close of our visit and could not stay for some followup, shots and home tests, etc. I'll get those next week.

Then it's time for a Mammogram and a OBGYN visit. Right now, I feel wonderful, and expect no bad news.

Life is good.

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Little Pond

This Grand Rounds is Really Big

It's Tuesday.

So naturally I went to Gruntdoc for Grand Rounds. This week they are hosted by Bora Zivkovic.

Heads up! They are huge. He decided not to whittle them, and instead includes every submission received. Do what I do: 1--send the url to your desk top; 2--go through the darned thing and just select those that jump out; 3--later select only those that address something related to your, or your personal circle's, current crises; 4--finally read those that only seem interesting.

This doesn't work if you are a casual surfer. You'll forget the desktop icon and later trash it. Trust me on this one.

But I hate to miss anything, just because I have a limited attention span. And it irks me when someone emails me an item I should have read (and emailed to them).

Enjoy

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Little Pond

Gotta Go to Grand Rounds

Yesterday's visit to the Neuro left me only a little time to spend with VeggieGirl and HuggaMutt, and I only got on the Internet quite late last night. But I spent a lovely hour on Grand Rounds via GruntDoc. Actually, if you read GruntDoc regularly, Grand Rounds are linked there every Tuesday.

Hostess this week is Barbados Butterfly. Honestly, I don't have a favorite entry this time, although she's peppered the post with some great cartoons and photos. My favorite here.

GolferGirl's begged off our visit this morning, so today Ellie and I will clean house.

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Little Pond

For the Record

Need to go on record that I've dropped some of my meds. The insurance won't pay enough to justify incomplete therapy. One is Sanctura for incontinence. Never worked well and required fasting, before and after. And I still needed protection. Been off for days and things are pretty much the same. Except for one thing: constipation is gone. What's up with that? It was the same for Detrol--the main reason I quit it, too. Out with them both! A $50 per month copay is too much for something that works only sometimes.

Nexium is next. I'd run out of Nexium and worried about relapsing. Last time I did, I was good and sick. And had damage to prove it. So I took Prilosec OTC to bridge the gap to payday. About four days. And it began to dawn on me that I felt fine. So I could pay $50 for one month of Nexium, or I could buy a 42 day supply of Prilosec OTC for less than $25. And I've returned to making and eating chili! Hah!

Only thing I miss is the slight--what is it?--relaxation I got from the Sanctura. Was it a muscle relaxant?

Oh, yeah, and my GP may not be happy with my self-prescription. Sanctura is not his worry. But the Nexium is. Lord, I hate having so many doctors. Only three and they are way too many. By the way, my newest doctor, the neurologist, has left the practice. Heh. Didn't much like him anyhow.

So now I have a nurse practitioner for OBGYN, a nurse practitioner for Neuro, and a GP. I'm up for it. Let's see if they are.

Update: Jan 30. Ms. Susan Walker and I got along well. Though I probably talked her ear off. We will experiment with no drug, maybe Detrol again, then maybe Ditropan. She also sees some deterioration, but I am less brittle about it with her. May never be normal, but I'll always be the same me. That "me" is somewhat grumpy about blunt pronouncements, sometimes.

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Little Pond