Saturday, October 14, 2006
Dear LadyCee:?
Dear Lady Cee?-- What do you think could be done to improve our health care system ANSWER: We had over $23,000+ in out of pocket health care costs in 2005. It took our income into the poverty level. We are self-employed. I am on Medicare part D, but had to pay $3600 this year in the middle of the plan to get out of the donut hole, and have to pay Medicare $35 a month for that, BCBS $100 a month for supplemental policy, and get a separate dental rider for $35 a month. Those politicians screwed us...
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Monday, October 9, 2006
It Pays to Ask
It pays to ask. I picked up my antibiotics to treat the UTI that popped up over the weekend, and my husband thought the bill was cheap. I asked the girl waiting on us why that drug, being a generic, was being charged to me at full price. I said, "I am OUT of the donut hole! Generics cost me next to nothing (at least until New Year's.) Wouldn't this be on the approved list?" She looked it up, and sure enough, someone had not done their job. Now I can be on the mend again, AND for next to nothing....
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Friday, October 6, 2006
Sharing Symptoms
We had a family reunion last weekend and one of the aunties, Mary, has Parkinson's. I asked her how she was doing. We each commented on how well we noticed the other did certain things, like stand up! That is one of the things you're evaluated on; cross your arms across your chest and stand up. My anti-cancer drug is making my knees achy and they creak, but I can still stand up. She named a few other things she was having problems with and they were very much like what I go through. We talked...
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Sunday, October 1, 2006
At Least You Have Your Health
Last week I was looking for more ways to slash our budget. The Curves membership, although I hated to give it up, was something I can do at home -- exercise, that is. With my chauffeur/daughter moving away again soon, it's going to be difficult to keep going. The owner just happened to be there when I was pleading my case to their manager. There is a 30 day clause, so I will owe one more month. I was explaining that my reason for quitting was for financial hardship and the owner said even so,...
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Saturday, September 30, 2006
Lewy Bodies,Olofactories, Constipation, lowered heart, bladder malfuntion,
(Now Back to the Lewy bodies) What is less widely recognized is that Lewy described these bodies not in the nigrostriatal dopamine system, but in other areas of the brain. Also, they have since been found in other parts of the body, including collections of nerve cells that lie just outside the spinal cord (known as sympathetic ganglia) and the wall of the gut. In fact, it seems increasingly likely that Parkinson's does not begin in the nigrostriatal system, but possibly in the lower brainstem...
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Thursday, September 28, 2006
Just What IS Parkinson's Disease?
This may include more information than you want to know, but I think Dr. Langston has explained how Parkinson's strikes much sooner than previously thought. PD: More than a Movement Disorder J. William Langston, M.D. What exactly is Parkinson's disease? How we answer this question is not just a game of definitions, nor is it getting easier. But finding the answer is important because how we define Parkinson's is likely to be the difference between success and failure as we look for clues to the...
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Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Air Singing
I am one. A BIG one! I am a CLAYMATE. Unless you're a follower of American Idol, that may be a mysterious type of naked pottery for all you know. But no, it's not naked anything -- (sorry). I am a big fan of Clay Aiken. Before Parkinson's took my voice down, I used to sing. Clay was just on Jimmy Kimmel with an impressive amount of Claymates there to Air Sing. He just released his second album that we mates have waited for two years. The songs are so new, you could see the mouths moving, sort...
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Monday, September 25, 2006
I'm Back On!
"Never mind," as Emily Litella, Gilda Radner’s character from Saturday Night Live, used to say. This is where having nurtured the "open channel" to God in my mind comes in handy. When an idea pops into my head, I don't question, I don't argue. I do what it says. I slowly sat down at my computer last night, and I had just slowly penned my dilemma. I looked at my ARC (Access Review Controller), the little hand-held piece of engineering genius that tells you if your battery (IPG or Implanted Pulse...
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Sunday, September 24, 2006
MJF to OCD from Mirapex
I picked up prescription drugs yesterday as I usually do, and the pharmacist paused when she got to one with a charge of $200.00. I said I was aware of it. It was the last of the bigtime prescription bills. I perused the rest of my bills and was happy to see $2.00, $10.00, and even $12.48. My husband covered my pill bills this week, $432. left in the donut hole when the money should have gone for flood insurance. I did a little freedom dance as I was leaving the counter. The Pharmacist asked if...
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Saturday, September 23, 2006
This Soft-Spoken Voice.....
Parkinson's weakens the muscles of the bodies. That's what happens when the brain doesn't manufacture enough of the neurotransmitter Dopamine; hence the tremor, the rigidity, the wild movements or no movement. Muscles control our whole body. I visited the cadaver lab a couple of times. I had two roommates at two separate times that were enrolled in anatomy at KU. I was impressed with the fact that right under the skin, protecting our vitals organs and skeleton, is a mass of muscles, all...
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