Boxes and Jars and Protein, Oh My!

Some days all I have in me is just enough energy to boil some water, cook a box of tri-color rotini, heat up a jar of alfredo sauce, and chop up leftover rotisserie chicken, then combine them all in drained pasta pot and call out to everyone, "Dinner"

Dig in!

#BlogHerFood15... Are you ready for this!

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Thoughts From Thursday September 3, 2015

It's been a week and as soon as this post is done I am going into weekend-mode, whatever that is. I've unexpectedly had to use my brain way more that usual the past few days no thanks to health issues and health insurance woes. It's been a roller coaster of a ride arriving to this point since last weekend, and tonight I'm left with this thought in regard to: Concierge Medicine.

 Is this practice even regulated? Do hospitals limit how many concierge physicians they have on staff? All these things I'd like to know, because something doesn't seem right. And, I have more questions but have no idea where to find answers. Mostly, I'd like to know what are the rules of ethics when it comes to concierge medicine?

I heard that term a lot today. I know what it is. If you are familiar with a television show called Royal Pains you'd know what I'm talking about.

A search for a doctor this week required the following: researching insurance coverage and benefits; finding a list of providers who accept my insurance; placing calls to physicians' offices in hopes of finding an open appointment (sooner than later) and establishing care for chronic illness. Oh, and my husband's new-hire insurance paperwork needed to be filled out, and my under 19 year-old daughter's medicaid provider needs be chosen, and I needed to find out if she even still qualified for medicaid based on her dad's significantly increased income from his new job, and I had to map out how to make sure we all had the best possible health insurance coverage, and work out the numbers, and now I have a headache just thinking about how challenging this little task became.

All I wanted to do was find a doctor as soon as possible.  What is worrying me right now are these spots that appeared on my shoulders and have spread across my back, chest and abdomen over the past few days. The spots don't itch or hurt, they just look dodgy because of their random size, texture and shapes. It's really weird and I want to know what exactly is going on.

But, I can't. I can't find out what is going on because... It is too damn hard to find a nearby doctor's office, where they are taking new patients, and will accept my insurance, and if I can make an appointment to take care of these damn spots as soon as possible, not four to six weeks from now. It didn't take long in my search to realize that the first question to ask in this town these days is: Is this a concierge medical practice?

Yep, times now are that if you have the wallet for it you can have members-only medical care*.

Also, there should have been a vlog added to this post but I can't find my camera and tripod. Maybe tomorrow.

*I bet those doctor offices don't smell like pee-pee... or worse.

Mirror, Mirror On The Waa... What IS That!

Oh, mirrors. Do they ever bring good news at my age, I wonder.

I found a few red marks had appeared on my upper chest and shoulder, and thought, "Huh? Bug bites, maybe." Maybe.

Then I found more. And then some of the ones I initially discovered had morphed into different shapes and feel.

I got out the two-sided hand held mirror... the one that has the magnifier. That's never good, right? I wanted to see if there were more of these marks sprouting out anywhere else on my body.

So, I'm fat. Well, fatter. I used to be a stick. Whatever. So, now I'm subjecting myself to having to see myself undressed, BIGGER... it's not pretty... while I scan the old folds for more whatever-they-are. There's more.

It was past midnight when I gave myself a once-over. Oh, I think you know what I did next. Yup... Google!

Tonight I re-examined the old rolls. More spots. And they are still morphing... red raised nicks, flat odd-shaped rough blotches, dry scaly scabby patches. But nothing hurts or itches. They are just there. Multiplying.

I'm thinking about having them checked out tomorrow.

Note to self, and you: No Googling "skin, spots, rashes, blotches" after midnight snack.

August, Out!

It was a hot one. August 2015 that is. Also, it was cruel. I can honestly say that I have never experienced the level of discomfort caused by intense heat from scorching desert temperatures like I did this month. Driving around in a vehicle with malfunctioning air conditioner has been hell. My SUV even suffered from effects of  100+ degree temps. The day that afternoon temperature reached 118 when I had to go out to pick up my son at his job, stop at the grocery store, and get take out for dinner (Like hell I was going to cook!) nearly did me in. My poor car wasn't that lucky. It shut down on us. It was stop and go in the nearby Albertson's parking lot. It only came too with enough power to get us the couple of miles distance to reach home... at about 5 mph speed; a panel of gauges gone haywire from the heat. Did I mention no air conditioning?  We arrived at the house heat stricken, the car caput. No sign of life when I tried to start it up to pull it into the garage. My 50+ year old body is still trying to recover from the trauma. God that was only three days ago! Oh help.

Try not to be an asshole September 2015.*

Let's do this!

*I mean, please play nice.

Taking Things Easy

I fell yesterday.

The Husband and I were sitting down for a talk... a very important talk. Stuff needed to be said, heard, considered, understood. So, what happens? I go sit on bed corner - apparently, still not having adjusted to mattress we had to borrow - and tumble over, tried to break my fall with my right arm, rolled over and my way-too-heavy-for-my-size body slammed onto the carpeted floor. I'm okay I guess, just a little sore, with some swelling at my right hip and twinges at my shoulder, elbow and wrist.

So, I'll be taking things easy for a while.

Later.

Let Me Start By Saying...

... I'm no expert. No, really. There is nothing that I could honestly say that I'm an expert at. I'm okay with that; there are plenty of brilliant minds, accomplished, and creative people out there to fill that bill: Expert   insert expertise here  . Nope, not me. I'm more of a, "Let's see what I can come up with in a pinch."

One thing I will admit is that I am a tryer. (That's not a word, me.) Oh, an even better way of putting it... I'm a failure! A big one. For example: Once attempted to make a layered German chocolate cake from scratch for my husband's birthday; it ended up a tort... a cement tort.

One time, I tried to make delicious bbq ribs... Oh. My. God! I got nowhere near anything consumable, Instructions were, "First, boil ribs." What I didn't do was have a pot large enough to accommodate the segments of ribs I had plans of turning into bbq feast main event. Everything was super tight in the, what I thought was a more than adequate, pot. That pot was filled with water to the brim, ribs where tightly packed in it and lid placed to seal in all the goodness. Thing is, there was no such goodness to be had... the moment I lifted that lid, barbecue over before it began.

The smell in the house was horrible, the burnt-stuck-to-the-bottom-of-the-pot segment of ribs... they never had a chance. I had never seen or smelled anything like it. How does stuff burn while boiling!? I seemed to have nailed that. I was worried I'd never be able to get the stench out of the house. My kids were positive that would never be possible. Way to go with the encouragement, children o' mine.

See, I try. But boy can I fail.

An Assessment

Thinking, thinking, thinking.

How to proceed. I've recognized importance of reestablishing effective self-care, acknowledged need for reassessment of mental wellness, and took action to help restore a sense of balance? I feel encouraged that my doctor observed and understood that much of what I'm experiencing right now is circumstantial. This, in turn, has brought out, seemingly, insurmountable stress to daily living.

Heading into July I made a request. I asked that we all make an effort to establish harmony in our day-to-day home life. Summer break from schools and reduced work hours due to slow season made it so the kids and I were constantly bickering. I had lost all patience. Our home environment had become tense; it seemed that everyone in the house was focused on making everything a point of contention. It really was becoming unbearable. Healthy rapport was thrown out the window.

I was bothered about anxiety symptoms rearing their heads. Escalating depression, well... that was distressing. Now that we made it through July, regardless of having abandoned all effort to be more considerate of each other, and I've done something to address the situations pertaining to my mental health, it is time to move forward.

How to do that?  First, try not to nag or display uneasiness.  I frequently remind housemates,"We are all adults here." I think I need to add, "Let's act like it."  I need to remember to voice my concerns as clear and concisely as possible; not drone on and on. Another thing I should work on is eating and sleep habits, and of course continue to take my meds as prescribed. Yeah, that seems reasonable.

So, baby steps, one day at a time, slow and steady... ugh, I hate all that. Take care of me is more to my liking.

More tomorrow.