Medicine, Drugs, and the HMOs

Since I left the military active duty, I have felt the pinch like all Americans do of rising health care costs and paying for prescriptions. I also now incur dental expenses. In the military, the biggest perk was the free health care, free drugs, and while quality of care was relatively okay, at least it carried the right price tag- FREE!

Now, with a growing family, and paying $XXX bi-weekly to maintain said insurances - dental and health, it seems like a never-ending cycle- between copays, Rx copays, and often getting screwed by the dentist and doctors alike on hidden costs, it seems I am always paying for something. Heaven forbid your kid be a kid because if he or she falls, just pay your $50 urgent care copay and kiss 4-5 hours of your life good bye. While you control the quality of care under our insurance by choosing who you go to see, you can't control much else. If the docs or dentists do not find a way to screw you, trust me, the drug companies will. Recently, for example, I learned that there is no longer a generic for Albuterol- the inhaler. Post 2008 the only generic for Albuterol was pulled because of CFCs - what?! We are the biggest polluting nation due to cars, emissions, and factories in the world, and we are concerned about CFCs released from a tiny albuterol inhaler? Are you kidding me? Another ploy to screw Americans and worse, kids. Think about it - if you are a single mom or dad making about $40,000 before taxes, and now your kid has asthma and you need inhalers all the time at $35/inhaler, that really adds up.

Meanwhile, Canada can still sell Salbuterol inhalers and they are half the cost. I am not sure what these drug companies are thinking. I also hate that I have to pay a $20 copay to go see a doc just so I can get a script for something I could diagnose myself with. Why can't I find more drugs on the open market like penicillin, or even inhalers? They are for personal limited use and trust me, abuse would be minimal if things were more readily available. The thing is - the kids that are gonna abuse drugs like cough syrup, they will continue to abuse anything- but why are we preventing 95% of the population from getting care and drugs they need just because of the few. I do not get it - wait, I do. It is all about profit, all about the bottom line and in America, it is not about the patient, the child or the sick old lady with cancer.... it truly is about the drug companies making their money, the doctor getting his or copay even though they do nothing, and the HMOs and PPOs getting their money too. In the end, who gets squeezed? The consumer- the American who is working hard, paying their premiums, and copays only to discover they really cannot afford the medicine their child needs or they need to get better. So they get sicker, or contract other diseases, and then who ends up paying when they have to rely on the State? You guessed it! The consumer - because the insurance companies will pass the cost on to them, and so will the Government through taxes. The drug companies and doctors don't care about the patient but are more interested in getting paid as well.

I hope something can be done to overhaul our current system in America because there is no doubt it is broken. Unless you are serving in the nation's military, you are probably an America who is getting squeezed by the doctors, the drug companies, and the insurance companies, so, it is time for change in our health care system and while I do not believe Government is the answer to all, I think the Government does need to clean up the mess... not by taking it over but rather, by regulating the industry better and perhaps passing laws to make meds more readily available which will open up generics. Perhaps passing laws to regulate the health and drug industry will help and we deifnitely more options in healthcare so companies can clean up their act if they want your business or your employer's business.

Loving Two Equally- is it possible?

I write this on my estimated due date of our second baby. It is amazing to think that any moment now, we will have a second child in our home and a helpless little infant at that. We have a 21-month old at home too and she is getting to the age where she has attitude and wants everything her way. Well, I suppose she will get a rude awakening any day now. It is not going to be easy and as I prepare myself mentally and physically for labor and delivery, I sometimes fail to appreciate the concept of spreading your love and affection and care giving for two children. Right now, it seems very daunting to me. I do not know how I will do it and I begin to wonder… can you truly love both children equally? Or, are you loving them both but in different ways. I know we will be comparing this new baby to how our first child was as a baby or as he or she goes through stages, we will probably think to ourselves, this is easier or harder than the first, but I also wonder, will I be able to balance my time, love, and affection, and attention for both?

It is hard enough right now to care for one and tend to her needs which seem plentiful – feeding, diapering, educational toys and books, disciplining, and play-time and outdoors time. Obviously, you also have to take out time to potty train, read, and break horrible habits like the bottle and pacifier. That takes its toll too. And with the arrival of an infant, while you do not need to spend time and energy reading, educating, disciplining, or worrying about playtime and outdoors time, you still have feeding (nursing for the first several months to year) and diapering. Then, there are tough times for all families when the child or parents are ill, doctor’s visits and of course, as the child grows, develops and starts becoming mobile, cuts, bruises and other bo-bo’s to deal with. In essence, you have to focus on both kids and where they should be at a particular age or developmental cycle in their lives and of course, no two kids are the same so what worked for one will not work for the other. Conversely, you could end up lucky and the first child could be super helpful and start helping with the younger one as they age together. In the end, I still worry whether I will be able to love them both equally or how will I treat them. I am looking forward to the adventure but a bit nervous too. Stay tuned as I report my findings back to you in a few months.

How soon do you share the news?

Lately as a result of technology like email, blogs, and facebook, I am learning of friends' pregnancies. While it is cool to learn of my close friends' pregnancies around 12 weeks or so (since we share many things), it is odd to learn of others' pregnancies through a posting on facebook only to find out that their due dates are 9or more months out. I guess I am being judgmental when I write this blog but after my first experience with pregnancy (which ended in a blighted ova or no pregnancy at all), I feel that sharing too much too soon with too many can be risky. I always wish the person who shares their pregnancy news well but I often wonder how early you should share the news with distant friends. It is one thing to share news with family and close relatives but through a technological medium like facebook, is it appropriate to share pregnancy news at 4 weeks, 8 weeks, or even 10 weeks? What if the person has had the misfortune of miscarriage once or twice before?

Needless to say, I am not judging but only making an observation and while I admire those who are confident and can share early, I know for me, it was news I did not share with distant friends or colleagues until 16 weeks. On my second time, I started showing by 3 months so it was becoming harder and harder to hide after 12 weeks. Another "Friend" on facebook also shared pics of her nursery bedding. They have already ordered it and they are more than 8 months out. With my first, I did not even shop until after 6-7 months because I was worried I would jinx something. I guess I am always nervous and a bit superstitious and it is refreshing to see others who are not. For me, I would not share or feel comfortable sharing til after 12 weeks even with family. Definitely, I would not share anything until after the first ultrasound at 8 weeks because once you see the heartbeat the chance for miscarriage is greatly reduced but it is refreshing to see others confident and uninhibited. I suppose they are just leaving it all to God which is fine too.

Can a cough really last this long?

I feel like I have been hit by the plague. For almost 16 days now, I have had the worst imaginable cough. Being preggers and coughing up a lung every few hours is certainly not fun! When it first started, all my muscles were sore from all the excessive coughing. What a nightmare for the baby! Needless to say, I wonder how long a viral cough like this will last especially considering my impending labor and delivery. I wonder if the cough will help just push the baby along or hinder the entire process. There is so much pain as it is much less dealing with a bronchial cough like this one.

I have tried everything. I was even on antibiotics. Obviously, it was not a bacterial infection. I have tried Robitussin and Robitussin with Codeine, home remedies, cough drops, and everything else natural you can imagine. This is probably the worst strain of the cough I have gotten and at a time when my immune system is very weak. Anyway, here's to hoping this horrible plague ends soon so I can get on with the important task of focusing on labor and delivery.

Playing the Waiting Game

What they say about babies is absolutely true, unless of course you have scheduled your induction or C-section - babies come when they are ready and that is how God and nature intended it. Since Thursday, I have had some early signs of labor and thought this past weekend (President's Day) was it. Alas, the long weekend is not over it but there are no signs today. Needless to say, everyone got excited and the office even started a pool. So far, no Baby. But that is okay. Sure, it was the LONGEST weekend in recorded history for my husband and my friends but, babies come when babies are ready.

My due date is still 4 days away anyway so we patiently wait. Don't get me wrong, I will be excited to see the baby and find out the gender and all that but I am in no rush- you can't rush a good thing that is for sure and if the baby is not coming, there is a reason for that - I think that this baby is not quite in the right position as I learned on last Friday. This baby is in the posterior position whereas my first was anterior. Posterior is quite painful to deliver, I have learned. It is when the baby's face faces out, thus the spine or back of the head of the baby rubs against the mom's spine during labor/delivery and causes back labor which is quite painful. OH JOY! Needless to say I am doing some exercises to try to alleviate this and hope the baby turns. I am hoping for the best because back pain can be quite trying for someone trying to have a natural birth. In the end, labor pain is temporary so that is a good way to look at things.

As we play the waiting game, and my husband keeps his cell phone handy at all junctures, I am both excited and nervous. I am not anxious to have the baby out early and am quite nervous about what is about to transpire but, remain optimistic and happy. Now, if I just did not have to pee every 10 minutes, life would be good!

Got friend?

I never thought I'd be writing a blog about how technology drains us but here goes.
Facebook has consumed the lives of many across the globe. It is amazing how addictive it is. I have well over 150 "Friends" on Facebook. What does this mean? Absolutely nothing! Adding someone on facebook as a friend does not mean much. In fact, there are times when I wonder what purpose Facebook serves. For example, I have added people I do not even remember much less care to remember - from elementary school to college, sometimes I think to myself, who is this person and why did I add them? Were we close? Probably not, otherwise I'd remember them.

Then, there are those I wanted to find for years and was excited that they either found me on facebook or I found them and we are back in touch. I got back in touch with many friends that had lost touch over the years all because of technology like facebook. So... there is that! Then, again, do I need to know what someone is doing at every minute of any given day? Nah - I was better off without it. For example, "Jane Doe is now boarding a plane" - so frigging what? And... Jane Doe is someone I went to middle school with- so, do I really care that she is boarding a plane right now? Nope. But that is the trade off with technology. While it provides great tools to reconnect with family and friends across the globe, it comes with the unfortunate result that sometimes I gotta see status updates I could care less about.

As I am about to expect my second child, I have decided to be even more obnoxious than these other people. Do I care that "John Doe is eating breakfast on a Sunday morning"? Nope. So, now John Doe is going to see how far apart my contractions are too... maybe as I deliver the placenta, I will put that on my status update. How is that for gross? I mean, seriously- was technology really meant to have people read about my every move? I do not think so and it is an unintended by-product of an otherwise useful technological tool.

If you have friends in real-life, great- go out, have fun with them, maybe grab a coffee and lunch with them. A friend on facebook? Keep in touch, send messages (writing on the wall is getting too overused and abused), and use the tools you have to stay in touch with those you want to be "Friends" with. The rest.... defriend them- it is not too late to save yourself and your sanity. Got friend? Well, let's see, out of 151 of them, I would say... about 50 of them are my friends.