A Correction!!!!

Please note that I need to make a correction to an earlier statement that I made. Mama Plays Mozart has written to let me know that a virus was not the cause of her child's difficulty as I said in my previous post. Please let me apologize and send readers to a website that she herself recommends http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site2186/mainpageS2186P0.html Thank you for the correction and best wishes to her, her daughter and family.

Two must-see blogs

Take a look at two heroic moms who blog. One has just begun her life as a mother. Her blog is called Mama Plays Mozart. She has a lovely daughter with loads of beautiful photos. Her baby was born with a disorder called cloaca, a malformation of the anal and urinary/vaginal tracts. Exposure to a virus during the first 5 to 7 weeks of pregnancy can cause this to occur in a baby. Even with so much that must be done for her little one, this Mama finds time to play Mozart and to post some extremely interesting reasons for learning to play music. Check her site out!

The second site is a blog called A Party of Six. This mom has 4 children, one girl and three boys. Her children are much older. Her most recent post A Bright Past...A Brighter Future is a gift to her daughter. You will see, on reading previous posts that this precious child has gone through a horrible ordeal, violated by a stranger.

Prayers for both these families and for the heroic moms supporting and loving them along the way.

Let's support these moms. Add your blogs name to the links with McLinky...

Take a look at a blog I just started following called My Veggie Table. What I like about checking out blogs with recipes, and especially bloggers who are vegetarians is that they know that we readers are looking for something EASY!!!! This blogger just posted something that is so easy yet sounds so yummy that even your most finicky eater will want to munch on it. Check out her recipe for Cheese Quesadilla. Enjoy!

Blogs that I think you need to look at!

Ok...there are some some websites and blogs that are of interest to me and I feel that you need to see. First, I have just found a writer named Ivy. Her website is
http://unscriptedlife.wvblogger.com What a writer! You must read her last post "More than a kiss..." my hope is that she is going to bring all of these beautiful works to us in book form soon. Here she opens her heart to us, shares a miracle that occurred with the loss of her unborn baby, the rebirth of her singing after years of its being silenced through another grave loss. You will weep and want to sing as well for her.

Amanda shares her struggles with diagnoses that include bipolar disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder in www.bipolarcocktail.blogspot.com She explores the complexity of dealing with and understanding the medications that are used and learning about the mania which, though seen by some as a boon in productivity, is actually a problem in relationships. Her most recent post is about "Bipolar Personality Disorder" and is a fascinating and extremely helpful discription of the experience. She has another blog called 'Manda Blogs About which features giveaways.

Amy writes My Mommy Needs a Life. It is an exceptional blog about her family but especially about her 11 year old son Jamie. Jamie had neurofibromatosis. I had to click on the What is Neurofibromatosis? link and got a look at a devastating disease that has afflicted this sweet and darling boy. At the end of the Amy writes about Jamie's questions, "when will I die?" and her responses "if I have anything to do with it a very long time from now," and would he be able to take care of himself someday? Amy said she thought he would. He was worried because if she died he didn't know who would take care of him if he couldn't. I am crying now as I re-write these words from her blog. She is selling a book--the story of their life called The Silent Cry. The picture on the front is a siloutte of a son kissing his mother. That tells you everything you need to know.

grandma's appointment

Who would guess that physicians would be so mean? That is all I can say about the visit grandma and I made yesterday with a neurolosurgeon. I came along as support and to take notes; something the family had decided on as grandma has been on some heavy duty pain killers. Doctor enters room and ignores the introductions grandma attempts to make. He starts his questioning...the third degree. Grandma turns to me, I have a sheet of paper with some of her notes about her previous experiences. She asks me for the piece of paper with the information he is requesting. Doctor turns ON me! "Don't interfere in the doctor patient relationship. I want to hear the patient's experience of her pain." I try to explain that I am merely handing over a sheet of paper to her but he starts again. "She doesn't need you. She can tell me herself." That was enough for me.
I asked the Doctor what his name was and informed him what my name was and why I was there. I raised my voice a bit and told the Doctor that he needed to take himself "down a notch." Can you believe this? He made grandma cry? A woman from the midwest who has seen the great depression and lived without electricity throughout her growing up years. I hadn't ever seen her cry (she's my husband's mother) over the last 10 years of our marriage.
Guess what? The Doctor decided not to charge grandma for the visit. Wasn't that nice...

For more rantings on this subject check out BrickhouseMama2
For ravings about litter box odors check out Musings of a Cheesed off Haus Frau
For more informative food for thought about good eating check out grumpywives.wordpress.com by Joanna.

Ted Kennedy

As I said in another blog www.intenselydislikefoxnews.blogspot.com I was raised in a conservative household and heard very negative things about Ted Kennedy as a child. Unfortunately, these negatives stuck in my head.

Recently I read a story written by his portuguese water dog called Teddy and Me. It is a charming little book for children that describes Congress in the natural and friendly way that only a dog could provide. It is just a hint as to the man behind the Kennedy mystique.

Ted Kennedy moved to work for the forgotten people; the growing number of poor in this country. As an unemployed person who pays way too much for health insurance, I've needed his advocacy.

Please take a look at Arianna Huffington's eulogy and realize the loss to the nation that we have when we lost the Lion of the Senate.

Heath care in America

I've got some opinions about health care in America that I want to share. We have the best system in the world--that's why everyone comes here from all corners of the globe for care, especially for rare or difficult disorders.

Unfortunately the health care system has been taken over by the health insurance industry. I believe that the health insurance companies are making a fortune on the misfortunes of others. I am so tired of denials of coverage and huge premiums to pay for care.

I believe that the health insurance industry is the most to blame for the spiraling health care costs in this country.

My grandfather was the President of the AMA during the Nixon administration. He met the President and travelled to Russia and China. Both my parents were physicians.

I remember my father talking about how the practice of medicine was changing. In a way, he was trying to encourage me to become a physician so that I could take care of myself and my family as the changes took place. But I didn't heed his warnings.

My father was the epitome of the loved and loving doctor that everyone dreams of having today. People called him at all hours of the day and night. He spoke to them on the phone directly, eased their concerns and called in prescriptions. He went to the hospital to meet them in the emergency room if they needed to be admitted to the hospital. Can you imagine that kind of care today?

I haven't spoken to a physician on the phone to get a prescription after hours or on weekends in years . I always have to talk to a nurse. There is no doctor that I know at the emergency department if I'm to be admitted to the hospital. Even getting follow-up appointments at doctor's offices can be a trial. So my feelings about physicians and their salaries have changed a good deal. However, I don't believe that they are the true cause of the problem.

Nor is the fact that "unnecessary" tests are run on patients. I have been appalled that more tests aren't run to find out what is really going on with patients. But physicians are not allowed to do their work and choose the tests that they need to find out what is happening. Insurance companies make those decisions for them through intimidation.

So I favor any program that regulates the health insurance industry. It is LONG overdue.