Archive for the ‘Health’ Category
My apologies to my readers for not posting yesterday. I took a spill and was banged up and feeling too sore to walk down here and sit at the desk pounding these keys. Plus it is easier on me not smoking if I am in the house as no smoking is allowed in the house but it is here in my office. I would always come down here to do my smoking. I wasn’t intending to quit smoking but after one day of seeing how long I could go without smoking ending up to be the whole day. I then said to myself how long can I go? Am I really an addict or not. It has been challenging at times but not so much that I gave in to the urges and am on my 6th day without a smoke. I still have two packs of opened cigarettes in my pockets, just in case. I feel if I can only go without smoking because I have no access to them then it is not really quiting. You can’t quit anything that you are craving. Myself I find that I don’t really crave them but look for them when I have a moment to wait on something or if I have to drive far. I’ve only been smoking cigarettes this time about 5 years. I had gone 20 years between cigarettes as it is not my first time to smoke or relapse either one. Hopefully I won’t follow some of my prior moves while not smoking cigarettes as I would smoke a pipe or cigars sometimes.
I was taught to smoke the same way I was taught to drink as a child. I had my first drinks while still in diapers and was watering down my parents liquor and stealing drinks before my teenager years. By time I was a teen I was smoking cigarettes and cigars as well as drinking every chance I could get. I wish that I could start all over on those years but I can’t. I did insure my son and daughter were not brought up the same as I was. If they were influenced to drink and smoke it wasn’t from me.
Here I have gotten way off subject. I was intending to write on another topic all together. I have found another site that helps feed the hungry and should have it written for tomorrows post. I don’t know if any of you realize this but there are over 1 billion hungry people in the world. It is a travesty that so many people go hungry. What is spent on the military worldwide in less than a week would feed all the hungry people in the world for a year.
On Saturday President Bush signed legislation that extends the popular children’s health insurace program. He twice vetoed the bill refusing to allow any increases to children of families that made more money but still too much for medicaide and too little to afford health care.The extension of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) is expected to provide states with enough money to cover those enrolled through March 2009. Bush and some Republican lawmakers say the program will still serve those that it should and not those whose parents make more money. The matter came to dominate legislative debate and further sour relations between the Democratic leadership and Bush this year.
Many of the Democrats – with help from other Republicans – wanted to give the program a significant cash infusion and broaden coverage to an estimated 4 million children. They overwhelmingly supported use of a tobacco tax increase to pay for the expansion.
Personally I feel they should have went with the higher figures as those 4 million children who weren’t covered are still not protected by insurance. What we need instead of legislation like this is a comprehensive plan to protect each and every American who needs health care. No one should be in the
position of not being able to get needed medical treatments because they can not afford them. We are the only country in the western world that does not provide health care to it’s citizens.
Even those who are lucky enough to be covered by an insurance policy can still suffer drasticly if a major medical problem were to arrise. Families have lost their homes and entire lifes savings when struck by cancer or other terrible diseases that are extremely expensive to treat. Just the co-payments alone are enough to break the budget for individuals and families. It’s sad that people have to make the choice between eating and putting a roof over their head or get the treatment that can save them from the ravages of disease.
This is an election year. You should see exactly how your chosen canidate stands on the subject and don’t be mislead by the tired old excuse that it is socialized medicine and it will lead the country away from democracy. It hasn’t had that effect on France, Great Britain, or Canada and they all provide exellent
health care to their citizens. And they all have a greater life expectancy than us in the U.S.. I feel it is because they can go to the doctor when they need to instead of waiting until they can either afford it – or more likely – the situation has gotten so bad they can not put off going anymore.
So once more check your canidates stance on health care and above all join in the democracy and vote. If you never speak up with your vote you have not right to complain what they do. But if we can get the millions who do not presently vote to register and vote canidates in that will look out for us and not
themselves we will be much better off. As it stands Congress gets exellent health care why can’t we?
World hunger it’s a terrible thing, we hear about it all the time through commercials begging for your donations or occasionally the news will carry a little spot about a certain area that people are starving in. The images of it will break your heart if you have one. Myself I wish I were in a position to donate to each and every one of them to try and help these people. But my finances prevent me from helping others as much as I would like to. I am sure there are plenty of other people out there that feel the same way. What can I do, as I am struggling from pay check to pay check is what most families would tell you.
Well I have found a way for you and I to help prevent hunger and it won’t cost you a dime. There is no sign up and you don’t even have to get out of your chair. Plus it will help you with your vocabulary. You can donate rice to United Nations World Food Program by a word game. The concept is so simple. You are presented with a word and 4 possible definitions. Select the correct definition and you have just donated 20 grains of rice. I know that doesn’t sound like much but the more people play it adds up. FreeRice automatically adjusts to your level of vocabulary. It starts by giving you words at different levels of difficulty and then, based on how you do, assigns you an approximate starting level. You then determine a more exact level for yourself as you play. When you get a word wrong, you go to an easier level. When you get three words in a row right, you go to a harder level. This one-to-three ratio is best for keeping you at the ?outer fringe? of your vocabulary, where learning can take place.
Since October 7, 2007 over 11,603,687,650 grains of rice have been donated. Yes, that’s 11.6 billion grains of rice. I don’t know how many pounds that equals but it has to be a lot. Think about it, this is such a great idea. You get educated and help feed the hungry at the same time. All it takes to help donate rice to people who truly need it is to spend a little time on the FreeRice site and see how good your vocabulary is. I have the site bookmarked and visit it every chance I get when I am not busy doing something else. I am imploring you to share the link to this post, or just the FreeRice link with all of your friends and family. It may not be enough but it is a great start. I would also suggest you check out their sponsors if you can as without them this would not be possible.
Don’t judge a book by its cover. Too many of us judge others whom we think are lazy as there is no outward sign if sickness. You can gain some insight on the problems we face at ButYouDontLookSick. My fibromyalgia was really bothering me Sunday. It is a very hard disease to live with. It causes me to feel so worn out and tired. Even after a full nights sleep I wake up feeling like I was in a train wreck. It is easier to tell you whats parts of me don’t hurt than what does. Today my rheumatologist started me on Lyrica. It is supposed to help ease the pains of fibro. I really hope so. I am so thankful for insurance though as the high price of it would be a budget breaker. That is not my only health problem but it sure is a hard one to deal with. It is very hard to live with an invisible illness. People look at you and say “you don’t look sick”. It makes me feel very self conscious. With it and my spinal problems I can not lift or carry anything heavy at all any more. Maybe when I was young and did is the cause of it today. Either way it makes me feel so bad when I have to ask for help or let someone else carry things for me. We went to the jockey lot last Wednesday and we ended up with several sacks of treasures plus a pet taxi or carrier. We placed everything we had bought up to that point inside the carrier and secured the door on it. It was fairly heavy. Too heavy for me to carry and I felt like hanging my head down in shame that my wife and daughter took turns carrying it until we got to the car.
Having any disability is hard but an invisible one has extra issues that must be dealt with. I feel for anyone that has health issues. Especially hidden ones as they can be difficult to deal with the way people try to shame you into doing things that will hurt you even more.
I have a friend who writes about her hidden disabilities on her blog “My Chronic Life“. Check her out some time. Another good source for information on living with a hidden disability is “The Spoon Story” (adobe required). It is no picnic to have this type of health issue. And it is compounded by the attitude of relatives and friends who think because they can’t see anything physically wrong with you that you are faking or exaggerating your problem.
So please try not to judge others when they say they are sick with no outward appearances. It is hard enough to deal with the disease without the guilt layed on us by others.
Thank You