Tell your story in miniature.

say what’s happening at any hour of any day. say where that day is. give your name if you will or another if not.

see the instructions in the Epic Poem post below, or check out the poem under Pages.

Join the Crew

Check out the Ted Talk

I’ve been away for awhile, swept away by twitter and facebook and all, but now I’m back because I want to get this link posted.  Totally great show.

http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.html

Health Care, Health Care, Health Care

For political action enthusiasts: Have groups of 5-10 uninsured persons timing synchronized, enter medical providers offices or hospitals or clinics in a given area and ask for assistance stating clearly they have no insurance nor can they afford to pay for health care. Then just not leave. I’m sure it would be easy to find that number of uninsured individuals.

An afterthought

I just published the last post – it’s been sitting with a bunch of other unpublished drafts for a few days.

Do we have to choose a side?  Is there some team that seems the best or    ?

Revelation:  I’m more interested in the variety than in the choosing.  The different stories, the chance for discussion – argument even.  I do have a side though.  Sure that’s obvious.

Still….

on to muse mode 423.  Uh-oh I might not be out for awhile.

More on Health Care

The rising cost of health care.  Why is it that we’re paying more for health care and getting less?  How many have found that unless you do your homework beforehand (ie search the internet, explore possible treatments diagnoses and outcomes),  you may be sent away from the office with a pat on the head and no relief?

That isn’t to say that the doctor hasn’t had to invest in years of education to get where they are.  It’s possible that in the name of efficiency, especially those doctors who belong to a large health organization, they just don’t have time to explore every possibility.

Respect your doctor and also ask that they respect you.  It’s possible you see a diagnosis that should be considered, but for whatever reason your doctor doesn’t seem to have considered it.  First acknowledge that your doctor probably does know more than you do.  Then ask about the diagnosis – request that they respond respectfully and not dismiss out of hand.  It may be that they have already considered the diagnosis, but dismissed it because there are too many other factors that don’t go with that diagnosis.

If your doctor treats you like an idiot for even asking, then dismiss the doctor.  Why pay for that kind of service?  Even if the doctor is under a lot of pressure to meet deadlines and time limits.  They can at the very least answer respectfully.  You would think.

Without going into specifics, I have had a medical problem for some time now that has been treated in a variety of unsuccessful  ways.  I looked at my family history and considered a possibility that hadn’t been discussed.  I brought it up with my doctor.  Although she had that family history herself, she hadn’t made that connection.  When I mentioned it to her she was more than willing to explore that as a possibility.

Sure I used to hate waiting for a long time to see the doctor.  I still don’t want to have to wait for hours, but if a little bit of a wait is what I have to go through to know that my doctor will take some time if needed, then I’m willing to wait.  Too much gets lost in the name of efficiency sometimes.

How about a health care system where the patient and the doctor are collaborators in the patient’s health.  The patient gets assignments and with more work on the patient’s shoulders then maybe it wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) cost so much.

Ok, I’m wandering today, but a few more miscellaneous ideas to throw out.  Have the patient sign a contract — if the cause of a patient’s problem is something the patient has some control over, then have the patient agree to a plan to do their part.  If the plan isn’t successful, then troubleshoot and adjust the plan until it is successful.  Or if the patient seems to want the doctor to just fix everything (just give me a pill, doc), then send him or her on to a practice that pretends to do just that.

It seems I’m on the health care providers’ side in this, but I think there’s plenty of problems to go around.

And wandering on — what causes any health care problem in particular?  Is it under our control?  Is it a societal issue?  Is it just a question of a mutating virus?  Or lack of knowledge, or the self-indulgence of modern society or ….

These topics re health care will continue to show up in future blog posts I’m sure.

Bias:  I’ve had so many struggles with health care issues in past few years that I think just trying to get my doctor to listen has caused me more stress which has led me to more health care issues.  At the same time I think it’s also true that doctors are under a lot of unwarranted stress.  And there are some doctors who expect to be put on a pedestal and not questioned under any circumstances, possibly because of the amount of education and practice they were required to do before hand.

Just thought of another topic, somewhere along the lines of why can’t we all just get along.

Like let’s try to understand our doctors a bit.  Most of us have worked.  How many of us have had to deal with some young upstart know it all on the job who really doesn’t have the experience to know much of anything?  Maybe our doctors feel the same way sometimes?  Just a thought.

I don’t know.  There are so many different ways to look at things.

On rereading post from May 22, 2009 “Finally…”

Have any of the corporations thought of establishing themselves as a religion?  Then anything they do could come under the heading of religious freedom.

I mean, how scary is that.

Sarah Palin Redux

I thought when Sarah Palin said she resigned to pursue a higher calling at first I thought she meant she was going into the ministry.

(No, this isn’t the smiling backstab — more on that later.)

First Amendment – Bill of Rights

• First Amendment – Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause; freedom of speech, of the press, Freedom of Religion, and of assembly; right to petition,

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

from wikipedia.

This is number one.  The first amendment.  Not number 4 or 5 or any of those that got tagged on later.  Now those other amendments are just as important – that’s not the issue I’m trying to make.

But in adding the Bill of Rights, the framers chose this as  the first amendment to consider.

Go into any government office and just casually ask whoever you deal with, “Are you allowed to say whatever you want here?”  I’m not talking about defamatory statements or rude office gossip, but opinions about whatever.   Again, one does need to consider the requirements of the job in terms of privacy and getting work done, but outside of that, what happens when somebody speaks their mind?

Some government offices don’t have a problem with their employees expressing their opinion — there must be some out there.  But how many actually do allow it?

Just a question.  Considering the First Amendment to the US Constitution.  #1.  Why were the states unwilling to ratify the constitution until this was one of the amendments made?

Bias:  No one in America (or anywhere), on the job or off the job,  should be frightened or fear punishment to say what’s on their mind.  And I believe in the First Amendment whole heartedly.

Tomorrow “The Smiling Backstab”

On “Boys Adrift…”

So one of my latest reading adventures is the above title and as I am listening I start to think of all the multitude of factors that go into making a human being, all the genetic markers, all the variations in family size and make up, the environmental factors, etc.  I wonder if we can really so firmly state anything about a person.  I haven’t looked for answers to my questions, but I started asking questions about what was being said — these are not questions of disagreement or dislike of the author’s text or any of that but I am always creating dialog duality uncertainty — even chaos at times in my head.  These questions may have already been asked and answered later in the book or by some other individual.  So it may be I write about nothing new, just create an additional forum.

My family is almost opposite of the author’s research on “most girls and boys”.  Why is that?  What factors go into making my family so contrary?  Have there been specific studies done on anomalies, — ie find the rule and then look into those instances that break the rule?  Are there differences in brain development in different countries or cultures between boys and girls or do the studies show that this development is consistently different internationally?  And if there are differences what are the other significant differences that might be affecting development?    This anomaly thing, that’s where I’m headed next on the google internet.

(Hey does anyone know what search terms I’d use for that?)

Grammar redux

Stream of consciousness.  So sometimes it doesn’t come out right.  It’s a blog.  I would love to spend more time here.  Make every piece written to perfection.

(Apologies to all others, but this particular blog post is written for those who feel they need to criticize every last little thing.)

“Stranger in a Strange Land…”

Recently I’ve felt like I’m living in a strange country.  I’m lost and sick and no one speaks my language nor I theirs.  Although I keep trying to tell where it hurts the inhabitants don’t seem to understand.  Have any of you ever felt this way?

Of course those who are actually in a strange country,  and are lost because they took a wrong turn somewhere and they can’t find a doctor who understands what they are saying nor does this hypothetical yet real person or persons know anything of the native language – this person or persons will know exactly what I’m talking about literally and not just metaphorically.

This happened to my grandfather.  He was in a foreign country, having to travel frequently.  He didn’t know the language and became ill.  He chose not to see a doctor and as a result ended up in the hospital with pneumonia.  Somehow he found a way to communicate with them and they with him.  He survived this episode long enough at least to tell the tale.