STEAM ROOM FOR ANGER
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The world has gone stark raving fucking mad. Seriously. I can't people anymore. I hate everyone. I am not joking.
Beesie, winterwear masks in Canada are called scarves and any of us who have lived through a dry, freezing Alberta winter know about wrapping 4 layers of fabric (usually knitted by Grandma) around your head so your lungs don't shrivel and die when that freezing frikkin air hits them. I remember standing on the highway waiting for the bus in the cold wind that cut to the bone and flying snow like shards of glass taking the skin off what face you hadn't wound tightly with scarf. Childhood in Alberta...yay.0 -
runor, I'm in Toronto now - not many frigid days with a need to wrap a scarf around our faces - but I grew up in Montreal and have fond (or not so fond) memories of playing outside and walking to school all wrapped up as you describe. I hated breathing through the scarf because it would eventually get all damp. What I hated more were those sidewalk plows - the ones with the drivers. After big snowfalls we'd have huge snow banks on both sides of the sidewalk; if you were walking on the sidewalk, there were sections where you were completely blocked in between the snowbanks. I was a small thing, I'd be walking to or from school and I would see a snow machine coming towards me, or hear one behind me, and I would panic, worried I wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time, either by finding a walkway or driveway where the snowbank had been shoveled clear, or somehow climbing up onto the snowbank. It was one of my greatest fears as a little kid. I'm still traumatized by it.
So I'm with you on the scarves but I still think Covid has created a new situation, since masks need to be worn indoors, and I don't think the layers of scarves would cut it.
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DH and I do not wear them indoors but it is just us and we go no where and see no one so figure oh well. Same with getting our flu shot. Have to go somewhere to get the flu, right???? If we are stuck inside with just us where are we going to get it????? Why let someone poke me with a needle who does not need to right now? Probably makes doc mad but figure makes no difference to us. Gonna die anyway.
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I'm in Montreal. Those snowplows are scary and have killed. I always give them a wide berth. A winter scarf certainly doesn't work as an indoor mask. I go nowhere without indoor heat. We wear masks indoors unless at home. I have medical appointments at least once a month. My husband does the shopping. My older daughter occasionally goes downtown for work. My younger daughter is the only one of us who didn't get a flu shot because she really never goes anywhere. Her university classes are all remote even next semester.
I miss the wandering for stocking stuffers. Crawling the internet isn't the same.
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Agree. We spent days and days and days online trying to find things online for ordering. We used to be able to go to a couple of stores and get items and bring them them home and be done. It took hours longer and a lot of frustration when it would say "not available" if you found something you wanted. Not the same.
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And paying more for shipping than the product even though it's technically local.
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Stay safe. Strange times. Thankful for the internet!
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I will say that ordering groceries online and then picking them up (they put them right in the trunk) Is a $ saving for my family. No impulse buys.
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I was able to work from home for over 10 years because I could access client networks over the internet. Thankful for the scientists who developed the technology. Some of the content is not always fun or useful.
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Wow, Abe Lincoln was certainly ahead of his time!
Thanks for the laugh, SerenityStat.
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Ditto what Beesie said! Thanks for the laugh SerenityStat.
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Love it!
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Wonderful!
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I have an MO appointment next week. They seem to be trying different various techy methods to confirm appointments. They do texts sometimes. Yesterday, I got an email that had a button saying, "yes, I'll be there." I clicked the button. Error message. I did it another time on my phone and then on my computer. Same result. I called to tell them their new method wasn't working. She said, "oh, we know that." I said, "do you think it will get fixed?" She said, "we are not in charge of that." I said, "so who is in charge of that?"
Corporate.
How did we get here?
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"How did we get here?"
That's the million dollar question that we can apply to so much of our lives these days, isn't it? Although I suppose in today's world, I should say that it's the trillion dollar question.
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LOL! It is so hard to get to talk to a person at any doctor office anymore and not go through "prompts". Well I have one phone with a rotary dial with no push buttons and I can't "press 1 for this or 2 for this". I need to say I need XXXXXXX. Hate calling for something.
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jaycee9:
I've found a shocking number of people in the U.S. do not understand how expensive health care in this country actually is. One person I had a conversation with thought the few thousand dollars they had in their HSA had them covered and I had to explain to a well intended person close to me that if I lost my insurance and I had a recurrence, no, they would not be able to pay for my care because one dose or round of some of treatments costs more than half a years wages for him.
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WC3, exactly. My care in 2019 for cancer (diagnostics, lumpectomy, chemo, radiation, reduction surgery, and all the rest) billed out at more than $300,000. My insurance bill for next year is due now and will be $8800. Still a huge heap of money, but the scale is completely different.
COVID-vaccine question: I'm looking at priority ranking for vaccination. Pre-existing conditions comes before 65+. But I am (presumably) healthy now, more than a year past treatment. (triple negative, so now follow-on treatments.) I'm 60, so not old enough. I'm not sure what to think, but I'm guessing I'm at the end of the line. Someone has to be, but does anyone know for sure where we stand?
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BC, I know it’s not the point of your post, but can I say that I love that you have a rotary phone?
And WC3 and Mia, I was so ignorant of the cost until I got my statement from my first round of chemo. I thought it was a typo....way too many digits in that amount. I love asking people to guess how much They think one round of chemo costs. Nobody has come even remotely close. I am so lucky to have good insurance through my job. I have no idea what I would do without it. My husband is from Europe, he was shocked at our health care system and the out of pocket costs. I know now that I have to do everything in my power to hold onto my job. Another stressor in the midst of a pandemic.
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And Poppy, you had the "T", too. I only had AC. So let's add on another 8 chemos at $25-30k each. Wowza.
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One cycle of ibrance, 21 pills, over $13,000. Unreal. Thank dog for Medicare and a great advantage plan, plus help from Phizer
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$57K per infusion for me!
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Don't forget the Prolia shots that are a fortune too. Mine have to be "pre-approved" by the insurance every single time believe it or not!!!!
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I'm incredibly fortunate to have insurance but it is my biggest expense second to rent and whatever medical bills come my way and I did not realize until the cancer that I do not have what they consider to be prescription coverage. I take brand name prescription medication regularly and have for years but it's discounted through a contract the insurance company has with the pharmacy, and I had not realized this is how it was structured. Some drugs are covered through my medical benefits as opposed to pharmacy benefits if they are given in clinic. I'm not sure how I would get Ibrance if I needed it. I was originally told the Neulasta would cost me $6,000 per injection before it was approved through my medical benefits. I need to go on something for my bone density and I would rather it be a shorter acting injection than longer acting but we'll see what I can get. In the back of my head there is this idea to cancel everything and go live off the land in the middle of nature but in reality I know I am horribly unfit for that and it would go very poorly.
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I just enrolled thru my employer for 2021. Have the same plan as last 2 years. The Silver middle of the road one. Now that it is just me the premium is a little less, however I opened a flexible spending acct. adding another 75$ so total came to 213$ per pay. It’s a lot when there’s just one income. With some discipline I should be able to handle it. I have 3500 deductible. Having to do annual mri and 6 mo mammo, the labs, and possibly Prolia I will hit that number. At least I’m saving half of it pre tax. I fell no one should let these costs dictate their care. Only my well care is 100% covered. Will see how it goes.
My late husbands care costs were supplemented from a benefit our friends held for him. Without that cash, paying the $8k deductible would have become a hardship. Although he qualified for SSDI he had to wait 6 mos to get it. He lived 7, received 1 payment. I still have a significant amount left from the benefit. . It’s put aside for the next disaster. He had immunotherapy as part of his treatment which was over $30k per infusion. There was day a few months ago that between both his and my medicalbills I sent out over $5 at once. Don’t get me started on funeral costs, that was the largest check I’ve ever written.
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In Colorado I am on a State exchange plan and only have a $700 a year deductible. After that they covered all my meds at least. I did have to fight for a few tests (or I my doctor did) I know but kept it this year. Since on SSDI should hopefully be able to get Medicare next year even though just turning 60 this month. My premium right now is under $200 a month which is manageable with our budget at least. They do have lower costs plans but higher deductible and we did not want to go out out of pocket. The State plan is a lot better coverage really than I had when I was able to work full time with employer insurance and paid more for it!!!
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My premium is over $800 per month. I had medicaid as a secondary but was not able to use it because when you have it as secondary it is supposed to be straight medicaid to avoid the pre-authorization wall but a glitch in their system automatically switched mine to a medicaid HMO shortly before I was diagnosed. Additionally my health care facility had a lot of back and forth over the years over whether or not they accepted medicaid and did not uniformly accept it when they did, which complicated things.
In any case I lost the medicaid....during treatment because they changed the way they did redetermination and that, along with some gas money my father gave me so my mother could drive out here every month and take me to my infusions and other appointments put me over the asset limit.
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Awful how much this stuff costs. I know it costs a lot to develop the drugs but it hard to believe they have not recouped those costs yet and they are just greedy if you ask me.
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I also posted this under the pain section... So-I haven't felt any better after my T6 intercostal nerve block on the 2nd and yet I did initially while on the table and for a little while afterwards. Now I know why...they didn't inject the steroid only the anesthetic. This was apparently just diagnostic. Something my doctor asked me (and after I answered) made me stop and think. Then, on the website I looked at the medications used. At least the way I'm feeling makes sense now. I see him on 1/21 to discuss what to do next. This is SOOO frustrating! They indicated to me that there was steroid as well the day I was there. Pain is awful today and I keep getting muscle spasms so it is making me especially aggravated at how long this whole process is taking!
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