“You must have been warned against letting the golden hours slip
by; but some of them are golden only because we let them slip by.”

~James M. Barrie

So yesterday was my first pdoc pow-wow of the new year.  The subject of STRESS was discussed at length.  I’ve had a bellevue couple of months which I initially attributed to the holidays.  After yesterday’s meeting of the minds, it was determined that I done went and over-stimulated myself.  That’s right.  Went and worked myself up into a lather.  Specifically between the months of May and October.  The Folk School, the writing, the submitting of manuscripts, the emotional high of mind-blowing opportunities showing up on my doorstep every hour on the hour.  All of that combined with Matt’s surgery and my warped desire to have  Martha Stewart Christmas Happy Times resulted in a most undesirable forehead-vein protrusion and a mood most foul .

I stopped making New Year’s resolutions a long time ago.  I think they’re a farce.  But this year….okay, I’m not gonna call them resolutions.  We’re not agreeing to anything via a vote or anything here.  I just saying….this year I’m making a concerted effort to relax more and commit myself less.  OH yeah.  Slacker you say?  Eh?  Please.

We’ve become a jacked up society that views rest ‘n relaxation as a luxury…when in all actuality, it’s a God-given necessity.  Even the big man in the clouds had the good sense to rest instead of putting in some overtime so he could give Jesus that new robe he’d been asking for.  No.  He put the foot down and rested.

Growing up, my parents had the STUPIDEST MOST DUMB RULE ON THE PLANET OF EARTH AND SPACE.  (That’s what I called “The Rule” when I was 7 years old.)  The Rule was this:  No screwing off on Sundays and there was a mandatory nap approximately 45 minutes after the usual pot roast/carrots ‘n taters lunch.  We didn’t have a choice in the matter.  Get in the bed and I want to see those eyes closed, sister!

Nowadays if I lay down in the middle of the day to rest, I immediately begin to flog myself with the guilt-stick.  Naturally,  my ADD makes it a tad difficult to stay still.  And as odd as it sounds, I can’t really relax unless I’m working on something.  Painting, gluing….working with my hands.  So vowing to stop all of that would be like a big fat yummy stress samich.  Instead, I’m going to bring the bar down a hair.   I’ve been told I set the bar so high that God and the angels in heaven would need a compass and pygmy guide to find it.  So I guess I’ll bring it down to cloud-level.

The bottom line is this:  When I’m stressed, ain’t nobody happy.  So I plan to find time for more useless activities…and to ease up on the guilt-trippin’.  So while I was hanging out in the waiting room yesterday, I kicked things off by downloading a game onto my LG Neon:   “Brain Exercise”  by Namco.

Apparently my brain age is 60.  I’d like a do-over because my elderly fingers ain’t swift with the the new texting keyboard.  I saw this little 10 year old brat across the room smirking…looking me in the face while she texted away…her thumbs looking freakishly Hobbit-esque.  I fought back the urge to inform her that if an Atari were to magically appear, a butt-whoopin’ of monstrous dimensions would go down, followed by me doing the Rocky dance while dumping water all over my head.  Hey.  It was the pdoc waiting room.  Things like this don’t even warrant a look from the desk-lady.

So to all my chronically stressed homies out there who have minimized the Excel spreadsheet in order to read my Blog…and are feeling really crappy about their choice….I applaud you!

Slack on, people!  Slack on!

It’s been mad-crazy ’round here and I’m good ‘n ready to get things back to normal.  I gots ideas peeps…ideas!  Here are some random Christmas pics.  Baked stuff, handmade stuff….Cali got her first bike this year, so there’s a couple pics of that.  I’m hoping to get a few articles written in the next week or so.  Stay tuned.

Here are a few pics of my hand-painted Christmas village.  This is my first year setting everything up, so I’m still tweaking the layout.  I feel like a Blog Snail this year…all pokey and whatnot. 

Well…wouldn’t YOU be?  (Click to view larger image.)

Husband’s surgery went well….had a few problems that resulted in someone coming to our house and putting him on a morphine drip…but other than that, stuff is cool.  Glad it’s over.  Lots of delayed Christmas pics coming soon!

Our Christmas parade was Saturday night and apparently it was the coldest parade in its 19 year history.  Low 40’s….felt like 50 below.  The girls danced like stars and braved the cold like olympic champions.   Now I’m trying to haul hiney to get Cali’s Christmas dress done in time for her to sing on Friday.  Oh!  Did I mention the husband is having surgery in a couple of weeks?  No?  Well…..yoga breathing…..in your nose, out your mouth.

The holiday making of stuff is in full swing ’round here and the tree is coming right after Turkey Day.  Mmmmaybe even two of them.  Oh!  So here’s a quick run-down of what I’ve been up to:

Embellished tea-towels.  Found these plain ole towels at the Dollar Tree and embellished the fool out of them. 

Cali and I strung some beads on chenille pipe cleaners and hot glued them to plastic tumblers…I guess they’re supposed to be trees.  We spent the rest of the day goofin’ off:

Spc. Alexis Hutchinson is being both praised and reprimanded for choosing to stay home with her son instead of deploying to Afghanistan.  I myself am torn on the issue.  Part of me is like, “Let that Mama stay home with her baby!”…..while the other part understands the commitment a person makes when they sign on the Army’s clear and dotted line.  Everyone is required to sign Form D-A 53-05, a form that specifically states that failure to put together a family care plan while you are away on deployment could result in disciplinary action.  So it’s not like this was new news….Hutchinson knew the drill.

According to Hutchinson’s civilian attorney, Rai Sue Sussman, Hutchinson was informed by her superiors that she WOULD be deploying and her son was placed in foster care.  After 10 days, Hutchinson’s mother stepped in and agreed to take the boy…albeit grudgingly.  Apparently she’s stressed out with having to take care of other ailing family members and running a daycare out of her house five days a week.  I guess the problem I have is that in the middle of rules, regulations, complaints and paperwork, there’s a 10 month old kid getting bounced around like a rubber ball.   Yes, Alexis Hutchinson knew exactly what she was required to do…what she was being paid to do.  I’ve been reading comments that say stuff like, “Women wanted equality, well here you go then!”  Or, “Maybe she’s related to a ‘Katrina’ victim…they sure know how to work over the system.”  Myself personally, I don’t have enough facts and info to make judgments about whether or not she’s trying to weasel out of deployment.

What I do know is that Hutchinson signed a binding contract that super-glued her soul to the United States Army.  And I don’t see an unwed mother who broke the rules standing a chance at winning a legal battle with the Army.  Over 30,000 single mothers have already deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan….and I’m willing to bet they don’t feel a whole lot of  sympathy for those who can’t “keep up”.  As civilians, we are clueless about how things work in the military.  Broken families, back-t0-back deployments, mental fatigue, wrecked marriages…this is, sadly, what has become the norm for most military families.  To give the Army some credit here, they were emphatic about stating that they would not deploy a single parent without anyone to care for their child.

One word that I hated hearing my Mother say over and over…and the word that I find myself telling my own daughter….CONSEQUENCES.  And for Spc. Alexis Hutchinson…it looks like she’ll be living with those for quite some time.

While this country is armpit-deep in the middle of a health care reform mess, a “Government Task Force” announced yesterday that women don’t need mammograms until their 50’s and that previously encouraged self breast exams are pointless and essentially a waste of time and resources.  This announcement is the polar opposite of what we’ve been hearing from the American Cancer Society for the past two decades.  Shouldn’t we be more believing of a Cancer Society rather than a bunch of Government Task Masters only interested in saving the insurance companies some cash?

Which brings up the question that is no doubt at the forefront of every one’s mind:  Are mammograms and self breast exams truly ineffective?  Or are the insurance companies covering their butts before they announce that they will no longer be covering these expenses?  I’m betting it’s the latter.

I’m one of those “kids” in their 30’s who has already had a scare with breast cancer.  I found a lump while checking things out myself…had it looked at…and was told it was most likely fibrous tissue, but was given a referral for a mammogram if I chose to have one.  This process gave me confidence in my doctor and his willingness to put my health above the almighty dollar.  If he had told me, “Yeah, it feels kinda lumpy in there, but I’m not referring you for a mammogram for another 15 years because the government told me not to.”…..then I’d spout off a few unsavory comments and go find another doctor…STAT.  Wouldn’t we rather be safe than sorry?  I have no doubt that while we’re all in heated discussion over this new announcement, people in dark offices are making sure the legal jargon covers and protects all medical and insurance providers from a barrage of malpractice suits when people start dropping like flies.

For this year (2009), the American Cancer Society lists 194,280 new cases of breast cancer.  1,910 males, 192,370 females.  Along with these new cases, there have been 40,610 deaths as a direct result of breast cancer.  440 males, 40,170 females.  (Source)

The probability of breast cancer according to age has been estimated as:

By age 20:  1 out of 1,985

By age 30:  1 out of 229

By age 40:  1 out of 68

By age 50:  1 out of 37

By age 60:  1 out of 26

By age 70:  1 out of 24

Lifetime:  1 out of 8  (American Cancer Society)

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women today.   According to the American Cancer Society, in general, breast cancer rates have risen about 30% in the past 25 years in western countries, due in part to increased screening which detects the cancer in earlier stages.  And now it makes sense to CUT BACK on these screenings, deeming them inneffective and unnecessary?  Unnecessary for who, exactly?  Insurance companies?  They already know that if this pending health care bill passes, they’re screwed.   Hm…so let’s see what’s costing us the most money….aha!  These women with their ailing boobies!  Let’s cut ‘em off.  No, no….not the boobies!  The hormonal women!  They over-react to everything anyway.

Sure, there are going to be abnormal readings and false alarms.  But wouldn’t we rather have those than a spike in deaths relating to untreated breast cancer?  This braniac Government appointed cancer panel claims these recommendation are more in line with the international guidelines.  The World Health Organization recommends to test every two years after the age of 50.

The American Cancer came back swinging with:

“The task force advice is based on its conclusion that screening 1,300 women in their 50s to save one life is worth it, but that screening 1,900 women in their 40s to save a life is not.”

That stance “is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives, just not enough of them.” (Yahoo News)

I wonder how far the insurance companies will go to save a buck?  It doesn’t help that a butt-load of politicians are getting fat kick-backs, resulting in their staunch and vocal support of  these “necessary cut-backs and recommendations”.   So if a woman does everything right….waits until she’s 50 for a mammogram, doesn’t put much weight in self-breast exams….what’s going to happen if she finds she’s riddled with cancer?  Will the insurace companies then say it’s a pre-existing condition?  Will they charge you higher rates or deny coverage altogether?  None of this is illegal.  None of it.  As a matter of fact….it’s darn good for business!  For every medical bill the insurance companies are forced to pay, that’s precious cash snatched from their grubby little hands.  And this snatching does not make them act kindly towards those with potentially hefty medical bills.

So…they stoop to the level of trash-picking paparazzi and start tapping into databases that reveal your history of prescriptions.  They make it pretty with a name like “Predictive Modeling”….a greedy guess on whether or not your potential future ailments will cost more than your premiums.  And it’s THIS type of calculating that results in your coverage being denied.

If you have HealthNet insurance, God help you if you get any kind of sick.  If you haven’t taken a prescription medication in a year or visited the emergency room in two years, you get a preferred rate. But if you have, you will either be charged a higher premium or declined altogether.  In regards to cancer, HealthNet will generally cover you, depending on what kind of cancer you have and if it’s been 10 years since you finished treatment.

UniCare (of Chicago) denied total coverage to a woman due to a “history of infertility”.  They made this decision based on two drugs the woman had taken to help her ovulate in order to have her two children:  Metformin and Actos.  Naturally, UniCare refused to discuss their decision, stating, “These are decisions made on a case-by-case basis.”

And back to good ole HealthNet…..they were forced to pay $9 million to a breast cancer patient whose chemotherapy was interrupted because the company annulled her policy.  These statistics are a mere tear-drop in the ocean of our available health care insurance companies.  If only someone “higher up” would grow a set and stand up to these menaces and for once, put the human condition in front of a financial bottom line.  Imagine what THAT would do for this country.

At this point, that’s all we CAN do…….imagine.

What?!  Two days in a row??  Surely I do not jest.

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