Do You See Anything Unusual???

This is a picture of a recent MRI of a person that I care deeply for.... Last November she had a brain tumor removed and this MRI was taken ten (10) months later.... Do you see anything unusual???

What drives me insane is that when this person went to the neurosurgeon - He claimed to have reviewed the MRI... But when an educated and detailed question was asked - it was apparent he lied.... (he said everything looked normal... really? )He of course did a lot of back pedaling... My question - Is this: What happened to doctors taking the time to discuss results with patients? What happened to compassion.. truthfulness? Nowadays, HMO patients and many PPO patients have to wait weeks... months to see a specialist - only to find out that the specialist had not taken the time to review their case or worse forgets previous appointments and tries to start from scratch... I have lost count of the times this has happened..

With specialists not having time to really "see" a patient... I wonder what will happen when the health care reform actually takes over... The unknown is a scary thing... I pray all my fears are unfounded and something great will happen.. But thus far - I have not witnessed anything that the government runs getting better, have you?

Not If We Get Cancer.... But When?

As many of you know- my dad died a year ago last summer. He died from heart disease caused from a life long habit of smoking - the start of his illness was cancer - tongue cancer. The cancer became so bad that his entire tongue was removed.... Directly after his surgery he developed congestive heart failure - had a heart attack or two - and had a stroke or some doctors thought - basically he became a medical mess.....

I was talking to my Uncle Kenny the other day (my dad's older brother) and he told me that he had prostate cancer - Uncle Kenny did not seem too concerned - it was more of a nuisance to him then anything else -but the comment he made was disturbing.... He said that everyone in our family has either died from cancer or had cancer and beat it - in our family it's not a matter of "if" you get cancer.... it's a matter of "when" you get cancer..... That comment is very true... Both his parents died from cancer, brothers, and sisters with cancer..... I have had first and second cousins who have died from cancer and I have had precancerous colon polyps and vaginal precancerous growths... I am thankful that we have been proactive in our medical care.. My family and I take our health seriously.... we have too...

As many of you are aware if you read any of my blogs you would know that I do not agree with Obama's health care reform - I have read several of the guidelines.... and it truly does not sound good to me... I think Australia has a good public health care program and they are the exception to the the rule.... again this is my opinion - I don't like the HMO system either - thankfully I have not had to use it - but I have watched my sister deal with her MS for over twenty years - being shuffled through the HMO maze - doctor after doctor - authorization after authorization - one doctor does not know what the other doctor is doing.... Twenty years for the HMO doctors to get a clue.. and still no results.... Thankfully, an ER doctor found my sister's brain tumor - he wasn't a HMO doctor.... today, she is tumor free and is healing well...

One of the clues to me that Obama's health care reform will probably pass is the new guidelines for mammograms - stating that women should start at 50 years old and not 40.... and pap smears only need to be done every few years.... I'm thinking the government is preparing the way for cheaper medical costs....

In November The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force came out with new guidelines for breast cancer detection in women over 50. The guidelines from this government task force states that women should start getting mammograms at age 50, not 40 as recommended before. And that women should NOT conduct self exams until age 50. What the task force neglected to release is that Utah already follows these guidelines and Utah has the highest percentage of undetected and confirmed diagnosed breast cancer in the country....

What is strange to me is how the Task force could give these recommendations.... seriously... I know many many women who have had breast cancer and most of them were under 50.....I will go out a tree limb and say this..... I bet you that the Task force members and our politicians would not wait till their 50........ What do you think?

I don't know how true this video is - but it seems pretty accurate to me.. and a little funny..

Seeing A Doctor When You Need Too

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly time can go by when you're busy... My last post was on Halloween and today is Veteran's Day - November 11th. Since Halloween there has been 3 cases of Swine Flu in my home - my 11 year old, my 13 year old, and me.... yes - at 44 years old I had my very first flu - thankfully it was very mild... no fever - just body aches and the coughing.... The coughing is awful... My 11 year old had a case similar to me but my 13 year old had it pretty bad - by bad I mean she had a fever up to 103.5 - but thankfully the fever only lasted 2 days and today 11 days later we are almost fully recovered... In addition to the Swine - I celebrated my 44th birthday... Celebrate or mourn not quite sure on that one.. hmm - had a very nice day...

During the time that the girls and I were sick - I started to think about how lucky I was that I had immediate access to my doctor.. any doctor for that matter. We have a PPO plan - I have no idea what that initials mean but I know with this plan I have never had to wait for an authorization for any treatment..... for any doctor.... I just go... I seriously believe that if I had a HMO several years ago - I would not be alive today.....

In 1994 - I developed pregnancy induced hyper-tension... then it escalated to preeclampsia - then the loss of our daughter.... During the preeclampsia - I was in the hospital for three (3) weeks that time... Less than a year later - I had a fever of unknown origin which turned into kidney failure - During this time - I was able to see my doctor right away - I was put in the hospital right away.... and there was never.. not once any red tape.... any authorizations to worry about....

As you know - my sister Debbie is going to have brain surgery on November 19th... My sister has a HMO and for over twenty (20) years she has been jumping through hoop after hoop after hoop in hopes of finding out what has been making her pass out.... Making her lose time.... I cannot count the times that she has had to wait months for an authorization to go through and then the day finally comes when she can see the medical professional that is suppose to help her only to come home disappointed.... needing more authorizations.. for more tests.. different doctors.. By the time the authorization came through and the tests were done.. so much time had passed that not one doctor knew what the other one was doing.... they each had a different opinion... they each were over worked... and my sister had been juggled around through the HMO system... with no answers and no results.... by the grace of God - a wise doctor in the emergency room (after she had passed out on a public golf course) thought it would be a good idea to do a MRI of her brain..... the MRI showed several lesions that are believed to a product of MS.... of course in the HMO system the doctors have not 100% diagnosed her with MS.... well you know there are about 1543 authorizations - tests and doctors to see.... but because of the MRI tests they found the tumor... I want to personally thank that ER doctor.... for making a "Big Boy" no authorization required decision.... If the ER doctor had not had the MRI done - you know what - I just don't want to think about the what if...... too scary to even contemplate...

I am so very fearful of Obama's health care reform.... It feels to me that the government is trying to take away another freedom..... of course that is not the way it is presented..... I picture the new health care reform being much worse than an HMO...... I picture it being long wait times... wrong over worked doctors..... I picture it being like the DMW - long lines - going no where.... government employees who really don't give a hoot about you..... Have you ever met someone nice at the DMV??? Have you ever been helped immediately at the DMV with an appointment???

What do you think?

My Big "HUH?" Of The Week

This is my Big "huh?" of the week....

President Barrack Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009
"for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples"

Are they serious? Really? He was in office only 12 days when the deadline for submissions was up. This has got to be a mistake..... Yes, the man can talk.... yes he is very charismatic - but he has NOT done anything yet.... He is trying to push through a health care plan that does NOT make sense. He has been caught in many non-truths... He is spending money faster than former President George Bush and every president before him.. He has made a mockery on what our country was founded on - Our Belief in God..... He has gone out of his way to shoot down our military... He has gone out of his way to apologize to the Muslim countries for our belief in Jesus Christ...

The decision of the 5 person committee to award President Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize was based on his potential... Was based on the fact that Obama persuades Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to shake hands during a trilateral meeting in New York... I make my kids shake hands after a fight sometimes and five (5) minutes later they are back at it....

This award even surprised one of the president's top aides - his comment to the media when told was "It's not April 1st, is it?" seriously...

The Taliban mocked the award - calling President Obama not a peaceful man but a man of violence.. Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said it was absurd to give a peace award to a man who had just sent 21,000 extra troops to Afghanistan to escalate a war... A senior leader in Pakistan called the award "an embarrassing joke"

"In less than a year in office, he has transformed the way we look at ourselves and the world we live in and rekindled hope for a world at peace with itself" Nobel director Geir Lundestand

Former Polish President Lech Walesa, a 1983 Nobel Peace laureate, declared: "So Soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far. He is still at an early stage. He is only beginning to act"

Why are so many people so eager to prove that President Obama is something special before he has really done anything? Do they think by awarding the award that he will meet the challenge? I personally have to guess that majority of the people in the world are dumbfounded - supporters and non-supporters.. This award has made a huge uproar - so much so - that the popular social network Twitter crashed shortly after the news - people were going nuts....

President Obama has not earned this award yet... I do hope that one day he will meet the challenge and do something worthy of it... but as for now - he doesn't even come close......

Obama's Spending Road Trip



The Day Obamacare Died


Obama saying we are NOT a Christian Nation