Happy b-day Abby!

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Everything's going OK so far for me---sleeping schedule's a bit on the fritz (was so exhausted after work yesterday I took a two-hour nap, then got up and did my cardio ~ though that threw me off sleep schedule last night). Hopefully I can correct that over this weekend.

And yay, weekend's around the corner :D

Hang in there Susan! I quit 2 1/2 years ago - I swear it really does get better every day.

I changed things up a bit - I had the time to exercise a couple of afternoons this week. So instead of getting up early and doing 1/2 hr on the elliptical. I just did an hour two afternoons. I still get the workout, but I get to sleep in a bit too. I can't do it all the time, but it was a nice change. I finally dropped the water weight, so I can stop stressing over that and start losing the real thing now.

Susan
I'm not familiar with that drug but can I say I love metamucil? I've been on that stuff since the birth of my first kid...and horrid horrid as it sounds anal fissure.

And YAY for you quitting!

Abbyn
While the prospect of maybe losing your job is horrid, I think setting up to telecommute in your exercise room is genius! Here's to being proactive on lots of fronts!

Happy happy day to you!!



I had an excisional biopsy to take out some clusters of microcalcifications. While it was superscary that I may have pre cancer at such an early age (I just turned 35), all turned out well. And the calcifications were likely a byproduct of lactation and not the waste product of cancerous cells.

I have to go in for mammograms every 6 months but that is that. *whew*

Mammograms - EEWWWW!!!
 

Lekhika Aren't mammograms fun - NOT! I went for my first one last year (after turning 50) and I think we have to get a woman to re-invent the equipment they use. Or perhaps men should start having testicograms - I'm sure the machines would be changed pronto!

Having my breasts squished while practically standing on my head ;) was not my idea of a great afternoon.

And then they called me a month later and said I had to have another one because there was something "inconclusive" on the first. Two more weeks of sweating out what I thought was cancer :fr:. Turned out to be nothing.

Gettting older is a pain - literally!

Dagmar (the dogs won today) :tired:

I can't believe how much mamograms hurt. I think I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but that pain when they keep making the machine tighter and tighter is the worst. And then they make it freezing cold in the room, it just is all around an unpleasant experience.

Testicograms - That's funny, I like the idea of that. Men could never do it.

I took my kids to Friendly's for dinner and it is certainly not diet friendly. What bothered me was that I ate a little more than I would have liked and it wasn't even good. At least if I go off plan, it should be really worth it. Oh well, tomorrow is a new day.

Amy

Oh Dagmar, you are too funny :rofl:. Testicograms . . . that will never happen. Men are wooses (sp) when it comes to pain.

I hate mamograms :stress:. They are painful and I think women should get together on their results because everytime I have one, they have to take a second set of them, also. I think it's a scam just so they can charge the insurance companies more and the the insurance companies charge us (or our employers) more. No wonder health insurance is outrageous. Although, I do hear that Canada has a National Health Care system. How does that work (for those of you who live in Canada)? I'm leaning toward wanting that in America, but I'm not quite sure how that works and some people I talk to say that it will bring sub-par healthcare. Any info would be appreciated.

Well, today turned out a little busier than I thought so I didn't get to take my walk on the treadmill but I WILL make time tomorrow.

DH and I went out for dinner for my Birthday. Texas Road House (quite fattening) but I tried not to eat too much and the rest of my day was healty and lite so I don't think I did too much damage.

Again, thanks for all the Birthday wishes from everyone :grouphug:

Hope eveyone had a good day!

Well, after getting right back on plan after my vacation, yesterday was just horrible eating wise. I think I might have eaten enough to gain a full lb (there was a lot of nuts, peanut butter, and butterscotch chips involved--not all the same time :p) I had to attend a business luncheon and there weren't any good choices (honestly, is a salad too much to ask! :tantrum:) and then things just spiraled out of control from there. I just keep trying to tell myself to put it behind me and by this time next week I'll barely remember it.

The problem with going completely off-plan is that then my blood sugar gets all out of whack, making it hard to get back on plan the next day. I did okay today, but I ended up having to let myself go 100 calories over plan and I was still white knuckling it all day. :eek:

In exciting new, I did get accepted into the National Weight Control Registry. :trampo: This has been a goal of mine ever since I first heard about it. But, after yesterday, they might have to kick me out! :frypan:

Happy Birthday, abbyin! :celebrate:

That is too cool Barbara!

Dagmar

OT - national health plan
 

abbyin Yes we do have a national health insurance plan in Canada. It used to work really well and provide "free" (we all had to pay quarterly premiums to the government for a while) health care. Our senior citizens are still receiving substantial discounts on prescription drugs.

But our system is in dire straits now. Going to the hospital is a scary process now. Nurses are totally overburdened with work. Hospitals keep closing beds.

Just to give you an example, my 84 year-old dad had to have surgery (laprascopy so no incision) last Monday. He had a general anaesthetic. In the past that would have meant a hospital stay for 2-3 days and aftercare from nurses and a doctor. Instead they sent him home the same day with a prescription and his 82 year-old friend, who had volunteered to stay with him as I was dog sitting and could not. If anything had happened during the night he would have been in trouble.

There are huge waiting lists for a number of tests/scans/etc. and many Canadians are opting to pay for private clinics to get the care they need. A lot of people are now going to the U.S. to get treatment for aggressive cancers and operations that can't be delayed 6 months.

I'm fortunate in that I'm really healthy (only one hospital stay ever in my life) but I'm dreading getting older as I can't afford decent health care and what I'm seeing under the national system is no longer adequate for a lot of people.

Dagmar

That's interesting, Dagmar, and yes, pretty scary too! I guess we always think the grass is greener.

Susan, as a Canadian nurse, what's your take on the health care system in Canada?

It's an important debate in the American election... wonder which direction it will go. My biggest resentment is directed toward the pharmeceutical industry, as I have two friends whose husbands are reps, and my sis-in-laws 25 year old sister is a rep. The 25 yr old and her DH are both pharm reps and they make so much money they don't know what to do with it (that is a quote that she told us and was meant literally, not figuratively). The two other guys I know lead a heck of a plush life - trips to Paris, golf during the week, lots of "fringe benefits," and a WHOPPINGLY huge (almost disgustingly so) salary. All this while we struggle to pay costs for my dh's type 1 diabetic supplies and this is WITH insurance. Anyway, rant over...

Have a great day gals and Aqua. And Aqua... hope talk of the testigrams isn't going to scare you off our thread! :-)

Some cheese with my whine
 

I'm venting and ranting :mad: in this post so don't read if it'll upset you.

OK! I'm depressed :(, fat, sick of winter, dieting, eating, TV, my boring life, et cetera and so on and BLEEEAAGHHH!!!

There, I'm done :p.

Some retail therapy is in order I think. Been checking out Banana Republic's spring stuff online and I have spent a good $2000 in virtual money ;) there so far.

Since they don't deliver outside of the U.S. I will have to go to my local store here in Canada. Not to spend $2000 of course but there are a couple of sunny yellow items that I think will add that much needed something to my spring wardrobe. Sunday is the day.

I feel so much better already. Thanks for listening and have a great weekend everyone!

Dagmar :cool: (skinny wallet)

Whew - I am finally under 140. Atleast that's what the scale has said the last 3 days so I am going with it. Yea!! Now I just have to behave over the weekend and keep it there. It sounds like I am going to be solo for most of the weekend. Hubby and son have tickets to a basketball tournment. I will not eat out of boredom. (I think I had better get busy planning because even I don't believe that statement.)

Please remember that I adore you all and can't imagine living a day without my featherweights at 3FC. Now ...

This subject is far too complex to simply ask 'is your system better than ours'. There is no good answer to that question. Both systems have their pro's and con's.
I am only familiar with Ontario's health care system.
Having said that, I'm going to qualify it by stating that since it's government run ... who the heck knows how it really works?! You'd grow old trying to weed thru the documents and dictates and waiting for someone to return your call ...
And that is probably why you'll hear lots of empirical evidence. People don't know much but they do know what happened to them and theirs.
I have never had drug coverage. We paid for all the pediatric medications, glasses, chiropractic visits, dental work etc for three kids and so do many Canadians.

It is well documented that we have a horrifying shortage of doctors and nurses.
When I went to school, I went for one year, my team leader went for two. The student I've been helping to mentor has been in school for two years and will have approx 45 times the debt I had upon graduating.
Same scenario for my team leader? Four years university and I can't imagine what that costs.
Both these girls will go to the city and take on 3 or 4 casual positions, drive their old cars back and forth to hopefully pay off that debt. The government is thinking about signing bonusses.
Every year the local papers publish a list of the folks around who make well over $100,000 a year. There are some who work for the same healthcare system as I do ... they are neither doctors nor staff nurses.
As soon as folks learn that yes nurses do know your a$$ from a hole in the ground ... and many times you're better off seeing a nurse practitioner anyway ... the better.

In Ontario, I am confident that
... if you are sick, you will be seen in a timely fashion. It may not necessarily be by your own doctor in his own office but a healthcare professional will help you.
... if you become pregnant ... and keep your appointments ... you will be monitored on a regular basis. Preventative medicine, health teaching, ultrasound for health/size/dates, blood work and vs monitoring, referal if necessary. Your child will be monitored on a regular basis until he/she is in highschool. Preventative medicine, health teaching, immunization, vision and hearing testing.
... if you suddenly become perilously ill, you will bump someone who has been on a waiting list and it does not matter how long they have been on that list
... and there will be no bill.


stepping off my soapbox cuz you don't want to get me started on if you think you are sick

i just came on to the featherweights forum - i suppose if i have only 15 more lbs to lose this is a good place for me to be!

anyway, i was excited to see the above post from Susan on healthcare in Canada. I'm a future physician in the US and have been working with others on healthcare reform here. the biggest thing people who oppose universal single-payer (aka gov't) healthcare in the US say is long anticipated wait time to be seen or sub-par care once they are seen. I've referenced some common grounds, like the movie "Sicko," but michael moore is a bit of a propagandist, so it's nice to hear from a citizen who works in healthcare!

Thanks Dagmar and Susan B for your insight into National Healthcare. I appreciate it. I'm still not sure which I prefer, National Healthcare of paying an arm and a leg, but I'm sure the Government will decide that for us as they decide everyting else for us. Oh well, enough politics.

I seem to be doing much better on my diet at home. At least I'm not having fast food everyday for lunch and that's a good thing!

Have a great day!