I did end up having a pretty rough evening last night- between the stress of dealing with the insurance company, my car, and PMS. I went to bed pretty early and slept for over 12 hours. I'm trying to get back on track today and get stuff done I was suppose to do yesterday...and I still have to call my pharmacy to see if the script went through yet or not- they said it could take up to 24 hours, but who knows. I think I'm going to see if I can get to the one St Vincents dePaul resale shop that always has tons of exercise equipment and see if anything strikes my interest. I really would like to get a decent treadmill, if I can- but who knows. And I still haven't made it to WalMart the past few weeks to get the Biggest Loser workout DVD- something keeps coming up or I run out of time to get there. My weight has been holding pretty steady- it does its normal couple pound variations, but considering its at the low end of its range with all the PMS stuff going on, I'm pretty happy.
Lillion- I will say that at least with being dual eligible (Medicare/Medicaid), you can change Plan D once per month, instead of once per year if you have straight Medicare. Also, some
brilliant politicians decided the Medicare drug plan shouldn't pay for benzodiazepines, barbituates, and weight control drugs at all. Some states will pick up the cost if you're dual eligible. I will say my plan has been great on all my other meds- and I'm on a ton of expensive meds in addition to the one nausea med I'm having problems with. I was very surprised that they didn't need any prior authorizations- and I would say with Medicaid, about 60% or so had to have prior auths so that is an improvement. Have her check with her state if there is a program that helps with figuring out which plan would be best. Also, if she call the main # for Medicare (1-800-Medicare), they can give you a number for your regional office that should be able to help. Its a shame that they screwed this up so bad and are putting so many people through all this needlessly. It was the stupidest idea to think how many millions of Medicare recipients could start on brand new programs all at once- at least they could have done a trial run for a couple months with dual eligibles or something to test the system or something, instead of jeopardizing peoples lives.
Zelma- that is so cool about your old students- I bet they hardly recognized you
Not the cheat- its funny about the silence & thinking in the car. When I use to drive 1000 miles per week for my job as a case manager plus another couple hundred to commute to grad school, I love the quiet time to myself. I actually miss it now- I have a harder time focusing in when I'm at home and blocking everything out then when I'm driving for some reason. Sometimes I think our 'always on' world with cell phones, e-mail, 24 hour cable, satellite radio, etc have really cheated us from 'our time'- its like people are scared to be alone with their thoughts.
Kayle- I love doing water aerobic & water walking, but because of my feeding tube, I'm not suppose to...at least that is what the doctors who put them in say. Other doctors let there patients- I'm tempted to try it, especially since I had it over 4 years and have had no problems with site at all, which is very unusual. I need to find out where I can do it around here- I use to go to the pool at MSU when I was working on my PhD, but thats too far of drive now...besides it cost a lot more if you aren't a student. I still have my water aerobics shoes (still can't figure out why they have reflective strips on them...its not like you do water aerobics in the dark
) and a flotation belt. One word of warning- the first few times you do it, its really easy to over do because it doesn't feel like you are working out as hard...but man, the next couple days your body lets you know just how hard it was
NoLife w/o horses- That is so said about your neighbors family and it has to be so hard of an adjustment on the husband & kids. My fathers mother died when he was only 16 & he was the oldest- this was back in 1929 and happened a month or so after she had given birth to twins, so it was not as unusual given the times or totally unexpected as she had been sick for a month or so. In the early 1990's, my father had had several strokes and we had to make the decision to have a feeding tube placed or not- we decided to and my uncle, his brother & best friend said that's what Mom would have wanted. It was one of the only times we every heard either of them talk about their mother, yet you know she was still in their thought every moment, even 60 years later (BTW- my dad was was 58 when I was born...that throws people off all the time).
2loseinit- Congrats on 5 more pounds gone!
Jillybean- its okay to have treat once in awhile- if you deny yourself everything you can end up setting yourself up for failure. It sounds like you made a good choice, a healthy sandwhich and a small fry- and did you even miss the oil & grease they would have normally cooked the chicken in?
Heather_dw- & everyone else-
MAKE SURE WHEN THEY TAKE YOUR BLOOD PRESURE THAT THEY ARE USING THE CORRECT SIZED CUFF!!! If they use a regular sized cuff, they can get a false high reading or otherwise inaccurate reading- even doing the smaller cuff on lower part of your arm isn't as accurate as if they used a proper sized cuff on your upper arm. I know its embarrassing to have to remind or ask the nurse/doctor to get the right sized cuff- but this is our health we are talking about here. Also, ideal conditions to take blood pressure are to be seating for at least 5 minutes with your feet flat on the floor, without ankles crossed, and no talking on your part. Yet how often does it get taken as soon as we walk back while sitting on the edge of the exam table with our legs dangling over the edge with the nurse asking us questions- especially if they use an electronic blood pressure cuff?
Ammi- Lets hope Daren can get your bedroom finished up so you can give that new bed a proper test drive
Were you able to find the mattress pad covers I told you about? My feeding tube leaked the other night and I have to admit I thought of you & your recent incident...it is so much nicer to just get up, pull all the bedding off & put a clean mattress pad cover & sheets back on and go back to sleep. Honestly, if I didn't have the water proof ones, my mattress would have been destroyed a long time ago- after 4+ years & not a single stain on it
Luan- You counted the points and made sure you met your daily nutritional needs, so it definitely wasn't cheating. I think the all or nothing mind set we get into when we're dieting sets us up for failure. Personally, I don't even like the word dieting anymore- I like the term they used when I lived in Ireland: SLIMMING. Its sounds so much better and its what our ultimate goal is. Besides, its not like we can eat just what is on whatever 'diet' we happen to be following & then miraculously be able to eat like we use to once we get to goal weight- so we might as well figure out how we can eat healthily for the rest of our lives and not feel deprived
tlynn-
to the group!
I like the support everyone here gives and I hope to be an active part! 
Shoot, I was finally ready to post and can't figure out what to say 
Oh well, I'll be back!
In fact, I 
I think it was probably me subconsciously trying to postpone my surgery (fibroid).
to the group!!! What plan are you following?
