Facebook: These are YOUR friends

Yup. I do Have a Facebook account.  Every one of these people are my "Friends".  
I would think - YOUR friends too! 

It was good for a Saturday morning laugh.

Adapting to Canadian Life: my husband visits Dr Johnny Depp

Our health system in British Columbia covers any resident in B.C. (BCMSP)  The catch is, you have to be enrolled.    Yet, believe it or not, some people don't bother do it. 

It seems that BCMSP isn't too sticky about when you pay because my work *forgot* to pay my premiums for three months - and everything was still covered, retroactively.   As long as you are a resident, you will be covered.  They seem to be quite nice on the phone and willing to work with a person to get any errors straightened out.

If  you make less than $22K per year, you do not pay anything for your Medical coverage. There is 100% premium assistance.  The more you make, the more you pay (see chart mid-page).  The working poor can afford monthly payments.

The maximum you would ever pay as a single would be $60.50 per month, a family of two would pay $109.00 per month and a family of three or more  would pay $121.00 per month. No co-pays (a Canadian doesn't know what co-pay means) and it doesn't matter what pre-existing illness you have.

When I lived in the USA, I knew all kinds of people who would love the benefits of our plans above.  When my husband  quit his job in Washington State to move up here, he was offered COBRA coverage at $600 per month plus a high co-pay.  His co-pays were fairly substantial ($5K deductible per year for single, $10K per year for a couple ) when he did have his insurance. 

You would never hear a Canadian pay *that* without complaining. Canadians complain when they have to pay an extra $8 if they happen to go to a certain drugstore that charges an extra dispensing fee (there are some that would include it with the medication - for those that get their medications covered by the government )

I mention all this because my American-born husband just came back from the MD (Dr Johnny Depp) and asked me why they didn't want to see his extended medical card - only his BCMSP card?  I had to explain to him that there were no such thing as co-pays and that BCMSP covered the entire visit - that our other cards from our employer (paid for entirely by the employer at no cost to us)  coveres our Dental, medication, Travel Medical and excess medical plus ambulance, chiropractor, naturopath, massage therapy, physiotherapy, private room, eyeglasses etc.  Our employers also pay our BCMSP premiums for us.

My husband is still trying to acclimatize himself to the system here.

Johnny Depp is my MD

So I went to see the doc that will be my new MD yesterday.

I knew when I went to my appointment,  he was going to be young.   He has been an MD for 5 years. Got his education at McGill University. ( alumni include 9 Nobel Laureates, 161 Rhodes scholars, 3 astronauts, 2 Canadian Prime Ministers, 4 Justices of the Supreme Court, 3 foreign leaders,9 Academy Award winners, 3 Pulitzer Prize winners, and 28 Olympic medalists...and ya, I realize there are people who graduate at the bottom of their classes - but allow me to be optimistic here....)

He hails from Saskatchewan - just like my father.  Good stuff.

What does he look like?

No lie.

The spitting image.  (without the moustache and beard-thing)

Very disconcerting.
 
Especially since he is one of the only "stars" I enjoy seeing in a movie. ( ....so much for my future pap tests)

We had a discussion about his rating on rating MDs dot com.  We both laughed when I told him what I thought of the opinions published on the website (2 thumbs down).  Apparently he thinks the same thing. 

He stated that his partner in the office (who has only been practicing for only one year) made the big mistake of looking at his own ratings on the website and he was devastated by the critiques expressed on there about himself.

 I had looked in advance at both docs on that website, so was quite aware of the published opinions.

"What???" I exclaimed in disbelief.  "How can he be upset with the critiques about him on that site ? He has all smiley-faces and only *one* report that was mediocre and even then was mostly positive."

"Ya, I know.....he was pretty upset - almost immobilized by the report"

Which goes to show, MDs are people too, are sensitive and are subject to the same feelings we are.

More to come.

Me and my Sister

I have an older sister.  Three years older.

When we were little, as many kids do, we used to play together - a little more on the rough side on the part of my older sibling. 

This is a photo of my sister trying to hold me up to the camera and make me smile:

The photo above looked suspiciously like this cartoon I found on the internet:

Uncanny, huh?????

Upper Respiratory Infections

My first year of University found me living with a room mate diagnosed with TB part way through our second semester.

Luckily, I didn't get TB - but I was diagnosed with pleurisy and ended up having to take antibiotics....but since then, I have experienced restriction in my lungs.   When I sneeze or breathe really deep, the chest pain is excruciating.  When I get an URI - it seems to be worse than your average joe experiences.  I have puffers that I use, just so I can get air.

When I was an LPN just starting out - it was routine to have X-Rays done yearly because they did not do the standard yearly Mantoux testing.   Without fail, the hospital's health nurse  would always call me over to her office for post X-Ray counselling.....

"They found extensive scarring on your lungs on your last CXRay....did you know....?"

And I would always reply, "Yes,  I had pleurisy when I was 18 and my lungs always show the scarring"

A few years ago, an Xray for my MVA injury showed up incidental "nodules" on my lungs.  Subsequently, I had to have a follow-up CT scan.   The "nodules" were benign, so they said. 

My last trip to the walk in clinic - the MD said to me - "Your asthma seems to be in fairly good control".

I had to tell him that I don't have asthma. 

I don't know what gave him that idea unless the fact that I had had an inhaler prescribed for me for a reactive lung problem a while ago might have made him think that.

I was working L&D in a busy unit and the spray cleaner that was used on a nearby stretcher caused my respiratory system to spasm so badly - I couldn't breathe.  Talk about scarey.  An anesthetist coming down the hallway towards me asked if I was ok. If it wasn't for one of the OB's standing nearby loaning me his salbutamol inhaler, I would have ended up in ER.  Or dropped to the floor.  It was good to know help was so close, just in case.

It reminded me of the pregnant RN I worked with in L&D in California - dx with a placenta previa but still working.... even after she was ordered on bedrest.  She also figured it was safest to be at work. Help would be always close by.

I went to see the Occupation RN for the hospital.  Her take? I would require allergy testing to see if I was "actually" allergic to the cleaning solution (I had reacted the same way with every other hospital using the same cleaning agent - all whom switched to squeeze bottles rather than aerosol - or switched cleaning solutions entirely) but "even then" she stated, "if you test positive for an allergy to that agent, the hospital would change nothing"

I was fortunate that the cleaning staff were very particular and considerate of my plight and would always check ahead of time to see if I was on shift and make sure I was nowhere around when they used their cleaners.

I'ts been two weeks since I have been sick and I am still coughing up "gunk".   It always feels like mucus hangs out on top of my palate in that space.  When I cough there is that harsh spasmy sound.

At least I am breathing and feel like I am getting enough oxygen.  I don't have a fever, either.

The good news?

I found an ad in the local newspaper for an MD within 2 blocks that is now taking patients so I won't have to drive 100kms to see my MD.  I looked him up under Rate MDs dot com  and found out that people are making the exact same complaints of this doc as my former doc (esp complaints such as #2,#6 and #8 - oh and complaints about the laptop use and the decor is "too casual"). 

That shows me he must be pretty good.

Stay tuned.

Goodbye Julie.

You fought the good fight and now you are at peace.  
Your story will live on.
Thank-you for telling it.... an inspiration for so many.

For those who haven't read her story, click the link to their site on the left column of this blog.
Order the book.  You won't be disappointed.

There is one new bright star in the night sky tonight
- shining for those who love her.

Bob Hope

credit

I can remember 30 plus years ago,  flying into the Palm Springs airport.....to meet with the rest of our family for Christmas. Mom and Dad had rented out several condos - one each for themselves and the two of us that were now couples -plus their children -  and one more for the "singles".

 It would be a nice respite between writing my Diploma Nursing exams and our CNATS (Canadian NCLEX equivalent).

My older sister and husband were flying in from Indiana with their new baby that we had yet to meet***


We were all excited to get together and spend the whole week at the resort - and were at the Palm Springs Airport to pick up the last of our family - our big sis.

My youngest sister spots my oldest sister and family.  She started jumping up and down, screaming and waving excitedly in her direction - all crazy like - along with the rest of us.

Wouldn't you know it - but guess who else was coming through the door - just in front of my oldest sister?

Bob Hope.

He waved at our group, and smiled -   thinking the commotion was about him.

Was he ever surprised when the whole works of us ran past him without a glance and crowded around my sister and her new baby........

I didn't even notice him, and was unaware of the incident until later on when my brother mentioned it.

I was just reminded of this while watching the Bob Hope Classic.

Ya - Golf.  My husband is a fanatic.

"If you watch a game, it's fun.
 If you play it, it's recreation.
 If you work at it, it's GOLF"
..........Bob Hope



*** the "baby" is now a professor at a prominent Eastern University - finishing off her PhD...! That's how long ago it was!!!

Grandma, the Midwife - on the Prairie - 1920's

My grandmother was very busy as a Midwife in the vast Canadian prairie lands where they settled. 


As a Midwife, she would attend the deliveries of babes in the homes, and then stay with them for up to three weeks, or if they lived nearby, Grandma would make trips every day to help the new mom out – cleaning, cooking, washing clothes – anything that needed doing around the house to make things easier for the new mom so she could just concentrate on her baby.

It is interesting how things change.  When I was in Nursing school, I do remember that women would stay a week in the hospital after their delivery. I can remember, as a student nurse,  taking a woman to the bathroom the second day after giving birth – and getting in trouble from the nasty RN that was working for making the mom get up!  Even at that time, I could never understand why the new moms would be forced to stay in bed when they were quite capable of moving about on their own!


We now know that prolonged bedrest encourages DVTs which can lead to Pulmonary Embolism.

Grandma next to their horses in Alberta

When Grandma had her second baby, the same MD that didn’t make it to the December delivery was the delivering doctor.  A neighbour “consented” to help out, although didn’t feel very comfortable doing so.  It was one thing to help out in the background – but when it’s your own Midwife you are helping out/caring for....it is a whole 'nother ball of wax. 

From the way Grandma tells it - it sounded as if the woman didn’t really help out much at all, and definitely not as much as Grandma would help others.  Luckily, our family has a history of delivering babies quite easily and quickly - and recovering quickly,  and their first little baby was born in that little shack of a house the end of May - the same year and day Queen Elizabeth  was born.   Grandma was just thankful that she didn’t have to repeat that horrible hospital experience she had with her first baby.****

My grandmother would not only be busy with her Midwifery practice, but also was a big part of the workings of their own farm – helping Grampa with fixing machinery, her own little vegetable garden, plus the cooking and baking -  and by now, she had two little girls of her own!  Grampa’s brother moved from Holland to come and live with them in their small little cabin Grampa had made.  They put up a partition and laid bales of hay on the floor with a mattress on it, and that is where Om Jan slept.  

I can’t imagine having to sleep only a couple feet away from your brother-in-law and the lack of privacy. I am pretty sure that is why there was a little bit of a space of time until Gramma’s next baby.  I don’t believe he stayed very long anyways  - Grampa and he had disagreements over the way things should be done on a farm.

Grandpa planted 10 acres of wheat and more of oats.  It was a lot to do with a horse drawn plow.

A lot of purchases were actually made by bartering. Grampa traded a horse he had nursed back to health for a pig that was pregnant.  When the piglets were weaned, they slaughtered the pig for the winter and then had a dilemma.  What to do with the piglets? It would be way too cold for the winter....in the thirty to forty-below weather.  One had already died from the cold.

So the piglets were brought inside their house to live with them.  For two weeks – the smell and mess nearly did Grandma in....but they died anyway. 

It was too cold for the chickens also.... so Grampa made a hole in the wall of their tiny shack so the chickens could come in and out.  One of them became Grandma’s “pet” and in the summer they would leave the door open so she could come in and out – and she would lay an egg every day on their bed. 

While I am reading Grandma’s story – I am thinking .....I am pretty sure I could never have lived back then if that is how I had to live. I don’t think I could live with pigs or chickens having free run of the house.  Maybe I wouldn't have known any better had I lived back then.

In the Summer, Grandma would pick berries....but the problem that came with the coulee’s nearby was the mosquitoes.  They would almost eat her alive.  Her way to cope with it that made people wonder about her – was to wear Grampa’s pants and a straw hat with a netting on it.  No woman wore anything but dresses back then.

A cow was given to them as a wedding gift and after it had a calf – it started producing milk.  Grandma would separate the milk for cream and milk and then churn the butter by hand in a barrel specially made for it.  They would keep all their cream and veggies/produce/canning in the cellar under the house.  Grandma tells the story of the time a mouse fell into the cream and drowned.  Grandma felt it was a shame to throw out the cream – so she took it to market anyway – had it appraised and found out – to their surprise – that it was the first and only time the cream was considered “first grade” quality.

They would go by horse and democrat to the market to barter their butter.  The grocer didn’t like it because by the time they travelled 11 miles in the hot prairie sun – the butter would be reduced to liquid.  They would also take in their eggs and milk to barter for sugar and other groceries that they couldn’t grow or produce themselves.

Grandma would work in the garden, and when my aunt - their oldest child - was still a baby, she would take her in a big metal basin and while Grandma was busy outside, the chickens, kittens and dog would keep her company.  One time Grampa’s horses got loose from him and went galloping full speed with plow equipment in tow right toward the house – out of control -  in the direction of the baby in the basin.  Luckily the horses were stopped by the haystack but it really shook up Grandpa. He was very protective of his little girl.

What they didn’t see coming and couldn’t protect their first born from, was the health problem looming in the future.

**** It is thought that PIH is caused by an immune response of the pregnant woman to the male antigen cells.  Over time the woman can develop a protective effect if she stays with the same partner and thus PIH may not be a problem with subsequent pregnancies.  This tolerance is lost with a new partner - in otherwords, a multip may have a reocurrence of PIH after having a previous normal pregnancy.

The Number one Thing we used to Hear our Parents say when we were little:

There were four of us preschool age. Then my little sis came along....

Let your kids Eat those Bugs!!

Interestingly enough, people do seek care for children (or selves!) swallowing insects by error or whatever.   I always wonder about these concerns and why they think that eating a bug might be harmful.  I know when I was a kid, I ate a multitude of bugs and never got sick. Not once.

Well, here is proof positive that you can eat an assortment of insects and you will actually BENEFIT from it.  Apparently, there is more protein in an insect (90%) as opposed to beef (40-70%). 

Due to the ever-decreasing world food supply, it is suggested that perhaps we might switch over to insects as an alternate food source.

Children don't have problems eating insects - but adults do.  It's mainly a psychological thing, really, they say.  Apparently it is suggested that if we at least try insects in our diet and get used to the taste and the texture - we will then be able to overcome our acquired distaste for anything crawly.

Curiously, someone is certainly buying up all the stocks of meal worms at $10 per thousand - and there is now a national shortage of them.

Personally, I would go vegetarian before eating insects.  I know I have tried snails and thought they were OK, and occasionally have eaten the occasional accidental fly, ant or salad worm.....but I am not sure I can overcome the brain-block in order to enjoy such indulgences.