Finally Back!

Yikes! Its been a month since I posted anything. Didn't expect to tied up that long. Well, I hope you guys had a great 4th of July. We spent ours leaving the hospital. Thats one way to get independence, one supposes. ;)

The week after posting we were in the run-up to that surgery I told some of you about. All the other surgeries left him with surgical hernias. A smaller repair was made a year ago, but they couldn't do it all then. Now was the time, especially since the repair hasn't been holding.

Tom's surgery went well enough but he didn't wake up right away. Since big hernia repairs are on the sore side anyway, the medical folks said it was best not to push him awake, and let him take his time on it. That turned out to be several days, and by then he was reacting to the meds a bit. Still, he has been healing well, on the whole, if a bit more slowly than the ideal.

The new CC hospital wing is awesome & so is its staff. They are SOOO NICE! They also know exactly what they are doing. I knew absolutely that DH was getting the best possible care there at all times. We were so very blessed that he was there most of the time. The nurses & residents in the surgical wing itself are dedicated, caring, and generally impressive professionals. The CC people are GREAT. ICU there is topnotch too :)

BUT.... the old main 9th floor post-op surgical ward still has issues...and that's putting it nicely. (Not the immediate post-op care...the old step down ward that seems to get everything when the other wards are closed....yeah..that one. They do have some great nurses & a number of decent ones, but then there are those who continue to add to our backlog of medical anecdotes - the sort which seem to happen every holiday we've spent there but are most suitable for sharing at Halloween :P

Anyway, we are home and I am back on bandage watch. I don't spend much time online in times like this. When I did get a little time it was to look up fresh curriculum and locate school supplies etc. I want to thank the 6 people who have directly invited me to Facebook, the 3 who think I'd just love Twitter, and the 10 who think I really should switch to Librarything sometime this century...but I really don't have time to look into those options right now. Vicki, you've seriously tempted me with the link to that new laptop giveaway for new Twitter people, but I can make no promises. Its embarrassing how long it has taken me to get to our 'news' update on good ole Blogger!

Talking about news, as usual, I saw a lot of news while DH was in the hospital. Everybody there was shocked at Jackson's & Billy May's deaths in particular. Being medical people they had plenty of theories. Made for interesting listening. heh. Farrah Faucet's passing was less surprising, though just as sad. Not sure what the point is in staring at Madoff at this point. I don't think any more satisfaction can be gained from the situation. He certainly deserved a penalty...but why didn't the guys who did the S & L scandals go to jail all those years ago?

I also saw Sarah Palin's resignation live - in real time - and felt for her. Sure wish someone had helped her more with that speech though...it felt really...long. The last thing she needed to do IMHO was give the buzzards who've been mistreating her more ammo. I tell you, the sheer injustice she has received from the press has done more damage to the 'liberal' cause than anything else this year...and given the freaky bills, the unstable economy, and the general fears of the population about how current policies could go, that's saying a BUNCH. I cannot value the opinions of people who show no respect for others, plain & simple.

When it comes to Sarah Palin, I absolutely agree with this journalist. Why should anyone listen to bad-tempered propagandistas?

Thankfully, Obama has stayed out of that mess. Wise move, sadly. I would like to have seen him say something but I know that its very possible that if he defended her they'd just turn on him and he's already got a huge pile on his worktable already. North Korea & the Taliban remain a real danger. One of them could easily account for the prophecies about the 'severe eastern wind' sent to correct backsliding drunkards of Ephraim. I thought the military answer to North Korea's big push over that freighter was very clever. The threat was over confronting the ship...so they didn't...the military blocked the harbor instead.

Seems like his & Bush's Bank Bailout plan worked. News reported that many banks have already paid back the money or are working to do so. Nice! Now...if they'd just pass that loosening of the market on to the general public! (That really should have been a condition of the bailout...) Thought Obama's speech to Africa was very good, but several others (i.e. Egypt & Russia) were a bit more concerning. Keeping Barack & Michelle in prayer all the time. I am specifically praying that if we get universal health coverage that it doesn't further erode our freedom to care for ourselves or undermine Medicare.

All of society bows and worships at the feet of 'professionals'/'experts' these days. I always am concerned when their opinions are too heavily weighted on us little people...especially those of us with time and freedom to think for ourselves. If you don't think I have cause for concern, remember how many meds were PUSHED as THE answer in the last decades turned out to be disastrous for many. Consider also how foods like eggs got banned from many diets, then they change their minds about their value and realize eggs contain GOOD cholesterol. At one point young mothers were told that formulas were much better than their own milk could be. Now we know this was a bad idea. Mother's milk contain antibodies and subtle supports for the baby far beyond any formula made, but it was decades before the medical establishment was ready to acknowledge and then admit this truth. Surgeons know more than I ever will about how to splice and rebuild physically damaged bodies, and I have nothing but respect for them and their assistants, but the limits to what they have time to study are extremely evident in discussions we've had.

More than anything else, I desire the freedom to use my commonsense, research, and intuition. Experts aren't omniscient. Indeed, in many academic fields they are being taught in a cookie-cutter fashion that allows very little dissent from whatever 'leading figures' have established as the latest dogma. Now, it is very important that medical people have much training, and what they are taught is extremely impressive when it comes to surgical & emergency issues, but given the HUGE gaps in their training & education relating the deficiency effects, environmental toxins (like the potential effect of jet fuel residue on the thyroid) & natural answers, it would be best if they weren't given complete control over our regular- non-emergency - lives.

Folks I listened to all seemed to have a favorite medical system in mind: Israel & UK were mentioned the most often. Canada's system seems to be the most controversial for medical professionals. Didn't hear why. Others felt we'd be better off if the Govt stayed out of it. I really can't agree with that last. Medical science isn't like making bookends. People who need critical care usually can't wait to save up for it, nor choose to forgo it in favor of other desires or needs. You can literally be charged for failing to get medical help for a family member who needs it. This means that, in practice, professional medical care is already in our laws as an 'responsibility' - a legal requirement -which would be unconstitutional if programs & laws didn't also guarantee access to professional medical care in each region.

Its already a monopoly for most too. You can choose your insurance now, they say...well, no, most can't. Most people can only afford what their employers have, use Govt programs (if they qualify), or they do without insurance and go to free clinics & emergency rooms when disaster strikes. How is this a choice?

On top of that, average folks are only able to access 1-2 hospitals medical systems of any size in their region. Big cities have more, but limit entrance to all but 1 or 2 based on wealth & quality coverage.

I DO think that if doctors & hospitals are nationalized, that patients & taxpayers should have more direct input. This needs to include 'support' personnel. If an administrative assistant causes death by incompetence or malice, deliberately delays care, repeatedly loses crucial paperwork etc - then he or she should face very serious penalties. Patient's Rights need to be more seriously enforced too. In most places its just a flyer on the wall, listening to howls of frustration from those within. Frankly, its currently about impossible very hard to reform bad offices or wards in most major hospitals. Nobody is saying it, but I bet this simple fact is in the back of many minds who say they fear that adding extra Government connections to hospital staff will make the medical system even worse. Michelle Obama knows about this - here's hoping she's been allowed to contribute to the plans they are making. & May God grant us real progress of some kind!

As for personal progress, I got some crocheting done. I had already finished ponchos for Tom & Wm, so I was working on Becka's until it got too big to cart along each day. Finished it at home this week & am now adding little ribbon roses to it. The colors & roses celebrate her rose bushes :) Mom is still working on a poncho for me as a kind of bday present. Its safe to say that I have mastered poncho making & the double stitch, but the yarn I chose was too advanced for my skill level. Its one of those fuzzy yarns in deep blue tones. (Lion- Color Waves- Night Sky) It was just ssooo pretty I couldn't resist when I saw it on sale at Ollies. Should be lovely to wear when the weather is cool enough.


Read a few books during this period too, but no writing. Soon I hope to get back to the book I started in early June. So far, my family loves it, which is great to hear since I am really writing it for them. If I share it, it will have to be a freebie, as its another fan-fic. I needed to write something like that again though, as every time I have gotten serious I get well-intentioned comments from friends & relatives that discussed far too glowingly how I could make it 'pay.' My creative side hates pressure; I freeze right up. I have 3 mysteries now fully plotted, largely written...but now thawing until I can stand to work with them again... *sigh* At least people liked what I showed them.

One of the most valuable gifts friends gave me online was to simply enjoy my writing, small criticisms included, even big ones when necessary...and NOT bring up real world pressures in the middle of the discussion. I have missed my old sounding board, but haven't sought others. That WAS a big help, but it was also risky in ways I didn't recognize until later. I have always had an audience here, I just have had to make a new policy not to discuss the possibly commercial projects until they are much further along. :D