Sunday 1-11-09

I am close to getting my bathroom back! I took a shower in there this morning - it was sweet. There are still a few missing pieces and I'll have to do a bit more shopping to finish it but it is finally functional.

Add that the last 5 months of diet and exercise have put me within 5 pounds of my Chicago trip weight and the new year is starting well. Of course, I still have that 5 pounds plus another 10 my wii fit informs me I'll need to lose to be my 'ideal' weight. That's cool, tho, we really have made some lifestyle changes around here and both Rob and I (and now with the wii even the girls) have made exercise part of our daily routines.

Sounds like you're in the groove. I, however, have fallen off the truck, and am wallowing in the mire of excessive indulgences of the two basic food groups.....snacks and fast food. The scale makes a loud groan when I stand on it, and I honestly believe I can hear it snickering as I walk away.

No time like the present to get started. I was soooooo depressed last summer, everything went to shit for me for no good reason. Doing this and sticking with it has pulled me out of the doldrums and I'm a little bit afraid to veer off the path again. If that fear keeps me on the straight and narrow then all the better.

I still wonder if the yaz had a similar affect on me as your daughter experienced. Whatever the reason for my depression I have never felt anything like it and hope never to again.

From all my research, when you start playing with your hormones, a lot of people are in for a rough time. My daughter will probably be on thyroid and anti depressant medicine for the rest of her life.

I was on other oral birth control pills from the age of 17 until my 30s with no problems. I did have issues with the birth control shots I used for a year but I considered those physical issues rather than mental.

I don't know if it's related to the economic woes or not but the system of healthcare providers around me (a pretty large system including about 5 hospitals) was not able to negotiate a new contract with Cigna, my insurance carrier de jour. My doc is, of course, part of that system. And for the 1st time ever my doc's office called to schedule a routine exam....which I then I had to cancel upon receiving Cigna's ltr.

Thankfully all Katie's specialists and the Children's Hospital still participate with Cigna but damn, this is inconvenient. I've gone to this same place thru 4 different docs. Even most of the walk-in places I'm aware of are part of this Wellstar system. *stews*

Good old Cigna.....I've had a rx for Nexium for 4 years. My wife went to get it refilled the other day.....and it was denied. They had sent me a lletter saying they wanted me to start using prilosec (a cheaper drug). I'm stewing too. That's why i have a doc.....to prescribe what HE thinks is best......not the insurance co. Stupid fuckers.

Rob takes Nexium, too, and he has to have a letter from his doc on file saying Nexium is the one that works, no substitutes but we pay out the wazoo because of the 'tier' drug it is. And they continue to ask for the letter every so often.

yeh......I think the copay on it is like 30 bucks.....with the regular rx 60 bucks....and thats for 30 pills. I only have to take them occasionally.....maybe twice a month.....so a bottle lasts me like a year. But it's just so irritating. I didn't even sign up for the tax deductible health savings plan at work because of all the bull shit they put you through. I'd rather take a 2 or 3 hundred dollar tax hit then fill out their stupid fucking paperwork.

I do the flex account filing. It is a headache but I've got the time. The most we can contribute now is $2000 which we exceed greatly but it saves a little.

I'm watching the Golden Globes.

I was putting 1000.00 into it, and had to find creative ways to use it all up.....or lose it. And my wife usually handles the medical stuff, but even she got pissed off about all the unnecessary paperwork and phone calls and emails. It just got ridiculous having a claim denied, having to contact the provider, and explain what the claim was. I finally just decided to quit it. It'll cost me a coupla hundred, but I figure.....hey.....maybe it'll be a few less nexium I have to take.

And I quit watching the Golden Globes and academy award years ago.....when it started becoming a political forum.

Laura Dern's the only one who's been there tonight. Hollywood is happy the Messiah is going to Washington so they don't have much to complain about atm.

LOL.....I can't believe you called him the messiah.....I thought that was reserved for us old stodgy conservatives.

But I mean it!

And that is one of the reasons I find you so endearing.