WARNING! BIG PHARMA MAY DISABLE YOU

Antibiotics save lives.  That’s why so many  octogenarians are still around. The year I got blood poisoning was the same year that penicillin became available for physicians.  Otherwise, I would have been a goner. So I’m not knocking antibiotics.  However, physicians really need to be careful when prescribing them, because many have serious side effects.   Warning! Big Pharma may disable you.  

Our travail began last week when my husband went for a routine doctor’s appointment with a cough.  It wasn’t a serious cough, but  he’d had it for quite awhile. Therefore, his doctor prescribed a certain antibiotic which has also been a target of many lawsuits, if you look it up on the internet.  In other words, it’s one of those risky ones.  Not like taking the more widely used like amoxicillin.   Most people don’t have to wonder if they’re allergic to something like penicillin.  They know within minutes after they take it, get help, and never take it again.  However, the side effects of some drugs aren’t so readily apparent.

On day two of taking this prescribed medicine, my husbands lips began to swell.  However, he believed that his doctor knew best.  So, on day three, he took another pill, and that’s when the dam broke.  His lips and  eyes were swollen, sore and bleeding. That was on a Saturday morning and we all know you are wasting time calling a physicians office on a weekend.  We hoped that by Monday, after discontinuing the antibiotic, the swelling would go down.  But it didn’t.  It got worse.

Warning! Big Pharma May Disable You
WARNING! BIG PHARMA MAY DISABLE YOU. Side effects  like a torn tendon may appear weeks after you take this antibiotic.

Thus began a  round of steroids which cause a diabetic’s blood sugar to skyrocket.  Which meant he had to have insulin shots, administered by me.   The swelling and soreness is improving, so we have hopes that we’ll be back to normal in a few days.

Since then, I’ve researched the side effects of this particular antibiotic and found them overwhelming.  It has caused permanent disabilities in patients, ranging from torn tendons to heart damage. .  You have to wonder why it’s even on the market.

Warning  !Big  Pharma may disable you.  But they’re willing to take risks with your health because they are reaping huge financial  benefits.

COLLEGE DROPOUTS WILL WIDEN WEALTH GAP

Remember the old  saying,  “the rich get richer and the  poor get poorer?” That axiom  began to change in the last few decades, because college became more affordable and appealing to poor kids. But now,  enrollment from that demographic has started to drop.  In the town where I live,   University enrollment has dwindled by 30% of what it was just a few years ago.   Instead of roughly 12,000 students, it’s down to 8,000.  Wowza!  Conversely, enrollment at private colleges has greatly increased.  Higher tuition and housing costs don’t seem to bother rich kids.  Which means that college dropouts will widen the wealth  gap for future generations.

College Dropouts will widen wealth gap because a college graduate does better in the long run.
College Dropouts Will Widen Wealth Gap. Fitzgerald’s  Gatsby said it best: The rich get richer and the poor get…children.

Why do certain colleges and universities appeal to first generation students?  Obviously, it’s all about money.  Lower tuition and housing costs for sure, but also, lower academic standards.  Kids who attend high schools in poor inner city neighborhoods don’t have the same advantages as children in ritzy suburbs.  They don’t do nearly as well on achievement tests as their upper  middle class counterparts.  For obvious reasons.  If you’ve ever taught school in a poor neighborhood,  you know that some  of the children can barely stay awake in class, and others are disadvantaged in ways that affect their academic achievement.

The Higher Education Act of 1965 changed the scenario  for  high school graduates raised in poverty . Pell grants and college loans  were more readily available.   Conventional wisdom was that a college graduate’s loans could be quickly repaid because of higher paying jobs after graduation.  That worked out for students in certain fields like medicine, law, engineering, and other degrees.  But for the C student who majored in English Lit, or became an elementary school teacher, that promise of a high paying career turned out to be a heartbreaking myth.  And yet, a college degree was still seen as the key to upward mobility, higher social status, and a better life.

In the past few years,  high school graduates have  started to make pretty good money. Labor shortages and  increased demand has resulted in higher wages for skilled workers. Now they can afford to buy a house or new car at a young age.  A plumber or laboratory technician  might make  as much as  a marketing manager. Truck drivers may  earn more in the short run than English teachers.   And they don’t have student loans hanging over their heads.

However, higher education still pays off in the long run. Over a lifetime, a person with a college degree will have more job security, occupational mobility, and greater earnings.  Compare the job satisfaction of a 50 year old accountant  to a  top earning construction worker of the same age.  Their incomes may have been similar. However,  the construction worker’s  legs and back could  be giving out,  while  the accountant  has no such worries.  The accountant  also has a good pension coming when he finally  retires at age 65.

College enrollment is dwindling because a college education seems to have lost it’s appeal for kids from low income families..  Consequently,  the wealth gap between rich and poor is likely to widen in the coming years.

BE SWEET TO YOUR FEET

Most young girls start taking care of their faces before they’re old enough to vote.  Why? Because the first thing a young man looks at when he sees a girl is her face.   There are creams for dry skin, oily skin, pimples, rashes,  eczema—you name it, there’s a tube of something for it.   Then we move down to the hands, because red, dry hands are bothersome and unattractive. Pretty hands are a must for the beauty conscious.   But the last thing most of worry about is our feet.  Who looks at them?   Consequently, feet take a beating from the day we start walking, even though  we expect them to perform effortlessly without any attention at all.  That needs to stop.  Valentines Day is coming, and it’s time to be sweet to your feet.

Be Sweet to your Feet. It's one body part that gets too little attention.
Be Sweet To Your Feet. A footbath and massage improves circulation, and relieves stress.

Start with a foot bath. for 20 minutes, twice a week.  All you need is a plastic tub  wide enough to accommodate both feet.  Fill it up to your ankles with warm water, and maybe add some Epsom salts. .  Afterwards, use a pumice stone to remove  dead skin.   Before you put on your socks, massage the balls of your feet gently , and rub in some lotion. Did you know that a foot massage relieves stress and anxiety?  It also improves circulation, reduces irritation, and helps transport oxygen through the body.

If you want to get fancy, order a heated footbath online, or buy one at the store.  However, you shouldn’t use a heated bath if you’re a diabetic , because it can burn your feet and cause blisters.

Most of us use hand cream every day.  Why not foot cream?  Our feet get tired and itchy and sore.  They can use some loving care, too. At least twice a day , massage your feet with  lotion.    However, don’t rub the cream between your toes because you don’t want to create a moist place for fungal infections to invade.

One of the kindest  things you can give your feet is a professional pedicure  Let’s face it, pedicures are pricey. The average working woman can’t afford to spend  hundreds of dollars a year  getting her toenails painted.   But if a special occasion is coming up, or you’re simply feeling down and out, a trip to the nail salon will lift your spirits and vastly improve the appearance  of your feet.  Not to mention the soothing warmth of a foot  massage.

Be sweet to your feet this Valentine’s Day!

ANNOYING HEALTH CARE PHONE SURVEYS

If you visited a doctor yesterday, you’re apt to receive a telephone call today around dinner time.  The hospital he’s affiliated with wants to know if you were pleased with him/ her.  Since your meal has been interrupted, you may not wish to participate in their survey at all.   Here’s a suggestion for hospitals and other health care providers:    Please stop annoying  health care phone surveys.

annoying health care phone surveys often come at dinner
ANNOYING HEALTH CARE PHONE SURVEYS often comes the next day after you’ve seen a doctor–which is too soon to evaluate the care you received.

There are several questions they want you to answer.  But the most ridiculous one, to me, is: How happy are you with your doctor’s treatment?   Does anyone like having their nose cauterized?  Even if you give a positive answer,  you may change your mind a few days later when you get another nosebleed.  There is absolutely no way of judging the efficacy of a doctor’s treatment a day later.  Here’s why:

He could  have misdiagnosed your problem.  But you won’t  know that within twenty four hours.   Weeks or months later, if you’re still getting nosebleeds, having pain,  or losing weight , you will realize he didn’t really help you at all.  But now, it’s too late to complain.  He was cheerful and friendly and confident.  So you gave him an A plus or a 5 or whatever scoring system they use.  Now, you might want to change your survey answers but that ship has already sailed.

Here’s another one: Were we able to answer all your questions?  The doctor may have responded  when you asked something like, “how long will this last,”  Or “how did this happen?” but the answer  may have been vague or ambiguous..

One question they could ask– but never do–is this:  Do you think your doctor  ordered too many tests?  Many  tests may be important, but there’s no way of knowing.  And no health care facility is going to complain if a CT  Scan  costing the patient or his insurance about $3,000 was  unnecessary  Which they often are. But when you’re frightened that you may have a serious disease, you  willingly go along with uncomfortable and expensive procedures.

Once, I had a very unpleasant experience during laparoscopic knee surgery. .  The  nurse was rude, stabbed me with a needle numerous times to draw blood, and complained my veins were too small.  The anesthesiologist gave me a total knee block instead of a partial, without asking my preference.   When I received a survey, I filled it out honestly and described my displeasure.   But I didn’t mail it, because I wanted to see if the procedure was successful. Which I wouldn’t know for several weeks.  It was successful—no more knee pain.  But the surgeon became angry when I voiced my complaints on our follow up visit.   Several  months later  I finally mailed in  that survey and didn’t change a thing.

Please, stop the senseless  health care telephone surveys. They are annoying, and in no way provide an accurate evaluation..  The way someone rates their  health care provider after twenty four hours may not reflect the quality of  care they received..

GOOD INTENTIONS OFTEN GO ASTRAY

Have you noticed all the new people at your fitness center or aquatic class?  It looks like a lot of folks decided to  get in shape this year.   Great!  Glad to see them.  But there are lots of other New Year’s resolutions that don’t involve losing weight.  Quit drinking alcohol.   Cut down on video games.   Call home every week.  Stop smoking. Take French lessons.   The list goes on and on.  And they’re mostly about stopping or starting something.   But statistics indicate that most of those resolutions are abandoned by January 18. Good Intentions often go astray.

Why do people give up so easily?  They wanted to do something to improve their lives or happiness. And yet, they lacked the to follow through on their good intentions.  Now, they feel a little bit disappointed in themselves.  The truth is, they probably would have wound  up in a much better frame of mind if only they’d had a little more of that good old stick- to-it-iveness.

GOOD INTENTIONS OFTEN GO ASTRAY. By the end of Jan, most have given up
Good Intentions Often Go Astray. Most New Years’ Resolutions are given up by January 18.

The strategies for stopping or starting a habit are completely different.  Psychologists tend to focus on the stop issue, because the undesirable habit often involves some type of addiction, which is difficult to overcome.  There are long lists of suggestions :  join a support group, avoid triggers, etc. etc.  Alcoholics should not go places where they serve beer, or keep it in their frig.  Smokers should not have a pack of cigarettes in their purse or hang out with other smokers.  But the truth is, most addictions are a reaction to stress and anxiety, and it’s hard to quit a bad job or stop worrying about your rebellious  teenager.

Starting a new habit calls for an entirely different set of mental muscles.  You go to the gym for one class and then never go back.  Why?  It was too much trouble changing clothes.  Walking a treadmill is boring. Whatever.  You signed up for French lessons and you couldn’t even speak a whole sentence after the first class.  It’s way too challenging and when are you going to Paris, anyway?  But what if you hadn’t given up so easily?  By summer, you might not mind putting on a bathing suit.  Or, you could decide to vacation on the French Rivera instead of going to Vegas.

However, there’s one approach that works for both kinds of resolutions :  Mindfulness meditation. I  know, it sounds kind of new age and hokey.  But it works.  And it’s really quite simple.  Before you decide to re start a bad habit lean back in your chair and take a few, cleansing deep breaths.  Next, acknowledge and accept your feelings, without judgement.”  I  really need that fix from nicotine or alcohol because I’m feeling stressed about my …job…marriage….. I can feel it in my  bones.”  Stop, breathe some more.  The stressful situation won’t last foreverYou can do this.  More deep  breaths.  The urge has come and gone

Use the same technique if you’re tempted to quit the new, desirable behavior.  Deep breaths.   Walking the treadmill is boring.  Going to the gym is  too much trouble.  I’m  not seeing any immediate results.  Breathe in, breath out.    Replace negative thoughts with positive ones. You know you will feel much better after a few workouts.    Keep going.

Getting started with mindfulness is simple  in this high tech world of ours.  There are apps like Calm which can be downloaded for free or for a small fee.  Mindfulness meditation should be your best New Years resolution.  Good intentions often go astray.   Don’t let that happen in this Happy New Year of 2023.

STOP! DON’T USE DISPOSABLE DIAPERS.

Once upon a time, no one had ever heard of disposable diapers.  Strange as it may seem, babies were born and raised for hundreds of years without them.  Cloth diapers were the norm.  My first children, born in the early sixties, never had their skin touched by the numerous chemicals that go into producing disposable diapers.  Stop! Don’t use disposable plastic diapers.

When disposable diapers first came out, they were considered a luxury.  But it didn’t take long before they took over the baby world.  I’ll have to admit that my third child, born in 1970, never wore a cloth diaper.  No more laundry days spent folding diapers!  Who wouldn’t love that?

Since that time, landfills all over the world are jammed with plastic diapers that will be impacting the environment for hundreds of years to come. It’s been estimated that it takes 500 years for a plastic diaper to decompose in a landfill.  Politicians are quick to criticize fossil fuels and demand that we respect the environment with clean energy.  And yet , I’ve never once heard a politician propose that we do away with plastic disposable diapers.  Think of all the votes they would lose!

Not for profit diaper banks are available in many communities.  Well meaning charities  are praised for helping low income women keep their babies clean and dry.  Disposable diapers are considered a necessity, not a luxury.  Consequently, discarded dirty  plastic diapers are everywhere– along the highways, in parking lots, public restroom, and beaches.

Stop! Don't Use Disposable Diapers; use bamboo cloth instead
Stop! Don’t Use Disposable Diapers. They’re expensive and clog up landfills.

You can now purchase  biodegradable  bamboo disposable diapers but they’re way too pricey for the average consumer.  Wouldn’t it be better if diaper banks issued bamboo cloth diapers? They’re earth friendly,   without skin irritating chemicals.  If  we banned plastic diapers just as some communities have banned plastic bags,  landfills would stop filling up with dirty diapers.  Money would be saved to be spent on other necessities.

According to a recently published article in Mint Intuit ” Disposables came in at $800 for the year, while reusables cost $584 – a savings of 27 percent. That savings climbs drastically – to 60 percent – when you look at the second year of your child’s life. Cloth diapers require scant extra investment, while disposables keep hacking at your wallet.”

Inflation is rapidly eating away at our purchasing power.  Stop! Don’t use disposable diapers.  They are more expensive than cloth.

HUNGRY FOR HEALTHY VEGGIE SOUP

Christmas was kind of a bummer.   A lot of us got sick.  Even Princess Anne had to skip the royal dinner at Sandringham because she had a cold.  I spent the day in jammies, thankful that my husband didn’t catch whatever  was wrong with me.  Allergic rhinitis? Flu? Cold?  I don’t know and don’t care now, because I’m feeling normal today. Thankfully, I had the fixin’s for a fancy dinner of filet mignon and twice baked potatoes on hand, so we weren’t cheated of a special holiday meal.  But now, I’m hungry  for Healthy Veggie Soup.

hungry for healthy veggie soup. Make it with bone broth for extra nutritional value.
HUNGRY FOR HEALTH VEGGIE SOUP. Make it with v8 and beef bone broth for extra nutrition.

Growing up in the forties, my mom always made  a kettle  of  vegetable soup on cold winter days. She started  with a beef soup bone.   They don’t sell those in supermarkets anymore, and that’s a shame.  Because by simmering  it all day, you were guaranteed some super nutritious bone broth to cure whatever ailed you. Next,  she added  a jar of tomatoes canned last summer,  and sliced some carrots.  Maybe some  celery and onions.

That kettle might sit on the stove and simmer all day. Later, she would add other canned veggies like green beans, corn, and fresh  potatoes.  Just before serving, she removed the bone and scraped the beef into the soup.  There was always  home baked bread to go along with the soup.  And  plenty left for seconds.  That’s just one of the economical, filling, delicious  meals that warmed our tummies and kept us healthy.

In this week  after Christmas, I’m hungry for healthy beef veggie soup like my mother made.  However, I’m forced to come up with my own recipe, since I don’t can in the summer, and I’m unable to  buy a soup bone anywhere close by.

I’ll start with stew meat,  bottled v8 juice. a box of beef bone broth, and water.  You can add more water during the cooking process if you think the soup  is getting cooked down too much. .   Later, when it’s about an hour from dinner time, I’ll add  carrots,  potato chunks,  and perhaps some  cut up cabbage.  Green beans and corn are also  optional, so I haven’t put them in the recipe .  Some store bought French bread will round out the meal.

I don’t strictly follow  a recipe, but this may  give you some guidelines.

Vegetable Beef Soup

INGREDIENTS:

2 T olive oi

½ cup chopped celery

½ cup chopped onion

½ pound  beef stew meat

3 cups v8Juice

2  cups beef bone broth

1 cup water

1 bay leaf

1 carrot, scrapped and chopped

2 potatoes peeled and diced

1 cup of chopped Cabbage leaves(optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Saute the celery and onions in olive oil  until translucent.  Add the beef stew meat and  sear a few minutes until brown. Stir in the V 8 juice, bone broth,  water and bay leaf. .  Simmer for 2 hours.  Add the carrots and potatoes;  simmer another half an hour until all are tender.  About 10 minutes before you turn off the heat, , add the cabbage leaves. Remove the bay leaf.  Makes 2 or 3 servings, depending on your appetite.

Store any left over in the frig.  By now, the flavors have blended overnight and the soup tastes even better the next day.

Have a happy, healthy new year!