Every spring seems to explode with fundraising events, everywhere. Relay for Life from the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, Komen Walk, Avon Walk, Pan Mass Challenge, local hospital 5K walk, etc. There are walks, rides, spinathons for everything under the sun these days. These are great events where funds are raised for awareness, a charity, or any number of other causes. They get people out to help others.
I have participated in a variety of these events in the past, volunteered with others, and helped coordinate others. They take a lot of effort to put together. They do a lot of good. But the question is where does the money go?
Chances are if its a national organization the money is going to help for a national awareness, research program, or something else outside of your community. Even at some local events the money ends up being spent elsewhere.
I think we always want to help our friends in their efforts to raise money. But we always should ask ourselves, where does the money go? Some large non profits can be thought of as fundraising machines. They have fundraising down pat. Their annual events raise a lot of money and do a lot of good.
But there are lots of smaller organizations right in your home town that shouldn't be overlooked as well. They can be a local no-kill shelter, support group program, children's bereavement center, etc. These types of local groups often are just as much in need of funds as the national organizations but don't have the budgets to be as organized as the national ones. As a result they are often overlooked by donors who get bombarded by the national organizations and skip the local ones.
Being a locavore means eating locally grown foods. How about trying to be a localdonor and giving locally instead of nationally to help the smaller organizations?
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Dont believe everything you read
Today is the day which has been predicted by some (little religious cult/Christian radio station who wanted to make headlines and blamed it on the bible) that the world would come to an end. Or maybe it won't. I'm voting for it not happening and I've got the Huffington Post on my side to prove it. I mean if the world was going to end:
- Why do we have milk that won't expire until tomorrow?
- Sarah Palin isn't president
- and the Mayans never said so
Go read the rest for some humor to start your day. A big case for not believing what you read.
Other things not to believe on the internet:
- Medical advice for any site which is selling a product to cure you.
- Medical details from non-medical professionals. Someone's blog (even mine), Facebook page, tweet, etc tell about their version of the medical adventure but that is only what happened to them. You are different. It may not work for you.
Anyway, I am cynical and tired this morning. I have a LOT to do this weekend - work related. My toe hurts. I went to a church dinner last night and ate some yummy home made food, aside from feeling fat as a result, my back hurts from sitting in a folding church. My antibiotics are playing games with my stomach and digestive system - I hate that. Oh, I am overscheduled. Is that news?
Today I have a non profit event this morning and am bringing almost everything for it. Afterwards I need to go to the office and drop off everything and get the materials ready for the next event next week end that I can't attend. Then I need to put in the final edits for a newsletter and produce it, put it up on the website and into electronic format to be distributed. I also need to get an updated copy of our database uploaded. Finally I have some paperwork to finish up. After all that I will go to the gym, the farm stand for vegetables and some annuals, and it will probably be dinner time.
That part is true. That is my day and its supposed to be a weekend where I can rest.
- Why do we have milk that won't expire until tomorrow?
- Sarah Palin isn't president
- and the Mayans never said so
Go read the rest for some humor to start your day. A big case for not believing what you read.
Other things not to believe on the internet:
- Medical advice for any site which is selling a product to cure you.
- Medical details from non-medical professionals. Someone's blog (even mine), Facebook page, tweet, etc tell about their version of the medical adventure but that is only what happened to them. You are different. It may not work for you.
Anyway, I am cynical and tired this morning. I have a LOT to do this weekend - work related. My toe hurts. I went to a church dinner last night and ate some yummy home made food, aside from feeling fat as a result, my back hurts from sitting in a folding church. My antibiotics are playing games with my stomach and digestive system - I hate that. Oh, I am overscheduled. Is that news?
Today I have a non profit event this morning and am bringing almost everything for it. Afterwards I need to go to the office and drop off everything and get the materials ready for the next event next week end that I can't attend. Then I need to put in the final edits for a newsletter and produce it, put it up on the website and into electronic format to be distributed. I also need to get an updated copy of our database uploaded. Finally I have some paperwork to finish up. After all that I will go to the gym, the farm stand for vegetables and some annuals, and it will probably be dinner time.
That part is true. That is my day and its supposed to be a weekend where I can rest.
Friday, May 20, 2011
The more I learn, the more I find how little medical science knows
Yesterday I saw the nurse practitioner that works with my breast surgeon for a follow up to my mammogram - which was last week but due to their scheduling mess up (they didn't see the note to schedule my appointment with her until I called and ask - second year in a row but I'm not cranky).
She asked how my health was and I told her 'well I'm seen by the pain clinic for back problems and bursitis in my hip, and I have PT for my knee and shots coming up, an infected toe, and tachycardia, and my thyroid levels might be out of whack' and she gave me one of those 'deer in the headlights' looks.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
I then added that in the past six months I have been going to first an exercise class and then a gym where I get help with a workout plan and in some ways my back has actually been feeling better. She said she used to work in the Pain Management department and they have so few resources to help with pain issues and there are so many areas where there is not much which can be done but exercise does help with controlling the pain. I pondered that and realized that yes that's probably the case because I have never been offered a lot of options - pain meds, injections, anti inflammatories, PT and ice packs.
This morning I found this article that says fewer cancer screening tests may be needed. The key word here is 'may'.New research is saying that some tests may prove to eliminate the need for other tests. But more studies are needed to figure out if this is really the case (another medical study to show the need for more medical studies).
How many times have I been told 'well we don't really know why some people get fill-in-the-blank ailment', they just do. My blood pressure issue was one of those - I come from a family with LOW blood pressure, I exercise and eat right (admitting to the occasional snuck in treat) and my blood pressure hasn't been cooperating.
Of course there is 'we don't really know why you got either cancer' - this is clear gap in medical knowledge. But that's another whiney blog post another day.
She asked how my health was and I told her 'well I'm seen by the pain clinic for back problems and bursitis in my hip, and I have PT for my knee and shots coming up, an infected toe, and tachycardia, and my thyroid levels might be out of whack' and she gave me one of those 'deer in the headlights' looks.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
I then added that in the past six months I have been going to first an exercise class and then a gym where I get help with a workout plan and in some ways my back has actually been feeling better. She said she used to work in the Pain Management department and they have so few resources to help with pain issues and there are so many areas where there is not much which can be done but exercise does help with controlling the pain. I pondered that and realized that yes that's probably the case because I have never been offered a lot of options - pain meds, injections, anti inflammatories, PT and ice packs.
This morning I found this article that says fewer cancer screening tests may be needed. The key word here is 'may'.New research is saying that some tests may prove to eliminate the need for other tests. But more studies are needed to figure out if this is really the case (another medical study to show the need for more medical studies).
How many times have I been told 'well we don't really know why some people get fill-in-the-blank ailment', they just do. My blood pressure issue was one of those - I come from a family with LOW blood pressure, I exercise and eat right (admitting to the occasional snuck in treat) and my blood pressure hasn't been cooperating.
Of course there is 'we don't really know why you got either cancer' - this is clear gap in medical knowledge. But that's another whiney blog post another day.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Yesterday was a bad day so apparently I am crabby
I had a bad day yesterday. It was long, eventful, stressful, and tiring. My husband keeps telling the cat to avoid me because I am being crabby - even though I fed the cat and made lunch for my husband.
Yesterday morning I woke up starving, wanting breakfast, and couldn't eat, even have coffee because I had a fasting blood test before my 830 doctor appointment. I got up, fed the cat and made lunch for my husband, and was starving. I finally took a shower before getting dressed. My big toe on my left foot has been bugging me for a few days so I took a look at it after getting out of the shower. It was infected. I mean there was (yucky) pus next to my toe nail. I don't consider that something one wants to see. Crap.
I went to the hospital for my blood test and grabbed coffee and a banana (as a crabbiness reduction attempt) and called my doctor's office to be seen the same day. I got a 915 am appointment which fit nicely after my previously scheduled 830 appointment. At my 830 appointment my meds therapist wanted to know why I didn't want to increase the dose of one of my meds. I said I prefer to take fewer instead of more medications and if I am doing fine at one dose then why change it? She thought I should increase it, I disagreed. Then I realized there were refills available at the original low dose that she had ordered previously. Call me cranky but I don't want more drugs.
Then I went off to see the doctor about my toe. Its infected - now that's news (I saw it). But she said I had gotten it before it went wild. So I have to soak it twice a day in warm water, keep it covered with bacitracin or something and a bandaid and take an antibiotic for the next 7 days. If its not better in a week, call back for a follow up with a podiatrist and he can cut away at my toe. Oh joy! That sounds like some much (not) fun!
On my way home from the hospital, I stopped at medical records to (stupidly) pick up my test results from all the tests I have had recently. They did have the results of my fasting blood test from that morning which was good. This is what I found out. My mammogram was fine - but I already knew that. My bone density scan shows that I am once again back in osteopenia land after successfully leaving it two years ago. I have lots of good cholesterol and only a little of bad cholesterol. I have my EKG but haven't deciphered it yet but my doctor said it was fine but fast. I want to figure out the notes from when they compared it to my last one.
Once I got home I realized that I had not received my full blood count test results. But since I have another appointment today I can stop by and get it - and then it showed up in the mail. That was full of all sorts of nice news such as my blood counts are finally returning to the pre-chemo levels. My thyroid levels are back into low normal but we are still adjusting them.
Then I worked from home, met a friend for coffee, stood in a giant line picking up three prescriptions and rushed to PT. After that I came home did more work and had a conference call for volunteer work for an hour when all I wanted to do was go to bed early.
So the result of yesterday is I have another prescription to take, 2 new issues - infected toe and osteopenia, and have a bruise from this week's blood test growing on top of the bruise from last week's blood test.
Maybe because it has now rained for 6 days in a row is why I am cranky. But I also would prefer to get healthy.
Yesterday morning I woke up starving, wanting breakfast, and couldn't eat, even have coffee because I had a fasting blood test before my 830 doctor appointment. I got up, fed the cat and made lunch for my husband, and was starving. I finally took a shower before getting dressed. My big toe on my left foot has been bugging me for a few days so I took a look at it after getting out of the shower. It was infected. I mean there was (yucky) pus next to my toe nail. I don't consider that something one wants to see. Crap.
I went to the hospital for my blood test and grabbed coffee and a banana (as a crabbiness reduction attempt) and called my doctor's office to be seen the same day. I got a 915 am appointment which fit nicely after my previously scheduled 830 appointment. At my 830 appointment my meds therapist wanted to know why I didn't want to increase the dose of one of my meds. I said I prefer to take fewer instead of more medications and if I am doing fine at one dose then why change it? She thought I should increase it, I disagreed. Then I realized there were refills available at the original low dose that she had ordered previously. Call me cranky but I don't want more drugs.
Then I went off to see the doctor about my toe. Its infected - now that's news (I saw it). But she said I had gotten it before it went wild. So I have to soak it twice a day in warm water, keep it covered with bacitracin or something and a bandaid and take an antibiotic for the next 7 days. If its not better in a week, call back for a follow up with a podiatrist and he can cut away at my toe. Oh joy! That sounds like some much (not) fun!
On my way home from the hospital, I stopped at medical records to (stupidly) pick up my test results from all the tests I have had recently. They did have the results of my fasting blood test from that morning which was good. This is what I found out. My mammogram was fine - but I already knew that. My bone density scan shows that I am once again back in osteopenia land after successfully leaving it two years ago. I have lots of good cholesterol and only a little of bad cholesterol. I have my EKG but haven't deciphered it yet but my doctor said it was fine but fast. I want to figure out the notes from when they compared it to my last one.
Once I got home I realized that I had not received my full blood count test results. But since I have another appointment today I can stop by and get it - and then it showed up in the mail. That was full of all sorts of nice news such as my blood counts are finally returning to the pre-chemo levels. My thyroid levels are back into low normal but we are still adjusting them.
Then I worked from home, met a friend for coffee, stood in a giant line picking up three prescriptions and rushed to PT. After that I came home did more work and had a conference call for volunteer work for an hour when all I wanted to do was go to bed early.
So the result of yesterday is I have another prescription to take, 2 new issues - infected toe and osteopenia, and have a bruise from this week's blood test growing on top of the bruise from last week's blood test.
Maybe because it has now rained for 6 days in a row is why I am cranky. But I also would prefer to get healthy.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Prescription privacy
Who's business is it on which medications you take? Apparently if you ask the pharmaceutical companies it is their business.
The article I cited is written by a doctor who would like to see doctors sign up with the AMA to prevent their prescription data being sold without their express permission. I am writing from the side of marketing and as a patient.
In the real (non medical) world I do marketing for a living. In a perfect marketing world, for every mailing that went out, there would be a sale. But that isn't how it works - we all open our mail over the shredder and hit delete on our email without reading it. So pharmaceutical companies use the prescription data - from pharmacies with the patient names but not the doctor names removed - to refine their marketing. It is in their interest to promote newer medications which are still patent protected and will reap the larger profits.
As a marketer, I can see the value of knowing doctor prescribing patterns. A doctor who prescribes new medications and tests regularly is a good target for marketing of new items. But a doctor who isn't as receptive to change, is not. Also, the data will tell pharma companies what kind of patients the doctor really treats - also very valuable. This is the dream of marketers - to find out what people really prescribe so they can target their efforts.
As a patient, I don't really care what the pharmaceutical companies thinks or what marketers want. I want the doctor to prescribe what I really need not what the marketers from the pharma companies want them to prescribe.
The article I cited is written by a doctor who would like to see doctors sign up with the AMA to prevent their prescription data being sold without their express permission. I am writing from the side of marketing and as a patient.
In the real (non medical) world I do marketing for a living. In a perfect marketing world, for every mailing that went out, there would be a sale. But that isn't how it works - we all open our mail over the shredder and hit delete on our email without reading it. So pharmaceutical companies use the prescription data - from pharmacies with the patient names but not the doctor names removed - to refine their marketing. It is in their interest to promote newer medications which are still patent protected and will reap the larger profits.
As a marketer, I can see the value of knowing doctor prescribing patterns. A doctor who prescribes new medications and tests regularly is a good target for marketing of new items. But a doctor who isn't as receptive to change, is not. Also, the data will tell pharma companies what kind of patients the doctor really treats - also very valuable. This is the dream of marketers - to find out what people really prescribe so they can target their efforts.
As a patient, I don't really care what the pharmaceutical companies thinks or what marketers want. I want the doctor to prescribe what I really need not what the marketers from the pharma companies want them to prescribe.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
I am lacking inspiration this morning
I can't come up with anything to write about today. Its the third damp and cold rainy day in a row and I believe we have four more to come. Maybe I need some warm weather and sunshine? I don't know. I'm tired, I didn't sleep well (again). I am trying to motivate to go to the gym so maybe I'll get nice and warm and partially wake up. But that would require getting my butt out of bed, where I am comfy.
Today I will not spend a lot of time dealing with my health other than pretending I am coordinated enough to do the exercises from my physical therapist. I got some new ones yesterday and asked her which ones I should be doing of the dozens she has previously given me.
The new exercises I have are these three:
- Stand on my left leg, holding on to something with my left hand (so I don't fall on my face), and bend over and touch my left toe with my right hand and raise my right leg straight behind me. Do two sets of 12.
- Sit on a table and attach a weighted band with a 7.5 pound weight to my left ankle and pull my foot back as far as I can. Do two sets of 12.
- Single leg bridges. You know what a regular bridge is where you lie on your back with your feet flat, knees bent and raise your hips. Well try it on one leg, with the other leg out straight. Do two sets of 12.
And do this twice a day. I can't wait. I have to figure out how to do the one with the weighted band at home since I am not going to the gym twice a day.
Now I am unmotivated to go to the gym. I could opt for plan B and do some work from home and then go to the gym. I'll figure it out but maybe start with breakfast first.
Today I will not spend a lot of time dealing with my health other than pretending I am coordinated enough to do the exercises from my physical therapist. I got some new ones yesterday and asked her which ones I should be doing of the dozens she has previously given me.
The new exercises I have are these three:
- Stand on my left leg, holding on to something with my left hand (so I don't fall on my face), and bend over and touch my left toe with my right hand and raise my right leg straight behind me. Do two sets of 12.
- Sit on a table and attach a weighted band with a 7.5 pound weight to my left ankle and pull my foot back as far as I can. Do two sets of 12.
- Single leg bridges. You know what a regular bridge is where you lie on your back with your feet flat, knees bent and raise your hips. Well try it on one leg, with the other leg out straight. Do two sets of 12.
And do this twice a day. I can't wait. I have to figure out how to do the one with the weighted band at home since I am not going to the gym twice a day.
Now I am unmotivated to go to the gym. I could opt for plan B and do some work from home and then go to the gym. I'll figure it out but maybe start with breakfast first.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Technology and health
New technology comes along all the time. I usually am not one to jump on the bandwagon right away. Maybe I'm slow but actually I think its because I am cheap. Do I really want to spend money on things I may never use? I mean I have enough UFOs (Unfinished Objects) in my house already - half-knit and half-crocheted items, plans to rearrange the living room, spring cleaning, paint the kitchen, etc. - do I really need something new that will suck up more of my time that could be spent catching up on my DVR'd TV shows?
I am contemplating a color Nook from B&N. It looks pretty cool but I will have to think for a few months if I would ever use it. And what would I do with all the books I already own? And what about the joys of going to a bookstore and browsing - a favorite rainy day activity? But I will ponder this for a while.
A few years ago, I joined the smart phone groupies and got myself a Samsung smart phone from AT&T. I know its smart because its smarter than me - it does things that I don't understand and I know I don't use all its capabilities. I am sure it can do more for me. I still keep my calendar in Outlook on my less-and-less-frequently used desktop computer - not even on my laptop, never mind my phone. With my medical appointments it would be an epic undertaking to move over everything but I might need to bite the bullet on this one.
Now it turns out my smart phone isn't smart enough. There are all these medical applications that might help keep me healthier. But I don't think my phone can use these because they are for iPhones, Droids, and Blackberrys.
So if I want to use these apps, I need to upgrade my phone... So why should I move my calendar over to my phone if I'm about to upgrade it? Do I really need a smart phone if I am going to get a color Nook where I can surf the web? This is turning into a technological overload which might cause me to have more health issues. Maybe I'll just keep reading the newspaper that is delivered to the front door daily.
I am contemplating a color Nook from B&N. It looks pretty cool but I will have to think for a few months if I would ever use it. And what would I do with all the books I already own? And what about the joys of going to a bookstore and browsing - a favorite rainy day activity? But I will ponder this for a while.
A few years ago, I joined the smart phone groupies and got myself a Samsung smart phone from AT&T. I know its smart because its smarter than me - it does things that I don't understand and I know I don't use all its capabilities. I am sure it can do more for me. I still keep my calendar in Outlook on my less-and-less-frequently used desktop computer - not even on my laptop, never mind my phone. With my medical appointments it would be an epic undertaking to move over everything but I might need to bite the bullet on this one.
Now it turns out my smart phone isn't smart enough. There are all these medical applications that might help keep me healthier. But I don't think my phone can use these because they are for iPhones, Droids, and Blackberrys.
So if I want to use these apps, I need to upgrade my phone... So why should I move my calendar over to my phone if I'm about to upgrade it? Do I really need a smart phone if I am going to get a color Nook where I can surf the web? This is turning into a technological overload which might cause me to have more health issues. Maybe I'll just keep reading the newspaper that is delivered to the front door daily.
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