Just Joyce

Drama at the Dermatologist

A few weeks ago I noticed a rough spot on my shoulder.  A look in the mirror revealed a brown spot, larger than the tip of an eraser.    After thinking about it for a few days, I finally called the dermatologist and made an appointment.  I also made an appointment for my husband.

Better safe than sorry, as they say.  Especially since we lost a wonderful friend to melanoma in 2007. 

In addition to that, my husband has had several cases of skin cancer on his face and back.  Nothing that liquid nitrogen or minor surgery didn't remove, but still, it was skin cancer.  His father had skin cancer on his face, too, so it's definitely something he needs to stay on top of.

We showed up today for our appointment.  Turns out that mine was nothing to worry about.   Eddie wasn't quite so lucky.  I cringed as they fired up the liquid nitrogen to treat EIGHT places on his face and head, and one on his back.  The one on his back concerns me because he used to have a larger spot that was there for years.  They removed it a few years ago, but this new, raw patch adjoins the scar from the original one.

The worst thing about this trip to the doctor was stepping on the scales.  I don't know how I could manage to gain 30 pounds and still be wearing the same clothes, but there's definitely something wrong somewhere!    A year ago, on another doctor's scales,  I weighed 118.   A year ago, on my scales at home, I weighed 120.   I know I've gained some weight, but on those same scales at home this morning, I weighed 130.   This evil doctor's scales said I weighed 147.  I'm sure I didn't gain 17 pounds since I got up this morning.  It HAS to be the scales, doesn't it?    I demand a recount!

Safety Pins in the Rice

If you’ve ever been to a baby shower, you might have played the “safety pins in the rice bowl” game.   The player is handed a mixing bowl full of rice with safety pins in it.  The object of the game is for the player to find safety pins among the tiny pieces of rice - with her eyes closed.   The player who finds the most safety pins is the winner.

 

Saturday I arrived fashionably late for a shower, hoping I had missed the games.  Come to find out, most of the ladies had just arrived, and the games hadn’t even begun!  When the host pulled out the big bowl of rice, I gasped.  “Haven’t you heard there’s a shortage on rice”?   She happily told me if I wanted to take the rice home with me, I was welcome to do so.     I declined, knowing I didn’t want to eat rice that we’d all run our hands through.  How gross is that?

 

This rice shortage is serious business, though.  If you shop for groceries, you know that the prices on just about everything have gone up.  I just paid two dollars for a lousy bag of frozen corn.  A year ago I could have bought it for about half that price.  Milk is close to four dollars where I live.   Part of the reason for this increase is the cost of gasoline.    Someone has to pay for it when it costs more to get it from Point A to Point B, and that someone is going to be YOU. 

 

While Costco is reportedly putting a limit on the number of 100 lb bags you can buy, or allowing you to buy no more than you generally do, I was curious to see if they were putting limits on brown rice.  I haven’t cooked white rice in my home for years because I prefer brown rice.  I never see brown rice in 100 lb bags, and the reason for that is that it’s the real deal and it will go rancid if not stored properly.  White rice has been depleted of most, if not all nutrients, and is basically starch.   On today’s trip to Costco, I bought six containers of brown rice and there was plenty more on the shelf.  I didn’t buy more because I didn’t want to contribute to the shortage, but you can bet that the next time I go back, I’ll buy six more.

 

My church has been encouraging us for years to have a hefty supply of food to sustain our families.  Most people think this is to keep us alive when the end of the world comes, but when that time comes, I don’t think food is going to help!   Now, when food prices are going up and the staples (rice, wheat, and corn)  are becoming scarce, it makes you realize that maybe you should have listened.

 

Would you be prepared if a disaster hit your area?    What kind of a disaster are you waiting for?

 

I remember when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans.  Soon after, we had our own crisis in Houston with Hurricane Rita, and after watching what happened to residents of New Orleans, you can bet that we did everything we could to be prepared!    We bought food that could be eaten out of a can hot or cold.   We bought extra cases of water.  We filled up the gas tanks in our cars.  We boarded up our windows. 

 

We decided not to evacuate, but once the hurricane hit, much of the city was without electricity.  That meant we couldn’t pump gas or access ATM machines.   There was a lot of chaos around here until that electricity started flowing again.

 

Do we need another catastrophe to get prepared?

 

I sure hope not. 

 

Of course, now that the media is reporting food shortages, if we all run out and buy loads of it, we will create a shortage for others.  However, when you’re going to the grocery store, buy a few extras.  Instead of buying one can of tuna, buy five or six.  Instead of buying one bag of rice, buy two or three. 

 

The government started mailing out economic stimulus checks this week in hopes that we will spend the money and help the economy.    I heard on the news today that a large percentage of people plan to save their money.   One of the smartest things you could do is spend it on food.   Put that money back into circulation by filling your pantry.  Kroger grocery stores will add 10% to the value of rebate checks when customers use them in $300 increments to buy Kroger gift cards.

 

And Supervalu - the parent company of Albertsons, Jewel-Osco, Shop 'n Save and other grocery chains, says that if you put your tax rebate check on a gift card, you'll get an extra $30 for every $300 in rebate checks.    http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/28/pf/saving/toptips/?postversion=2008042812

 

By investing in the gift cards, you not only increase the value of that $1200 check to $1320,  but at my Kroger, you save even more when you use the Kroger gift cards to pay for gasoline.   With gasoline at about $3.50 a gallon around here, that’s definitely something to consider.

 

We all want to have money in the bank, and we should all have an emergency fund, but if you've ever been hungry, you know there's no better feeling than having a pantry stocked with food.    Why not buy it now before the prices climb even higher?

 

Now all we need to do is find something besides rice to hide those safety pins in!

 

You Can't Admit Me - I Have Jimmy Buffett Tickets!

You Can't  Admit Me - I Have Jimmy Buffett Tickets!
by:  Joyce Moseley Pierce

 

Monday morning we were in San Antonio on the final day of our annual family reunion.  We spent four days with my husband's five siblings and had a great time together.  We spent one day at Sea World, sat in the splash zone for Shamu, and got soaked on all of the water rides.   We laughed, appreciating having fun without using grandkids as our excuse for being there. 

 

When I got up on Monday, it was just like any other day, or so I thought.  I showered, packed my bag, and went to the other room to talk to anyone else who was already up.  As I walked into the living room, I felt a pain in my chest that immediately spread up my neck and into my head.  It was a sensation I had never felt before.

 

Mary, my sister-in-law, noticed that something was different.  When I tried to describe what I was feeling, I could see the concern on her face.   When the pain didn't subside, I thought if I could just lie down, maybe I could relax it away.

 

By now, there was a crowd gathering.  My face turned white and my skin was clammy.  Someone asked if there was a blood pressure monitor in the house.  Another sister-in-law took my blood pressure and my pulse.  The blood pressure was high for me, but what concerned me was the pulse at 120!  Someone else asked if there was any baby aspirin.    They handed me four of them and told me to chew.  The pain went away right after that.

 

We didn't feel comfortable making the three hour drive to Houston without at least a medical opinion, so we said our good-byes and drove to the nearest hospital emergency room.  I learned that when you tell them you are having chest pains (or in my case, had experienced A Chest Pain) they pay attention.

 

They took me to a room and wanted my medical history.    They asked if I had a Medical Power of Attorney.  I told them I did, but as the day went on, I started to wonder about it.  I knew I had one, and I knew exactly where it was.  After all, I'm in the business of helping other people get these things organized.  As soon as I said I had one,  I started second guessing myself.   Did I have all the witnesses I needed?  Had I forgotten ANYthing?   It nagged at me throughout the day.

 

I told my husband where the Medical Power of Attorney was.    I told him all of our original documents were in my black binder, and because we were out of town, it was in the safe deposit box.  I told him where the keys to the safe deposit box were, but I could tell by the look on his face that this was information he did NOT want to need to know.    I reminded him that I didn't EVER want to be kept alive by artificial means, and yet I knew that it didn't matter what I said to him there in that room.  If I didn't have the Medical Power of Attorney completed correctly, it was useless.

 

They wanted to start the tests, but of course someone from billing had to come in first.  He took my insurance card and then came back wanting to know how I wanted to "take care of" the $5,000 deductible.  I asked him what he suggested, and he said that if I gave them $1,500, that should get them started.   

 

They tagged me, did a chest x-ray, drew blood, did an EKG, and I waited.  Next thing I know, the billing guy comes in and tells me they're going to admit me.    That's when I told him, "You can't admit me!  I have tickets for Jimmy Buffett in Houston tonight"!

 

Fortunately, I had a great nurse named Michael.  I think he must have been a Parrothead, because he did everything he could to get me through the system and out the door.

 

The doctor came back in and said if I would agree to a stress test, and if I passed, he would release me.  There was one cardiologist in the hospital who could do it that day.  I took the test, passed with flying colors, and as promised, they sent me home.  My only orders were to go home, check in with my doctor there, and start taking one baby aspirin a day.  Six hours later, there I was, in Margaritaville.  I might add that I was quite possibly the only sober person there, and only part of the handful NOT wearing a grass skirt or a cheeseburger hat.

 

On my way home from the concert,  I thought about what a great day it had been.   There had been a little kink in my plans earlier in the day, but when the night was over, I was sleeping in my own bed and not a hospital bed.   To go a step further, I was home and very much alive and healthy.

 

Today, I've made an appointment with my doctor to tell her about yesterday's incident.  I also took the time to review the Medical Power of Attorney.  Everything was in order, and thank goodness, right now it can just stay filed away!

 

What about you?  Are you prepared for ANY emergency?