1 SEPTEMBER
I rang my NON neurotic cousin Eric, who lives in Edinburgh. He's going to go to the National Archives of Scotland in person to search for birth/death certificates. I've emailed all the necessary details to him via his daughter. He doesn't have a computer. He's happy to do this... he's intrigued now *S*
I told Jennifer (by email) that I have someone who will be doing the search for me BUT I didn't tell her it's Eric otherwise she wouldn't leave him alone.... she'd be on the phone every day asking "what's the hold up". I don't want to do that to him. If she calls him I told him to say nothing... plead ignorance....
Apparently she also phoned him after she rang my uncle... she didn't tell me that!!!! He knew less than me. He knew there was a child less than 3 when she died but didn't know who she belonged to.
I did find out something interesting when I was talking to a person at the National Archives.....
It seems if twins are born, a notation "Twin" is entered on each of their birth certificates. There is NO "Twin" notation on mine.
So now I'll just have to wait and see what Eric finds out. So will Jennifer *S*
Now I can get on with Artistry stuff in peace until I hear from him.
I'm off to bed... it's almost 4am Tuesday here.
4 SEPTEMBER
It's almost 1am Friday here... I'm off to bed shortly since we are leaving at 7:30am for the 300km drive to the specialist... finally, have to be there by 11am. Jason is getting a car from work... Jared and Hayden are going with us since neither of them have school today... Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Update on the baby saga...
My cousin's son, Sean, went to the Scotland's People site and paid to search the site...
The child IS Jennifer's mother's. She was 17 when she had her, unmarried...
They are having birth and death certificates sent.
Sean paid $200 to do the search because he thought it was going to take him a while to get the information. Since he has no use for the membership any more he is going to give me his password so I can do searches for a couple of members of my family tree. It lasts 3 months. I can make good use of it. *S* That's their way of apologising to me.
Jennifer called and personally apologised to me for calling me a liar.
Can't remember if I told you that she called my uncle (Jack) in Scotland at 2 in the morning, before she found out the truth. She asked him who the child belonged to and he insisted she was MY sister! Well, when she saw the truth for herself, she called him back and asked why HE had lied. He said to protect her mother! She asked him why her would protect one of his sisters and slander his other sister... he hung up! She won't be calling him again.
I told her HE was a liar, but she wouldn't believe me... she believes me now.
She's not going to mention it again to her mother. She's too old and sick and doesn't need to be hassled about it. She probably still hurts in her heart for the loss of her child.
5 SEPTEMBER
Well, we left at 7:30am... on time... Jason borrowed a car from work because Jared and Hayden came with us, no school yesterday. The kids kept bugging me asking if I needed to relieve myself! They weren't concerned for my welfare, they wanted FOOD!!! LOL!!! We did stop for a snack on the way, so that shut them up. *S*
The Jason missed the turn we were supposed to take off the highway.. MEN!!! I said take the next and we can still get to our destination. He did and headed back to Maroochydore. I tried to tell him where to turn off, he thought I was wrong.. HMMMPH! To cut a long story short and him finally taking direction from ME, after 20 minutes we got to the right street again. Pulled into a medical centre and I asked where the place was I was looking for. Across the road!! Couldn't see it for trees around the parking lot. We arrived with 10 minutes to spare!! Don't ask me how we managed that.
The doctor was really nice, but her hands were tied by government red tape re the Humira. Because the medication is so expensive even though it has been put on the Pharmaceutical Benefits list, patients have to have tried Methotrexate and Arava first... I think she said only 800 people in the whole country have been given Humira.
I was on Methotrexate for 5 years but ended up getting a rash from it so had to change medication. The Arava I haven't used before so she prescribed it. She also told me if I have a reaction to it I have to contact her right away and we will then get the Humira. She didn't exactly say "I should get diarrhoea"..but the hint was obvious enough and I should make an appointment to see her as soon as possible. She also hinted at "dry mouth" and tiredness or fatigue.
So, in a couple of weeks I'll be suffering from diarrhoea and fatigue. *S*
The fact that I also have psoriasis is in my favour because she can list me as having Psoriatic Arthritis instead of Rheumatoid Arthritis... another government stipulation. This is the first time I've been thankful that I have psoriasis.
Isn't it great.... our Federal Minister for Health has no medical background... her background is LAW! Yet she makes decisions as to what medications we should be allowed.
Anyway, in a couple of weeks I'll be back to see the doctor with my 'new ailments' and I'll be put on the Humira.
So the trip was semi successful.
At least Jason won't need to be directed the next time!!! LOL!!
6 SEPTEMBER
I forgot to mention re the trip to the specialist....
A pleasant surprise...
Prior to going to the specialist I was told it could cost between $172.50 and $250 .00 for the appointment. I'd get the majority of this back once I present the receipt to Medicare.
I spent well over half an hour with the doctor. When finished I went to receptionist to make next appointment and pay the costs. I didn't have to pay a cent!!!! They put the whole cost on Medicare! That saved me at least $50 and a lot of running around when I got home organising a refund.
Some of you have asked about our National Health System since Obama is pushing for this in the U.S.
This is my view on our system.
Here in Australia people in the workforce and cashed up (superannuated) retirees have the option to belong to a Health Fund (Insurance) which is supposed to afford them priority (elective) service when they need medical assistance. Those who opt not to join a health fund (in the workforce) have a small percentage of their salary deducted which is paid in to Medicare. When I was working, (many moons ago) because I never had the need for any major health assistance (I was totally healthy until October 2001) I opted to have I think it was 1% or 2% of my salary paid into Medicare instead of paying out $800 a year for insurance that I would never use. I was young and healthy...
With pensioners (aged & disabled) who are not 'cashed up' there is no charge for Medicare. They get scripts that are on the Pharmaceutical Benefits for $5.30, or if they opt for a generic brand, scripts can cost only $4.70. I've had scripts where the full price could be $20 or more and still only pay $5.30.
When seeking attention, especially from specialists, we have one major problem.... lack of local specialists and lack of qualified doctors in hospitals. Now we also have lack of bed space in hospitals, especially here in Queensland because our state government has not allocated enough money into the hospital system. There is talk of the Federal Government taking over but that's only talk at the moment.
I live in a city with only a population of 45,000 which can explode to around 100,000 or more during holiday seasons and we get a huge amount of backpackers who visit at all times of the year, especially in Whale Watch season (August to November). So you can see this would put a great deal of pressure on our local doctors and our local hospital emergency department. (Puts pressure on the locals finding parking spaces at shopping centres too during holidays!! *S*)
HOWEVER, during the last couple of years of my mother's life, even with her being an aged (non - cashed up)pensioner, she got wonderful treatment. She was 82 when she passed away. She had angina which was controlled by medication for many years but it worsened towards the end. She was flown to one of our major hospitals in Brisbane by our Flying Doctor Service (at no cost) for an angiogram but it turned out she wouldn't have been physically able to cope with the surgery. She was flown back to Hervey Bay (at no cost) a week later. Her week stay in the Brisbane hospital cost nothing. Her 3 admissions to our local hospital cost nothing.
Again, for her last 18 or so months she was provided with (at no cost) an oxygen machine which she used periodically to start with but towards the end more and more. We were given a $70 reduction on our quarterly electricity account to help with the cost of running the machine. She was also provided with a wheel chair during the last couple of months (at no cost). If she had needed any other equipment it would have been provided at no cost.
Australia is a huge Island/Country/Continent settled mainly around the coast with only 7 major cities, a number of minor cities and a lot of country towns. We are around the same size in area as the United States but only have a population of around 22 million. Those who live in country towns have to be flown to major cities for major operations... Thank God for the Flying Doctor Service (which relies a great deal on donations to keep running). We also have "Angel Flights" for country children who need to go to a major city hospital.
Personally I think the major problem in this country is that we have both in Federal and State government Ministers holding the Health portfolios who have no medical background. Our State Health Minister, Paul Lucas, holds the degrees of Bachelor of Economics, Bachelor of Laws, and Master of Business Administration. He formerly held the Minister of Transport and Main Roads and Minister for Infrastructure & Planning portfolios.
Our Federal Health Minister, Nicola Roxon has no medical background. She has a First Class Honours Law degree and Arts degree from Melbourne University. She won the Supreme Court Prize for top law graduate in 1990. Prior to entering parliament, Nicola Roxon worked as a Senior Associate at law firm, a Judge's Associate with a High Court Justice, and an Industrial Officer with the National Union of Workers. Not exactly a 'health' background.
Nicola Roxon has no experience with any form of arthritis, yet she has the authority to stipulate what medications arthritic patients can be permitted to have available to them. The fact that arthritis specialists have the knowledge of patients needs, severity of their problems and which medication could give them relief means nothing to her.
From personal experience, when push comes to shove our system works. All I have to do to get the medication that I want (Humira) is to dream up some side effects (if I actually don't experience any) after taking the Arava for a couple of weeks. I don't like lying.... but in this case, if it means I can have a semi normal life... I will. AND... the ARAVA won't relieve my psoriasis problem, where the HUMIRA will. After all I'll be putting myself on the same level as our politicians... they're all liars and fence sitters!
I believe the Health System in Canada is similar... we're both based on the British National Health system, I may be wrong so don't take this statement as gospel.
I've read a little about the proposed Health system for the U.S. I can see huge flaws. We take care of OUR elderly. There needs to be a great deal more discussion. I really don't want to get involved in the political situation re health in the U.S. The only reason for this email is that I was asked how the system works here.
Finally, if we could get more doctors, more hospital funding, our system would be fine. There is also talk of including dental problems in the system since much of our general health relies on healthy teeth.
I hope this information, from my own personal experience helps those who asked about the Australian National Health System. I know I frown on political discussions in this group as everyone is entitled to their own beliefs whether we agree with them or not. But I don't think this is a political discussion, just information... *S*
Remember this sweet little kitten we got back at the end of March????
Well... it has some new tricks in it's repertoire!!
This is one of them!
Jason has a better pic but I don't have time to wait for him to put it on computer.
He thinks he's a monkey!! He knows this upsets me but he doesn't give a hoot!! LOL!!
I think he likes to hear me yelling threats!
He also 'fetches' like a dog.... and flies like a bird....
I can be sitting quietly watching TV and he'll fly past my face from out of nowhere, without warning.
He can be outside for hours YET comes inside to go to the toilet in his kitty litter!!! WEIRD!!
Keeps us on our toes!! *S*
It's Father's Day here today, so I'll be back and forth to my computer.
14 SEPTEMBER
Looks like I have another potential criminal in my family!! LOL!!!
I went to get some vegetables last Saturday. I told Jason he could come in with me and help because I wasn't going to be long. He dropped me off and went to park the car.
I did the shopping... no Jason... went through the checkout... no Jason... packed the bags... no Jason...
Took the trolley out to the car park. Fortunately he was parked where I could see him.
I asked why he didn't come in to help... he apologised.... BUT he was busy breaking into a car!!
Apparently a woman parked next to him had locked her keys in her car. She asked him if he could break in for her.... he went off to the bins at the side of the store, found some flat plastic packing tape that had been thrown out... went back to her car and had it open in 2 seconds!! She was so appreciative! He told her not to leave anything valuable in her car since it was so easy to open... I'm surprised she didn't ask him if he was a 'professional"!! LOL!!!
Then a woman had pulled up on the other side of his car and seen him breaking into the car.... she was laughing... (we have tokens (or $2 coins) we use on the trolleys... that way they are always returned to the trolley rack and the store doesn't have to employ anyone to go around and collect them). Well, apparently her kids had removed her token from her key ring... she was searching for $2 in change so she could exchange it for a coin from Jason. She didn't have enough change... Jason jokingly said a $20 bill would do!! He gave her a $2 coin for nothing.
So... by leaving me high and dry he'd been a good Samaritan to 2 other ladies... I forgave him *S*
1 OCTOBER
What a crappy week or so I've had! I panic when things go wrong because I end up so far behind with everything.
Jason has been fiddling with my computer on and off for a week or more when he hasn't been working or fishing (fishing was unsuccessful). He has it going again.. Not like I would be happy about, but I'm on the air at least. Pages are slow loading.
I need more space, want to get an external hard drive, but after paying $2200 for rates and have a $1000 bill due this month for Household insurance I'm going to have to wait and make do with what I have for a while. Great isn't it... it will only cost me $160 but have other priorities.
Of course not getting on my computer left time free for other things... like housework! What a stupid idea! I wrecked myself... then I decided to rake the leaves in the back yard since I had vacuumed and didn't want them being walked in after my hard work. Washed the paths... we had the dregs of the dust storm that hit Sydney and Brisbane. Fortunately not as bad as both cities. I can't complain at all when I watch the news and see the natural disasters around the world these past 2 weeks. Even though the raking messed up my wrists, I'm still thankful we've been lucky so far with Mother Nature. I suppose the politicians will blame it all on Climate Change! RUBBISH!
Listening to talk back radio yesterday I heard a gentleman spruiking about Enduring Powers of Attorney and how important it is to organise one. I felt the adrenalin going and I started to physically shake. It brought back horrendous memories of my dealings with the Guardianship Board and Office of the Protective Commissioner.
They suspended my Enduring Power of Attorney I had for my husband and made my life a total misery for 5 years. It's not worth the paper it's written on! I rang to talk to the talk back host but it would have taken too long to tell my story so I sent an email instead (this morning). He was getting ready to start his program but took time to email me to acknowledge receipt of my email and promised to read it after today's show.
I told him that I advise everyone to steer clear of Guardianship Boards, Public Trustees and Protective Offices if they intend to keep their funds and property within their families. I was within days of losing my home to them except for the fact that my husband passed away while I was procrastinating. That freed me from their clutches but left me with very little of the money that was supposed to support me for the rest of my days.
14 OCTOBER
Last week was another disaster for me ....
My head was all over the place.... I had all sorts of side effects from the Arava medication that the government insisted I try before getting the Humira. I ended up emailing the specialist and she told me to stop taking it. Her receptionist also rang me with a new appointment date... 22nd October (next week) and advised that I need a new referral since the one from the Hervey Bay specialist has expired. Apparently specialists referrals are only valid for 3 months but GPs referrals are valid for 12 months. So she suggested I contact my GP.
I rang my GP's surgery... I tried to explain to the dim witted receptionist that all I needed was for my doctor to fax a referral to the specialist... would she take the details or would she get my doctor to call me? She said she would do neither.. I would have to come in and see the doctor! I was furious! I told her the doctor has rung me at home before... I don't need her to ring right away... when she has time will do... She argued with me for 10 minutes and I could see I was getting nowhere with the idiot so I agreed to making an appointment for Tuesday (yesterday).
Then I spent time stewing over the argument with this upstart! I thought... "I'll get you!"
I sat and composed a letter to my GP explaining what had happened re the Arava, the fact that my appointment with the specialist had been brought forward and I was still on a cancellation list and could possibly get an even earlier appointment for which I would need the referral. Should this happen I wouldn't have time to get an appointment with her because they usually call the day before the appointment. I told her I tried to explain this to the receptionist but she wouldn't listen. I don't want any last minute stress, I have enough coping with the arthritis and psoriasis. I went on telling her that I didn't need arguments from receptionists either. Could she please fax a referral to the specialist?
I marked the envelope "Private, personal & confidential"!!! Got Jason to deliver it last Thursday morning on his way to work.
My GP rang me Thursday afternoon, late... there would be no need for me to go in to see her. She had faxed a referral to the specialist and had a hard copy that Jason could pick up from reception. Needless to say... I thanked her and asked why the receptionist couldn't follow simple instructions saving me a great deal of stress. She didn't have an answer...
Jason picked up the hard copy of the referral on Friday morning and cancelled my appointment for Tuesday (yesterday). Nobody crosses swords with Jamie and gets away with it...
Then twice in the last few days Jared has phoned at around 5pm saying he was having dinner at a friend's place! I've told him before "don't tell me at the last minute!!". I defrost something for dinner for the 3 of us and it can't be refrozen once it's thawed. So it's wasted. I can't afford to throw out perfectly good food!
He asked me the day before yesterday when I was going to do washing.... I told him when he finished water blasting the pathways! I heard the water blaster going so I did the washing. I should have waited until he'd finished... he did a $#!tty job! I could have done better myself even with my arthritic problems. I made the mistake of walking around what used to be a beautiful garden, out by the pool... I came in and cried... I couldn't believe the trash around the place. Jared and his friends have made the place a dump...they've ruined my garden furniture... Jason obviously could care less, all he cares about is his b!^^^y car! I also made the mistake opening the storage shed door... I couldn't get in to have a look... I feel SICK! I'm the only one who cares!
So I'm not in a real good mood. It's taking me a great deal of effort to keep quiet while I decide what to do.
29 OCTOBER
My life is so eventful ... unfortunately my own stupidity !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The trip to Maroochydore was a success.. we arrived 45 minutes early! So had a coffee and a muffin while we were waiting.
I'm back on Methotrexate (once a week), Folic Acid (once a week) and still on the Prednisone (5mg per day) for the next 3 months at least. The script for Humira has to be mailed to me from the Health Department in Tasmania... (The island state at the bottom of the east coast of Australia). It should be here some time during the next week. When I went in to see the nurse as to how to use the 'pen' injection I got Jason to come in with me. I think he's going to have to give me the first one because I'm not allowed to jump when it hits the skin or I may not get the full dose. The way my nerves are I don't trust myself just yet. Since each injection is worth $700 (though I won't pay that)I don't want to muck it up. It was also suggested that I leave the script with the chemist since if I misplaced it there would be an army of red tape to go through to get a replacement.
Even though the trip went well I was bushed by the time we got home. That was Thursday....On Friday... I went to get my refund for the doctor's appointment, get scripts filled and pay house insurance.Got home decided to hang new curtains in study..... I sometimes wonder what happened to my common sense!!!!! I had to stand on the bed to hang the curtains... all was fine until I was almost finished. Because the mattress is soft my ankles were not supported properly and they were hurting but I was determined to do what would be a simple job for anyone else... BIG MISTAKE!!! I ended up falling off the bed and hurting my shoulder and right arm! Of course no-one was home to help me up. I struggled for 10 or so minutes and finally got mobile but my arm was only feeling better yesterday.
Jared's computer isn't working, Thursday he needed work typed up for school, so he wrote out what he needed and I typed them up for him. I didn't want him messing with my computer... he may have been distracted and visited sites where he seems to find trojans.... that's what screwed up his computer. He was grateful for my help. Jason has been making meals until Tuesday night.... when I decided to take over again. Thank God I taught him well in the cooking department!! *S*
So this stubborn, independent, idiot is back on line again....
I've become an unreliable crackpot who knows better than try things without assistance.
I want to thank everyone who wrote to me about my last disaster, sympathising!!! LOL!!! (Wasn't that long ago....they're becoming too regular... have to pick up my socks and get my act together!!!! ) I now have so many emails in my Inbox it's physically impossible for me to answer them all... my OE might even explode because of the volume... not sure if there's any limit before it bombs out! *S* So I have to get busy and start deleting. I remember many moons ago only having 100 emails in my inbox... today I have exactly 1968... AAAAARGH!!!! If I hadn't checked my emails at the web site before downloading this total would have been well over 2500... EEEK!
I've 'booked' Jason to help me this afternoon to add PSP11 and PSP12 subscription options for the classes instead of them all being listed under PSP10. I could probably do it myself BUT with my recent track record for botching things up I don't want to take a chance...*S*
Going to the movies in a couple of hours... "Mao's Last Dancer". My friend Marj is dragging me out because she doesn't think I should be housebound.... Jason has gone to work. When we both get home we'll get stuck in to sorting the subscriptions.
"Be kind to each other"
Catch you next month *S*
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