Is ther a Cure for Health Care?

I some-times think that way to many of us take our "free" health care system for granted. I am fortunate enough that my children have a Pediatrician. As for Dw and myself...we've been through 3 doctors in 8 years and have currently been without one since 2007. We get by....

Carter got sick this week, and really sick Thursday night. He was complaining of an ear ache...no big deal, he could wait until morning. WRONG...it was like having a toddler in the house with an ear ache all over again. We were up every two hours and he was miserable. I don't think any of us got much sleep. I had to work a full shift in the morning and Dw only had half a day to put in, so we doped Mr.C up and hoped it would work until Dw could get him to a clinic. Dw was able to have Carter in and out of the walk-in and the prescription picked up with in an hour. The doc that looked at Carter said that his ear was really swollen and that we should watch for a rupture. Sure enough by the time I got home from work the ear drum had ruptured, and it wasn't pussy fluid it was all blood. Carter continued to complain of pain, usually after a rupture the pain subsides, not in our case.

I called the clinic that he had gone to earlier, told them what had happened and they said for me to take him to the hospital. Fine, no big deal. But Friday, at four o'clock in the middle of snow squalls, there was no way I was taking him to CHEO. At 4:10 in the afternoon we land in the emerge department of the Queensway Carleton Hospital. The triage nurse was very nice and she got our info and his vitals rather quickly. But that's as fast as things moved for the remainder of the night.

At eight, Carter was begging to go home, he was tired of waiting, tired of seeing other people who had been there shorter time being treated, he was frustrated and he was in pain.

I as frustrated. I was up set for my child and I made the decision to leave. I understand he was not a priority, but my goodness it was horrible, four and a half hours. I wouldn't have gone to the hospital but the clinic told me to take him there and not back to them. How bad is our health care system, that a nine year old begs to go home. Home we went. I gave him tylenol a dose of his antibiotic, made sure he drank some fluids and sent him off to bed. Of course, shortly after we left, they called his name. The reality...we would have sat and waited another hour or two in the cubical for the doctor to see him.

Carter is feeling better today, I will make an appointment for early in the week to take him to his doctor, just to make sure everything is okay. Dw and I had agreed that if things got any worse he would take Carter to the hospital in Almonte, where he would have been seen in about 20 min. Sad, that I would have to take him to a rural community hospital to get better service. Who says bigger is better.

I am sure we can all tell a similar story that tells the state of Ontario health care today. I hope that a cure for it will soon be found.

And Now...

Today, I find myself sitting in front of the computer trying to think of something to write about.........and yeah, pretty much nothing comes to mind. Life has been quiet lately and pretty much uneventful.I guess you could say I'm content.

Being content isn't a bad thing. I actually think it is a great thing. I am at peace with myself and others around me. I have this overwhelming feeling of closeness to DW that has seemed to just grow around us. We've always been close...he's my husband ,my best friend, my sole mate, yet there seems to be something new to our relationship. I know he feels it too. We aren't treating each other any differently but you can just feel it around us. We laugh more, joke more talk more. I guess this is what happens as a deep relationship grows and matures.

When I was seventeen, I told DW I was going to marry him some day...he told me I was the craziest girl he had ever met....12 years later and nine years of marriage, I was right and now I'm content....wow!

I sometimes miss the wild and crazy party girl I once was. Don't get me wrong, she is still in here, just a little older, a little more mature and very content with the way thngs turned out.

Milestone

Today is a day of many milestones. For some, they see Obama's Oath of Office as one, others, their baby's first smile.

"A milestone is a significant event or stage in the life, progress, development, or the like of a person, nation, etc."

We have all passed our own milestones and markers on this rode we call life. Everything from your first tooth, your first date, your first kiss, are all milestones along this journey. Some milestones are easier to bare that others. Some of them are even repetitive and turn into a solemn reminder of the ones we have loved and those we have lost.

A friend of mine is passing yet another milestone in her life today. She will continue to pass this marker every year. I cannot promise her that the pain will go away nor the loss she feels, but I can tell her, the wound does heel. Cherish the memories,the laughter, the happy times.



"Milestones are constructed to reassure travellers that the proper path is being followed"

In Need Of One Free Home Organizer......

Help. I need help. In many ways, yes I do need help. Today, however I am looking for something specific.....I need to organize my house. This might not sound so bad to you, let's just say I am over whelmed. I don't know where to start or what project I need to tackle first.

My house isn't dirty, it may be at times a little messy but WEhave a lot of stuff. I am somewhat of a pack rat, but I will part with things. I don't want to party with everything,'cause some day I wont be living in this 900 square foot house and I will need that stuff.

I think of a project I want to start, map out how to do it, what needs to be done and then I get butterflies in my stomach....and I just can't do it. It seems so overwhelming and daunting to me and I just give up and then, I feel frustrated.



It doesn't help that I have two rather large boys, a large dog and a big teddy bear for a husband. I think if push came to shove they would be more than willing to help, but I have to be the one pushing and shoving. Like I said I get overwhelmed and then just don't do it.

So what I need is free help form someone who is willing to help me pull my head out of the sand and get me on task, not just one day but for several. There are drawers to be cleaned out, closets to go through, rooms to rearrange. I need to paint, putty and do something with the floors. Did I mention the walls in my kitchen or the fact that I need to purge my cupboards.

Now that I look at that list, I just want to toss my hands up in the air and say I give....

I have plenty of time in the evening to do it, so time isn't a factor. It isn't a question of being lazy or even procrastinating (even though I am very good at that). It just feels like I am in the deep end I cannot get to the surface for air.

I will now go look at my list of things I need to do and pretend it doesn't exist.

These Boots Are Made for Walking.....

Every morning when I arrive at work, I go into the women's locker room, open my locker, take my shoes out, remove my boots and put my shoes on. I shut my locker, place my boots neatly in front of my locker, hang my coat up and proceed to the floor. Just after three, when my shift is over, I go the the locker room and my boots have moved. Not a an inch or two but about 10 feet away. This just doesn't happen once in a while but every freakin' day.

They are tossed amongst a bunch of other shoes and boots that belong to people who don't have lockers. (No,I don't have a problem with homeless shoes) I now have to find them. Usually, one is under the bench and the other is hidden by three shoes. Almost like it is playing hid and seek with me. I am not sure how or why this happens but it is really staring to get under my skin.

Do they sneak off to make out with other foot apparel when no one is looking? Are co-workers kicking them around? Do people just think that this is where I want them, instead of in front of my locker? Is there a ghost going around sniffing the boots and shoes then just tossing them around when he or she is done? Does someone have a shoe fetish that I am unaware of? I just don't get it.

Maybe it's the cleaning crew....

O-Kay, a word to the wise, when you move something to clean under it, put that it back where you found it.

I'm Back.....

The new year has come and gone and we are now half way through January.

Same old stuff going on at the Hawthorne abode. We tend to be a bit boring at times.

Zach has started this term off really well, doing homework,studying...I think some strange life form has taken over his body.

Carter is his normal self...9 going on 17. A mind full of questions that he already has the answers for. But he'll ask them anyway.(then tell you his answer)

DW is busy at work. For the first time in a very long time he is working on Friday mornings, but he is now home earlier in the evening, which is taking a bit to get used to. Not that this is a bad thing. When he was working the long days and no Fridays he wasn't getting home until shortly after 5, now he is home just before 4. That whole hour our makes a big difference. We are usually done eating and doing the dishes by 5:30. Last night, he even had the dog walked by 6pm and that usually doesn't occur until 7:30ish.

I have developed an addiction....my own personal heroin....Twilight.... Book one took four nights, book 2 took only 8 hours (over two nights). Book three has now come into my possession....guess what I'll be doing when I'm done here....

This evening I gave in and went to see the movie....all things considered, it was okay. I think you would truly need to read the book to understand the movie. It's not that movie missed anything, as there is only so much you can put into a two hours.

It was a good night, well except for the drive home, white out conditions and gusting winds are always fun. I went with Carrie, my "twilight" dealer. We opted for the 4:40 showing. Being cheep night we thought that this would be our best choice...right after work...smaller crowds,blah, blah blah....lol

Well, we arrived with 10 minutes to spare, sauntered up to the concession stand where I ordered the largest pop and popcorn you could and Carrie opted for the nacos and pop. We meander to our screen and start looking for seats...yeah there was only 8 other people in the room....I think we had our pick of seats. O-kay lets be realistic, the movie has been out for a while...it isn't going to be packed, even busy...I think all the 17 year olds in Ottawa have now now seen the movie, at least twice.

The movie is going along and we are enjoying it, making the odd comment (that is just sooo unusual for us)and right in the middle of the big fight seen, I lean over to Carrie and tell her the need I have to use the "little girls room" but that I can wait to the movie ends......not that i don't know what happens, I told you, it's like my own personal heroin ....a few moments later I starts to go all "Rainman", rocking back and forth, trying to kill the urge to go pee...like I said ...it's not like i don't know what happens. My teeth are floating, I have shifted in my seat a gazillion times and now I'm starting to sweat....real nice....
I kept comparing the movie to the book to figure out how much time I had left...needless to say I didn't get to see the credits nor the black and white artsy flashes from the movie....I missed the stampede out to of the room and b-lined it to the bathroom. Lesson learned from this whole adventure? Don't drink that much pop during a two hour movie again


PS I owe a big THANK YOU to Carrie for getting me to blog again. I just didn't feel up to it. It feels good to be back.