What About Medical Menus?

Why can't health providers post a list of prices like everybody else in business? Maybe that could infuse some real competition into health care. I'm not talking about insurance. Health care providers charge whatever they want. Insurance companies decide what they're willing pay, and we're stuck in the middle having to pick up the difference. We walk blindly into the doctor's office for help, and have no clue what we will be charged until we get the bill. Or that's the case with Scott and White in Central Texas.

I went to my dermatologist this past year to get checked for skin cancer, which I've done every year or two for a long time now because we have a history of melanoma in the family, so I try to be responsible about getting checked.

The year before I had a basal cell carcinoma shaved off my leg, which involved two office visits-- one to get checked, the second to come back and get the spot removed. That cost me over $500. So when another place showed up on my leg, I figured this would cost about the same thing.

I was wrong. Scott and White charged me $2,550 for the lab work. The dermatologist charged me  $579. This was for TWO office visits for minor procedures, not cosmetic surgery! I cried when I got the bill. At the time, I was living off my savings so I could take care of my mother, so I saw the $3,179 as costing me two months less time that I might need as her caregiver. 

A friend told me that her doctor occasionally froze things off, but that was included in her inexpensive office visit charge. I don't know how S&W came up with over $3,100 for two office visit procedures. When I wrote the dermatologist to tell her I couldn’t afford her anymore, she referred me to their financial office, saying that since I wasn't working, they might reduce my bill. Even though I had no income coming in, the fact that I still had money in savings and wasn't living on the street meant they denied my request. 

Who do we turn to when someone "legally" robs us? Even my insurance company was no help. They weren’t concerned when I told them S&W had way overcharged me; I hadn't reached my deductible so it was no skin off their backs. I actually tried to pay cash at the time of the service, but the office didn't do the billing so they had no clue what numbers S&W would pull out of the air. I'm insured, but I cannot afford even basic health care with Scott & White now when they charge such exorbitant fees. 

I used to go to a wonderful family of dermatologists in San Antonio, and I'm thinking about writing them a letter asking them what they'd charge for the equivalent services S&W charged me. I really don't want to drive the two hours to SA, but I can't afford to keep going here. 

Why can't health care providers post their costs for the different services so we can actually shop around before choosing? I feel like it's Russian Roulette now when I need medical services. I recently received a letter from the dermatologist saying I needed to come back to get checked, and I thought, "Are you kidding me?!!" I threw it in the trash. 

The Affordable Care Act is such a misnomer. It's not just about insurance or the lack thereof. What about the out-of-control medical charges? I can't afford to have any health issues now, even WITH insurance. 

Pocket Chart Menu Planner

How many times have you faced an empty pot with an empty brain at the end of a long day's work? My kids could tell you they ate a lot of goulash, tuna salad, and take-out during my teaching years because my brain couldn't seem to come up with a variety of meals each evening, much less a home-cooked one. One student told me that his mother never cooked anything at home; they had take-out every evening. Their food budget must've been astronomical. 

And some folks never learned to cook, but like anything else, it just takes a little practice. Some years ago when I was fretting over my lack of culinary skills in the kitchen, a dear cousin (Lee Ann, I'm talking about you) told me, "Just choose a few meals and learn to do them well." That took such a load off my mind to realize that I didn't have to know how to cook everything well to be a good cook.

I created this easy meal-planning kit using a simple pocket chart to display the main meal of the day, which for working folks is usually the evening meal. The cards do the thinking for you, and the ingredients included on the cards give you an easy way to create a grocery list. 

My 14-Day Meal Plan Pocket Chart hangs inside the pantry door

Why plan your meals?

• Saves money - take-out is expensive
• Saves brain power - a meal plan does the thinking for you at the end of a long day
• Saves time - means less time preparing dinner and less trips to the grocery store - I've reduced my grocery shopping to 2 or 3 times a month now, when I used to go every few days
• Your family eats better - you know exactly what ingredients are in the foods you prepare

I keep blank cards on hand to add new dishes when I need to; I color the top of the hand-written cards with a marker to match the type of dish of the pre-printed cards.

You can plan your meals for a week or two weeks, depending on the size of your pocket chart, which you provide. This 22 page digital kit contains: 

• Seven color-coded sheets (105 cards) of main dishes, starch/carb sides, & vegetable sides Basic pantry staples list
• Blank templates for additional cards
• Template for a one-meal card
• Days of the week & reminder cards
• An organized grocery list template - this has saved me so much time in the grocery store
• A cover design that can be personalized, recipe page template, and meal planner sheet for a custom recipe notebook you create that coordinates with the dishes listed on the pocket cards
• Tips for stretching the groceries and time between visits to the store
• Links to good recipe sites online

Spending a little time on meal planning every week or two can help you avoid the frustration of coming up with a home-cooked meal at the last minute, and not having to run to the store for the ingredients. Using a pocket chart system, the meal is already planned, the groceries are already on hand, and you just do it. 

The Pocket Chart Meal Planner is an inexpensive digital file available on Teachers Pay Teachers Web site.

Pretty Patties

My sister makes the prettiest hamburger patties before cooking them. Mine are never round, and often pieces fall off before they're finished cooking. But I finally came up with a way to make the nicest patties.

 Take a nice-size plastic container and cut about   an inch from the top to make a plastic ring.

Put a sheet of wax paper underneath where you'll be working to make the patties on. 

Put a fist-sized amount of ground beef in the ring, or more or less, depending on how thick you want your patties. Remember, depending on the percentage of fat content of the meat, the patty will cook down in size. 

Mash the hamburger meat to fully fill out the ring form; then pull the ring off. Ta-da!

Using a three and a half pound package of ground beef, I cooked a skillet of hamburger meat and chopped onions for tacos for supper tonight, and we didn't even use half of it. The remainder I stored in a zip-loc bag to make a goulash or casserole later. With the remainder of the package of ground beef, I cooked nine patties to freeze for quick lunches or suppers.

I used to hate buying bulk ground beef packages because I didn't want to have to divide it into smaller bags for the freezer, but I think I prefer to cook all of it and freeze it in different forms for quicker meals later. And it doesn't take that long, especially if you have two skillets going. : )

On Blog Hiatus

For the next few months, I plan to focus on finishing book 6, With Liberty and Justice, so future posts will be scanty... unless I'm about to burst about something that would apply to Beans, Means & Possible Dreams. : )

How to Enlarge Your House in Less Than 20 Minutes

Do you remember the old story about the woman who kept nagging her husband for a bigger house, so he started bringing the livestock in a little at a time. After a while, the house was so crowded that they could hardly move. The husband finally emptied the house, and it seemed so much bigger to the wife than before because he changed her perspective about it.

That's sort of what I did today. My 1,560 sq. ft. home seems cavernous now after virtually touring through tiny homes from less than 100 sq. ft. to up to a spacious 320 sq. ft. home on YouTube. It made me realize we have plenty of space in our current house; we just have too much unnecessary stuff. And we need to learn to be creative when it comes to storage.

Here are some of my favorites:

1. Living in 89 sq. ft. -  Jay Shafer of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company takes you on a tour. House located in California. Love the look of this tiny house.

Designer/Builder Jay Shafer in front of his tiny house

Photo from Itsrusticliving.blogspot.com 

2. Shotgun Shack Redux: Mortgage-free in 320 sf owned by Gary and Debra Jordan of Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Their son's "bedroom" is the loft.

Photo: http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/5-tiny-homes-youll-love-big-time.html

3. Tiny Texas House at the Homestead Cottages - this one is closer to home: Canyon Lake, Texas

Photo from hillcountryrelax.com

4. There is hope for the future! I'm so impressed with this 16 year old boy who's building his own small home to live in for college. The video shows his work-in-progress, and he's paying for it with his summer and part-time jobs.

Austin Hay showing the 130 sf home he is building

Photo from faircompanies.com

I'm not sure I would ever live in this small of a space if I had the choice, but it's nice to know there are these types of options if I had to drastically downsize financially. One thing I would have to learn to do is recognize what's important to hang onto in life, and let go of the things that aren't. That's been a struggle for me, but I'm getting better at it. Maybe that comes with age. And if you need some inspiration to de-clutter, it helps to watch Hoarding: Buried Alive occasionally to keep one's hoarding gene in check. 

We tend to think bigger is better, but bigger brings on a lot more maintenance, higher bills, and greater responsibilities. One thing I've enjoyed when it came to downsizing from a 2,800 sf home to my current 1,560 sf home is that I can clean the smaller home in a few hours versus taking all day to clean in the larger one. And that's like a gift of time to myself.

Toxic Vanity

Vanity is as old as the mammoth. W.L. George

I loved learning about Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen, when I was in London last August. I saw her tomb in Westminster Abbey with a full size effigy of her likeness atop it. Our guide told us the face was one of the few accurate likenesses of Elizabeth because it was created from the actual death mask. He said she never liked her nose and always had her portrait painters change it. I thought her face looked fine for a woman of almost seventy years of age. I don't know how accurate our tour guide's stories were, but they were interesting enough to make me want to learn more about England's fascinating history.

The following portrait was painted when Elizabeth was in her early sixties, and I would think that the artist painting the queen would attempt to flatter her with his efforts.  So we can only imagine what she might have actually looked like at that age.

Portrait of Elizabeth I attributed to Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger or his studio, ca. 1595. PD

The portrait below was painted five years after the previous painting, and it is attributed to two different artists, including Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. Bless his heart. Maybe he felt bad about his first painting. She's a knock-out in the this one, although they do call it an allegorical representation of the Queen. I would love for someone to do an allegorical representation of me.  

Elizabeth I. The "Rainbow Portrait", c. 1600, an allegorical representation of the Queen, become ageless in her old age. PD

Borrowed from Wikipedia

Our guide also told us (which I confirmed) that Elizabeth's face was scarred due to small pox, so she started wearing makeup, which then caused her hair to fall out because the cosmetics were laden with lead. But she had access to wigs and beautiful clothes and obedient portrait artists to compensate for her flaws. I remember thinking at the time that I was glad to be born in an age where makeup is safe to use, and we didn't have to worry about toxic ingredients possibly causing cancer or our hair to fall out, even though my hair is falling out. 

Then I heard a news report about the alarming amounts of lead in women's lipstick. And I told myself that was probably the cheap, unknown brands from China or other countries with less standards of safety. Then I stumbled upon some Websites that say most every well-known brand of makeup and toiletries available in the U.S. uses some toxic ingredients, including lead. 

What?

I did a search to find what cosmetics were made in the U.S., and I didn't find one company that I recognized among the very short list of cosmetics actually made in the U.S. 

I found the following Websites that might be worth looking into. 

http://www.safecosmetics.org/, which created the following Website where you can type in the products you use to see if they contain any questionable or harmful ingredients:

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

Cancer and auto-immune diseases are rampant in our culture today, and we need to pause and question if the products we're using or are exposed to in our environment could be related. Somebody else is looking at this, too.

http://www.breastcancerfund.org/reduce-your-risk/tips/choose-safe-cosmetics/

And check out this short video on The Story of Cosmetics:  

http://www.breastcancerfund.org/media/videos/story-of-cosmetics.html

For too much of my life, I've assumed others had my best interests at heart when it came to employers, financial advisors, health care providers, various companies, and even products I used. But getting burned multiple times is finally waking me up. We have to be our own advocates when it comes to our health and safety and stop sticking our heads in the sand assuming everything will be okay if we just don't think about it. 

Finding Strength & Peace

When Mom was diagnosed with ALS, we were devastated. We knew she'd been given a death sentence, and I was grasping for something to hold onto as it felt like I was sinking into a black hole. The day after her diagnosis, I started looking up verses in the Bible that might help us through this difficult time. As I found them, I wrote them on oval-shaped note pad papers and began taping them all over the house to remind us that we didn't face this disease alone. 

Mom told me those verses helped her more than anything else, so I wanted to share them:

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way, and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, [or though ALS visits our household]. Psalm 46:1-2

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor my covenant of peace be removed. Isaiah 54:10

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Jesus said, 'Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27

Perfect love drives out fear. I John 4:18b

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of the night. Psalm 91:1-5a

The Lord said, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' For when I am weak, then I am strong. [The Apostle Paul speaking] II Corinthians 12:9-10b

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, if anything is excellent or praise-worthy, think about such things. Put in practice what you learned in scripture, and the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:3-10

'Because she loves me,' says the Lord, 'I will rescue her; I will protect her, for she acknowledges my name. She will call upon me, and I will answer her; I will be with her in trouble, I will deliver her and honor her. With long life will I satisfy her and show her my salvation.' Psalm 91:14-16

And I added a few verses of my own:

We love you more than words can say, Momma, and we're with you every step of the way. I Family 1:1

We want to help you in any way we can, but remember, we're not good at reading minds, and sometimes we're downright dense, so please tell us what we can do for you; talk to us; let us be strong for you once (and a thousand times). I Family 1:2-3

We prayed for healing, but God chose not to miraculously heal Momma in her earthly body. After she lost her ability to speak, I would dream about Mom talking and wondered if God was still going to do something amazing like restore her speech or make her walk again. But He chose not to. So my prayers shifted to ask for strength and wisdom for Dad and me to help Mom with each new challenge the disease presented, and God did answer those prayers. And He gave us a peace within the midst of the storm.

 

The next few posts will share some of the ways and resources we used to help meet Mom's needs along the way.