Sunday, June 26, 2011
My Iphone 4 - I miss you!!!
Well I lost my Iphone 4 on Friday night and my life has not been the same. Since Friday I have learned about all the apps that help you locate your iphone when it is lost. Please know when I find my phone I will have it on my phone. Please pray that I find it soon.
Kaiser Permanente
This week I had my annual physical. It was my first one using a Kaiser health center. Last, October Kaiser no longer allowed me to choose a physician outside of their network. It took me until now to get over my discontent of managed care and to make an appointment for a physical. I tend to schedule one every 6 months because that is what the AMA advises and my insurance pays for it so if they pay for it must be something I should do.
Well my experience did not exceed my expectations. Unfortunately it made me realized even more why I do not support managed care providers. They were on time and I did not wait more than 5 minutes and I was actually early. That was a good thing. I go in put on the infamous examination gown. The doctor comes says hello and sits at the computer and starts asking me a list of uniform questions that I had already answered on the information sheet that I had completed and was clipped chart beside the computer. She never looked at it. I am steadily looking at her waiting for her to look at me. It does not happen. She then begins to examine me. No engaging conversation all very formal. And she still does not look at me. There is no eye contact. She performs the pap smear and she begins to leave and when she tells me she will be back to let me know the results of my urine test. I then follow up and tell her in my experience at a physical you do some blood work ( oh let me preface this by saying I had not fasted and could not take the glucose test however other test were up for grabs) to test for everyknown STD, my anemia that I am known to have and a number of other issues that I would think you should follow up on in response to the list of questions she asked at the beginning. Her response to me was 'based on your responses and at at certain age and based on your answers on your health behavior I did see the need for further blood test'. Are you serious. My first thought was I could just be telling you what is acceptable. You have not even taken the time to look at me to engage with me in my health. Who after while in that experience would feel comfortable telling their doctor they have more than one sexual partner, engage if illicit drug use, binge drink, never exercise and over eats all the time. Really!!!!!
So of course when she comes back and tell me my urine test was fine. Meaning you are not pregnant. Oh wow however I felt about that outcome she has no idea. She does not know that I may be devastated by that news, I could have been trying for months (please know that is not the case). But what if. And what if it was the complete opposite that I was pregnant and that would be some serious devastation however I would not based on how I was treated during course of the exam feel comfortable sharing that. I feel she failed to provide me the best health care that she was able to provide. Health is more than the absence of disease. It is my whole being.
This experience makes me think about the Health Care Form Act. It makes me question the benefit of the universal coverage if the quality of that care is as good as my experience with Kaiser a health insurance that I actually pay for. I am what I would consider a pretty informed person and tend to take an active role in my health through reading, asking and questioning decisions and recommendations made in regards to my health. What will happen to the person that comes into the office and says all the acceptable answers and an opportunity to reach him/her has been missed because you have not engaged them and they have only told you what they think you want to hear. They will end up not being any better off than if they did not have any health insurance in my opinion. I am all for universal coverage, my concern is making sure that care is beneficial to the recipient. At this point I do not think my care was as good as it needs to be or should be at Kaiser. I miss my former doctor who looked at me, engaged me, encouraged me and TALKED to me and LISTENED to me that is priceless. Kaiser I need you to be better.
Well my experience did not exceed my expectations. Unfortunately it made me realized even more why I do not support managed care providers. They were on time and I did not wait more than 5 minutes and I was actually early. That was a good thing. I go in put on the infamous examination gown. The doctor comes says hello and sits at the computer and starts asking me a list of uniform questions that I had already answered on the information sheet that I had completed and was clipped chart beside the computer. She never looked at it. I am steadily looking at her waiting for her to look at me. It does not happen. She then begins to examine me. No engaging conversation all very formal. And she still does not look at me. There is no eye contact. She performs the pap smear and she begins to leave and when she tells me she will be back to let me know the results of my urine test. I then follow up and tell her in my experience at a physical you do some blood work ( oh let me preface this by saying I had not fasted and could not take the glucose test however other test were up for grabs) to test for everyknown STD, my anemia that I am known to have and a number of other issues that I would think you should follow up on in response to the list of questions she asked at the beginning. Her response to me was 'based on your responses and at at certain age and based on your answers on your health behavior I did see the need for further blood test'. Are you serious. My first thought was I could just be telling you what is acceptable. You have not even taken the time to look at me to engage with me in my health. Who after while in that experience would feel comfortable telling their doctor they have more than one sexual partner, engage if illicit drug use, binge drink, never exercise and over eats all the time. Really!!!!!
So of course when she comes back and tell me my urine test was fine. Meaning you are not pregnant. Oh wow however I felt about that outcome she has no idea. She does not know that I may be devastated by that news, I could have been trying for months (please know that is not the case). But what if. And what if it was the complete opposite that I was pregnant and that would be some serious devastation however I would not based on how I was treated during course of the exam feel comfortable sharing that. I feel she failed to provide me the best health care that she was able to provide. Health is more than the absence of disease. It is my whole being.
This experience makes me think about the Health Care Form Act. It makes me question the benefit of the universal coverage if the quality of that care is as good as my experience with Kaiser a health insurance that I actually pay for. I am what I would consider a pretty informed person and tend to take an active role in my health through reading, asking and questioning decisions and recommendations made in regards to my health. What will happen to the person that comes into the office and says all the acceptable answers and an opportunity to reach him/her has been missed because you have not engaged them and they have only told you what they think you want to hear. They will end up not being any better off than if they did not have any health insurance in my opinion. I am all for universal coverage, my concern is making sure that care is beneficial to the recipient. At this point I do not think my care was as good as it needs to be or should be at Kaiser. I miss my former doctor who looked at me, engaged me, encouraged me and TALKED to me and LISTENED to me that is priceless. Kaiser I need you to be better.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
My June Bed
Sunday, June 05, 2011
My First Triathlon - COMPLETED
It has been on my bucket list for years to complete a triathlon. Well the last year of training came to test today despite my bike accident mentioned here and the resulting hip pain that I have had ever since but nothing that God, prayer and some good pain meds cannot handle, thanks Kaiser for the never ending supply. I participated in the My First Triathlon Triathlon today at Lake Lanier. Please know I am currently exhausted however I wanted to get my feeling down today because tomorrow they will not be as fresh and I would just end up putting up pictures with no text.
I stayed at Legacy Lodge at Lake Lanier. It was ok. Unless you are going up to Lake Lanier for a specific event it is not worth the expense to spend the night at Lake Lanier. I stayed there because I wanted to go up a day before and have my bearing on were everything was and not have to drive up the day of and go right into the triathlon. It worked out well. I woke up this morning and thought oh I need to eat something before I get this day started. The Gang (includes mom, Luther, Rodrecus, Katrina, Michael and Iwilda) brought me up some fruit which was all I needed. I actually never eat before I run, swim or bike so changing up the routine to much might not be that good.
I get my stuff laid out as the below picture depicts. It helped between transitioning from one event to the next. My number was 1123. I will never forget that. For my first triathlon my number was 1123. My number will be hanging out on my door cork board for months I project.
Also you can see I have a new bike in this pictures. I got it on Friday at Outback Bike once I realized my bike would not be repairable due to the bike accident I had a few weeks ago. I got my last bike there, they have awesome sales people and there have lifetime tune-ups on your bike, an added bonus. This bike is made my Marin Bikes. A company in the United States in Marin County across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I actually went there a few weeks ago while in San Francisco. I like buying made in the US and by a small business so it worked out well. This bike has two things that I like that my other bike did not have it has tire covers and an attachment to put my bag if I wanted to carry something along.
The first part of the triathlon was swimming 1/4 mile after having have to walk a 1/3 of a mile to get there in the sand. The water was pretty murky as you can see below. I was kicking people and people were kicking me in the beginning but as we thinned out it got better and went by pretty fast now that I think about it however when I was doing it I kept giving myself landmarks to get through to encourage myself along in addition to continually saying in my head I can do all things through Christ who give me strengths me - Philippians 4:13.
my mom and I before I got in the water
making sure the goggles are ready to go
my head on all in the water!
After the swim I had to go up few flights of stairs and a very steep hill, my hip (an injury that resulted from the accidented I mentioned here and I forgot to bring my paid meds, I am not looking forward to tommorow's soreness) decided to have a twinge but I got thru it to reach the transition area to get my bike. My dad was on the step watching me as I ran up. He has some pretty cool pictures that I will share later when he lets me borrow his memory card. What I had not trained for was putting on socks on wet feet with lots of sand on it and then putting on my shoes and bike helmet with any type of speed. I got through it.
The bike portion was the longest portion and the toughest on my hip, I am not looking forward to the soreness tommorow. The web site stated that there was only one major hill can I tell you there was a few MAJOR hills, I am thankful somebody created gear shifts. I remember growing up and my bike only had one shift my two feet pedaling it along or getting off the bike and walking along. Here is the gang waiting on me get back from the bike portion. It was 12 miles and I projected an hour and twenty minutes.
Now the run I have to say was easy and hard. Easy because I have been running 3 miles three days a week for the last 2 months thanks to my treadmill however hard because of the the sun and my hip injury. It had began to blaze and that adds a harder dimension to the run along with having just biked 12 miles. My time was 2 hours and 19 minutes per the sign however it is less than that because I did not start exactly at 8:00. I was in the last wave of swimmers to start and I think we started at about 8:30
see that hill
towards the end of the run!
can I say I have never had Powerade before but oh my goodness it was delicious. I had two of these I think I could have drank 5 easily. I do not know why I being modest I should have gotten them! All in all a great triathlon and I will definitely be participating it the My Next Triathlon next year. I may do another one before the end of the summer depending on how my hip does. I pushed myself to complete the triathlon today despite the accident, last year I did not compete and I was determined not to let anything stop me this year. I am thankful to God for getting me thru and sustaining despite the devil trying to keep me from accomplishing a life long goal. I could definitely do one every year. I would love some company feel free to join me in training!!!
I stayed at Legacy Lodge at Lake Lanier. It was ok. Unless you are going up to Lake Lanier for a specific event it is not worth the expense to spend the night at Lake Lanier. I stayed there because I wanted to go up a day before and have my bearing on were everything was and not have to drive up the day of and go right into the triathlon. It worked out well. I woke up this morning and thought oh I need to eat something before I get this day started. The Gang (includes mom, Luther, Rodrecus, Katrina, Michael and Iwilda) brought me up some fruit which was all I needed. I actually never eat before I run, swim or bike so changing up the routine to much might not be that good.
I get my stuff laid out as the below picture depicts. It helped between transitioning from one event to the next. My number was 1123. I will never forget that. For my first triathlon my number was 1123. My number will be hanging out on my door cork board for months I project.
Also you can see I have a new bike in this pictures. I got it on Friday at Outback Bike once I realized my bike would not be repairable due to the bike accident I had a few weeks ago. I got my last bike there, they have awesome sales people and there have lifetime tune-ups on your bike, an added bonus. This bike is made my Marin Bikes. A company in the United States in Marin County across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. I actually went there a few weeks ago while in San Francisco. I like buying made in the US and by a small business so it worked out well. This bike has two things that I like that my other bike did not have it has tire covers and an attachment to put my bag if I wanted to carry something along.
The first part of the triathlon was swimming 1/4 mile after having have to walk a 1/3 of a mile to get there in the sand. The water was pretty murky as you can see below. I was kicking people and people were kicking me in the beginning but as we thinned out it got better and went by pretty fast now that I think about it however when I was doing it I kept giving myself landmarks to get through to encourage myself along in addition to continually saying in my head I can do all things through Christ who give me strengths me - Philippians 4:13.
making sure the goggles are ready to go
After the swim I had to go up few flights of stairs and a very steep hill, my hip (an injury that resulted from the accidented I mentioned here and I forgot to bring my paid meds, I am not looking forward to tommorow's soreness) decided to have a twinge but I got thru it to reach the transition area to get my bike. My dad was on the step watching me as I ran up. He has some pretty cool pictures that I will share later when he lets me borrow his memory card. What I had not trained for was putting on socks on wet feet with lots of sand on it and then putting on my shoes and bike helmet with any type of speed. I got through it.
The bike portion was the longest portion and the toughest on my hip, I am not looking forward to the soreness tommorow. The web site stated that there was only one major hill can I tell you there was a few MAJOR hills, I am thankful somebody created gear shifts. I remember growing up and my bike only had one shift my two feet pedaling it along or getting off the bike and walking along. Here is the gang waiting on me get back from the bike portion. It was 12 miles and I projected an hour and twenty minutes.
We all got medals as we crossed and my nephew was kind enough to put mine on me. In addition, I have not participated in any type of race before however we got tracking devices to put on our ankles to give us our exact time I will know that tomorrow. It is the black thing around my ankle.
Afterwards we all went to Highland Bakery for breakfast. I was hungry at first but then it went away. They had great food. I have to go there when I have not exerted so much energy and indulgence after completing a triathlon seems counterintuitive.
My dad had to leave for church so he did not make it to the celebratory brunch however I am thankful he was there. Tim and Kamehi did not make it to the triathlon however I appreciated them coming out for brunch. Family and friends are awesome!!!
My friend Adrian and her husband Ali came in while I was riding my bike on the road and kind of stayed out on the route and were able to take the really cool pictures below.
can I say I have never had Powerade before but oh my goodness it was delicious. I had two of these I think I could have drank 5 easily. I do not know why I being modest I should have gotten them! All in all a great triathlon and I will definitely be participating it the My Next Triathlon next year. I may do another one before the end of the summer depending on how my hip does. I pushed myself to complete the triathlon today despite the accident, last year I did not compete and I was determined not to let anything stop me this year. I am thankful to God for getting me thru and sustaining despite the devil trying to keep me from accomplishing a life long goal. I could definitely do one every year. I would love some company feel free to join me in training!!!
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