A doctor's story

Well, now it's my turn to tell my story...(Beware..this is long) [2008-06-29]
Well, I just don I was 26 years old when I met and married my husband. It will be14 years ago this August. I was a platinum blond, Swedish, 26-year-old, voluptuous virgin waiting for my prince to come. I had never dated because I was too fearful and shy. My mother always told me that my prince was coming. She just didnthe prince of darkness. It has been a nightmare, although he says it has been great with only a few bumps along the way. He is abusive in every way including verbally, mentally, emotionally, some physical although very little (not an excuse, just telling it the way it is), what I feel is sexual abuse with me but not the children,but the worst by far is his financial abuse. He has told me many, many times, Who do you think YOU are? What do you think...that you I can find a dozen more women like you. I have three children, now ages 14, 13, and 11. 14-year-old has ADHD and oppositional defiant disorder. My husbandis just like this although he has never been diagnosed and never would be because in his own words, I am perfect just like God made me. There is nothing wrong with me. The problem here is you. My credit is down the toilet. Credit score is about 500. His is 800. Through the years, when the children were babies I had to feed them dry cereal with a cup of water because he wouldn One very hot night in the summer, I had to feed them generic hot dogs and pink beans, which were some kind of bean that slithered out of the can in a gelatinous material. The kids werewere dry heaving at the table. One day when I was about 8 months pregnant with my last child, he came up to me and said, Well, I I said what He said (very matter of fact), I I won If you want something, get off your f______fat a__ and get a job. I had a 6-month-old and a 1 1/2-year-old and 8 months pregnant with the third one. What!! Get a job!! Are you crazy?? He said, Oh well. Famous last words. That is all I ever hear. He has ripped out phone lines, denied us food and clothing. We have two cars. He used to hide the car I would drive around the neighborhood so I couldn He would even take the carseats. One time when I was pregnant, I had no money so my girlfriend needed a babysitter a few hours a week. She lives in Connecticut, which is about 45 minutes from my home. She could only pay $45 a week but I would drive up there four days a week to watch those kids just to get that measly $45. One day when I was leaving to go, I wanted $2 for an ice cream cone (I was pregnant at the time and that was my thing during that pregnancy). I asked him for $2 and he said no. I reached into his wallet and took $2 anyway. So he came after me. I took out the butcher knife but he ran outside to get to the car first so I couldn I put away the knife and ran out the back door to try to get to the car first but he got there before me. I reached in to try to grab the car keys out of the ignition when he rolled the window up as hard as he could. I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I thought he was going to break my arm. I was able to backhand him and he unrolled the window. A little while later I ran to the neighbors to call the police because he ripped the phone lines out. I was there for about 15-20 minutes calling the police, family, and my friends to come and help. When I got back to the house, he had taken both cars (hid one in the neighborhood) and went to work. He left my 9-month-old and 1 1/2-year-old children all by themselves (and at the time I lived on a very busy street where cars would drive by at 50 mph). When I walked in, they were sitting on the living room floor screaming at the top of their lungs. The next morning I was in the shower and I lifted up my arms to wash my hair when out of the corner of my eye I saw something on the underside of my arm. It was a jet black bruise about four to five inches long by about two inches wide. It was literally jet black. I was stunned. When I called the police, I told them what was going on with his abuse. I told them I was pregnant with two little ones at home. I told them I had no food. I told them and showed them the bruise and I told them I wanted to press assault charges. They said, He did that to you? I said yes. I said, I want him arrested for assault. I told them where he worked. They turned around and told me that because the incident happened the day before that there was nothing they would do and that they weren They told me to just let him lie low for a while. This happened in 1996. We are not talking the 50s here. This was just before they handed me a pamphlet on battered women and battered women The pamphlet said there does not have to be any sign of physical abuse. If you are in a situation where you simply fear for your safety, the person can be arrested. And I am sitting there pregnant with ahuge, jet black bruise underneath my arm from where he rolled my arm up in the window. This is just a few tidbits of the life I have had with him. There have been some good times and good vacations but mostly bad. We have fought so bad for years and years that I know the toll it has taken on the kids. The guilt I have is insurmountable. If he buys groceries, I have to pay him back. If he pays the phone bill, I have to pay him back. If he buys me anything or gives me a $10 or $20 bill, I have to pay him back. Most of the time, I am not allowed to go into a store with him. I went with him once to Wal-Mart and I put a $2 box of sweetener into the carriage. That was it. I am now not allowed to go into a store with him. He screams at us that he pays the rent, therefore, it is his house and we have to learn to live the way he wants us to and we should be catering to him. If we don He has told me for years that he is a king and that the house is his castle and that he has allowed us to live with him because he is kind, loving, and gracious. He will only buy oneChristmas gift for his kids and no stocking stuffers or tape or wrapping paper or anything like that.I have to do that with what I get paid to do MT work. He doesn When they were little, I would tell him that the children needed some cool clothes for summer. He would take their little pants and cut them off and then take their turtleneck shirts and cut off the turtle neck and cut off the sleeves and say, There you go. There Or he would just tell me, Go ask your sister to buy them some clothes. He has threatened to kill me and the children if I leave. He has told me that he would kill me and the children before I would ever see child support. He has a sex fettish where he wants it all the time, every day multiple times in a day if he could get it (not that he does, mind you. I stopped that crazy crap a long time ago), and I am just supposed to stop all that I am doing and fulfill his needs (even though sex for me offers virtually nothing other than soreness,swelling, and boredom and has always been like this). If I don I am very overweight, I smoke like a chimney, my credit is destroyed, I don I have less now 14 years later than I did before I married him. At least before I married him I had my own very nice car and some clothes. I don My clothes are tattered, stained, and worn. And...I had dreams of what my life was going to be like when I got married. But it certainly was not a life like this. My kids are older now and they are seeing their father for who he is. He blames me and tells me it is all the bad stuff I am telling the children. I keep telling him it is what they have seen for 14 years. They beg me to divorce him. My youngest, who is 11, was diagnosed last year with severe ulcerative colitis. He has had a flare now for the past six weeks with at least ten bouts of diarrhea with blood every day. He talks about depression a lot and always asking me what it is. When I got the call last year from his pediatrician telling me to take him to the hospital for a possible blood transfusion (this was when we got his diagnosis), Ialmost fell on the floor from fear. I called my husband at work to tell him he needed to come home. He said, I can I have to work. He said, Don His red blood cell count had dropped to 7.2 froma normal of 12 because of his bleeding. He came to the hospital when he got out of work. He showed up at 6:00 p.m. We went outside and talked for a bit and then about 20 minutes after he showed up, he said, Well, I have to go home to eat and shower. I When I got angry, he said Hey, I I need to rest. Besides, there We still didn I didn I was scared to death. But he had to go home to eat and shower and rest!!!! I think that was the beginning of the end for me. I once read something on these boards that someone posted saying Marriage is not supposed to be a good deal for one and misery for the other. That is what my life has been. My marriage was a great deal for him...kids that he never has to pay for (I mean nothing...not school projects and believe me there are a ton of them, not clothes, not shoes, notebooks, backpacks, nothing), free sex, and a wife that he doesn I believe in my soul that my marriage was a good business deal for him. If you knew my husband, you would laugh at that statement because he is extremely uneducated and talks like a mentally retarded person. People in the past have actually asked me if he was mentally retarded. He thinks that if my son would drink lots and lots of water, that that will cure his ulcerative colitis and makes fun of me and insults me and everyone else. Itell him he is a moron and he doesn His abusive mother made them drink nothing but water. She would not buy them anything or strive for a better life. They lived in a nightmare life. So now he gets very angry when we woncure everything. He tells us that he is trying to show us how to live right but we just won He tells this to other people too including our landlord. He has the most disgusting habits. He picks scabs and eats them, he has eczema and psoriasis so he is one huge flake, which he enjoys picking off chunks and dropping them in a pile on the floor, he passes unbearable gas (like every two or three minutes that has such a horrid stench it makes all of us nauseous) and then flips out if we spray a room spray. He will actually grab the can and scream that this is his house and we are all just disgusting to live with and just impossible to live with. He just had a fight with my 12-year-old daughter tonight because he was passing tons and tons of gas and she sprayed a room spray. He got up in her face screaming at the top of his lungs at 11:00 at night that this is his house. He will pass gas all he wants and that he won She was crying and begging me to divorce him. She kept saying, You said it would be better for the family if you stayed married to him but it It won Well, I could go on and on. It has been 14 years of this but I think you get the picture. I have no money. I don I have a son who is going to need ongoing frequent medical care and I am afraid he will cancel the insurance if I do anything to get rid of him. I have a great fear for our safety. He has major problems with having to give up his money so to haveto pay child support will send him over the edge. He is a pathological liar so you can He told me, I would never allow anyone to judge me like that. You can tell the judge to kiss my balls. He seems to expect the absolute highest standards from the children and I but he doesn Never has and never will but will shove it down my throat when he doesn Well, any advice. I really am looking for legal advice for anyone else who has been through this. I know I need to get rid of him...for the kids sake. They need to see that life is not like this and not all men do this and that you don My daughter, who just turned 13, says to me she hates men with a passion. I told my niece that I felt like I was dying. I never, never, never, never leave my house except to go to Dunkin Donuts up the street to get a coffee. I haven And that is three hours probably once every two months. I am lonely, isolated, and ragingly angry. I want to go back to school but when I talk about that, he poo poos it saying I should go back in five or ten years or 15 years when my bills are paid and I can afford it. HELLO????? I am going to be 43 in October. Maybe I should just wait to go back to school until I Well you get the picture. If you By the way, when I bring up any of his abuse to him, he tells me I don Funny, he always remembers every time I swear at him though. Has never forgotten a single time.

My story [2008-06-29]
I went through very similar circumstances. I left about 3 times. Finally in 1998 I made an appointment with a Christian psychiatrist and he agreed to go to see her. She diagnosed him as being bipolar and Baker Acted him. Today I can honestly say, he is not the same man. He is warm and caring and actually helps me with my medical transcription business. He is on proper medication. He had proper counseling and support groups. He was in the hospital for 6 weeks and then went to a 3/4 house, where he received proper counseling and support groups, which were mandatory. I thank God that he is better today.At the time in 1991 I wish that someone would have diagnosed him as having that propblem, as my older daughter moved out and he has no relationship with her at all and knows that it was his fault back then. Who knew? It was a disease that was in the closet so-to-speak, but now I am very concerned about our older daughter. We have a younger daughter who does forgive him and lives with us who is 25 years old. I hope you get the help you need before it is too late.

I am the only one that thinks something is up with this story.. [2008-06-29]
Things just donshe was 26 years old14 years ago, which makes her 40, but later she states she is going on 43. She had a 1-1/2 year-old, 6-month-old and 8 months pregnant..hmmm. That makes her having gotten pregnant BEFORE the 6-month-old was born. Later, she is pregnant and they are 9 months and 1-1/2 years old. Then, she stated that her 12-year-old tonight (keyword here) had a fight with her dad but later this same child is 13, just turned, so I'm guessing on the same day? which is tonight. Just a lot of inconsistencies. I'm not sure why or how someone would make this up but I just find it odd. Maybe someone needs attention.

Wow, whatta story...sm [2008-06-26]
I sure hate that for you...good luck! My DD His credit report shows a mortgage that originated when he was 5!!! Do they not verify the b-day with the SS#??

Short story about ATVs [2008-06-24]
A woman I know was riding one with her 2 y/o grandson. She was turning on the 4-wheeler when it kicked into high gear and wouldn They were heading right for a tree. Basically she had to jump off while holding onto her 2 y/o grandson. The 4-wheeler then ran into a tree and did some major damage. Thankfully, no one was hurt and she did the right thing by jumping, but still. They found out that whoever had put the 4-wheeler together before they bought it had done something wrong and when she turned it caused a wire to do something weird and it made it go fast and wouldn I can't remember exactly what they said happened, but if she hadn't jumped, she would have run right into a tree at full speed with her 2 y/o grandson. Also, there was a young kid....about 5 or 6....who was killed about a month ago on an ATV. His older brother was driving and something happened and the kid hit his head and was killed. Had he had a helmet on, he probably would have lived. When my stepson has a friend over, we always ask the parent Asking permission is just common courtesy.

Your telling my story now.. [2008-06-22]
I Now, I can see why prisoners have such a hard time adjusting to the outside world. I feel isolated and depressed. I've gotten a secretary's bottom and 30 pounds heavier. I am waiting any day now to hear if I got a billing job I am applied for and I'm outta this prison. I'm get PAROLED..

When I see the story of Charles Manson s/m [2008-06-17]
on TV and they show footage during the trial, etc. it makes me sick. They were all smiling and laughing at the press like it was a big joke. I will say, howevery, that Patricia (forgive me for this spelling) Krenwinkle has much remorse. She cried during an interview I saw a few years back and said that she should never see the light of day outside of prison. She said every day of her life she lives with what she has done. That is not to say that I think she should be released, just saying I truly believes she has remorse. She was angry because she said Charlie still accepts no responsibility for any of it.

News story - did anyone else here this - too funny [2008-06-04]
I was just watching the news and there is a story about a lady who won a prize at some baseball game - her prize?.... a funeral and a casket. The catch. She has 30 years to claim her prize. We are just rofl. I can hear the annoucement over the loudspeaker at the game.....And congrats to our winner Mrs. ----. You have just won....a buriel!

Funny, that's my exact same story here in New York! sm [2008-05-30]
I'll believe it when I see it, too. Also, with the feds, we were supposed to get $1,200 back - the feds said there was a mistake in the filing and now we OWE $1,100. That's some mistake, but we can't find it, nor can the software company that we used!

A doctor's story - ;D [2008-05-08]
An Israeli doctor said, Medicine in my country is so advanced that we can take a kidney out of one man, put it in another, and have him looking for work in six weeks. A German doctor said, That is nothing, we can take a lung out of one person, put it in another, and have him looking for work in four weeks. A Russian doctor said, In my country, medicine is so advanced that we can take half a heart out of one person, put it in another, and have them both looking for work in two weeks. A Texas doctor, not to be outdone, said, You guys are We recently took a man with no brains out of Texas, put him in the White House for eight years, and now half the country is looking for work.

Uplifting story - sm [2008-05-01]
I just heard one of our local radio personalities talking about this. Hearing things like this is why I still have hope that we aren http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/sports/84086.php You may have to copy and paste. Never posted a link here before.

I got a good learning to cook story.......sm [2008-04-24]
When my DD was I think 11, she and my niece (12) were babysitting for me for a few hours. I was on my way home and told her to get the frozen lasagna out of the freezer and put it in the oven. I said it is very simple, directions are on the box. I get home and open the oven to check on the lasagna and there is the lasagna cooking in the BOX AND ALL!! Directions said to poke holes in the top which she did in the top of the box that is and never removed it from the BOX! So here was my lasagna baking in the oven still in the cardboard box container covered in holes! I literally wet my pants laughing so hard. She has NEVER lived that one down as we love to tell that story. She said well it never said to take it out of the box, lol.

Got another funny story.......sm [2008-04-24]
The same DD is now 16 in high school. The other day she came in my office and says mom, where is that umbilical cord? I said what thinking my brain was on work and I wasnextension cord but had just dissected a pig at school! My other DD is 12 and we were at the baseball game the other day waiting to pick up the 16-yo when I urgently needed to go to the restroom. My 12-yo says use the ones at the concession stand. So I pull up close to the concession stand and there are 2 doors, neither with signs on them. I said which door is the bathroom. She said I donuterus in there anyway. I said a what? She said a uterus you know those things that guys stand up and use the bathroom in! Of course, she was talking about a urinal. About the same time as I was explaining what a uterus was out comes a lady from the women's restroom and I said oh look there is a uterus in there see! Most all women have them, lol. Can you tell my kids are exposed to medical terminology? 16-yo is taking A&P classes so we have been going over a lot and I have been helping her to study and learn. I think they are learning too much!

My story was the same, except it was my mom. [2008-04-19]
Mom dying, dad with Alzheimer I worked at home so I didn My sister had 3 days off, the same time as my son She said she would come help one day, but that needed time for herself. I I finally moved in with my parents, gave up any privacy, spent 98% of my waking time when not working taking care of someone or something. I don After my mom died I fell apart. I had to put my dad in a facility and my sister said she would take over primary caregiver duties, but she was hit or miss. Her kids were grown and out of the house, her DH was always off playing golf. She complained that my dad was only getting 2 showers a week, but she wasn She complained about using all her vacation time for doctor I could go on and on. They told us in grief counseling that in most families there is one that always ends up doing everything. The only thing I can say is that when your dad is gone you can seek comfort in knowing that you did all you could to help him, that you were there for him when it counted. Your sister will be the only who has to live with the guilt that she wasn At the same time I think your dad is just thinking about what he wants and I completely understand. My mother wanted to die at home in her own bed, not a hospital bed, even if she was still at home she didn't want a hospital bed, but I also think it puts a lot of stress on you and one day he will be gone and you'll have to pick up the pieces and continue on and there may be a day when you can no longer care for him at home. I was very long-winded, but what I Focus on your dad and do what you can do and that is all you can do.

2 sides to the story [2008-04-16]
First of all I think there Look into it re: insurance etc. I can see where both of you are coming from. I don I think that she probably feels she is working hard to earn her paid time off but if she has to use it all to take everybody to the doctor what will happen if she needs to go to the doctor herself or wants to take time off for a vacation or mental health day. You have to admit she has a point. My advice would be not to alienate your sister. You are going to have to work together to take care of your father. I would arrange a time for both of you to sit with your father and lay out the facts. With little to no eyesight, he simply cannot live completely independently any longer. If he wants to stay at home then either hire a home health aide or a live-in caregiver or one of you would have to move in with him. Avoid the word nursing home and instead suggest an independent living facility where there is assistance with daily activities such as preparing meals. Be open and honest with each other. You have your own separate lives and not only do you not want your father to feel like he is a burden, you also do not want to feel burdened. With the cost of gas these days, your sister certainly has a valid point. As far as her popping to Wal-Mart and the mall, she could have perfectly viable reasons for going to Wal-Mart including grocery shopping or perhaps purchasing your father The mall may be her escape mechanism. You both sound stressed out over this situation and you both need to take care of yourselves first and foremost before you can be expected to care for someone else. Good luck to both of you and remember that you both love each other and your father and only want the best for everyone.

Link to story on ABC.com [2008-04-09]
Here's the link to the story on the web, FYI. ABC News: Will Baby With Two Faces Survive? Some Think Baby, Born With Two Faces, Is a Reincarnation of a God. FONT SIZE. EMAIL ... WATCH: Two-Faced Baby Hailed as a Miracle. PHOTOS: Tallest Man Gets Giant Bike ... abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=4549608page=2

Last night on TLC (I think) they ran the story again of the dear SM [2008-04-09]
woman from Georgia whose mother-in-law, husband, and two sons were afflicted with Hungtinton's disease. She broke promises to her husband and sons by placing them in nursing homes because she could no longer care for them. She shot both sons at the nursing home out of love and compassion. At the end of the show this time they reported that her youngest son is now also diagnosed with this dreaded disease. There is a suspicion my father had it, too. It is a terrible disease and the story just broke my heart. She is out of prison now, but the youngest son has a daughter. They are obviously afraid this young girl will eventually be diagnosed with it, too. They attributed my father's twitching, etc. to meds for Parkinson's disease, but there was also suspicion that he may have had Huntington's.

Very heartbreaking story [2008-04-02]
(CBS) Fifteen-year-old Alex Koehne died suddenly last year from what doctors thought was Meningitis. He said, 'Mommy, am I going to die?', and I said, 'No baby, they're going to make you all better,' his mother, Lisa Koehne remembers. His devastated parents took some solace in knowing that his death would give others new life. His mother says organ donation is very important to the family. Alex always knew what he wanted. CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes Alex's liver went to a 52-year-old man. His pancreas to a 36-year-old woman. His kidneys went to two different men, one 46 and the other 64. A month later, an autopsy revealed that Alex never had meningitis. He had a rare and fast-moving lymphoma cancer -- one that was now working its way through the bodies of four other people. The organs were removed, but the lymphoma already had killed the recipients of his liver and pancreas. The two kidney patients had the kidneys removed and survived. They're now undergoing chemotherapy. When we found out that they died, our hearts went out to them, Koehne says tearfully. It�s a very, very rare event, says Dr. Lewis Teperman, director of transplantation at New York University Medical Center, where two of the four organs ended up. He co-authored an article about the case in the American Journal of Transplantation to warn other doctors. We Teperman says. Alexallow the horrible circumstances surrounding this rare case to affect their decision to sign the donor registry, which every year gives 22,000 people a second chance at life. Medical privacy rules may prevent the family from ever knowing the names of the people who died. Now, Alex's parents want to keep others from suffering a similar fate.

As an MT seeing a doctor [2008-04-02]
Can anyone offer me some advice? I First doctor said I was too young to have anything wrong (was 29 then), it was probably just stress resulting in acid reflux and IBS. But nothing worked. Got 2 doctors telling outright falsehoods because I I finally gave up entirely after about 6 doctors. Actually told one that I was fed up and frustrated and said I work as an MT do you know what that means? He said, yeah it means you know too much about medicine. EXCUSE ME???!!!! Can anyone offer some advice as to how to handle doctors given that the ones I And if anyone is in the Daytona Beach area, can you suggest a PCP?

Did you see the story on the news where [2008-03-31]
I think a kindergartener or 1st grader had a mowhawk and after something like 6 months in school they decided it was a distraction and wanted his mother to either cut all his hair off, or be suspended (maybe expelled)? This was totally ridiculous. My kids have never done anything out of the norm but I would have definitely went to bat for this kid. It says in our school code that nothing that brings distraction in class is accepted. Like I said, this has not been a problem for us, but I would support someone if they had a legitimate complaint. There is a girl in my childrenfor girls but then I substituted, and my thinking really changed. As someone else said, Pick your battles, life could be soooo much worse. If you think he is ready, then go for it.

GRRR that would tick me off ...my story inside [2008-03-24]
Mine hasn't paid anything in 6 months and when he did it was only about $100/month if I was lucky. Maybe I can get his tax incentive in May??? Good luck with your lein and let us know how it goes.

that reminds me of a funny story sm [2008-03-21]
Remember back in the day when flip flops were called thongs? Well, my daugher (she was about 15 or so) and I were shopping with one of her friends and she said something that was funny, but 'back in the day' my mom would not find it humerous. I told her that she was lucky because, 'my mom would have reached back, took off her thong, and slapped me with it.' She looked at me in horror and her friend in disbelief... It finally dawned on me what they were thinking and after I stopped laughing hysterically, I explained... ahh... the good ol' days!

Have to share a funny story about my parents sm [2008-03-20]
My parents are vacationing in Florida right now and yesterday while laying by the pool the saw a duck swimming in the pool. The pool area had a fence around it and they didn My mom described how ridiculous they must have looked chasing this duck around the area and trying to shoo it out the gate. Finally a man on an upper balcony said Sir, you realize that duck can fly don. I swear my parents are a hoot! Chop this one up for dumb and dumber.

Go for the classics, like Bringing up Baby or Philadelphia Story. [2008-03-19]
How about Blazing Saddles, Life of Brian, A Fish Called Wanda, or My Cousin Vinny?

Maybe she had a doctor's [2008-03-18]
appointment too and needed a pair undies.....so she took yours. What a shame, 15 years with you..consider yourself lucky she has taken such meaningless things!! You should be ashamed of yourself to react in such a way. ItONLY a pair of underwear and I am sure they are not 24 carat gold!!

Australian sheppard - Aussies [2008-07-03]
A friend has had several Aussies and has had problems at the vet's office. One died after it was taken in for grooming and flea dipping. She said that the only dip that can be used is that as the same for sheep??? Her daughter's dog was in for routine teeth cleaning, but the anesthsia got to him and he died. She took her current Aussie to the vet for neutering. When he came home he was lethargic. They took him back and the doctor put him on an IV to flush his system of any anesthesia? Does any of this sound familiar? Thank you

There is something called the MDR1 gene...sm [2008-07-03]
MDR1 (multi-drug resistance gene). Itfound in herding breeds likecollies, aussies, etc., and somel other breeds as well. It The only way to know is to test the dog to see if has the gene or is a carrier. (I think that just involves a cheek swab.) Were these dogs related to each other? I wonder if that gene was the cause, or if the vet was negligent, or if it was just terrible luck. It Beforesurgery,Italk to the vet and make sureI understandwhat kind of drugs and anesthetic they use, and how the dog is monitored during anesthesia and while recovering. Just like with people, there is always a risk. Some vets have all the fancy, high tech equipment for monitoring, but others relymore onan assistantto do it manually. I prefer There are not nearly as many vet anesthesiologists in the vet world as there are in human medicine. II I just read about this gene when I was helping a friend research the breed. Her first aussie died at a ripe old age of about 14 yrs old, I think, andshe has one thatyear old and has had no health problems that I know of. Isorry for your friend. To have a dog die after a flea dip of all things... and then another after routine teeth cleaning. There is always a risk with anesthesia, but we get so used to thinking it She took her current Aussie to the vet for neutering. When he came home he was lethargic. They took him back and the doctor put him on an IV to flush his system of any anesthesia? This s/l either the dog had a bad reaction to the anesthesia, or the vet went overboard and gave too much...

Thank you - sm [2008-07-03]
I will do some more research on the MDR1 gene and help her work with her vet for future trips. The senior doctor, now retired, was on duty with her first loss and the junior doctor, now the owner, was on duty with the second incident. It is truly sad to lose a good friend, especially when it may have been possible to prevent this. Much appreciate your input.

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your beloved pet [2008-07-02]
That was so sad to hear your story. The worse part of it was that your beloved pet died and I feel such sympathy for you and what you must be going through. What has this country become when so many people are sue happy. DH and I have talked about wanting to start a business growing veggies and raising talapia fish to sell but I said in today's day and age there is no way I will sell anything anyone eats as there are too many people out there waiting to creat a law suit. Makes me ashamed to live in a country with so many scam artists out there trying to make a quick buck. You know what, whether your dog bit her or a bone scratched her, there were no marks or anything. If her foot was mangled or something I could understand but please - give me a break. I'm glad for you it wasn't any worse (money wise), but am deeply saddened you lost such a wonderful pet. I still grieve for my cats (and they died 8 years ago). I hope things get better for you and hope that person will get her comeuppance.

Did you ask them...... [2008-07-02]
why they only wrote a check for 87 dollars? Did they say that $87 was all they would pay or could it possibly be because they couldn Just a thought. You did not give the whole story as to what kind of dog, was it in your yard, what was your daughter doing when she was bit....kind of thing. How bad was she hurt? Did she have to have cosmetic surgery to repair the damage from the dog bite? I think it would depend on the severity of the dog bite on how I would handle it. The police should have been called, a report should have been made, the dog should have been quarantined for so many days to make sure it didnt The owner should have shown proof of getting all the dogs shots, etc. I personally think that they should be held accountable for the doctor bills. You were perfectly content with just getting the money for the doctor bills until they made you mad and now you want money for losing work and money for your daughter It just amazes me how people try to be fair until they get mad and then they just want to get all the money they can out of someone. Sometimes I think people get lawyer happy. I think suing is going to be more a hassel than it is worth and if your daughter wasn JMO though.

Unbelievable sm [2008-07-02]
$87 was all they planned to give us. Her medical bills totalled $800, $87 was our portion. The other portion we figured for pain and suffering. We always wanted to getpain and suffering for our daughter. This was no surprise to the owner. Read the thread. I don My daughter was standing on the sidewalk in front ofthe ownerhouse when the dog attacked her. Again, if you will read the thread you Her dog has been loose on more than one occasion since the attack without a leash. The police were called, and there is a police report, along with ER and doctor notes. It is unbelievable how uncaring people are here on this board. Even though my daughter didn This is an 8-year-old child. The owners should be penalized because they are allowing their dog to be loose without a leash on a street filled with young children. I don't have any sympathy for them. It amazes me how people on this board show much more compassion for the dog that attacked my daughter than for my daughter. No one seems to care that this dog has been loose since the attack or that there were no penalties for this owner. The dog has never been impounded. A friend of mine lives next door to a dog that bit someone, and that dog was never impounded either. I think I I have been coming here for years, but for people to be so cruel here to my daughter especially is just unimaginable to me. I will do whatever I have to do to make my daughter feel safe in her own neighborhood. I have consulted with an attorney and will probably proceed in small claims court unless this owner wants to try to settle this with us. I pray that nothing like this ever happens to any of your children or family members. It It I'm done here.

I'm not really sure. [2008-07-01]
She said she was and then went to the doctor who said she was too. I don I was just under the understanding that you could get pregnant but the woman Now, I have heard of some rare cases where they have attached to organs, but that is at a huge risk for the mother and the unborn fetus with internal bleeding being a huge complication and more often than not they are miscarried. However, with her not having a menstrual period for 13 years.....I I don My MIL said she wouldn There are much more deserving people who want a baby so bad and can This woman is just a complete ignoramus. She is just white trash. I hate to say that....but she is. She lies. She smells of BO and tobacco. My sister-in-law met the supposed father of her twins in an internet chat room. He is a truck driver. Now that she told him she is pregnant, he won What the heck? I mean really! Should I just call Jerry Springer and get it over with? LOL

When my MIL first told me..... [2008-07-01]
I told her that my SIL was lying. MIL said she thought so too until the doctor said she waspregnant. Still....no ultrasound or anything performed. Still holding out for this to be a false positive.

disagree. Their insurance should be secondary sm [2008-07-01]
to neighbor's homeowners and possibly their homeowners - and a report should have been made by the hospital/doctor's office on the dog bite and the dog impounded for 10 or so days - this is all a legal process

Yes, that's what's wrong with the system [2008-07-01]
That It It was obviously an unfortunate accident that no one should benefit from. If you daughter needs counseling to overcome this, then by all means take her and ask the dog owner to pay your copay. I think it was very reasonable that the dog owner offered to pay your copay from the hospital bill. You want revenge, not compensation. Something about this story doesn Your daughter comes running home dripping with blood and they had to pull the dog off her hand, but yet nothing was done with the dog. The dog Your daughter is completely traumatized by all of this, and all you can think about is getting an attorney to sue for her pain and suffering. Again, call what it is.

The end of a friendship [2008-07-01]
My girlfriend came over one day and was chatting with me on the sofa. I had just gotten home from the hospital from having a hysterectomy and she came to pick me up to go see another friend of hers who was in the hospital having just been diagnosed with ovarian cancer (I couldn't drive yet). My 2 dogs started scuffling over a bone and my friend got an extremely tiny, a little larger than a pin prick mark on the back of her ankle (either from one of the dog's teeth or a sharp end of the bone, hard to tell). I gave her antiseptic wash, a bandage, said I was sorry and thought that was the end of it. We went to visit our friend. Awhile later, I answered the door to be served with a summons. We were being sued by my friend. I want you to know that this bite did not even bleed. She had a tattoo right in the area and when she took pictures of the bite for her attorney, it was very, very hard to see a mark at all. So, anyway, by the time it went to court (and here is a very ironic thing, the day my husband and I got up and ready to go to court, my sweet Barney, my Schnauzer, died). Well, between pictures of the injury and her poor performance on the stand (oh God it was unbelievable the way she tried to beef up the whole story), the jury came back with a guilty plea for us. They had to, because our dog or the bone did bite her. They awarded her the amount her insurance did not cover and I believe 1 or 2 missed days from work. It came to about $1,500. We saw her in the parking lot when we left, she was crying. She was expecting the big payday and it didn't happen. However, the 10 year friendship did end. We were Girl Scout leaders together for most of those years, our daughters were best friends, but I could never want to be friends with someone who would do such a thing and consider it well, after all, the insurance will pay. So be careful what you are expecting. Expect the whole thing to take a long time to get to court and the results to be perhaps less than you expect. Now, maybe your daughter is significantly scarred by the dog bite. I don't know and don't want to offend you with my story. Also, hopefully you have pictures that you took right away when it happened. You will probably need them. Plus you will have to be able to find a lawyer who will take it to court for you. My ex-friend's lawyer was about as inept as could be. I almost felt sorry for her.

True, but she is not going to get that much, - sm [2008-07-01]
maybe a few thousand, Iwhat could have happened, etc. in the end though I just let it go and switched doctors to the one who saved me. But yes, people are sue happy, but sometimes it is warranted.

Identity theft [2008-06-27]
So, somebody has your social security number. Just wait until the IRS comes after you for not reporting the income from your second job, picking grapefruit in Florida. Happened to a guy here. Has cost bundles in legal fees to straighten it out. Reader Ita background check. Identity theft is a real mess. I don Shakespear said it.He who steals my purse steals trash; but he who steals my good name takes that which little enriches him but makes me poor indeed.

Bioidentical hormones -DHEA cream, ever used it? [2008-06-27]
Yes, perimenopause is here (yipee, huh?)!I am looking into bioidentical hormones as opposed to things like BCPs (which I have not taken in years). I am looking at being on a program of progesterone cream and DHEA at the moment from a doctor who deals with a compounding pharmacy. The side effects sound a little scary, but there are side effects for everything, right? Has anyone else used DHEA? Tell me the good, the bad, and the ugly...

I wonder if [2008-06-25]
it's a flora imbalance connected with a fungus. Turns out sinuses can be infected with fungus, and I would think a change in hormones might change your pH and cause it to go out of whack. If you're in that much pain, have you tried Afrin? It's the sort of nasal spray you want to use very carefully because after using it 3 days in a row you can get hooked, but if you use it sparingly it might be just the trick. My mom's doctor told her to use it when she flies to avoid the post-flight sinus trouble she gets.

groin lump [2008-06-24]
My sister told me a couple of weeks ago that she had one. Her doctor asked her if she had any sores in her nose.Oddly, she did. The infection in her nose was what caused the infected lump in the groin area.Strange, buttrue, and very often misdiagnosed.

That does seem to be the goal [2008-06-23]
that the docs have set to change over to the electronic technology we're seeing in doctor's offices now. It's getting to be all about clicking boxes and taking control of quality, per the article I read from an AMA conference.

have a question about groin lump sm [2008-06-22]
last weekend i woke up to a sore groin, and a little bit of my very upper thigh. i felt around and found about a lima bean sized lump. it was very sore to the touch. over the course of the week, the lump decreased in size and there is no tenderness. i still feel a lump. i figured it is probably a lymph node. probably about three to four inches away from this lump i had a bite, not sure what kind but i i never did see a tick there, but the sore it left and how long i i haven

Isn't it awful [2008-06-22]
I was talking to my DH and told him (it is actually his half-brother going through this), and he agreed its hard to know what to say because his brother laughs about a lot of stuff (serious stuff and makes jokes out of it). So we have decided a sympathetic uh-huh is probably the most appropriate. I canmy dad always tells me that these people have died but they haven Talk about an ee-gads!

So sorry about your DH...sm [2008-06-22]
I also have no experience with this, but are there cancer support services/centers in your area that the doctor can refer you to? I have heard of such centers through onc reports I have transcribed. I truly hope you find the support you both need. This is not something you two should go through alone. Again, so sorry.

yep for up to an hour they can still bite you- sm [2008-06-22]
there was a story on TV a few months back about some guy in the middle of no where, staying at a remote cabin for a week (was getting picked up at pre-arranged date a week after his drop off there), on day 3 or 4 killed a snake by the house by cutting off its head, and then for some foolish reason decided to pick up the head which is when he got bit. By some miracle he did not die, came darn close though, if his ride hadn't come he would have died though.

I was brought to tears [2008-06-20]
by his singing but especially by his story.

Fari is far but it makes a person sick though. [2008-06-20]
I have one living right behind me. He was a HS basketball coach and had an affair with one of the students. He bought the lot behind our house and built a huge 2-story Victorian 3000 sq ft and put it up for sale for 300K. I don He is living in it now. I have seen the pictures of the inside on the internet and believe me, he is living better than I am.My little 820 sq foot house right behind his looks like it may be the servant LOL.

Medical marijuana use [2008-06-17]
I just watched an unsettling videoabout a young high school student diagnosed with cancer. Had to have his leg amputated and he had excrutiating pain that kept him awake through the night for about 3 months. Doctors kept giving him narcotic drugs and he was doped up/sleeping all the time. He started receiving medical marijuana (in a controlled clinic) and it helped. He said he would be able to function during the day and get his stuff done. He regained his appetite and was able to build his muscle tissue back up(mind you this is not some dope addict- this is a clean cut high school student who used to play on the football team,definitely not someone who is going in just to get their fix). Anyway...this medical clinic was set up in California and evidently the person in charge of the police departmentof the town didnhe believed it does not work.So he called the DEA, they went in and raided the place and threw the doc in charge of the clinic on thefloor handcuffed him and hauled him off to jail. Evidently the clinic was approved, theyshow pics ofthe doctor in charge of the clinic shaking hands with the mayor and being welcomed to the city.Well after they raided his office they then went to his home and raided his home. Now this doctor is facing possibly 100 years in jail (all because some uptight police person in charge does not believe medical marijuana works and he is against it. The parentseven said what part of this don Medical marijuana helps. It rejuvinates the brain cells, brings back hunger so cancer patients and others with serious illness willbe able to eat and get better and not be suffering with pain. No instead they want to dispense drugs by the pharmaceutical companies that are killing people and keeping them comatose. It just makes me sick that this form of treatment is not being allowed for more people who need it (not just want it to get high - but actually need it). This is why we need to get rid of big government. Give the power back to the people where it belongs.

I thought it was too [2008-06-17]
Did I mention the doctor who was in charge of the clinic is facing possibly 100 years in jail. That is more than people who comit real crimes get.