Today is just a nice day. :)  Plenty of up, not much down.  The down just isn't even phasing me.

Happy for my daughter:  Her audtion at the modeling agency went really well last night.  So well, in fact, that they want her back Friday at 1pm.  They instruct the group at the audition that everyone is to call back after 2pm the following day for the results.  The results ratings are as follows:  "A" for - they want you and would like to begin listing you immediately for representation with clients.  "B" - you have some potential and they might be willing to work with you.  "C" - they cannot use you at this time, but would be happy to give you advice regarding your future in this career choice.  As they started calling people and doing the auditions, we heard one after another told, "Okay, thank you.  Please call after 2pm tomorrow for your results."

Except for Rhianna.  We had been noticing that the various directors had been watching her, different ones coming over and whispering to each other and looking at her, etc.  When she was finally called, her interview went great.  She had to walk the runway and was told that she was the *best* and walked it like someone who really knew what they were doing.  The director doing the interview with her said, "You don't need to call back tomorrow.  You're an "A."  We want you to come back as soon as possible." With that, they set her up for Friday at 1pm.   This agency is where Hayley Bennet got her start (she's in Music & Lyrics) and many others that we recognized. Right now, all we're interested in for her is local modeling - promotions, runway, print, commercials.  Nothing far away.

When we discovered how much money she had the potential of making (they have a 93.5% placement rating), she was psyched.  I was tempted.  They have a market for all ages because they do lots of local things that don't want young Amazons.  Shorter women are actually okay. :)

~o~
Happy for me:  I saw my doctor this morning AND I have the go ahead to workout HARD if I want to.  He *applauded* me on my healthy lifestyle.  He was THRILLED that I was following a low histamine diet and encouraged me to keep it up until those big allergy tests come in.  Also, after those tests are done, there is a new, more sensitive allergy test that he'd like to run, depending on what we find.  In spite of the steroids, my fasting glucose level was fine - a bit higher than normal for me after 12 hrs w/o food.  It was 93, it's usually closer to 80.  My HDL was still 52. :)

He would like me to switch from Armour Thyroid to Synthroid and Cytomel.  Same reasoning as the allergist:  with pig/cow thyroids there is the possibility, however minute, of getting some strange bovine or porcine diseases. Mad cow.  Whatever. I agree to try it -- and then discovered that Cytomel is "non-formulary" on my prescription plan.  So instead of paying $10 - 15, I had to pay $25.... for only 21 days worth!!!  It would be cheaper if I mailed it in to my prescription service, but there is no point until we see if I like it.  Between that and the 21 days of Synthroid, it was $45.  I pay way, way less for my Armour.  I might just continue to take my chances with ground-up pig/cow parts.

The allergist already sent a detailed report to my doctor, which they gave me to read. He's so thorough and so, so awesome.  I love the guy - he genuinely adores his field and gets all psyched up talking about it.  Even in the midst of this letter filled with medical terminology, his care and concern were written all over it.  Yeah, I hit pay dirt with these two doctors - these guys are GREAT.

My doc was ticked off about the Health Dept's response and the gym not doing some deep cleaning.  He said that they really, really should deep clean whenever there is a report...and also on a regular basis.  I think, even if it's only for customer mind-ease, it should be done. I got this total bullcrap response from the Health Department's director of nursing.  Tom was going to be filing his complaint, so I'll wait and see what response he gets before I go to the newspaper. 

~o~

A trip down memory lane about good doctors.  Down in Florida, it was my gynecologist who initially diagnosed me with Graves' Disease. He was a great guy.  If something was wrong, he called you at home personally to tell you.  No nurses passing on information.  In the exam room, he had fuzzy things covering the stirrups...and a BIG poster of Mel Gibson directly across from you.  LOL.  Lightened things up a bit.  He wouldn't chat at you while you were naked and vulnerable.  He waited until you were dressed and seated in his office...after every exam.  He said that he felt it was wrong to leave the patient in a vulnerable position to discuss important things, that they needed to feel "on the same footing."

It was his best friend who cared for me during Graves'.  Dr. Gonzalez.  He gave me his email address and would check on me that way between visits.  He liked to share with me new medical findings and even appreciated the links/reports I sent him.  He also instructed his call service that at any time I called, I was to get put straight through to him.  He didn't want to blast my thyroid away like so many American doctors want to do when you are hyper.  Even though taking PTU meant I had to have a lot more appointments and blood work to check on me, he was willing to bet there for me all the way. 

Both of these guys new my mother, who was an operating room nurse at the hospital.  I always felt like I got a bit of extra special care thanks to her good relationship with them. 

~o~

Happy thought about chickens. Yes, chickens.  I went to the grocery store with my daughter, Jenna.  All natural, organically raised chickens were on sale, "Manager's Special."  We got these big, plump chickens that had originally been from $13 - $14 for $2.40 - $2.80 a piece.  I got some for her freezer and some for mine.  I'm making chicken soup tonight with rice pasta and rice flour dumplings.  Mmmmmm.

~o~
I have not been to the gym yet, but I'm going!  I am WHITE again, un-bumpy and free to workout with some enthusiasm. :)

I just felt like I had to add this.

Being a good patient means being knowledgable, asking questions and remembering that doctors are not gods. Doctors are in a SERVICE industry. They are there to serve you. The higher education they have received which gives them that diploma on the wall does not mean that they have become infalliable. It does not mean that they always know what is best for each person (or really give a darn for that matter).

How many women go to a hairdresser and say, "Do whatever you want, whatever the cost!" and let someone just go wild on them, without giving them prior information...like what color is it going to be, how short, etc? None that I know of. (Although I might be tempted to let Nick Aroja have at it - I think I'd still ask plenty of questions and make sure he wasn't doing something outrageous).

How many people go out and buy a car without looking at it, taking it for a test drive, checking the engine (or at least having their mechanic look at it)? Only idiots.

How many people hire a babysitter without checking references? (Ugh, don't tell me if you don't, I'll probably flip out on you).

So why, oh why, would anyone go to a doctor and just blindly nod their head and do anything that the doctor says? Sure, doc, let me give my kid the HPV vaccine that only protects against 4 out of 36 strains of the virus, that has already killed 17 children and has a possible side effect of infertility. Sure, doc, because I'm just dumb and your degree has made you almighty. I don't think so!

I was very sick with Graves' disease in 1993. There were three choices of treatment 1) anti-thyroid drug therapy 2) surgery to remove the thyroid gland or 3) radioactive iodine to ablate the gland. In the United States of America choice #3 is pushed on almost every single Graves' Disease patient and they are told that chances of remission with choice #1 are slim at best. WELL, in Europe and Japan where #3 is NOT considered the best option, the remission rates ARE HIGH. Why do American doctors push #3? BECAUSE IT IS EASIER FOR THEM. Not for the patient - no way is it for the patient. You would not believe the people that were never obese and suddenly have to deal with 50+ pounds because they chose #3 - or their skin is dry, their eyes are bugging out of their heads (because #3 seems to effect the antibodies that attack the tissue behind the eyes, activating them). I know so many people who have suffered horribly because "The doctor said to do #3 and well, he's the doctor so I did what he said." Yes, I even know a couple of RNs who blindly like dumb sheep did what they were told without researching. One of them gained well over 100 lbs and endured 3 years of hell on earth until I showed her that her doctor wasn't even using the latest TSH guidelines and was under-treating the hypothyroidism he caused by having her gland killed off.

I've had people say to me "Well, I had my thyroid nuked because the doctor said my thyroid was too far gone, I was way too hyper, there was no chance at all." When I've gotten them to tell me lab numbers - lo and behold, they were never even as sick as me or some of the other remission success stories I know. They simply had LAZY doctors who know that option #1 means more work - and having to patiently care during a long, healing process. (One that I felt was well worth it, as did my two super-incredible Florida doctors who did not send people off to kill off good flesh if it wasn't beyond-a-shad0w-of-a-doubt necessary. This is not the norm in America - and if it's not the norm for Graves', what other short cuts are being taken that are not in the patients best interest? Makes you go "hmmmm").

When any of us go to a doctor and act like pansy-assed wimps, we are not guaranteeing ourselves the best possible treatment - for ourselves or our children. I certainly don't want to find out that my kid's life has been screwed up because I numbly nodded my head and said, "Yes, sir, yes m'am" without doing any fact finding myself.

So, with that said - I'm no brave soul for telling my doctor we're not just getting new vaccines until I research them. I am a consumer - a consumer who is striving to be educated. And heck, I'm freaking paying them! Why on earth shouldn't I ask questions and demand darned good reasons for procedures which may be unnecessary?

Disclaimer: I am not saying that I think all doctors are idiots. (I have some awesome, fantastic doctors in my life and my childrens' lives. Doctors who respect and appreciate the fact that I'm not asking them to pretend to be gods). I adovcate educated consumerism. Period.