MS Maze

“For millions of Americans, time is of the essence. Let’s not sit quietly by and wait for health care reform to come to us. Let’s become part of the solution.”

I wrote that last January as I eagerly anticipated the health care reform promised by a new administration. I knew change wouldn’t come easily and much patience would be required, but I was woefully unprepared for the year that followed.

Shock and awe is how I would sum up my feelings this summer as I watched our nation grow more polarized than ever…

Read this post in its entirety:

Health Care Reform: Redux Ad Nauseam

Photo: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1208854

Sometimes it’s the little things that make a big difference in quality of life and maintaining independence.

If you have relapsing/remitting multiple sclerosis, as I do, it’s easy to overlook simple things that can make life easier when in relapse. Since my own diagnosis in 2004, I have come to appreciate some simple household helpers that assist me in managing daily life with MS.

Read this post in its entirety:

10 Tips for Managing Daily Living with Multiple Sclerosis

Staying current with health care legislation is an overwhelming task. Rules and regulations vary from state to state and family to family, depending on individual circumstances. The push to overhaul health care in the United States has resulted in more confusion than ever.

When it comes to laws that affect your health and wellbeing, leave no stone unturned. Never assume that what you’ve heard is all there is. If you have questions about health care policy or reform, check with multiple reliable sources.

Listed below are some official U.S. government resources and some non-partisan sites that can help answer your questions about health policy, pending legislation, and what it means to you and your family.

Read this post in its entirety:

How to Stay Informed about Health Care Policy and Reform

Photo: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1238327

We’re not going to have a revamped health care system for Christmas, but it looks like we’re going to have a Senate health care bill by Christmas eve.

The larger task of merging it with the House bill so that we end up with something that makes sense remains. 2010 promises to start with a bang. We have no choice but to forgive 2009 for its crushing disappointments and move on.

It’s obvious that whatever legislation is passed in the end, it won’t meet all of our expectations. Rather, it will be step one in a very long movement toward providing all citizens with access to health care. No matter how you feel about the final bill, the movement will not end with the passage of a single piece of legislation.

Senate Bill by Christmas but No Health Care Reform in 2009

Photo: Creative Commons License CC BY 2.0 via leoncillo sabino

You have been diagnosed with a chronic illness. Perhaps the diagnosis was months, or even years in the making. Tremendous relief at finding the answer is followed by a myriad of questions. One of the first is who should be told… and when… and how much?

This is an intensely personal decision, and one which should not be rushed.

Immediate family members who share a home with you… spouse, children, parents… should probably be told. They will be involved in the day-to-day issues as they arise and may be called upon to assist, or at least to provide emotional support.

Reactions to your diagnosis will be varied and unpredictable…

Read this post in its entirety:

Life with Chronic Illness: Who to Tell, When, and How Much

Photo: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1178168

Read this post:

How to Get Soap from a Butterfly

Photo: Creative Commons License via Ernst Vickne

Writing around the web this week:

Tis the season for celebration… and angst; for hustle and bustle… and unrealistic expectations. If you live with chronic illness, you might want to push Norman Rockwell and Martha Stewart aside and work on having Healthy Holiday Expectations.

If you sometimes feel like a mere bystander in your own health care, it’s time take control. Health Care Self-Advocacy: Be the Squeaky Wheel.

Have you heard about Care2’s new Butterfly Credit Program? It’s a simple way to earn credits that can be turned into good deeds. You can lend a helping hand to others without putting up a single penny. Find out how you can take 20 Seconds to Save a Child’s Life, or How to Get Soap from a Butterfly.

The most intimidating thought to a writer is that it really has all been said before. Whenever I find myself on that train of thought, I remind myself that it hasn’t been said my me — in my voice, backed by my emotions and life experiences. It certainly hasn’t been read by everyone, at least not yet.

My own writing project has been stalled for several months, as I tried to sort out what I was writing, why, and for whom. I showed bits and pieces of this work to a select few, then retreated into a sea of busy work. Prompted by my son, I decided to dust off the manuscript and take another look.

With great trepidation I shared my opening chapter with an online writing friend — someone I’ve never personally met and who would have no interest in telling me anything less than the truth. It was only chapter one, but his critique gave me the courage to revisit this work and the nerve to show it to my husband for the first time. His comments were also encouraging.

The busy work shall continue through December, but in January I’m seriously considering locking myself in a room, sans the internet, and getting this thing done. That sounds like a new year’s resolution in the making.

I won’t be ruminating next Friday, Christmas Day, so here’s wishing you and yours all the best now and in the new year.

Read more:

Care2 Healthy & Green Living with MS

Care2 Reform Health Policy

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WebCamp One, LLC: Full-service website design, management, and development company with clients throughout the USA and Canada. Expert in standards compliant website design. From website management to freelance writing, we’ve got the web covered. Visit WebCamp One on Facebook.

Visit: AnnPietrangelo.com Contact: writer@webcampone.com

It’s your body, and no one has more incentive to take care of it than you do. You can’t depend on anyone else to take the reins when it comes to your health. The responsibility lies with you. Don’t be a passive patient; be a squeaky wheel.

Read this post in its entirety and find how you can:

• Be pro-active about your health.
• Foster a strong doctor-patient relationship.
• Advocate for yourself and your family.
• Research and learn — seek out multiple trusted sources for medical information.

Health Care Self-Advocacy: Be the Squeaky Wheel

Photo: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/961618

Every 20 seconds… a child perishes from disease caused by unsanitary drinking water and lack of proper sanitation.

It is an unimaginable, yet preventable horror. Around the world 884 million people do not have access to safe drinking water. Forty percent of these people live in Africa.

It is within your power to help. Without putting up a single penny, you can give the gift of one day of safe drinking water for a child, or provide life-saving oral dehydration salts. By taking action on Care2, you can earn Butterfly Credits that can be easily redeemed as gifts for causes you care about, gifts that make the world a better place.

Read this post in its entirety:

20 Seconds to Save a Child’s Life

Photo: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

’Tis the season for celebration… and angst; for hustle and bustle… and unrealistic expectations.

Whatever you do, don’t let Norman Rockwell’s homey visions and Martha Stewart’s superior homemaking be the catalyst for your own anxiety. Your Christmas holiday may not rival that of a sentimental old black and white movie, but that wasn’t real life anyway.

One is hard-pressed to find the silver lining in the economic decline over the past several years, but there is more emphasis on home and hearth this Christmas and less emphasis on commercial goods as the fulfillment of holiday wishes. That’s a very good thing.

If you live life with a chronic illness, tackling the holiday “to do” list can be overwhelming. The first item on your “to do” list should be to cull the “to do” list. Ask yourself which items are truly necessary and which can be eliminated.

Read this post in its entirety:

Healthy Holiday Expectations: A How To Guide

Photo: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1078098

’Tis the season of giving and no gift carries more weight than the gift of hope.

I often write about people who have been denied health care due to a lack of medical insurance or an insurer’s refusal to pay for treatment. How utterly refreshing to be able to lend my support to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in its mission to give the gift of hope.

St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance. No child is ever denied treatment because of the family’s inability to pay. That’s why children from all 50 states and from around the world have sought treatment at St. Jude, a research center that freely shares its research with the global medical community.

Read this post in its entirety:

Donate your Voice: Give the Gift of Hope to Children Battling Cancer

Photo: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1215356

Posting around the web this week:

If you’re looking for information about MS online, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding reputable sources. Multiple sclerosis information on the web… on Twitter… on Facebook… oh my!

’Tis the season of giving and no gift carries more weight than the gift of hope. I often write about people who have been denied health care due to a lack of medical insurance or an insurer’s refusal to pay for treatment. How utterly refreshing to be able to lend my support to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in its mission to give the gift of hope. Donate your Voice: Give the Gift of Hope to Children Battling Cancer

It’s open enrollment for “the widest selection of health plans in the country,” where pre-existing conditions are not an issue and the government pays a portion of your premiums. Could there be a catch?

The Senate is doing a lot of compromising on real reform. Reconciliation will likely result on further watering down of the bill. Will the Senate Compromises Threaten to Doom Comprehensive Health Care Reform?

Need a walking cane? Get one that cops an attitude… I did! Cop an Attitude with a Fashionable Cane.

An article previously published on Care2 Healthy & Green Living was re-run on Women on the Verge: Deciphering MS Speak

I have a love/hate relationship with blog comments, as I suppose most writers do. We all love to get a good debate going, as well as feedback for our efforts. We take the good with the bad, understanding that people will disagree with our opinions and some will be downright nasty. A thick skin is required, and I’ve certainly developed one.

Something I could live without? The folks who comment even though they obviously haven’t read the piece. They read the title, or a sentence or two, and go off on a tangent proving they haven’t a clue. It’s a bit like when a politician does a television interview. It really doesn’t matter what the reporter asks — they have a point to make and will answer the question they wanted to be asked. In the blogosphere, I believe these people are called “trolls.” They are on a mission to hijack the discussion, often succeeding. Conspiracy theorists take honorable mention. Comes with the territory.

Read more:
Care2 Healthy & Green Living with MS
Care2 Reform Health Policy

Connect: Facebook – LinkedIn – Twitter

WebCamp One, LLC: Full-service website design, management, and development company with clients throughout the USA and Canada. Expert in standards compliant website design. From website management to freelance writing, we’ve got the web covered. Visit WebCamp One on Facebook.

Visit: AnnPietrangelo.com Contact: writer@webcampone.com

We won’t have health care reform in 2009, but it is likely that some kind of bill will pass in 2010. It won’t be what the liberals wanted. It won’t be what the conservatives wanted. It’s probably going to saddle a lot of Americans with a mandate to purchase insurance they can’t afford. Sounds like a win for insurers.

Even if a reconciled health care reform bill passes, the fight for affordable and accessible health care for all Americans must continue.

Read this post in its entirety:

Senate Compromises Threaten to Doom Comprehensive Health Care Reform

Photo: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/964707

A cane is nothing more than a mobility aid, right? Well, maybe, but if you’ve got style and personality, why not show it off?

Walking canes and walking sticks can be so much more than mobility aids — the right ones can also be fashionable accessories for the men and for the ladies.

For example, check out the Genuine Zebrano adjustable folding cane. This sleek number is all about attitude and style. The wooden Zebrano handle and sassy pattern add a touch of flair to this adjustable walking cane. As practical as it is gorgeous, this beauty is height-adjustable and folds up for easy storage when not in use.

Or how about a sleek folding adjustable cane? The Chrome-plated derby-handled aluminum walking cane not only provides sturdy support, but the look is one of pure sophistication, smacking of inner confidence.

If, when you think about canes, you still automatically conjure up an image of those clunking metal canes that one might find in a hospital or nursing home, it’s time to reconsider all previous notions about canes and get with the program.

Dull and drab is out — personal style is in. With so many materials, colors, and patterns to choose from, there’s no excuse not to own a cane that suits your individual taste.

Need a walking cane? Get one that cops an attitude!

Browse through the Fashionable Canes and Walking Sticks website and become a fan on Facebook.

Read about my first cane with attitude: “If you going to use a cane, use a CANE!”

Disclosure: This is a compensated post, but I am also a satisfied customer of Fashionable Walking Canes and Walking Sticks.

It’s open enrollment season and time to shop “the widest selection of health plans in the country,” where pre-existing conditions are not an issue and the government pays a portion of your premiums.

There is even a convenient website devoted to making the shopping experience easy and understandable. You can download charts that compare the various health plans available, complete with premium rates broken down into how much you will be expected to pay and how much the government — that’s you and me — will pay.

Could there be a catch?

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Open Enrollment for the “widest selection of health plans in the country”

Photo: Creative Commons – Flickr – 16 Miles of String