Tag Archives: doctor

Wine – Red Glass At Night = Mommas Delight, Red Glass In The Morning = Mommas Warning

Bottle Of Red… “A Red Glass At Night Is A Momma’s Delight… A Red Glass In The Morning Is A Momma’s Warning”… (yes, I do think I am quite savvy for making that one up… And yes, totally putting it in quotes to give myself props)…

Recently, I saw a new doctor and was grilled, on paper. One of the questions asked on my 4 page questionnaire – Do you drink alcohol? My answer – Yes. The next question… If yes, how much alcohol do you drink… you get the gist.

Obviously, these questions are on the questionnaire because doctors need to know if you have an alcohol problem or not. It could have to do with the type of medication they may have to prescribe for you at some point… or something else… If everyone gets the same questionnaire, and has to answer the same questions, why do I feel so strange having to answer it?

I don’t like the question because many factors go into my response… Are they talking about this week or last week. Do they mean what I drank last night, or what I plan on drinking tonight due to the anxiety and stress the question caused? Is it a way to make me feel guilty about having a cocktail or two? Yikes… I really don’t like that question!

My reality… last week, I may have had one to two glasses of

red wine

3 nights in a row. Since then, I may not have had any red wine. Tonight, I might have a few friends over and drink three to four glasses. Does that mean that I am an alcoholic??? Absolutely NOT! I have gone months without a drink, nor wanting one. Other times, I have taken a sip of red wine and almost hurled because at that very moment, I couldn’t stand the taste. So now, I need to question the question and question my response… Personally, I don’t think it is a fair question… regardless of my answer, I somehow, am forced to feel guilty for something I am not doing wrong… Kind of like in the first grade when I dropped our guinea pig Snowball, because she nipped me and I got yelled at… The little monster drew blood for no reason… again, I did nothing wrong.

Posted in Family, Funnies, Humanity, Parenting, Uncategorized, Women | Tagged alcohol, doctor, medical, medicine, Mom, mommy, muse, musings, Parenting, red, social, socialize, trend, wine, write, writing | Leave a comment

Mom Planners Agendas And Calendars

Between my husband, two children and two dogs, I have a hard time keeping track of each of our schedules. I have toggled between different types of planners/agendas as well as calendar apps on my computer and iPhone. Although I love the digital world we live in, there is still something to be said about writing down appointments, important notes and activities.

Although I like having my digital calendar up to date, I am a visual person. Being able to sift through pages and determine the best options for plans and appointments in a physical calendar seems to work. I love being able to write down daily tasks, to do lists, and daily accomplishments. My planner/agenda is filled with concert tickets, postcards, invitations and other memorable things. I even use it as a diary to jot down the little things my daughters say and do! ♥

With so many family members, and things to keep track of, I love planners that are geared towards moms the most. In my search for the perfect planner, and slight obsession with buying at least a few a year, I finally found one that is suitable for all my needs. Daytimer created a Portable or Desk version of a Mom Planner which is absolutely adorable. It has all the bells and whistles I look for. I prefer the Portable Mom Planner because I can take it with me everywhere. They even havve a Student Planner which can be purchased as a Portable or Desk version as well! Love these! They are truly a “must have” and come in a bunch of great colors! Check them out!

Posted in Apps, Children, Education, Family, Get Organized, Girls, Kids, Mom, Motherhood, Parenting, Shopping, Uncategorized, Women | Tagged agenda, dad, daytimer, doctor, Family, i-stuff, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mom, organization, organized, planner, schedule, school, student, tech, work | 1 Comment

Summer Wedding Makeup – Moisturizer Or Foundation

Before my wedding, I remember people telling me a million things starting with the word “don’t.” The “don’t” list included things like…

“Don’t cut your hair before your wedding.”
“Don’t go tanning the day of your wedding or the day before because you might burn.”
“Don’t eat too much before you put on your wedding gown.”
“Don’t lose too much weight before your wedding day or you might not fit into your wedding gown.”

Fortunately, I received a lot of great “don’t” advice. Now, if only someone told me “Don’t trust your dermatologist even though he is a doctor and you think he knows best!”

Six months before my wedding, I experienced what many women might consider the ultimate nightmare… My wish to look beautiful on my wedding day was no different from any other bride to be. Unfortunately, that want led to an awful experience. Having suffered from a pimple or two in my lifetime, I wanted the perfect skin for my wedding day. My dermatologist suggested a laser treatment to even my skin tone and give me a healthy glow. Obviously it seemed like a no brainer. I made an appointment immediately. The following week, I sat through two hours of the treatment expecting genius results. Much to my surprise, and my dermatologists, the results were not so pretty. I left the office with a puffy face which looked like it had burns all over it. The marks were in the shape of little honeycombs. I asked what it was and my dermatologist said the infamous word followed by some more words… “don’t worry, it’s perfectly normal to have a reaction after a treatment like that. You should be fine by tomorrow.” Well, weeks went by and I still was NOT fine. I had 3 other appointments with him, all resulting in similar responses… “Don’t worry… It won’t be like this forever.”

Six months later, my wedding day came. I still had honeycomb marks all over my face. I spent my honeymoon poolside with a bag of makeup at my side. Every chance I got, I would rush to the bathroom and reapply so nobody would see the disgusting marks all over my face. It has been 9 years and I still have a few lingering marks which are visible. Since that experience, I have struggled with the thought of leaving my house without makeup on. I know I no longer look terrible but the experience made me a bit insecure about my skin. Recently, I was fortunate enough to stumble upon a product that I had to share! NARS Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer Broad Spectrum SPF 30 St. Moritz 1.9 oz!!! I realize that many people know about, and use tinted moisturizer but try to understand, I would never have thought to use anything without maximum coverage until recently. This stuff is AMAZING! I put it on, it evened my skin tone, gives me just the right amount of coverage, does NOT make me break out and has sunscreen! Even better, I can sit poolside, put it on as often as I want, look fantastic and never feel like I will have nasty makeup running down my face while I swim… It’s simply fantastic!

Posted in Family, Girls, Kids, Mom, Motherhood, Parenting, Shopping, Uncategorized, Women | Tagged beach, beauty, dermatologist, doctor, Family, foundation, honeymoon, laser, makeup, moisturizer, pool, poolside, pretty, sephora, summer, write, writing | Leave a comment

Allergies And DNA

My allergies were diagnosed in the fourth grade. Yes, I am allergic to Penicillin. Shortly after my hospital stint, and diagnosis, another doctor informed me that she was not going to prescribe me any medication with cillin in it’s name, since I could be allergic to all cillins. Since then, I have claimed that yes, I am allergic to all cillins. My daughters, fortunately, are not allergic to Penicillin or any other cillin for that matter.

Although I have done my share of fibbing in regards to medication that I am sort of allergic to, it seems justified. The reaction I experienced was awful. Clearly, I would have a fear of cillins. I also claim to be allergic to some “not so edible” foods. For instance, mushrooms, certain types of fish, and a few other choice delectable bites. The reality though, I simply cannot stand the thought of putting any of them in my mouth and having to chew or swallow. When presented with these foods, rather than having to explain myself, it is much easier to simply say, “thanks, but I’m allergic.”

This evening, the dark reality of my fibbing surfaced. Starving, after a long day at the office, I decided to order a pizza and have it delivered. “Pepper and onion please,” I said to the man on the other end of the phone. I felt faint… I could already smell the pizza though. It seemed like forever before the pizza guy came knocking on my door. Famished and ready to eat, I quickly signed the receipt and grabbed my pizza from the driver’s hand. I rushed to my kitchen, grabbed a plate and opened the box! About to grab a slice, I noticed one small problem… mushrooms.

Gagging, starving and feeling faint, I had few options… sob, eat the darn pizza regardless or call the pizza guy. Clearly, my options were limited but I wanted “my” pizza so I called. While waiting for pizza number two, my daughter Talia asked why I didn’t just eat the pizza. I informed her that I couldn’t eat it because it had mushrooms on it. I told her mommy was allergic to mushrooms and could get sick if I ate them. Unfortunately, my girls are smarter than I am. They both looked at each other with a silly grin on their face… Then, Talia informed me that she was allergic to peas, therefor could not eat them. Julia nodding, said “yeah mom, me too. But I am also allergic to chicken and will probably get really sick if you make me eat any.” Both my girls, blatantly lying to me with a smirk on their adorable faces… now what?

Posted in Apps, Children, Education, Family, Funnies, Girls, Kids, Mom, Motherhood, Parenting, Uncategorized, Women | Tagged allergies, allergy, dna, doctor, i-stuff, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Kids, Media, network, nom nom, pizza, social, tech | Leave a comment

My Doctor, A Last Minute Appointment And Jail?

Ah… the sound of a phone ringing… Remember the days when there were no answering machines? If you were not in the mood to pick up the phone, you had to be prepared for potential Chinese torture in case the caller did not want to hang up… or better yet, thought they did but… the phone did not quite land on the cradle properly thus, causing the endless ringing… After multiple failed attempts while trying to speak with a doctor of mine, I was so frustrated that I dialed the number, put the phone on speaker, and just let it ring… and ring… and ring. The result… I didn’t annoy anyone on the other end since nobody was there. Instead, I annoyed myself so much I nearly chucked my phone at a wall.

Finding a great doctor who is still taking patients isn’t that easy. That is only the first step though. The staff at a doctor’s office is equally as important. It takes some nurturing and time to build a good relationship with each office. One may assume that during the honeymoon phase between a patient and a doctor things would go pretty well. Patients generally try to make a good impression up front. Normally, one would try to be on time, not forget your health insurance cards, bring cash or a checkbook, etc. Then there is me.

I am what you call a last-minute appointment maker. Not only do I make appointments at the last-minute, I beg for the ones that suit my schedule. You know, 5:30pm and all. Hopefully on the same day as my phone call. By the way, I do this with hair appointments too. It takes a bit of time but eventually, I do grow on the office staff, and they usually start to like me a bit. Off course, they may not want to initially. They soon realize that I am not going anywhere. Eventually, they tend to work with me a bit… I suppose they would rather make concessions for me than hear me complain.

Getting back to the phone I almost chucked against a wall… I called again the following day and someone answered! Not expecting anyone to answer, instead of saying hello, I hung up the phone by mistake. I truly did not expect that anyone would pick up and it was an automatic reaction. Frantically, I dialed the number again hoping whomever answered the first time would still be there. Well, she was! Excited, I asked for an appointment with my doctor which, obviously, I needed forever ago! Once again, something unexpected occurred. She, the lady on the other end of the phone, did not know who I was, nor did she care. “Sorry”, she said, “Dr. !#@!* is not accepting any appointments at this time.” The response, was not something I could just let go so off course, I had to inquire. “What do you mean not taking appointments? When will he be taking appointments,” I asked? Her response, “He has been incarcerated and have no idea when he will be out of jail. You may want to find a new doctor in the meantime.” I hung up… I had no words.

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Posted in Children, Family, Funnies, Humanity, Mom, Motherhood, Uncategorized, Women | Tagged appointments, calendar, date, doctor, Family, jail, medical, Mom, Parenting, planner, planning, time, write, writenow | Leave a comment

My Little Pony In The Belly Of My Bulldog Pup?

“Is anyone missing a My Little Pony?” Yup, that’s what she said…

Thursday evening, I noticed Cooper didn’t look too hot. My normally crazy bulldog pup was not his usual self. Not interested in his food or water, and having regurgitated a stinky liquid, I realized Cooper had more than just a little stomach bug. Of course, since the veterinarian’s office was closed, before taking him to an ever so expensive animal hospital, I decided to look up his symptoms. The results all pointed to one thing… get him seen immediately.

Off we were, to our local animal hospital! I drove as calming music played in the background… Cooper huffed, puffed, and complained the whole ride. The pathetic noises were nothing in comparison to what we were about to deal with. Arriving at the hospital, I realized the wait would be long. There were many other patients ahead of us. Sitting with Cooper in the waiting room seemed like forever. He is still a puppy and very inquisitive. Every patient that came in was a new friend according to Cooper. Finally, the Veterinarian came and asked for Cooper. We spoke briefly, and she let me know that they believed he needed x-rays. Handing off my big baby, I prayed for our pregnant veterinarian, hoping she would have a positive experience with my puppy, although I knew the moment they tried to keep him still, he would cause a ruckus.

The moment of truth came when our Veterinarian asked for us after his x-rays came back. Her first words… “is anyone in your home missing a My Little Pony?” Danny and I looked at one another with complete disbelief (well, kind of)… “Yes, I am sure” I said. We both shook our heads and did not know whether to laugh or cry. The vet then told us that Cooper was a little out of sorts because they had to sedate him for the x-rays… shocker! She took us back to the x-ray room because she needed us to verify whether the My Little Pony in question was in fact the type with plastic hair or doll hair. The difference being the way they may need to remove it and whether they needed a lasso or it could be pulled out by the hair. The x-ray was amazing. A perfect silhouette. I have added two pictures, one side view and the other a rear view.

At about 2:30 am, my daughter Julia woke up and asked where Cooper was. When we informed her that a My Little Pony was in his belly and he was at the Animal Hospital, she responded “Oh my gosh! Is that where Scootaloo is?” Well, we thought maybe she was right but the next day, we saw Cooper just after the operation and the Veterinarian showed us a bag which contained the My Little Pony and the real culprit of his issues… an actual doggy rope toy. Once home, I showed Talia the x-rays and she immediately said, “MOM! That’s Applejack! You found Applejack!” Torn between whether the pony was Applejack or Scootaloo, I asked the girls what each looked like. Wouldn’t you know it, Talia described little Applejack perfectly. It was most definitely the same pony found in Cooper Cotter’s belly. Mystery solved, Cooper is well and on the mend.