First to Costco and to the library, then over to spend an hour or so with Ara, who will be leaving for PA on Friday evening. Donald got a pasta maker for Christmas, and when he heard me mention that I was going to throw a meal together of hot Italian sausage, pasta, and a few other ingredients, he asked me what kind of pasta, and if I wanted him to make some for me. It doesn't take long at all, so I took him up on the offer and came home with a bag of fresh rigatoni. It is soooo good that I'm not sure I can go back to the boxed, dried out pasta sold in the stores, which also happen to contain a lot of added ingredients. (Pasta is another thing they seem to automatically add folic acid and often add ingredients that can't be pronounced except by a chemist.)
The sausage, mushroom & onion, and a couple of other things were sauteed in a beautiful cast iron skillet I just came into possession of, and then I threw everything together with lots of mozzarella and baked it until the cheese was melted. Mmmmm, that was good.
I've gone all day experiencing a certain twinge off and on, and it is in the general area where I think my right kidney resides. I did a flurry of googling first thing, and decided I didn't have even one other symptom that would indicate a kidney problem. I spent a lot of the afternoon lying on the couch on top of a heating pad which makes me feel a lot better, but the twinge still occurs when I move a certain way. I don't think it's muscular, although I could be wrong.
Although I don't feel like taking it up with the insurance company, I am being shafted by their dumb rules in paying for my eye drops prescribed by my surgeon. I got 10ml on Dec. 5th, and the ins. co says it should last 50 days. I may be looking at it in an entirely different manner, but if I use 4 drops in 1 eye and 1 drop in the other eye every day, that's 5 drops a day. I looked at a number of websites today that seem to agree that 10 ml = 200 drops. That would mean that I should get 40 days use from my 10 ml bottle. I'm not getting that since a drop isn't consistent - sometimes it is more and sometimes less. The lady at the pharmacy is as frustrated as I am.
I don't like being angry so I try not to think about such inconsistencies for very long. I'm fortunate to have insurance that covers prescription drugs as well as it does, although I notice I'm being charged a much larger co-pay.
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Boy that dinner sounds great! You are so right about even pasta having all kinds of things added. Is Donald's pasta maker small enough to carry in an RV? I'd love to make fresh pasta.
ReplyDeleteWhen I would drive my Mom to the eye doc, we would try to get a sample bottle of the eyedrops, that would help make up for the bottles the insurance did not want to pay for. She still paid a lot for them, because they were not on any of the Medicare lists of cheap eye drops.
ReplyDeleteNow I'm going to have to go to the store and get some sausage, mushrooms, and everything else cause your dinner sounded so good. Jim can't have the pasta but everything else would work.
ReplyDeleteI'm frustrated with our drug coverage. Two of the drugs Jim has to take are non-preferred and they have really upped the co-pay on those. It never ends does it.
Gypsy, keep an eye out for any blistering if the pain is only on one side. The pain you describe is exactly how the Shingles started with me. I googled, too. No other symptoms until the first blister. If you get one, head quickly to the nearest walk in doc or emer room and get the anti-viral medication, topical meds, and you may need the pain meds as the pain gets worse. I can't tolerate them so stuck to tylenol and the heating pad, but the important thing is FAST treatment to avoid long term effects.
ReplyDeleteKeep us posted. Hope it's muscular.
Yup. we do the merry go round with the drug companies, insurance companies and in between liason company to over see it all. I usually need about 2 weeks to straighten out any refill for 3 months, so I start 2 weeks before it runs out. It's always the same song and dance. ARARRGHGGHGHGGGGHHHH
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Karen and Steve
(Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/
With shingles, you couldn't stand anything to touch that spot. Not even clothes. Had em about 12 years ago, worst pain i ever had, took over 3 bottles of vicadon, to knock me out for a few hours at a time. they were from my navel around to my spine. Used a prescription cream on them, didn't help.
ReplyDeleteMy husband is just getting over shingles. From everyone we have talked to about their symptoms, it would seem that each individual's reaction is different.
ReplyDeleteHis course was complicated by the fact that the pains mimicked those caused by his cancer, so there was the extra worry about that aspect.
I concur with getting a diagnosis as quickly as possible, and getting started with the acyclovir to combat it. Fortunately, acyclovir is on the Medicare approved list, and was only $7. for each prescription (he had to take a large dosage (800 mg. x 4 day) for the first week; tapering to 400 mg. twice a day for an unknown continuing period of time.
He was given a prescription for a pain killer called gabapentin, but the side effects that we read about were so horrible that he decided to just tough out the pain.
Not a fun time, but we are near the end of a three-week period, and he is ALMOST painfree, although not entirely.
Virtual hugs,
Judie