Health Chaos

About ten years ago I hired a neighbor/friend/colleague to work for me. She had just completed her BSN education and was new to nursing, her second career. She brought a good education, but she also brought television drugs. Having never watched much television and having never put a lot of interest in “ over the counter” drugs and “self medication”, I was amazed that she knew so much about remedies for almost everything, from hypertension to poison oak.

Having been “laid off” recently from a big insurance company that dismissed 650 managers across the country, I have had time to watch television. The drug ads are appalling to me. And having had some recent visits to my medical practioners, I have the feeling that their practice is also driven by the drug advertisement culture, which I find scary.

I was hospitalized for almost two weeks this summer for a perforated ulcer. I am sure some of this had to do with my stresses in my life. However the mix of medications I was given, for better or for worse, most definitely led to this crisis. They were prescribed for me, in good faith, but also, I believe, because that is what physicians do now. We live in a pharmaceutical culture, and practitioners do not have, nor want, to take the time to look at the big picture. Holistic medicine seems to be a thing of the past. It just takes too much time and energy.

[tags]bsn education, laid off, insurance company, medical practitioners, drug advertisement, perforated ulcer, pharmaceutical culture, holistic medicine[/tags]

Why am I starting this blog? I guess because I have been around for awhile, have done some interesting things, have had a great education, and feel that I have stuff to say and share. And one of my sons told me to.

I have opinions about having children, the nursing profession and its “dumbing down” and employment in corporate America. And about our sons and daughters in the military, and about finding oneself unemployed at 60 years of age, overqualified and overeducated for almost everything one applies for. Not to mention a geographical relocation.

And just dealing with the ravages of aging, after spending 30 years as a runner, an “off and on” vegetarian, complying with a healthy lifestyle, attending to looking healthy and as pretty as possible despite aging, and staying involved in life, even if it means doing things alone sometimes.

Whew!

[tags]nursing profession, dumbing down, corporate America, overeducated[/tags]