BLOGGING BEING SUSPENDED!

Left carotid artery receiving attention tomorrow morning EARLY (7:30 a.m.) and I will be home and recuperating until 9/21 when blogging will resume! Want to get it done before I'm condemned to an unhealthy old age by the Dems who think we're a disposable resource!

ORAL SURGERY AND OTHER PLEASURES

Well, I finally went ahead and found myself a dentist in Fredericksburg, Virginia (where I live) and went in yesterday morning at 7:30 a.m. (this is something more dentists should do) and got the tooth that's been messing up my life removed. It was actually a rather simple procedure and I was home by 9 a.m.

Now here's the thing. When this tooth first started kicking up a fuss last month and the right side of my face was swollen up (there's a look in which to go to work), I went to a dentist in D.C. who proceeded to quote me, please be sitting down when you read this, $1,775.00 to remove this tooth. Included in this exorbitant quotation were a drain in my right cheek, bone grafts and general anesthetic. When she realized I didn't have that kind of money, she suggested I go to the Howard University Dental School and have the tooth removed. But they were too busy to take me and if they'd had time, some time, the cost would have been over $200 for a student to remove my tooth.

Dr. Expensive had given me a prescription for antibiotics, so I filled that prescription and one she'd given me for pain pills and lo and behold, the swelling in my cheek started to go down almost immediately and by the next day, it was completely gone. I took the antibiotics
as directed and by the time I was done, my mouth felt fine. However, not being a complete idiot, I decided to find a dentist in my home area to get this and future dental procedures taken care of.

The Internet came through for me again and I now have a fantastic dentist, 20 minutes from home, who doesn't charge an arm and a leg - an important consideration since I haven't yet received my dental insurance card. Out of pocket for yesterday? $215.00. And the procedure was performed by a real dentist, not a student. To my mind, the $20.00 additional is money well spent!

Here's the thing: there really isn't a true health care crisis per se but there is a laziness crisis. At least that's my opinion. If you look around, ask lots of questions and show some common sense, that $1,775.00 procedure can be had for $215.00 without compromising professional care. Shop around, I'm just saying.

'Fat' gene found by scientists

In an article in today’s Times Online (UK), it is proclaimed that scientists have discovered the gene that causes different people to metabolize food in different ways, thus leading to weight gain.

Where were they looking? Krispey Kreme? That’s where I find it!

THE PERKY ONE ISN'T DOING HERSELF ANY FAVORS!

I don't know if her own experience with cancer was somehow affecting her interview of former Senator John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth Edwards, but Katie Couric was - to put it mildly - way off her not-terribly-good-in-the-first-place game the other night. Her demeanor and her questions were frequently snarky, ofttimes inappropriately accusatory and in a tone that the Edwards both were gracious enough to ignore. This was one time when John Edwards looked really good by comparison - to his interviewer.

I have no doubt that Elizabeth Edwards is in for one hell of a fight. I have no doubt that she has a great deal to fight for - especially her two young children. I admire her courage a great deal. And I don't really have a lot of respect for anyone who politicizes her battle. How each person fights his or her cancer is their choice and theirs alone. And nobody has the right or the privilege of passing judgment, not even someone who has fought that same fight on behalf of a loved one. We all deal with the difficult challenges of our lives in our own individual ways. I don't know how I would react in a situation such as Elizabeth Edwards faces. I do know that I would resent like hell anyone telling me it was a choice I had no right to make or a choice I was making for perceived wrong reasons. I don't know if it was Ann Landers or Dear Abby who first coined the phrase, but here you go folks: MYOB works really well in this situation. Yes we can CARE and we can PRAY for those facing this battle. Certainly I will be praying for both Tony Snow and Elizabeth Edwards. I will NOT be judging their choices regarding fighting their illness.