There are a lot of important things happening here.
A week from tomorrow I officially lose my last big client. That means an additional loss of my income by 90%. This does not make a cheerful OHN. Before long, I won't be only-half-nuts....I will be full-blown-nuts. If people in this country knew what was really going on with health care, you would run screaming into the night.
A simple example of one issue......say you have a pesky little breas.t cancer. You see your doctor. He sends you to a surgeon that you aren't sure you like, but, heck, your family doctor sent you there so he must really like him. Yeah....not really.
Most likely your family doctor has a short list to pick from because he is in association with a large medical center, or the same "group". In our area the C.leveland C.linic, U.niversity H.ospitals, or S.umma Care System are the three biggies that are sucking up ALL the doctors. If your doc **belongs** to the Clinic, he isn't going to refer you to U.niversity, even if U has the BEST oncologist for your cancer. Sad and wrong on so many levels.
**yes, I mean belongs, because once you join them, you are on a salary that is commensurate with your numbers of patients seen, surgeries performed, number of referrals to others in your association etc. So, in effect they do own your doctor.
This last account I had was forced to join the Clinic. You are wondering how a physician can be forced?? Simple. If you don't join, and you are a specialist (ortho, uro, gyn etc) your referrals dry up. Specialists rely heavily on physician referrals. So unless they want to just hope for referrals by old patients (" hey Bill...go see Dr. Feelsalotofprostates, he is great") they are screwed. No patients means no practice.
Ironically, my last account...is a wonderful man that HATES the fact that he will now be salaried and told what paintings he is allowed to hang in his office (no, I am NOT kidding, there is actually a list he is to select from that are accepted by his new "boss"). He will be forced to use their internal charting system so OHN is out. I honestly think he feels almost as badly as I do about it.
So, there's that.
S3 got his license this week. Need I say more? He is a great kid, extremely careful, but very very green. I give it till Christmas before I get the call that a portion of my car is deformed in some manner.
S1 told me he is going to ask his girlfriend to marry him. My first question was if she was pregnant. She's not. Apparently her parents are freaking out that she is basically living with him and said they wouldn't mind if she was engaged. I tried to explain to S1 that there needs to be a little bit better reason to get engaged, than getting her mom and dad off her back. S1 will be 22 this week and she is 21. They are wonderful together, and most likely WILL end up together, but sheesh....
S2 is overloaded with school, internship, and work. The whole time he was ranting, I was thinking "yep bud, get used to it...it's called life")
Oh, and it's cold here. 31 as I type this. This means that our gas bills will soon be hovering in the $350 a month range. Not good. I may have to dig out the fishnets, hit up G.oodwill for a miniskirt, and find a profitable corner.
Oh, and two weeks before I found out that the client was going to be gone, we ordered about $3000 worth of replacement doors (entrance and sliders) for our house. (much needed as when we have a blowing snow, we actually get poofs of it in our kitchen, after years and years and years of boys and animal use, and the main entrance door has been slammed so many times it is a miracle it still closes....so while it is crazy timing, it hopefully will at least help with the heat bills) Of course, the opening isn't standard size so we had to special order. ugh.
Well, the complaint list could take all day to write and the title of this was a few quick things. Hey, if nothing else I will have more time to fill up this space. OH that reminds me...the writing gig, it fell through. I checked a little deeper and found out some things that made that little bell ding in my head that said don't do it. So I'm not.
Have a happy day :-)
10 comments:
Oh OHN,
That sucks. I find the healthcare system incredibly intimidating and often wonder, when it comes time to really navigate it, how on earth I'm going to make the right choices. There's this naivete in this country -- as if we can harken back to the days of the family doctor who knew your family/was invested in your community etc. -- and so we really believe that they are making choices for us that are the best (so paternalistic in some ways even if your doc is female)
*sigh*
And it just blows that it affects your livelihood as well. I'm so cynical about so much of this country right now.
A driver -- and an almost married and an overloaded other? This parenting gig really is lifelong isn't it?
Thinking of you,
P
Is it wrong of me to say I'm happy to live in Canada? You should come here. Rob needs a cashier. :)
Oh, and as for S1. Well Rob was 21 and I was 22 when I got married....... sorry, not much help there.
But you know, we're all here for ya. Let me know how if it gets worse and I'll hit up the used clothing stores when I'm in town to find some hooker boots and fish nets for ya. xo
That sucks and blows at the same time. I just want to let you know about the company I write for since you might be able to make a few bucks from them while you're looking for something more profitable. It's called Demand Media Studios and they provide content for eHow and LiveStrong among others. (I make no money for referring people. I write for them and it's an easy way to make some steady income.) They're always hiring, so if you're interested just apply online and feel free to e-mail me for some tips on how to get articles written quickly enough that it's worth your time.
I am so sorry you're having to deal with this. I am in the same industry and it really is a horrible place to be sometimes. In a way I am lucky enough to work for a hospital but unlucky enough it's a fairly new one (just celebrated their 4 year anniversary) and there are literally days we run OUT of work. It's extremely frustrating when it happens and makes me want to look elsewhere for work but man, it seems like there just isn't much out there right now at all. I'm thinking about you though and hope you're able to find something very soon.
There simply isn't enough room here in this little comment box to talk about what's wrong with our health care system, but I will say that I'm sending prayers your way OHN.
OH, crap. Crappity crap. No wonder you want to be my babysitter.
That's not really a health care system, it's corporate greed. Would you be interested in working for said devil? Of course, you might end up losing your soul. wAs for the advice column job, that sucks, but you have to go with your instinct, it's always right.
My sister is moving back to Canada - she's got a teaching degree and special education experience, working on her master's and she can't get a decent job in the South. How's that for sad. They've got the lowest mortgage payment I've ever heard of and her and her hubby can't make it.
Who wants their daughter to be engaged at 22? It all sounds wonderful and romantic until that cute boyfriend expects you to do all the laundry.... sigh.
Wow you have a lot going on. I love that you listened to that bell in your head that told you not to take that writing gig. We have to trust our instincts and intuition. I hope you are able to replace your lost income quickly. Thanks for your encouraging comments on my blog.
Oh man. :( Sorry about your job and the healthcare system in general...
I was married at 20, he was 21. HOWEVER, it was of our own accord and not because either of our parents was pushing it.
In regards to health care, it's like dealing with the mob.
I am so sorry you are facing difficulties. I'm sending you love. It won't pay any bills, but it's all I've got.
Bummed about the healthcare, happy about the doors--hey, you need to keep warm! Seems like everyone has economic issues of one sort or another these days, I'm just glad to still be here. You are spot on with S1 and marriage...have a happy day and stay toasty.
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