Always Sick Chick LOVES Chronic Illness Cat!

I've been following the Chronic Illness Cat on Facebook and just now learned about Chronic Illness Cat on Tumblr!  

What is the Chronic Illness Cat? It's a meme for always sick chicks (and guys too) to laugh about their chronic illnesses and the stupid things other people say about them.

I made a few for the Facebook page that I thought were rather witty.  Actually, I was kind of on a roll and feeling very very obsessed with it.  Memes are addicting!

What would your Chronic Illness Cat have to say?

Are Sick People Punished for Being Sick?

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeAs I seek full-time work, I have often wondered if it's possible that employers might throw out my resume simply because I'm "The Always Sick Chick."

It's possible.  People don't want to hire someone who might take a lot of sick days. However, without that income, my family and I would be homeless and starving.  So what's a sick chick to do?

And what if you left a previous job because you were too ill to continue working?  Even if you have gotten better since then, many employers might look at you as more of a liability to their company than an asset.  

Potential Employers Discriminate Against Sick People?  Check!

Always sick and in need of insurance?  Well, you might be out of luck.  Insurance companies drop people who are too sick all the time.  Additionally, they have prevented people from obtaining insurance due to pre-existing conditions, even if they had insurance when they became ill and lost it due to unavoidable circumstances.

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeNew healthcare laws have been put in place to protect people from such practices, but until those go into effect, people who are sick right now without health insurance are suffering.

Health Insurance Companies Discriminate Against Sick People?  Check!

Do I have solutions to these problems? No, I do not.  I suppose this is more of a rant after I read a story about a woman with rheumatoid arthritis in the UK who is losing her NHS coverage piece by piece. 

Did you read her letter?  Don't you just want to go visit her and give her a hug?  It's heartbreaking.

Do I have a point?  Not really.  I'm just bummed.

Related articles

• Sick pay ruling 'will affect small insurance holders staffing levels' (premierlinedirect.co.uk)
• Lots of people cant fire their insurance companies. #exactly (amanwithaphd.wordpress.com)
• End the Worst Insurance Company Abuses (honolulu4rpres.wordpress.com)

Recipe for a Gluten Free Life by Mrs. G.F.: Cheater Sweet and Sour Chicken

Wanted to try a new recipe today. I got some pork chops instead of the chicken. Not sure how different it would be with chicken, but the pork chops weren't bad.

Not sure if I liked it or not. It smells pungent...like way to much cider vinegar. Yuck. I think less vinegar and more pineapple juice would be better. I might do it with regular apple juice, because I have this strange itch on the roof of my mouth that I sometimes get when I eat pineapple. I'm starting to think I'm allergic to it. *sigh*

Yes, another fruit to add to my long list of foods I'm allergic to. No bueno.


Recipe for a Gluten Free Life by Mrs. G.F.: Cheater Sweet and Sour Chicken

How to Avoid Text Neck - Swagbucks TV

YOWZA!

I've never heard of text neck, but I'll tell you what...watching this video made me stretch my neck back and all around trying to prevent a straight spine.

The spine is naturally curvy, but overuse of texting where you are leaning forward to text your friends on a phone is straightening out your spine around your neck causing pain and discomfort known as "text neck".

And the patient in this story is a teenage girl whose spine is straightened almost completely in her neck causing horrible pain and discomfort and a touch of ARTHRITIS.

YIKES!

I think I'll be rotating my neck around all day today, and holding my phone up to my face while texting from now on instead of slouching over.

Anyone else think we'll have an entire generation of hunched over old folks with big humps on their backs due to excessive texting?

How to Avoid Text Neck - Swagbucks TV

When the Pharmacy doesn't have your Drugs...

Image via WikipediaSeriously, what would you do if a medication that you relied on wasn't available or there was a shortage?

That's what's happening in Charlotte, NC right now, as the ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) medication Adderall is in short supply.

What would you do?

If any of my meds were suddenly in short supply, I would freaking lose my mind.

My youngest, 4 years old, and I rely on rescue inhalers.  What if those weren't available?

Both of my children and I carry epi-pens around in case of accidental ingestion of a food we are allergic to.  We could die without it!

Not to mention that I also take Prozac and Effexor and suddenly ceasing these medications is what caused a shoot out in VA Tech several years ago.

According to the above source, however, the reason is clear: increased demand.

Well, damn!  Make more!  Supply and demand, people!  Make more pills, make more money, make more people happy!  The cycle continues. What's the problem?

Wait...what is this about the DEA?

Oh!! Okay, I see...now that I read more about this issue, apparently there are college students who are abusing Adderall and snorting it like it's cocaine or just taking the medications the way they are supposed to be taken (orally) in order to study harder.  And those who can get their hands on a prescription will sell each pill for $5-$10 each.

So a few twits abuse the drugs and the DEA waltzes in and creates a shortage to prevent abuse?

Even if that means hurting people who are using the medication as directed and under the supervision of a doctor?

Are you serious?

The DEA strikes again.  Thanks, jerks.  First the medical marijuana dispensaries in California, and now a war on ADD medications.  Can I just say that YOU SUCK?!

Related articles

• FDA is finding attention drugs in short supply (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• ADHD Drug Shortage: Coming Soon to a Pharmacy Near You (blippitt.com)
• Attention Deficient Drugs Are Short in Supply As DEA Issues Quotas - Generics Are Exhausted First Leaving Only Expensive Name Brand Drugs Available (ducknetweb.blogspot.com)

Health Goals for 2012 New Years Resolution?

Image via WikipediaEveryone has a weight loss goal for their new year's resolution.

Do you ever just say "I want to feel better!"?

Last year, my goal for 2011 was just Getting Healthier.  Part of that, at some point, was losing some weight.  All of which I gained back during Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Oy!

Getting Healthier in 2011 was a running theme for me, and it will continue to be in 2012 with some differences...a very narrow focus, at least, to start with.

I'm starting with - Get more sleep!  Go to sleep at the same time each night. Wake up at the same time every day.

I will go from there.

I have to keep going to the YMCA, or I'll lose my membership, so I will have to work out every-so-often, but it's not a goal at the moment. Right now, I just need more sleep. With more sleep comes more energy.  No more of this staying up until 1 AM on the weekends and throwing off my sleep schedule garbage.  It's no good!

What health goals do you have for 2012? And don't say lose weight!

Wait, before you answer that, look at the time....GO TO BED!

Related articles

• How to stick to a New Year's resolution (taishalwalker.com)
• The 5 Tricks to Keeping Your New Year's Resolutions (self.com)
• Accomplish Your Fitness Goals in 2012 (myfoxphoenix.com)

News Flash!

Image via WikipediaJenny McCarthy is not a doctor!

I know! I'm also surprised!

As a spokesperson for the anti-vax movement and how vaccines supposedly cause autism, you'd think she knew something about science.  But her stance on vaccines and her understanding about scientific studies and data prove that she has no friggin idea what she's talking about.

As vaccination rates have dropped, the autism diagnosis rates have gone up.

Explain that to me, please, Jenny McCarthy.  How do vaccines cause autism when less kids are getting vaccinated and more kids are being diagnosed with autism?

If you want the real scoop on vaccinations, turn on your streaming Netflix and search for "The Vaccine Wars".  Very eye opening information in there from doctors and scientists who have done the studies that anti-vaxers and Jenny McCarthy are crying out for but choose to ignore because the results aren't what they wanted.

"Oh, that study says vaccines are safe.  That means the study is wrong, because we already know that vaccines are dangerous!"

That's not a direct quote, but it might as well be.  Because, as you can see, anti-vaccine folks have already made up their minds that vaccines injure children's fragile little brains and bodies, so any evidence to the contrary is met with hostility and defensive criticism. 

And when a little baby is diagnosed with and dies of pertussis and the CDC traces the outbreak back to an unvaccinated child, they still defend their decision and say "Vaccines don't work, otherwise that baby wouldn't have gotten whooping cough!"  Idiots.  The baby only got one or two shots and needed more to be fully covered.  But your unvaccinated family caught it and gave it to the vulnerable baby.  Your lack of scientific knowledge and understanding...your stupidity just killed an innocent child.

Wake up, people!

Related articles

• No vaccines? No school! - San Francisco students, get your booster shots! (alwayssick.com)
• Jenny McCarthy plans to ring in 2012 with antivaccine propaganda on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve (scienceblogs.com)
• Ringing in 2012 with...antivaccine propaganda? (sciencebasedmedicine.org)