everyone has an opinion

Well, I didn’t post my blog so I could hear how I probably deserved this and that the court wouldn’t allow this if it wasn’t true.  First, you are entitled to your opinion.  We all have one. I am fully aware that I’m not going to change your mind.  Also know, I’m not posting your comments, I kept them but I will not post them.  Let me explain to you how these domestic violence protective orders work and I will post links at the bottom to the actual NC general statute that defines them.  I didn’t know before. Also, for clarification. These are state to state and the rules are different in every state this is just NC.  I don’t know what the rules are in other states.   There is a room at the courthouse in Durham (I don’t know about other counties) where you can go get these forms and the forms are posted on the wall with step by step instructions on how to fill it out.  I understand why.  Some of these are real.  Sometimes women fear for their lives…..I know this fear.  You can also download and print out at home.  One of the links I will attach, actually has the link to download the form.   You fill out the form, your write a statement and you go to the magistrate and tell your story.  You are not required to bring proof at this point. An ex-parte order will be issued.  An ex-parte order just means that due to the POTENTIAL circumstances the magistrate is issuing this protective order without proof and without the defendant being given the opportunity to defend themselves.  This slashes a basic constitutional right.  This is why this is civil not criminal b/c arresting someone under these circumstances has been declared unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court but you can take a temporary civil action against someone in certain circumstances. However, b/c you have taken away a constitutional right without any proof, there must be a court hearing scheduled in less than 10 calendar days not business days.  So, it is very easy on purpose.  I wish I had the guts to get one but I will tell you if you are truly afraid for your life, going to get a piece of paper that 1) is likely to enrage the person who already wants to harm you & 2) will require you to face this person and be in the same building with them on purpose, you have NO desire to take this risk. I’m glad women do. I’m glad parents do it for their teenage daughters who find themselves in a bad situation.  If I had someone to do it for me it would be easier but as an adult you have to do it for yourself.  I’m glad they allow parents to do it for their teenage daughters, who don’t always make the right choices about boyfriends.  Most adult women in fear for their lives just want to be left alone..they don’t want to be forced to be in the same building with their abuser if they have broken free.  Reality is for a grown woman on her own, the abuser can and will kill you faster than you can dial 911 or before the police can arrive.  In those circumstances it is pretty useless.  However, if your teenage daughter has gotten involved with a young man who is still too impulsive to control himself or to understand boundaries……this is a GOD send!

In NC they draw no distinction in emails or text messages that you don’t like and those that contain actual threats.   NC started this law in 1979 and it is broad. Anyway, it isn’t very hard to take one of these out against someone. For a good reason but unfortunately that leaves room for abuse.  This is just my understanding on how it works based on experience and my own reading.  It may not be completely correct, thus the added links.  This is not meant to be any form of advice legal or otherwise.  I don’t really know why I’m bothering to defend myself from an anonymous commenter but it is what it is.

http://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_50B/GS_50B-1.html

http://www.doyledoylelaw.com/how-to-get-a-domestic-violence-restraining-order-in-north-carolina/

The second link is an explanation from a lawyer. I’ve never heard of this lawyer, don’t know anything about the firm, I googled and found this to be a pretty easy to understand explanation. Nothing more.

tear logged……

Instead of water logged I am tear logged. I have cried non stop this week. I just don’t know what to do.  I haven’t cried like this since my grandmother died.  I did’t sleep then either and spontaneous crying happened constantly.  I’ve cried this entire week.  Spontaneously and for no definable reason other than stress and exhaustion.  I am crying now as i write this.  

This could also be my therapy.  I’ve worked on a lot of things in the past few weeks.  Yesterday I went to see the house I grew up in.  I didn’t go in or get out of my car but sat in front of it for a while.  I’m not sure what I thought would happen but it was something I can’t describe, nor do I want to. I do think it is part of trying to put my pieces together again. 

I’ve come to terms with the abuse. I’ve come to terms with the rape.  By terms I mean I have forgiven an I have let go.  It is true.  Forgiveness is for yourself, it doesn’t excuse what happened to you, it just allows you to let it go.  Has been a long ride but I’ve let go.  Forgiving myself is not as easy.  I do understand how my past influenced the decisions I made.  I get that on an intellectual level.  I don’t get why if I knew this I couldn’t get off that hamster wheel and put an end to it.  

I ran away to Boston thinking I could start over. I would run away and just pretend the past never happened. I needed no one and no one needed me.  I ran right to a very violent and abusive man.  I hid up there.  I came back to NC. I cut my hair and died it brown. I’ll add the pictures here.  I slept with the light on and the TV so there would be noise to drown out the things that go bump in the night…….it was the only way to obtain any real sleep.  I worked A LOT and HARD. I kept my head down and plowed on.  I let no one in.  Then I met someone and despite all my hard work, I let my guard down. I trusted this man and I thought I was “safe”.  I let my hair go blonde again.  I trusted as much as I have ever trusted (which wasn’t completely but it was in process) and I loved like I have never loved.  I believed that he truly loved me. I believed that we were truly husband and wife and I NEVER knew that every detail of my marriage was first run past his mother, sisters and first wife before it was ever discussed with me.  I believed that marriage is a sacred bond…….i BELIEVED ALL my vows and I believed in the words of the pastor “those whom God has joined together let know man put asunder” I didn’t know I was the only one who believed those words.  I didn’t know that others would presume to interfere in another person’s marriage and decide what should and should not happen.  YET, I HAVE IN WRITING……..Randy’s sister Louise writing to his other sister Dana on how they will not allow my marriage to continue and neither will their children. What kind of people do this???????????  IS THIS NORMAL???? Am I the only one that believes another person’s marriage is NO ONE’s business???? I am such a fool!!! I guess I did get what I deserved for being so stupid!!   I’ve always deserved it.  

So, now I have to hide again.  I’m hiding now. I keep the lights on and the shutters closed at all times.  I am going to need to move again b/c he knows where I am and worse than that, he brought that very violent man from Boston back into my life.   He is trying to take my whole life away from me. He is trying to take the things I’ve worked so hard for. I paid my own way through nursing school and did it while working full time. I have worked so hard to get to this nurse anesthetist program and I waited until my child was grown. All of it can be erased on Tuesday.  As my mother told me yesterday, I have gotten what I deserve for getting involved with this person who was too good for me in the first place. As she reminded me, I should have known my place.  I’m so tired……..so tired. I know this makes no sense at all but I’m exhausted and I needed to get this out.  

what to do…….

Well, I’m supposed to leave for Hawaii tomorrow at 535am.  I so need a vacation and I want to see my nephew graduate and I miss my sister so much.  However, the thought of going has given me so much stress this week that on Wednesday, I was genuinely certain that I was having a heart attack!  I was having palpitations or more precisely something called frequent PVC’s (premature ventricular contractions)…..I know b/c I have had them before and much to the amazement of my colleagues in the ER when hooked up to the monitor without looking I could say, I just had one….over and over.  Now, EVERY single person has the every now and again and you may or may not feel it.  They are actually benign.  Back when I could feel them so well and it is not so much painful as it is unsettling I was actually running in what is called a bigeminy and trigeminy or in other words, in bi every other beat was a PVC (this is when I could really feel it and I would sometimes pass out) the tri is every third beat.  I had a full cardiac work up and have had follow up since.  No reason was found and not one thing was wrong with my heart.  These things happen and often there is no explanation for it.  Being a young type A woman then likely had the most to do with it.  Yes, stress and unstable hormones can throw things off and yes it was perfectly benign.  It didn’t and wouldn’t cause damage.  The only actually worry was that if I fainted I could hit my head. Otherwise it was a non issue.  I was 25, super uber skinny on purpose, working two nursing jobs, taking care of a 3 year old alone and working out too much.  I work two jobs now but that is the only thing that is the same.

It is just stress.  However, I know I was in bigeminy for a couple of hours on Wednesday as I could feel it. I didn’t pass out or even feel like I was going to pass out.  It was just painful, made me nauseated, sweaty and restless.  I’m fine.  Nothing is wrong with me except stress and anxiety but please don’t think that stress can not have physical effect b/c it can make you feel very bad.  

Why stress over going to Hawaii? Sounds like the opposite of stress doesn’t it? Well, my ex husband is at it again.  He is trying to have the domestic violence protective order re-instated after two unsuccessful attempts.  The court date is the day after my birthday, while I should be in Hawaii.  My attorney says I don’t have to be there.  (don’t HAVE to but doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be there) My fear is not going and b/c I didn’t bother to go (my attorney is going) the order will be reinstated. If it is, I will lose my job.  I CAN’T lose my job.  I will also be kicked out of the graduate nursing program I JUST recently got my acceptance into the program. So, much hinges on this court date.  If I am literally on the other side of the world, MY world could be shattered.  Yes, I would just lose a lot of money on my ticket by not going but compared to what I could lose by going that is chump change.  This is why I have had chest pain.  I haven’t slept in a week, more than a few hours anyway, and I can’t eat…..weight is falling off but my hair is falling out as well.  So much is at stake.  

Just so it is clear……he isn’t accusing me of violence or anything remotely related to that.  Thankfully, that dog would not hunt.  But, he is saying that my presence, text messages about Morgan and this blog have brought him so much emotional distress that it rises to the level of a crime and he needs protection from the law.  YEP!  You can claim that someone brings you so much emotional distress that it rises to the level or a civil action or whatever the hell this is but point is you need law enforcement protection.  I bet most people do not know this, I didn’t.  I think most people get irritated by some person for some reason at any given time but they mumble cuss words under their breath and get on with it.   Most people don’t have time or money to hire attorneys and go to court.  

Well, putting this down on virtual “paper” has helped. My answer is clear. I cannot go.  I will make Morgan go. She needs to go.  She wasn’t going to go if I didn’t but she doesn’t need to be a part of this and she needs to go see my sister/brother in law & nephew I know they miss her terribly and she misses them.  Eventually, I will go.  Maybe, I can even work something out with this ticket.  I just can’t go now.  

wanting to fit in my own skin

Some days are better than other days. Happens to everyone.  Today was not a bad day, it was a good day.  Yet, the anxiety was at a high level.  I don’t know why.  I had no reason to feel anxious today. It was a fine day.  Worked some this morning. I had a good run…though a bit of a lazy run today.  Weight is coming down at a steady rate now.  But all day, including now, I can’t shake the uneasiness and dread.  I can rarely pin point why it happens or when it might happen but I have to say it has served me well in the past. 

It serves me well when I pay attention to it.  I often ignore the feeling and it is always to my own demise. 

Oh well, what are you going to do.  

conservatives

Ok, someone sent me a message asking why I wasn’t blogging……I think I only missed a few days and I’m glad someone enjoys this…….not sure it’s b/c the like me  Anyway, if anyone did wonder, I blog daily I just don’t always share what I blog. At the end of the day this is my way of putting things down (on virtual paper) so I don’t have to carry them.  Would highly recommend, it works like a charm.  That being said, I don’t always feel the need to share. Sorry, but parts of this blog are much more like a diary.  I recently took an English Lit exam where I had to write essays, by hand.  My hands are not well equipped to writing anymore. 

So, the whole plan B thing has me a bit irritated.  I believe in plan B and I believe it should be available without a prescription.  I don’t think teenagers should be able to buy…..or frankly anyone, without some pharmacist counseling.  You don’t need a prescription but you do need someone to explain the potential complications…….NO NOT ABORTION!  This is not RU-485 for all the stupid ass conservatives out there.  The problem is that Plan B is a high dose birth control pill and the potential for blood clots is very high. If you smoke that risk just jumped dramatically.  If you are a young person that smokes and maybe you have a clotting blood dyscrasia  you don’t know about….forget it, you are screwed, stroke city!!  

So many people seem to believe that birth control pills and general are benign, this just isn’t true.  Most of the time you are fine and your biggest problem is weight gain.  But, seriously they cause blood clots. I believe that birth control patch has been pulled but for a number of years I did call in vascular radiology and it seemed as if every weekend or night I was on call I went in for a young woman with a stroke related to that freaking patch most of the time but the occasional pill, smokers and non smokers alike. I think most medical professionals understand the risk, not sure the rest of the world does.  Most women I know who are not medical thought the risk was very, very rare…..like never.  Not true.  I know doctors push this point home but here is the reality of informed consent.  I’ve seen it at least a thousand times. A doctor comes in and tells you, we are going to do x, y, & z procedure/surgery or give you this medicine and these are all the things that can happen to you and they list them out neatly, even put it in writing.  These days most surgeons, anesthesiologists and all doctors are even pretty scary with their talk, just in an attempt to make people make a decision.  Problem is most people, with their understandable fear have already made up their mind to do this and they just sign on the line.  I can say for a fact that less then 1% of my witnessed informed consent presentations have resulted in the patient actually paying attention, stopping and READING the form before signing.  Everyone believes not me.  The other problem is that everyone is busy these days and patients don’t require their loved ones to sit in on this informed consent session.  So, when their loved one ends up bleeding, infected or dead……the family is ready to attack.  They were not there to understand this was an known, inherent, and accepted risk to the procedure, surgery or medication.  A risk that their loved one may have understood and accepted.  I had to burst that beautiful bubble for people but there is no perfectly benign procedure, surgery or medication.  It is all about the balance of risk and benefit.  A decision that shouldn’t be made in a bubble. There are relatively few bad doctors by the time they get to the point of doing something to you by themselves, they have been put through it.  Most of the bad seeds have been weeded out.  All of them…….no way. It pays to do your homework and if you need a really complex surgery or procedure the reality is you want to be in Duke or one of the other big academic centers.  You want your doctor to do a lot of these in a year, not one or two.  It increases your odds of a good outcome.  That is reality.  If people viewed healthcare more like a game in Vegas, while the odds are more in your favor than Vegas, you need to understand that it is a bit of gamble.  You’ve got to weigh the risks and benefits as whole and as how they apply to you and your personal wishes and lifestyle.  What an acceptable risk for one person is not acceptable to another.  No one lives forever and if we spent more time worrying about the quality of our days and not the quantity the cost of healthcare would go down dramatically.  No one wants to die but like they say, the only two things for certain are death and taxes……not a joke. 

Now, back to topic.  This is the reason that their should be counseling with plan B.  HELL, the reality is that their should be counseling with ibuprofen and acetaminophen again, not benign and when not taken correctly it can freaking kill you!!!  NOT KIDDING!!! FYI these are really horrific deaths. 

For those conservatives out there or just those who only know the mechanics of how to make a baby not how it actually happens let me enlighten you.  RU-486 is capable of inducing an abortion.  This means that the sperm and the egg have already met up and cells are dividing and if left to continue this will eventually turn into a baby.  I don’t know a lot about this drug so I can’t really speak to it but I think……(please feel free to correct me b/c I would like to know if I am right or not)…..this process has to be pretty early in the game for the pill to work.  Earlier than they would even want to try a mechanical abortion.  I think once implanted and really in process it probably will not work.  Don’t quote me on this though.  Plan B is a birth control pill in high dose.  Depending on the kind of regular birth control pill you have….lets say you had forgotten to take them and you stopped just waiting for next month. you have an accident, you could just double these up and stop the ovulation.  Depends on the type and the dose……talk to your doctor or pharmacist not me.  Anyway, when you have sex those little sperm have a ways to go to do their thing.  If the egg is already out and in the womb before they start their long journey it is already too late.  Ideally to achieve pregnancy the egg is released after the sperm have started their journey.  All about timing.  Point is, you have a couple of days after sex where you can stop that egg from being released, thus no pregnancy happens.  This is what Plan B does.  It stops the possibility of that sperm and egg every meeting up.  So, you see……NOT an abortion.  That is why the timing of Plan B is also crucial.  If those two have already met up, Plan B will do nothing.  Depending on where you are in your cycle the whole thing may be pointless anyway.  Once the egg leaves the ovary, nothing Plan B can do for you except possibly create a lot of nausea from the hormones. 

Now, I’ve overly simplified the whole thing here. But I’m hoping that will help people to understand what it is.  As a general rule I’ve found that right wing nuts of the male sex seem to have the least amount of understanding about reproduction.  Best quote for this ever……

There are some people that if they don’t know, you can’t tell them. – Louis Armstrong.

Have a good day!

We deserve better and should demand it

The we I speak of here are the citizens of NC.  Our state government is out of control.  It is a huge beast full of corruption and people more involved in a personal interest than the greater good.  I think we are all aware that government positions from local to the highest office are rarely sought by those with altruistic motives and those interested in creating a better world and future for the next generation.  In the majority of cases it isn’t about the salary.  It is about the perks and the POWER.  Even if the power is only in one’s head, there is a measure of power in nearly every government job.  This is something everyone needs to be aware of and remember at all times.  POWER over others is a major aphrodisiac for certain types of people.  Think about it!  From the clerk who gives you the requested deed, or death certificate, to the prosecutor, the medicaid worker, the county DSS worker all the way to the governor.  EVERY SINGLE person has the power to make your life easy and simple to stressful and hard.  They control your tax dollars and you LITERALLY pay their salaries and pensions.  Yet, they can treat you anyway they choose and the consequences are slim to none.

I’m the first to admit to saying crazy things like “they are all corrupt, what are you going to do”, “it’s the system, can’t be fixed”.  Well, what if those brave souls who got on those ships and spent months on an unforgiving sea to come to a land where there was nothing but danger had said the same thing.  What if they just stayed where they were and put up with the unfair treatment, the taxes, the knowledge that they could be imprisoned or destroyed if they looked at the wrong person sideways.  Never treated like a vital, thinking being with free will to make a life.  Likely, this country still would have ended up populated and created.  Maybe as a permanent colony or extension of another land.  But thankfully, the human spirit is not so easily satiated into a life that is less than it’s full potential.

Have we become so complacent in our relative security and comfort that we simply no longer care?? Sure, we are the first to say…..”that’s too bad” or “really unfortunate” when a severe injustice is brought to light.  However, when it comes to demanding accountability of those guilty of the injustice, we remain silent or saying, “what are you going to do?”

There are hundreds of thousands of examples, literally, all around us but we have become so out of touch with those around us that unless it directly impacts our own comfort we are ok with just letting it go by the wayside.

As I know this is getting long.  Some reading are now saying, “get off the soapbox already” and others are saying “she’s just a conspiracy theory nut, bless her heart”.  I’m going to lay out a few issues here and now…..not going into details….but I ask one thing of you, read these as if the names or circumstances were your own.  Then what?  PLEASE for the love of God, don’t believe the next story will not be about you, your child, your sibling, your neighbor or anyone you love with all your heart.  Look at it from that perspective and then remember that every person mentioned or group of people mentioned, belonged to someone…..they were someone’s child, mother, father, sister, brother, neighbor, cousin, uncle, aunt or friend.

4)  Medicaid-  this whole system is such a hot mess…..I’m not going into it but let me tell you a thing or two about my personal job here.  1) My job gave me the power to approve or recommend denial (supposedly only a physician can issue an actual denial of benefits in private insurance as well as medicaid, isn’t actually the case at Medicaid.  However, I never actually denied anything personally……though my name was added to denials…..I did not issue these denials,  though plenty of nurses did)  My job was unique in that every case I had was a LITERAL life and death decision.  A denial of service in the cases I reviewed was the equivalent of a death decree.  Period…..not an over dramatization, a fact.  If you deny a bone marrow transplant or solid organ transplant, the jig is up, the only option left is hospice.  EVERY SINGLE TIME!  So, if this was not a big enough burden…….you are talking about, in some cases, MILLIONS of dollars to pay for this treatment.

I received EXACTLY ZERO MINUTES of training and orientation.  I didn’t even have one minute of Human Resources training on being a state employees, the benefits the rules etc. NOT EXAGGERATING!

Day one, I walked in….was shown to my office and my desk…this was my instruction 1) Here are your temporary passwords…..change them. 2) Log on to the HR website, go to the list of forms, fill them all out and sign, turn them back into me and then get started on the patient charts.  THOSE WORDS ARE EXACT!!!!  I was given a folder of things to take home to read.  Most of them were hopelessly outdated and the rest made no sense when there was no background.  There were requests for (mostly retro requests) out of state authorizations for emergency care (yeah, bet you thought this was covered under federal law and was supposed to be paid.  refusal of this kind of care by a private payer could cost them their company) that dated back as far as 3-4 years…..still waiting for approval for payment.  Requests for solid organ and bone marrow transplants, not retro, that dated back more than a year.  Yep! You read that right and yes, some of these folks had already passed away, some were children.

Took about 9 months to get to a place of always working in real time but it was accomplished.  In the course of weeding out all files, hundreds upon hundreds of arbitrary denials and requests that were nothing more than to create difficulty for doctors were uncovered.  An actual letter that was sent out to providers in Western NC that involved threats if they were to send their patients to trauma and burn centers in Tennessee and Georgia instead of the twice as far away burn center in Chapel Hill or trauma center in NC.  Protecting state interests were put above the interest of an individuals life and a bureaucrat presumed to know what was better for a critical patient than their own treating physician.

It was not only the spoken policy but was in writing that if a pregnant NC woman on medicaid left the state of NC without the written consent of her physician, and gave birth……..benefits DENIED!  Seriously, the employees of MEDICAID gave themselves the power to say if a person could or could NOT leave the state……PERIOD!!  I have WRITTEN PROOF OF THIS!! This is actually defined by law as a form of unlawful imprisonment.  Should create outrage but it doesn’t.  Or at least not much.  Sad…….

So, call it a conspiracy, call it nutty thinking.  Call me a conspiracy nut.  Call me a trouble maker or just plain insane.  All or some of that might be true.  That doesn’t make me wrong.  This stuff is wrong.  Yet, it persists.  You know why?  Evil can only persist when good men do nothing.

Why do I care?  I don’t know.  I’ve tried not to.  I’ve tried to ignore and go along to get along. I can’t.  I made that long 30 minute drive to Raleigh for 2 years.  Each day it seemed longer and longer.  I would feel physically ill daily, often did get physically ill from then things I was told to do.  For better or worse, I can’t even save myself by ignoring it.  I couldn’t and I can’t.

I have a theory though, when I was 9 years old.  I had a teacher that for whatever reason taught our class that the holocaust was nothing more than a propaganda tool.  That it never actually happened.  Like the majority of 9 year olds in the 4th grade.  I assumed my teacher was all knowing and I believed it.  Went home, did my homework and my paper that affirmed what she said, told my parents.  I was quickly taken to my papa.  My papa, likely the first time within his family, sat me down and in terms that wouldn’t completely overwhelm a 9 year old, explained to me that this teacher was not telling the truth.  He was there.  He saw it, he lived it. He explained to me how he smelled the stench of burning flesh from the time he hit the beach at Normandy all the way through Europe and five major battles.  Never knowing what the smell was until the came upon the first camp.  The camp where no soldier had yet to arrive……the first thing they noticed from their hiding spot in the woods was the enormous cord of “wood” by the gate…..upon closer inspection, this was no cord of wood….these were human bodies stacked like an enormous cord of wood.  I now own that picture.

If I ever think I can look the other way in the face of any gross injustice or miscarriage of government, I pull it out, I look at it.  I remember what happens when good people do and say nothing b/c it isn’t comfortable.

supplements

Just happened to see an interesting and helpful story on the news about Vitamin D……which had me thinking about vitamins and supplements. I’m far from an expert.  I learned a lot working with an amazing bunch of folks at the Duke Weight Loss Surgery Program, as the program coordinator I had to do a lot of education. In order to educate others I had to first get educated myself and I was so lucky to work with brilliant dietitians, nurse practitioner and physicians.  So lucky to been the recipient of their many years of experience.  

Our patients required a lot of supplements…..not at first but over time.  However, it is way better than the medications they took before surgery.  BUT, they had gastrointestinal surgery. If my papa had lived he too would have required supplements b/c he had what is called a partial gastrectomy with a billroth II.  People have gastric and intestinal surgeries for a multitude of reasons and often it leads to the inability to adequately absorb vitamins and minerals from their food.  Thus supplementation is needed.  This also means sometimes oral supplementation might not be the way to go anymore, like Vitamin B12. There are also people with gastric and intestinal disorders that cause malabsorption or the meds to treat the conditions cause malabsorption.  The point is there is some alteration in the normal process. These are the people most at risk and in the biggest need for supplements. Unfortunately, as we get older things change and we must make adjustments as well.  But, your health care provider is the best person to advise you when and if you need to make those adjustments.

That being said, the largest majority of people who are not very young or very old…do NOT need a bunch of vitamins and supplements!!  I DON’T CARE WHAT DR OZ SAYS!!!!!  Dr. Oz is not your personal physician and he isn’t doing your blood work or exam so I would advise you to change the channel.  The best thing anyone can do to preserve their health is to A) Get a regular primary care physician. Check their credentials, ask questions and find someone you are comfortable with. B) See this doctor  once per year minimum, ask questions when you are there, make a list of questions before you go. And above all else, BE HONEST with your physician, Nurse Practitioner, Physician Assistant, and Nurse.  These people are going to take your confidence to the grave and they can’t help you if you are not honest.  C) follow their instructions and advice.  They are not just saying stuff to hear themselves talk!  Listen to them, not Dr. Oz or the TV doctor of the day. 

If your doctor tells you that you are healthy and don’t need supplements……don’t buy them and don’t take them.  If they tell you to take them, take what they tell you and in the amounts they tell you.  This goes for dietitians, PT, OT, Nurses etc.  These are the people you can trust. 

Just so you know, their are certain vitamins called fat soluble vitamins that can become toxic in your body and do serious harm if taken when you don’t need them.  There are other vitamins that you can take by the gallon but your body will only absorb so much and then expel the rest so you are wasting your money.  

This came up b/c of the news story and a friend who did actually make herself sick recently from taking a vitamin supplement she did not need but she had read something about it.  She will be fine but I’m pretty sure she will never go near a GNC again.  

Don’t be fooled! Just b/c they sell it over the counter doesn’t mean it is safe! When in doubt talk to your healthcare provider.  Not sure if your diet is healthy or balanced? Not sure the best way to get optimal nutrition call your doctor, they can refer you to a dietitian who can help you figure it out!  

BTW: Try to get your kids to eat healthy and balanced.  Also, make sure they get activity and sunshine.  Don’t panic if your kids prefer mac & cheese, chicken nuggets & hot dogs. This to shall pass.  Offer other options but know they may be an acquired taste and no one ever died from mac and cheese.  Apparently, at age 3 for a number of weeks I refused all food except bologna and green beans.  My mom even took me to the pediatrician who said it wouldn’t kill me and I would get over it.  He was right…..I really can’t stand the sight of either food to this day!  Will eat if I must but I sure don’t like it.  

Just my public service announcement for the day!