Cleo's Mom

I agree and I don't think you should be trying to do a one size fits all antibiotic to cover multiple infections. Sounds too risky. This is elective surgery. It can wait until the specific antibiotics for the strep and UTI are done and the fever is gone. You need to be on your A game going into this. Even if your fever is gone your body still needs time to heal. Give it time. You will be glad you did.

I think your body would be overwhelmed with trying to recover from both strept throat, a urinary tract infection and surgery. I would reschedule it. They will have to cath you and they might not be able to do that if you have a UTI. Plus the antibiotics they use post surgery are specific for that and not necessarily for strept throat or a UTI. You want to be healthy going into any elective surgery in order to allow your body to heal. Good luck and I hope you feel better.

It sounds like this was not the weight loss surgery for you. Have you considered RNY or the sleeve? Something tells me you'd have more success with either of those. That said, it sounds like the band failed you. No one should be so tight that they can't eat in the morning. If that's the only way to lose weight then something is wrong. Would you have gotten the band if they had told you at the seminar that you couldn't eat solid foods until evening? Of course not. The band is promoted as a tool that will create a small pouch. This pouch will create a sense of satiety with small quantities of healthy food. solid food. This will happen when you get to your "sweet spot". But not everyone is able to get to the sweet spot. Some endure daily vomiting, etc..because they are too tight but are losing weight. They do this to their own detriment, in my opinion. I have a 4cc band and have had anywhere from 1cc to 3cc in it. With 3cc I was too tight. I had pain, reflux and heartburn. But I was still hungry. I never felt satiety. I just couldn't physically eat much due to the pain. And I followed all the band rules. I also exercise every day, including weight lifting, treadmill and aerobic dancing. I now have all the fill taken out after a horrible stuck episode landing me in the ER and an overnight stay. The band never worked for me like it was promoted. It did not create a sense of satiety. It never caused me to be less hungry. And that was why I got it. I always had a big appetite and was always hungry. I have lost 75 pounds but only 15 from the band. The rest was all the dieting including the liquid pre and post surgery diets. I am basically doing this with willpower. However, I do not plan on getting any fill. What for? They never worked to get me to my sweet spot and the last stuck episode felt like I was shot in the stomach. No weight loss is worth risking that again. So, you did not fail the band. The band failed you. Consider another type of WLS and good luck.

I heard today that the U.S. convinced Israel not to bomb Iranian nuclear sites. I can't imagine what would have happened if they had.

You're doing great, as usual, BJean. We truthtellers must be vigilant and make sure those necons don't alter, change, delete or omit any of bush's failed policies of his 8 years. Especially since we are living with his messes every day as Pres. Obama tries to clean them up. Bush Made 77 Trips to Crawford TX at $226,072 a Pop Share121 2 by stef Mon Aug 09, 2010 at 07:18:07 AM PDT This is a repost from June 2, 2009, when Wingnuttia was in an uproar over the Obamas' visit to New York City for dinner and a show. Reposting just the relevant info regarding the costs of the Bushes' frequent vacations to Crawford. I guess if you own a private mansion it's okay to take as many vacations as you like, but not if you have to pay (out of your own pocket) for a hotel. Bush Made 77 Trips to Crawford TX at $226,072 a Pop At a bare minimum, for the flights alone, Bush's 77 vacation trips to Crawford cost us $226,072 per trip. That's $17,407,544 so he could ride his bicycle in the woods and clear brush for the cameras. bush = big spender in chief. :biggrin:

Considering that bush sent over 4400 soldiers to their deaths in Iraq for an unnecessary war based on lies, it is the least he could do. As for vacations, well, more selective amnesia, since bush took more vacations that just about any president when he went to crawford county texas and pretended to be a cowboy. In fact he was there instead of the white house where his a** belonged after receiving a memo entitled "Bin Laden determined to strike within the United States" resulting in the deaths of 3000 americans.

Let's just file this under "revisionist history" that the lunatics on the right keep doing. They think the country has anmesia. bush never went to Dover Air Force base to see the flag draped coffins. With or without cameras despite what that nobody Liz Cheney professes or others who share her fantasies. There are those who keep trying to change the facts of the disasterous eight years of bush. Those of us grown ups on the left have to stop that from happening. I know I'll do my part. How about you, BJean? And only an immature person could ask what viewing the flag draped coffins could do. If a president is going to send soldiers to war he at least should see what the consequences of doing so are. Up close and personal. bush was a coward.

President Obama went to Dover Air Force base to observe the flag covered coffins of those who died in war. He did this at night and without a photo op. bush never went to Dover Air Force Base to view the coffins of soldiers. DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Standing in the pre-dawn darkness, President Barack Obama saw the real cost of the war in Afghanistan: The Americans who return in flag-covered cases while much of the nation sleeps in peace. In a midnight dash to this Delaware base, where U.S. forces killed overseas come home, Obama honored the return of 18 fallen Americans Thursday. All were killed in Afghanistan this week, a brutal stretch that turned October into the most deadly month for U.S. troops since the war began. The dramatic image of a president on the tarmac was a portrait not witnessed in years. Former President George W. Bush spent lots of time with grieving military families but never went to Dover to meet the remains coming off the cargo plane. Obama did so with the weight of knowing he may soon send more troops off to war.

Llyra, I sure hope you continue to come on here and share your intelligent thoughts. How refreshing to have someone so well spoken. WillBeHealthy is another one, who like you, is informed, knowledgable and smart. I hope you will weigh in on other issues on here as well. I, for one, would look forward to your input. And BTW, I think you have presented more compelling and truthful arguements for your beliefs than others have for theirs.

Glenn Beck is an angry, hateful tv entertainer. And those who like what he says are likewise. Examples of Glenn Beck's hate: Hillary Clinton is a stereotypical bitch Cindy Sheehan (lost a son in Iraq) is a tragedy slut Pres. Obama is a racist and hates white people Pres. Obama is filling his administration with communist agitators "I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire someone to do it?" "Every night I get down on my knees and pray that Dennis Kucinich will burst into flames."(He would have to be of the right faith to have this prayer heard, though) "We've been sitting here for the last few minutes trying to come up with a list of people I want to kill with a shovel, people that I'd like to whack over the head with a shovel." Said the victims of Hurricane Katrina were too dumb to get out of town. He despises the families of victims of 9/11 saying it took him about a year to start hating them. So he said about them "Oh, just shut up! I'm so sick of them because they're always complaining" Beck lashed out at the father of Nick Berg who was beheaded by Al Qaeda in Iraq. He says "I find this guy despicable. I think he's grieving but I think he's a scumbag as well. I don't like this guy at all." So, you can see what a hater he is and only those who also hate would spend any time listening to him, liking him or believing what he says. It also speaks to his listeners intelligence and ability to be duped.

Naming a czar is nothing new. Both Reagan and Bush had them. (But like so many things - it didn't become a problem until a black, democratic president had them) Donald E. Powell. Bush’s Czar to Rebuild Gulf Coast John P. Walters. Bush's Drug Czar Karen Hughes. Bush's Public Diplomacy Czar Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute. Bush's 'War Czar' Randall Tobias. Bush's AIDS Czar Dr. Mark Dybul. Bush's other AIDS Czar Richard Stickler. Bush's Mine Safety Czar John Negroponte. Bush's Intelligence Czar Otto Reich. Bush's Latin America czar Carlton Turner. Reagan's Drug Czar David Stockman Reagan's Budget Czar

That wasn't a stimulus. That was the crumbs bush threw to the middle class to deflect from the big, cushy, unnecessary and undeserved tax cut to the rich. They didn't need a tax cut, nor did they create jobs with it in the ten years they've had it (the present economy should be proof of that). They are doing very well, thanks to bush and his policies. Talk about elitist!!!

I feel like I have to keep posting this chart over and over again for those who don't "get it" and just cut and paste some old Obama bashing website posting. Add to this chart the mandated social security, medicare, medicaid and unemployment - not to mention the military - and you have most of our government spending. When asked to provide specific examples of these BIG Pres. Obama spending programs - none are given. That is right in line with what the republicans have - nothing.

I had to laugh about Pres. Obama's failed fiscal policies. If turning a 700,000 job loss per month into 6 months of positive job growth is viewed as failure to the right wing nut jobs - then it's no wonder the republican's economic plan was such a disaster. TARP started under a republican president - now what was his name? Oh, yeah. BUSH. The bailout of the car industry has been a big success with them paying back the money and hiring more workers. Good job, Pres. Obama!! The federal government collects taxes and then distributes them according to programs and policies. This has been done under all presidents, however, under the republican presidents, the wealth has been distributed UP, while under democratic president it has been distributed down. The biggest expansion of government happened under bush with the creation of the dept. of Homeland Security. Most of the spending being done now is a continutation of bush's policies. (See chart below) -two wars (both unfunded) -medicare part D (unfunded) -massive tax cuts for the rich (unfunded - here's your re-distribution of wealth UP) The czar thing is of course totally hypocritical, as usual, since bush and reagan had them. (See post below for their list). Any subversion of our government was done by bush under the guise of "war on terror" with warrantless wiretapping of our citizens. Radical special interest groups? Now who could they be? I notice nothing specific was mentioned. Pres. Obama's foreign policy has been a welcomed change to many of the countries that bush alienated. His presidency has mended many broken fences with countries that hated bush. Our standing in the world has improved. Core values of America? Oh, I know what this means. Core values of the conservative, born again christians who want a theocracy (theirs). Our military is stronger now under Pres. Obama. He has improved on care of our veterans. Liberalization of our courts? Would that be the conservative supreme court that selected bush in 2000? Or ruled in Citizens United that big corporations could buy the elections for republicans. Immigration policy. Obama just send thousands more border patrol and millions more for border security. More than bush did. And he has caught more illegal criminals, too. What could be more elitist than the country club republicans who tell the unemployed to go **** themselves while pushing for the tax cuts for the rich? This laundry list was right out of the playbook of some stupid right wing extreminst website or talk show. I feel like I have to explain this stuff over and over again - like a remedial teacher to slow learners. :thumbup:

Two Victories for Liberals 1) The Supreme Court upheld the $20,000 fine against that whacko birther Orly Taitz for filing frivilous lawsuits 2) Laura Schlessinger is pulling the plug on her radio show. Guess she can't stand the heat in the kitchen. :frown:

F. Healthcare Fraud Criminal Statute. The Healthcare Reform Law amends the intent requirement contained in the healthcare fraud criminal statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1347. That statute now provides that proof of actual knowledge of the healthcare fraud statute or specific intent to violate the statute is not required. The definition of healthcare offense, 18 U.S.C. § 24(a), is also amended to include violations of the AKS, the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act, and certain ERISA provisions. The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines are also amended with respect to individuals convicted of healthcare offenses related to any federal healthcare program. The offense level for such individuals is increased anywhere from 20 to 50 percent where the loss involves more than a million. In a highly regulated industry, with a myriad of complex regulations, these provisions effectively increase exposure for a broad array of business and regulatory activities where there is no specific intent to violate the provisions of the statute. II. P PROGRAM INTEGRITY PROVISIONS The Healthcare Reform Law contains a host of program integrity provisions that will impact business operations and require enhanced procedures and policies in all health industry sectors. Some of these provisions, if violated, may comprise a basis for overpayment or fraud liability. These provisions include new employee and vendor screening requirements, new financial disclosure requirements, the requirement of face-to-face physician and patient encounters for DME and home health services, and new price reporting requirements in the 340B program. Of special note in the program integrity provisions is the requirement that Medicare and Medicaid providers and suppliers, effective January 1, 2011, include their national provider identifier on all program applications and claims.

You are right, BJean. And I am thankful that our leader, Pres. Obama is doing the responsible thing and drawing down the war in Iraq. We only have 50,000 troops left there. Only the uninformed and naive would expect all the soldiers to come home at once. That would be logistically impossible as well as irresponsible. Pres. Obama's plan is to have the troops start coming home from Afghanistan next summer. Again, it will have to be done responsibly. These two wars are just two of the messes bush left Pres. Obama that he has to now clean up. And even with all the messes he has had to clean up, Pres. Obama has accomplished so much. Just imagine all the great things he could have done had he been left a surplus and good economy like bush was. The unemployment rate would be 4%. We could concentrate on clean energy, education, etc... but the bush messes have consumed all of our nation's time and energy.

Oh, so now war is not just to defend ourselves, it is also to protect the innocent in another country. It seems like the neocons keep trying to come up with new justifications for bush's atrocities. There are plenty of innocent people living under a sadistic dictator all over the world. It is not the job of the United States, with the use of my tax dollars, to invade these countries to "protect the innocent". If missionaries, the red cross, amnesty international, etc.. want to go into these countries to try to save the innocents and do humanitarian work, that is one thing. But I don't want my government to be the world's policeman and use my tax dollars or put our soldiers in harm's way just because there are bad guys out there. That is not my government's job. North Korea is living under a cruel dictator. Its people are starving. Why haven't we invaded North Korea (one of the 3 of bush's axis of evil)? Uh, because they have the world's 5th largest army and nuclear weapons. bush didn't invade Iraq for WMD's or to save the innocents. He invaded because cheney wanted big, cushy, no-bid government contracts for his halliburton pals, and their oil and bush wanted to one-up his daddy. Too bad they both put this country into a big financial debt to do so not to mention all the soldiers who died for this.

Healthcare Reform Law: Healthcare Fraud and Abuse and Program Integrity Provisions March 31, 2010 The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (the Healthcare Reform Law), contains more than 32 sections related to healthcare fraud and abuse and program integrity and makes significant amendments to existing criminal, civil, and administrative anti-fraud statutes.(This would cover double billing and $1000 toothbrushes) The new program integrity provisions impose substantial requirements that will compel updates and enhancements to business operations, commercial transactions, and compliance policies in every sector of the health industry. These provisions establish fundamental expectations for regulatory compliance, disclosure, transparency, and quality of care and are matched by extraordinary enforcement provisions that could greatly increase potential legal exposure. Healthcare entities should reinforce their broad and sustained commitment to compliance to successfully implement these provisions. This alert presents a brief summary of the major fraud and abuse provisions in the Healthcare Reform Law as well as an overview of the program integrity provisions. Morgan Lewis has also prepared a detailed chart1 outlining the fraud and abuse and program integrity provisions in the Healthcare Reform Law, many of which we note became effective on the date of enactment, March 23, 2010, and will require prompt compliance attention. These provisions will also significantly impact government audit, investigation, and litigation resources and the structure for intra-agency cooperation. To address the impact on key program integrity and law enforcement agencies, the Healthcare Reform Law provides for the HIPAA Fraud and Abuse Control Program and the Medicare Integrity Program to receive total funding of $100 million for FY 2011 through 2020 under the March 23, 2010 legislation and an additional $250 million for FY 2011 through 2016 under the Reconciliation legislation, for a total of $350 million. BJean, you should report these double billings, etc. to whoever in your state has authority over hospitals.

Here's why our healthcare premiums are so high and why healthcare costs are skyrocketing. Insurance companies don't do a thorough investigation of hospital bills unless they are $100,000+ Thus when a hospital billed the following: -$1000 for a toothbrush -$150 for one tylenol - billed for 41 saline bags when only one was used they paid it!!! Are you kidding me? With their obscene profits you'd think they could afford to contract a software engineer to come up with a program to red flag bills that don't seem "right" and then hire enough people to monitor these bills closely. And the hospitals that try to get away with this abuse should be heavily fined.

Let's not forget that the born again christians even had their own tv show to depict their version of creationism - it was called: Fred Flintstone. :lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

My other bumper sticker says: I stand with Main Street and the Middle Class. I vote Democratic. I have another one I haven't put on yet. It says: Liberals have Facts. Conservatives have Fox. That was a very touching story about your Mom. She sounds like she was quite a lady. Aren't we lucky when we have someone like that touch our lives?

On Tax Cuts and Stimulus Sun Aug 15, 2010 at 01:48:48 PM PDT As we continue to try to stimulate the economy, there is much discussion about continuing the Bush Tax Cuts. One position is they are simulative to the economy, while the other position is that they add to the debt. Guess what? Tax cuts for the rich depress the economy. Tax cuts for the poor, on the other hand, stimulate the economy. The real problem in discussing the effects of various stimuli is that, for many politicians, ideology trumps facts. Most recently, McConnell said that tax cuts for the rich paid for themselves, and this week John Boehner refused to say that they did or didn’t pay for themselves when asked by David Gregory. The idea behind a stimulus is to get money moving and passing through many hands, allowing a high multiplier effect. If the first person gets a dollar and spends 95 cents of it and each recipient of part of his 95 cents spends 95% of it (90 cents), we have $1.85 of economic activity taking place (so far). Next of course, lots of the 90 cents will be spent, with smaller amounts in each cycle (81 cents and $2.66 stimulus after round three) until the money is completely spent. When someone takes the money out of circulation and saves or invests it, the multiplier stops. The gold standard for facts in Washington is the Congressional Budget Office, so I will use their figures. CBO Dollar of stimulation per dollar spent $1.73 – Food stamps $1.64 – Extending Unemployment Insurance $1.59 – Infrastructure spending $1.36 – Aid to states $1.26 – Refundable tax credit $1.03 – Temporary tax cut $1.02 – Non-refundable tax rebate $.48 – Extend AMT patch $.37 – Make dividend and capital gains permanent $.30 – Corporate tax cut $.29 - Make Bush tax cuts permanent $.27 – Accelerated depreciation If we look at the CBO estimates, the payback on the Bush tax cuts is that the economy gets 29 cents of stimulus for every dollar spent. Is this a good investment? $.29 on the dollar? (The rich think so). In other words, the Bush Tax Cuts are de-stimulative – they act to slow down the economy!! On the other hand, food stamps get $1.73 of stimulus and unemployment insurance gets $1.64 of stimulus. Infrastructure gets $1.59, aid to the states gets $1.36. That is stimulation – we get more economic activity that we put in! I’m going to propose a hypothesis that is blindly simple and consistent with the facts: The richer the recipient of money is, the less likely they are to spend it. To stimulate the economy, raise taxes on the rich and lower them on the poor. To stimulate the rich, give them tax cuts. dailykos Also, a 2008 study by the Center for American Progress documents that investments and economic growth were STRONGER after 1993 tax increases than they were following tax cuts in 1981 and 2001.

Thank you. I have seen It's a Wonderful Life. It's a great movie. I think your Mom would be proud of all the nice things you said about her. As a Mom, I think that all we want is validation that we got most things right. Your Mom will be rewarded for all her good deeds. It sounds like someone is watching over your son. I know that boys especially play so rough and take risks sometimes that they need another pair of eyes looking out for them. My husband and I battled cancer together. I had breast cancer and then he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer 11 months later. You don't survive EC even when caught very early, like his was. It was a very rough time for us. So my kids and grandson are my life now which is why you can understand why I would be outraged that someone would post something about them and my parenting which is crossing the line. They are off limits and so is my parenting. As to the rednecks around here. Tell me about it. I have an Obama bumper sticker on my car and the rednecks and racists seem to think that gives them carte blanche to say things to me. Some yahoo asked me how the hopey changey thing was working out and I said great. And then I told him to eff off. I will not be intimidated. If I had been in that restaurant and heard you I would have told you I felt the same way. :cursing: