Thinjen

If they let you drive and you are in an accident, they could be held liable.

I didn't know you could put anything in your port, besides saline?!

Mandisa has performed at my church before and is in touch with some of our members. Here is a portion of her email to us. She is a wonderful, Christian woman. Sent: Tuesday, March 07, 2006 2:01 PM Subject: Today is the day!!! Hi friends!!! It is 11:30 Tuesday as I type this and I feel such a sense of anticipation! This will be my 3rd (and most important) performance to date. I feel very confident and know that is largely due to your prayers. I cannot reveal what song I am singing but I can tell you that this is the first time I am doing what comes naturally. First rock, then country, now ME!!! I also cannot reveal which order I am going in but I can tell you that I always prefer to go first to get it over with. With that begin said, I am not as pleased with my order as I could be . . . Want another hint? Well there are 8 girls left and we are narrowing it down to 6 this week. The next phase is the top 12, where boys and girls sing together. So in a sense, we are completing the first phase. Maybe the NUMBER OF COMPLETION will work in my favor today. He he he! Okay, a few answers for ya . . . 1. I will not be able to get tickets for everyone who wants to come out to L.A. Tickets are not sold but given free. They are hard to come by because you must get on a waiting list. Worth a try though. You can sign up at www.ocatv.com 2. We have been responsible for our own hair and makeup for these first few shows. However, the top 12 get a stylist and their hair and makeup done. 3. When I first got to L.A. I was so blessed to have my own room! There are 3 minor girls who have to room with their parents so that left one girl by herself. That was me!!! However, after the first eliminations I moved in with Brenna. Brenna was eliminated last week so they moved me in with my girl Kinnik. Please continue to pray for Brenna. God is doing some interesting things in her life and I felt so honored to be used in a small way. Please also pray for Kinnik today. We hit it off immediately and she is, by far, my closest friend here. 4. Once the top 12 begins we will sing songs from particular genres. I know what everybody wants me to sing and you better believe that if given the opportunity I will be taking some shackles off. 5. A few of you asked me about doing interviews. All of that goes through AI publicity. If you know of a newspaper, radio, or T.V. station that wants to do an interview with me, please have them email their request to idolpr@fox.com 6. Here is how you can pray for me today and until Thursday. -For today, pray especially for my voice. I am doing a lot of high singing and we have a few more rehearsals. -Pray that when I perform today, I will have fun! I want the on site audience, the judges, and America to join in with me and feel like they have been at a concert. -Pray that, like Moses, I would be radiant because I have been with Jesus. I want to be able to draw people to Jesus without even opening my mouth. But speaking of opening my mouth, pray for opportunities to minister to contestants and crew. -4 contestants are going home Thursday. Pray for the hearts of each of us. Pray against the enemy as he tries to deceive us with feelings of insecurity and inadequacy. Thank you all! It has been so great to be in touch with many of my old friends again. Especially today, reading your messages filled me with such honor and humility. I feel great going into this show and I hope to make you proud. Be sure to vote!!! Love you! -- Mandisa Hundley HOW COOL IS THAT?!!! I didn't include her email address, because I don't want her to be overwhelmed with emails from folks that she doesn't know.

I totally agree with your prediction. Taylor was SO AWESOME last night. I have TIVO, I watched him 3 times. I think ACE was hot too. Mandisa is incredible...in a league of her own.

There seems to be a lot of doctors that are just down right rude to fat folks. They should be thanking God for us fat folks. Just how many diseases are caused from obesity? If all of us were perfect, the only docs getting any business would be the plastic surgeons... and only then to keep us perfect.

First of all, I think it's very important to remember that the guy that graduates at the bottom of his med school is still a doctor. Now, this actually happened to a patient in the hospital. The doctor's name is Dr. Wright in Tennessee. I had a patient that had an infected IV site. I told Dr. Wright about it. We went into the room to assess her. I reminded him of the IV site. He pulls out his pocket knife and lances her wound. (Her arm was red and hot...even before he took his dirty pocket knife and lanced it). He then says to her, "I knew that would work...that's the same knife I use to clean my dog's toenails." They both laughed. I didn't think it was funny. I wrote him up and had to contact risk management. This is a rural hospital where patients still think that doctors are gods and will not question them. Needless to say, they said they would look into it. The patient, an elderly lady, said, "Oh, I'm sure he didn't mean any harm by it." The doctor is still seeing patients at that hospital...but I quit. And before any of you say that I slandered this doctor and I shouldn't have named him...remember a couple of things. 1. Truth is an absolute defense to slander. 2. As an absolute patient advocate, I feel it is important to inform future patients in an effort to protect them.

I don't want to discourage you, BUT BC/BS of Tennessee has been a real pain for me. I have been fighting with them since last June. Feel free to pm me. We'll need each other to get through this. Whatever you do...don't give up.

I don't understand this. When I pulled up the site, it was to sell dish network (I think). Is this what she is trying to sell?

I love Thanksgiving.

I'm on zoloft 100 mg/day. It literally, saved my life. From the looks of this post...we should be investing our money in zoloft.

I couldn't find it either. I had a couple of posts on there. Maybe the FBI erased it right before they hauled her off to jail.

I used to be a drug rep (150 pounds ago...and yes, size does matter to drug companies) Anyway, I sold ortho est...My mane (pun intended) competition was premarin. Anyway, our product was derived from mexican yams. If you can find them, eat them...instead of drinking horse pee cleverly disguised in pill format. I have an extensive family history of cancer, and when I get closer to menopause..I'll turn to organic foods to supplement my estrogen.

Well, blue cross, blue shield of Tennessee has denied me. Now, I have to start the appeal process. So, I may not be on here for a while, because this appeal will become my full time job. The nerve of them!!

bump. bump. bump. Talked to blue cross today via video/telephone and was told that "It has 30 days to go before the committee, after that we have 5 days to send you our response." It was hard to have a conversation, because they were so muffled. Please see below for a picture from our meeting.

That's so awesome!! Let's see some pics you skinny minnie!!

You have a right to enjoy your domain in peace. Your neighbors are creating a nuisance. Since the apartment manager is aware of the problems, they should allow you to break the lease--if you so desire. I don't know that I would have them move. God only knows if they would have a place to go. I'm not concerned for her, only her kids. It doesn't sound like "her baby's daddy" is in the picture. If he/they were in picture, why aren't they helping raise those kids? If she even knows who the fathers are. Vines is right, the threat is assault. Document, document, document...times and dates and what was going on. If you really suspect that those kids are being abused, you have to act. How old are these kids? Do they really need to be up all hours of the night?

By the way, my husband, too, was in denial. It was so hard to convince him that his offspring was not "perfect." He came around though and we are so glad that we figured it out early. We didn't want to put him on medication,either. Our pediatrician explained how ADD is biochemical. She went on to say, "If he was diabetic and needed insulin, would you let him have the insulin?" Of course, we would want him to have insulin. We tried Stratera first, because it is a non-stimulant. We were told that it works about 50% of the time. It didn't work for him. Now he's on concerta 18mg. He only gets it on school days. We did conduct a "secret" experiment. He didn't take it during Christmas break. When he returned from break, we didn't give it to him for 2 weeks--without telling his teachers, to see if they could honestly tell a difference. We got a note home from the teachers asking if we changed his medicine. They said that he seemed "too medicated". That he could not focus. Actually, the opposite was true. Needless to say, we resumed the medicine and he's been doing great. I think there is a stigma on giving these kids meds because ADD/ADHD does tend to be overly diagnosed by some docs. Some parents "diagnose" their children with it and never seek an honest medical opinion. They want to use the medications as a chemical babysitter. Just because a child is hyper, does not mean that they have ADHD. Let me tell you, if your child does have this and is properly diagnosed, some of these medications make a world of difference. The medicine doesn't change our son's personality. It just makes him able to follow directions and pay attention. He now is gaining confidence in his school work vs. how he used to be. He used to say, I can't do it...I'm not smart like the other kids at school. That is so heartbreaking. All parents have to do what they think is best for their children. All children are different. Go with your gut.

Yes. They are the "boss". Funny how some kid in a cubicle makes a decision that overrides a board certified physician. They could have told you that information the first week that they had your stuff. No, they wait till day 29. They want you to give up. Insurance is a big game of risks. It's really no different than gambling. They realize that complications from obesity are going to cost them WAY more than this band. But yet, they gamble. Maybe by the time that it's time to have your cardiac bypass or your leg cut off from diabetes complications you'll change jobs or insurance companies, and this won't be their problem. Or maybe they'll just let you wait till the medical examiner does the autopsy to determine "medical necessity." Of course, at that point, they won't have to pay. WE HAVE TO BAND TOGETHER (LITERALLY) AND NOT LET THEM WIN!!!!

I have a son that just turned 6 and is kindergarten. When he was 3, we knew that he was having a hard time with speech. We had him tested. He was talking on an 18 month old level. So, we put him in speech therapy through the public school system. They are wonderful!! He was in preschool through the public school from age 3 till he started kindergarten. During that time, we noticed that he couldn't follow very simple instructions. He would just "zone" out. The only thing that could keep his attention were things that he considered fun. If it looked like "work", ie schoolwork- he couldn't focus enough to pay attention. It was a gut-wrenching decision, but we knew that we had to put our pride away and do what is best for HIM. We didn't want him to have the ADD label, but we also didn't want him to fall further behind because of our pride. He was seen by a doctor, psychologist, counselor, teachers, and was officially diagnosed with ADD. He does not have a behavior problem. He is not hyper. We were lucky to figure it out so early. A lot of these kids that don't have the behavior issue "fly under the radar." They tend to fall behind and this is detrimental to their self esteem. He is is special education 1/2 of the day at school. This helps him to stay caught up in his regular classroom by giving him 1 on 1 attention from a teacher. Putting him in special education was so hard for us. My husband and I are both finishing graduate degrees, and the idea of having a child that needed extra help was so foreign to us. Reluctantly, we started him on Concerta 18mg and it has made a world of difference. When we first put him in special education it was with the idea that "we'll do this for a few weeks and then pull him out." He is still in special education, and you know what, that's ok. Why hurt him for our foolish pride? He is a very bright child, he just needs some extra help. We are so proud of him and feel that we have made the right decision. It's been said that Einstein had ADD- although undiagnosed way back when. I think our children are in good company.

Does anybody else think it's unfair that they will narrow it down to 6 boys and 6 girls? I think it should go down to the 12 best...regardless of gender. If more of the boys are better (and it seems this way to me) than more of the boys should make up the top 12.

My DH has a titanium plate in his neck (post disc surgery). Titanium is MRI friendly.

I was wondering why all of the conversations with the Blue Cross reps were so muffled. Thanks for the visual. It explains a lot.

Saw the girls. I thought Taylor Hicks was the best...I know he didn't sing tonight, but the camera showed him dancing. He's so cool.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Tennessee says that brain transplants are still "experimental". I have 5 years of documented brain atrophy and 6 months of documentation to prove it. They also say that having a brain, at all, is "not medically necessary". I believe they prefer their customers to not have a brain so as to not create opposition for their stupid decisions. I also believe that some of the folks that work for blue cross/blue shield already have a silicone band tied around their carotid arteries instead of their stomachs.

I felt bad because nobody has posted a response to you yet. I think most people realize its a crap shoot even when an employer's policy says that it will be covered. Maybe that's why they haven't gotten back to you. My husband's insurance is supposed to cover it. As you can see in my ticker, just because you qualify and they cover it, doesn't mean that they will do the right thing.