Angry Appendixes and Holiday Shopping Woes...

Hey guys!

Hope that you've been having a good week so far...mine's been on the crazy side...

On Tuesday, my sister developed appendicitis...luckily, we were able to get her to an ER before appendix rupture became a possibility. She had appendicitis before, about 7 years ago...so the surgeon opted to go ahead and perform an appendectomy. [It's a little bit baffling that the doctors left it alone the first time...] Fortunately, she was a good candidate for a laproscopic procedure rather than the traditional appendectomy...she was out of the hospital and on her way home, post-op, in less than 24 hours!

University of Maryland Medical Center - Laproscopic Appendectomy [A little blurb on the procedure]

I'm definitely glad that she's doing well...hopefully, the rest of her recovery will continue to go smoothly...

Rogue vestigial organs aside, it's been a bit of a stressful week...

As I'm sure most people are, I'm definitely beginning to feel the financial crunch that comes with the holiday season. I love giving gifts to friends and family, but it's undeniably expensive! And does anyone else have that one person [or handful of people, in my case] that just seem impossible to shop for? It's frustrating!

I keep scouring my regular shopping websites [ThinkGeek, Amazon, and, most recently, Vat19] hoping that something will just 'click' as the perfect gift for so-and-so and that said gift is on uber-sale...no luck on either, as of yet...

Anybody out there that's excellent at picking out gifts? I could certainly use some tips!

And, just in case anybody was curious, 'appendixes' is apparently the proper word for referring to more than one appendix. The organ, not the additional texts at the end of a book.

Medication Costs...

I know that the healthcare system has been in the news an awful lot over the last couple of years...especially with all of the lovely government mandated changes. [Just.../sigh] I've got a personal experience that I'm gonna share, no worries, its not another soapbox rant...

Just a little over a month ago, my kiddo got sick and I had to take him to the pediatrician. After visiting with the doctor, he was given a prescription for an antibiotic and a school excuse for a couple of days just to make sure he felt well before going back to school. That afternoon, I went to one of the nearby pharmacies to pick up his medicines, I was shocked by how expensive they were...his antibiotic alone was over $120!! The antibiotics were generic (not name-brand) and fairly common, it wasn't some sort of rare medication that needed to be special ordered or anything like that. Isn't that outrageous?!?

Fast-forward to this morning...the kiddo is sick again. We went back to the same doctor and were prescribed the same medication (for a different ailment). I went to the same pharmacy, but now I've got a different insurance plan than I had during the previous pharmacy visit.

Care to wager a guess at how much the exact same medication cost me this time?

A whopping $5. Five friggin dollars!!

The 'take home' point of this whole ordeal?

Make sure you are educated on all of your healthcare options...not all plans are built the same, and certainly not all of them are affordable...

"Affordable Healthcare Act" my butt...