Problems That Still Need Solving

• My new progressive lenses are still killing me, 2.5 weeks later. How am I going to be able to see clearly again without wanting to claw my eyeballs out by 2pm each day?
• Neutrogena seems to have stopped making my very favorite lip product ever, and I am bitter. MoistureShine Tinted Lip Balm, I will miss you. Your MoistureShine Lip Sheers, Lipsticks, and Glosses are just not the same thing.
• Health insurance reform. Seriously. Our corporate renewals just came in with premium increases of twenty-frocking-percent. The company can't afford to absorb such a huge increase, so we will once again be shaving benefits to keep costs "contained", which really means we're passing yet more expense along to the employees (yours truly included) in the way of higher co-pays. Frack.
  
• How am I going to pick up 10 long folding tables from the local synagogue for our October 2 fundraising event? (Or, more precisely, how many long folding tables can I fit in my mother's Honda Civic hatchback at one time, and do I have enough bungee cords?)
• I am a 42-year-old woman and I still get pimples. Fa chrissakes.
• Polycystic Kidney Disease. We're up to $2600 raised so far this year, which is amazing, given the givens. Thank you all so much.

My First Giveaway and My Sixty-Eleventh Rant

First the rant. (You're welcome.)

Yesterday while waiting for the morning school bus, my neighbor told me that she's just been diagnosed with long-standing Lyme disease. As in, her blood work shows that she's had it for a long while -- probably a year or so. When I asked her whether she had been aware of being bitten by a tick, she said no, but that her health has been dodgy for the last year -- urinary tract infections, aching joints, heavy fatigue, and the like. At one of her many doctor visits prior to diagnosis, she mentioned the fatigue and was told, "Well, you're a mom. Of course you're tired."

WHAT THE EFFING FROCK.

I am sure that the medical establishment does this frequently -- brushes off complaints of fatigue from women (particularly mothers) because it is assumed that we, in our multiple roles as caregivers, workers, home tenders, etc., tend to overdo it, get tired, and then whine about it. OF COURSE YOU'RE TIRED, the message runs, YOU POOR LITTLE THING, YOU'RE OVERDOING IT AND CAN'T BE TRUSTED TO PROPERLY GAUGE YOUR OWN HEALTH AS A RESULT. And the medical inquiry stops there. And the potential Lyme disease, or potential depression, or potential thyroid problem, or potential anemia, or potential (fill in the blank) goes undiagnosed and untreated.

(Please pardon the shouting, but I am THAT PISSED OFF.)

Has this happened to you? Because it's happened to me. The exhaustion I felt when the kids were littler and before my kidney failure asserted itself through high blood pressure was bone-deep and pervasive. My then-doctor tested me for anemia (negative), but stopped there. Was there anything else wrong with me? Who can say? It's quite possible that my on-again, off-again depression was lurking, or that the early signs kidney failure were asserting themselves. There's no way to know, now, whether there was something treatable going on that would have spared me some of that exhaustion that I could ill-afford.

AND! Can you in your wildest dreams imagine any doctor saying something similar to a male patient complaining of fatigue? Michael and I both work full-time, stressful jobs. We put in a fairly equitable amount of house- and parenting-work. And yet, I guarantee you that if he were to complain to his doctor of heavy fatigue, he'd get tested up, down and sideways for heart problems, blood disorders, and anything else the doctor could dream up. There is no way in hell that his doctor would say "Well, you're a father -- of course you're tired" and send him on his way with a pat on the head.

This makes me so angry I could SPIT.

***

Now, the fun stuff! A few weeks ago I was contacted by the nice people at All Children's Furniture and offered a chance to do my very first bloggy giveaway. I must admit to being somewhat ambivalent at first -- I have no experience with this company and can't vouch for them in any real sense -- but the person who contacted me is very nice and has put up beautifully with my dithering and delays. And their product line is quite extensive -- I spent LOTS of time browsing everything from kids furniture to play kitchens to organizational systems. Plus, we're in a recession and free = good, right? And don't you all need a jungle marble maze from ALEX toys, rated for ages 3 and up?






















This maze has won a "Best Toy" award from Parents' Magazine and is made of solid wood blocks. (There's a detailed description of the maze here.) If you'd like to enter the drawing, please leave a non-anonymous comment (with a working email address) before Sunday, June 8, at midnight. I'll do a random-number-picky-thingy (or put numbers in a hat, more like) on Monday and announce the winner then. Weeee!

The Week That Was

Holy hell, y'all. I think I deserve a medal for merely surviving last week. (I know for SURE that Michael deserves a medal. Either that, or some very special grown-up time. But given my exhaustion level, he may have to make do with a medal for now.)

The week began with a snowstorm and a tense drive from Philadelphia to D.C. with crummy visibility, and ended with Garrick vomiting spectacularly all over my mother's house. In between, there were visits to Senate and Congressional offices, the launching of a business, the rehearsing and performing of G.B. Shaw's "Heartbreak House", a Board meeting at work, a visit from my brother who lives in Singapore, and a chance to meet Tina. There was also laundry and house cleaning and a cast party. There may have been some wine at some point, but I may have fallen into a coma and can't remember that part clearly.

The advocacy visits in D.C. were very interesting, and contrary to expectation, not at all intimidating. Arlen Specter's office reception area walls are covered with large photographs of him with various luminaries, including one with Martin Luther King (Specter looks about 22 years old in the photo). My meetings were all with staffers, not the reps themselves, but my meeting at my local Congressman's office took place in his actual office due to lack of space -- and his office walls are covered with drawings by his 7-year-old daughter. I like him already.

I had lunch in the cafeteria of one of the Congressional office buildings at about 12:15PM and it was like a mosh pit -- there were literally wall-to-wall people, and no available chairs. I ate standing up next to one of several broken chairs heaped in a corner.

The PKD Foundation has five legislative priorities this year, including Congressionally-directed research funds (of which there are currently zip), getting rid of the 36-month cap on Medicare-sponsored antirejection medication for transplant patients, and raising PKD's profile within the NIH. We got very positive feedback overall, and I think I'm going to be spending more time and energy in this direction in the future.

After a loooooooooooooong nap.

Husband: FAIL

Last night, without any warning or provocation, Michael said that Sarah Palin is hot.

I then killed him and buried him in the back yard.

Oh hush, not really.

But I'm considering it.

If only I could solve the problem of who would cook dinner in his absence....

Seeing Red

I don't often get political here -- in fact, I don't think I've EVER gotten political here -- but this just sickens me:

"The Bush administration is proposing a new regulation that could discourage doctors and health-care clinics from providing birth control to women who need it. This proposed regulation deliberately confuses the definitions of contraception and abortion.

• This regulation could undermine good state laws that require hospitals to provide emergency contraception to rape survivors and ensure that pharmacies fill women’s prescriptions for birth control.
• The proposal could allow health-care corporations (hospitals, HMOs, and health plans) to refuse to provide services or make referrals for birth control.
• The proposed regulation could affect Medicaid and the Title X family-planning program. For instance, staff at clinics or health-care plans that contract for Medicaid services could refuse to provide contraception."

BY ALL MEANS, let's make it even harder for rape victims to protect themselves, and let's be sure to confuse contraception with abortion whenever possible. Because, you know, women can't POSSIBLY be trusted to make their own decisions about their bodies.

If you're as pissed about this as I am, NARAL has a handy link that allows you to easily share your views with your congresspeople.

Go. Now.