DS: Only the best should get the best?

[conceit]

heh thanks guys. i've been studying it since i was a child, so i am fluent in it. however, i personally feel that it's probably not at the level of fluency displayed by native speakers.
it seems like i am much more concise when i write or speak in my native language. in english, i tend to be more long winded loll.

 

[southernlady]

Funny you should post this now...when I started thinking about the revision I joined several FB pages and all the forums. There's one FB page...it's not a DS page...just a general Bariatric page...I don't think I'm going to be a member of that page for much longer because my ability to keep my mouth shut only goes so far. The ignorance on that page is simply jaw dropping. There are people there still getting the lapband, there are people there who say the RNY is the best thing since sliced bread, there are sleeved people there complaining about dumping, there are people there asking where to find sf jello in a grocery store, there are people there asking how soon after surgery hey can eat rice and bread, and don't even get me started on the people who can't spell or even put together a coherent sentence structure. There are so many people there who post about how depressed they are, how they have no support, no money, no friends, and think if they could just lose weight all their life's problems will be solved.

I have gotten a lot better with age about holding my tongue but sometimes it's just really hard!

I THINK I am in the same FB group...and yes, if it is the same one, the stupid is MIND-BOGGLING!

I have to be really careful with what I type over there cause if I typed what I wanted, I would get thrown out...and I stay to be one of the lone voices getting the word out that there are MORE options than just the RNY or VSG. Not that most would make the cut to the DS...they are mostly sheeple over there. They have a bad case of "your doctor is god" syndrome.

Mostly I just read and shake my head! And sit on my hands a LOT!!!

 

[robs477]

heh thanks guys. i've been studying it since i was a child, so i am fluent in it. however, i personally feel that it's probably not at the level of fluency displayed by native speakers.
Your right, its not! The level of "fluency", or to be more accurate, the lack thereof by a significant portion of our population, especially with our younger ones is mind boggling!

in english, i tend to be more long winded loll.

Wow, what a coincidence, so do I !!

 

[conceit]

Wow, what a coincidence, so do I !!

mwahaha so the long-windedness is cross cultural in some cases.

 

[robs477]

mwahaha so the long-windedness is cross cultural in some cases.

YES!!! for me for sure! Living in Houston and being exposed to people and different cultures from all over the world for all these years, the one thing I've learned is that we are ALL the same.

 

[star0210]

YES!!! for me for sure! Living in Houston and being exposed to people and different cultures from all over the world for all these years, the one thing I've learned is that we are ALL the same.

We're on the road to Texas right now. Hubby's daughter is graduating from Texas A&M tomorrow. We'll be in Spring Saturday at his sisters house and then driving home Saturday evening.
Normally we would stay for the whole weekend but my Saints play their last home game of the season so I gotta be there.

 

[robs477]

We're on the road to Texas right now. Hubby's daughter is graduating from Texas A&M tomorrow. We'll be in Spring Saturday at his sisters house and then driving home Saturday evening.
Normally we would stay for the whole weekend but my Saints play their last home game of the season so I gotta be there.

Ahh...that's to bad you wont be staying longer, it would be nice to have met you'll, maybe next time. I knew you guys were in Louisiana and just looked on the map. I've been close to your town on I-12 before going to Florida. Enjoy your stay in Texas, we have a mini cool front coming through and it should be nice!

 

[newanatomy]

This post I'm about to write is probably going to make me very unpopular and not make me any friends here. But I am who I am and I feel very strongly about this.

Medicaid. People on Medicaid (taxpayer funded) who are getting WLS paid for. I have a problem with this. If you can't afford to insure yourself or your children, how on earth are you going to be able to afford the protein needs and vitamin/nutrient needs and appropriate follow up care/lab work. And if you CAN afford those things, then you should be able to afford insurance. Same with food stamp recipients. On that FB page I was talking about in my previous post, there was a person crying because they didn't get their food stamps this month due to a glitch in the system or something and were wondering how her family was going to eat. To me, this person is not a good candidate for WLS at this time in her life!

I'm sorry but it grates. I was MO for years....my insurance never covered WLS....it was YEARS before I worked myself up to a place where I could afford to pay out of pocket. I damned sure never expected my state or any type of gov't program to pay for it for me. I'm a BIG BIG believer in personal responsibility. I pay out the ass in taxes, and I pay out the ass for insurance...even with my company paying a portion of my premium, I still pay a significant amount each month. And none of the policies I had to choose from when picking a policy for my company includes Bariatric surgery. So out of pocket I paid again for my revision. And here you have people who can't afford to insure themselves who are getting a free ride. I don't think that's right. I'm not saying they don't deserve to be able to have WLS to be able to have a healthier life, what I'm saying is that it's not their time to have it until they can afford it themselves.

I know there are people who will say...well these people are costing the taxpayers a fortune now with all of their co-morbidities and MO related health issues so it's probably cheaper to go ahead and pay for WLS. I get that but it doesn't sway my opinion.

Go ahead and throw stones at me now....I've got thick skin. I can take it.

I am going to oversimplify what you wrote, but here goes: This reads as though you are saying to people on Medicaid that "it's your own fault you're fat, why should the state help you?"

You are right, the co-morbidities will cost the state way more than the DS. A person who is disabled by MO is not going to get better, ever, without surgery.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

We're on the road to Texas right now. Hubby's daughter is graduating from Texas A&M tomorrow. We'll be in Spring Saturday at his sisters house and then driving home Saturday evening.
Normally we would stay for the whole weekend but my Saints play their last home game of the season so I gotta be there.

And...you are driving on taxpayer supported roads? To congratulate a family member graduating from public school that exists by virtue of federal grants and student loans? But you have to get home to watch the team whose billionaire owner just scored $392 million in tax breaks via state subsidies?

I wasn't criticizing you or your choices...just pointing out that sometimes, we only see what we put into the pot and what others take out...and not the other way around.




.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I do think there should be a DS IQ test...but psych and emotional stuff? Have you MET some of the DS surgery support board owners (Liz and Charles excluded, of course) and moderators (Jackie excluded, of course)? Some of them are the reason that the new DSM-V needs a Dx code for "Delusions of Psychiatric Normalcy," among other things...

 

[southernlady]

I do think there should be a DS IQ test...but psych and emotional stuff? Have you MET some of the DS surgery support board owners (Liz and Charles excluded, of course) and moderators (Jackie excluded, of course)? Some of them are the reason that the new DSM-V needs a Dx code for "Delusions of Psychiatric Normalcy," among other things...

What, so Cello and MsJacquie don't count...and neither does cajungirl???

While I don't mind people getting WLS paid for by Medicare or Medicaid, I do think they need to be HONEST with themselves about how to pay for protein and esp vitamins! But even when challenged, they get defensive about it...

Dh and I are both on SSDI. In fact, Medicare paid for my surgery but before we got surgery, we sat down and figured out if we COULD afford it. When we sat down with previous tax years, looking at what we paid OUT of pocket...not what was paid by the insurance company and our out of pocket was over 12,000 a year. So on that 12K a year, could we swap the copays for vitamins, protein, etc...YES.

At that time, we were still covered as secondary insurance by dh's employer. ONCE we dropped to just Medicare, my copays would have skyrocketed as Medicare does NOT think that type 2 diabetics NEED an insulin pump and insulin pumps are damned expensive (last one I got in 2007, the insurance company paid almost 7K for it)...and supplies are even worse but it gave me a chance to stay reasonably normal with blood sugars to avoid all the fall out from diabetes. And I had been on an insulin pump by then for almost 8 years. But Medicare would have insisted either I self pay for all that OR drop back to just insulin shots...it's like asking someone to give up their pancreas. That insulin pump WAS my pancreas...at least until I had the DS. Taking that thing off and putting it away was the best victory OF my DS.

I think the biggest factor in all this is the ability to ADVOCATE for yourself...don't be a sheeple.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

What, so Cello and MsJacquie don't count...and neither does cajungirl???

While I don't mind people getting WLS paid for by Medicare or Medicaid, I do think they need to be HONEST with themselves about how to pay for protein and esp vitamins! But even when challenged, they get defensive about it...

Dh and I are both on SSDI. In fact, Medicare paid for my surgery but before we got surgery, we sat down and figured out if we COULD afford it. When we sat down with previous tax years, looking at what we paid OUT of pocket...not what was paid by the insurance company and our out of pocket was over 12,000 a year. So on that 12K a year, could we swap the copays for vitamins, protein, etc...YES.

At that time, we were still covered as secondary insurance by dh's employer. ONCE we dropped to just Medicare, my copays would have skyrocketed as Medicare does NOT think that type 2 diabetics NEED an insulin pump and insulin pumps are damned expensive (last one I got in 2007, the insurance company paid almost 7K for it)...and supplies are even worse but it gave me a chance to stay reasonably normal with blood sugars to avoid all the fall out from diabetes. And I had been on an insulin pump by then for almost 8 years. But Medicare would have insisted either I self pay for all that OR drop back to just insulin shots...it's like asking someone to give up their pancreas. That insulin pump WAS my pancreas...at least until I had the DS. Taking that thing off and putting it away was the best victory OF my DS.

I think the biggest factor in all this is the ability to ADVOCATE for yourself...don't be a sheeple.

Yes, they count...but I'm old and on Gabapentin, so you can't blame me, right?

 

[star0210]

What, so Cello and MsJacquie don't count...and neither does cajungirl???

While I don't mind people getting WLS paid for by Medicare or Medicaid, I do think they need to be HONEST with themselves about how to pay for protein and esp vitamins! But even when challenged, they get defensive about it...

Dh and I are both on SSDI. In fact, Medicare paid for my surgery but before we got surgery, we sat down and figured out if we COULD afford it. When we sat down with previous tax years, looking at what we paid OUT of pocket...not what was paid by the insurance company and our out of pocket was over 12,000 a year. So on that 12K a year, could we swap the copays for vitamins, protein, etc...YES.

At that time, we were still covered as secondary insurance by dh's employer. ONCE we dropped to just Medicare, my copays would have skyrocketed as Medicare does NOT think that type 2 diabetics NEED an insulin pump and insulin pumps are damned expensive (last one I got in 2007, the insurance company paid almost 7K for it)...and supplies are even worse but it gave me a chance to stay reasonably normal with blood sugars to avoid all the fall out from diabetes. And I had been on an insulin pump by then for almost 8 years. But Medicare would have insisted either I self pay for all that OR drop back to just insulin shots...it's like asking someone to give up their pancreas. That insulin pump WAS my pancreas...at least until I had the DS. Taking that thing off and putting it away was the best victory OF my DS.

I think the biggest factor in all this is the ability to ADVOCATE for yourself...don't be a sheeple.

Medicare to me is different..and why I didn't include it in my post. Most people on Medicare have paid into the system for most of their adult lives and have earned it.

I do believe in social programs as a short term safety net and for the truly disabled...I do not believe they should be a way of life for able bodied sound of mind people.

 

[southernlady]

Yes, they count...but I'm old and on Gabapentin, so you can't blame me, right?

LOL, no, can't blame you...that stuff messed with MY memory!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Medicare to me is different..and why I didn't include it in my post. Most people on Medicare have paid into the system for most of their adult lives and have earned it.

I do believe in social programs as a short term safety net and for the truly disabled...I do not believe they should be a way of life for able bodied sound of mind people.

Exactly the point I was making. We all pay into Medicare, so many people think its's theirs to use. However...

"...the average American couple contributes approximately $110,000 to Medicare over their working careers and receives over $330,000 of Medicare benefits. On Feb. 20, USA Today cited Urban Institute data pegging those same figures at $88,000 and $387,000, respectively."
Source:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/markhen...id-you-really-pay-for-your-medicare-benefits/



People on Medicare...and I'm one of them...I have to accept it or my husband's group insurance won't cover me...spend about three times the amount they contribute. So we are all "welfare recipients," and the poor folks working at McDonalds are what is keeping the system afloat.

But...what social programs, exactly, are you complaining about?

I had people condemn me for using my GI Bill--I am a disabled vet--to go to college. The minute I graduated, I started working at a higher paying job and paying income tax and had MORE THAN repaid that tuition in a very few years. And my income jacked up the rate of income tax we were paying on Mr Sue's income. So we were not the wealthiest people here, but we went from being "users" right to paying five figures in Federal Income Tax in just one year, and kept it up for many years.

My handyman, also a disabled vet, gets his medical care at the VA. He works. He makes LOTS of money. He has several employees. And yet he thinks he "deserves" free medical care. He really hates those EBT cards people use for food, without knowing if the woman using that card is maybe the only person working at her house and if her husband is a PTSD sufferer from the recent wars. But he KNOWS she doesn't "deserve" her freebies.

Too many of us think WE deserve what we get and that "THEY" are all deadbeats. They are wrong.