Blogs by Flo Fitzpatrick
Mick, Mick, Speak English!
7/13/2026 5:39:12 AM
I began reading up on possible causes after I had my stroke. Two earlier concussions (34% chance of a stroke in later life if suffering a head injury…I figured two put me at 68%!!)
Food is definitely in the mix. I subscribe (and fail often) to the Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn view about strokes and heart disease: whole food/plant based, as close to zero oil as you can get and sugar ain’t great for you either. Sadly, the vegan chocolate-chip cookies at Publix (which are divine) are loaded with oil and sugar…just no animal products.
One of the biggest issues appears to be stress.
Since we can’t avoid it, we have to learn to manage it. Heck, I do yoga, Pilates and floor ballet barre. I dance. I do strength training. I do admit I hate to meditate. My brain does not like to hit pause.
BUT….I have come to the conclusion that there is a concerted effort by healthcare customer service and tech to cram as much stress onto a patient in the hope to bring them back. Preferably by ambulance, a cost of between four and ten thousand (!) depending on state.
I have spent the last two weeks fighting with the hospital. Not the doctors or the nurses (although I have a couple of issues with two of the doctors who seemed to have hearing problems.
“No, doctor, I do NOT want that medication since I’m clearly allergic and honestly I’d rather jump through this fifth floor window than deal with the side effects.”
“You’re a resident? Did you bother to take Blood Pressure 101 where they explain that you don’t try and get a patient to talk while that little cuff is on?”
Where was I? Ah. Customer service. Tech.
Whoever designed the websites (plural) at the medical facility is clearly a sadist who’s been told, “Cram as much stress onto the patient as you can so we can get them back.” Either that or “Make the patient so frustrated they’ll just pay whatever we ask because they can’t get the answers.”
Shoot. I’ve written books. I use the computer to pay bills. I do research on the computer. And trying to get a simple itemization is a lot like channeling Whoopi Goldberg in “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Mick! Mick! Speak English, Mick!”
The whole 'find everything on the site" thing assumes that
A) one can get a human on the phone (that took six tries) to actually determining which website to use and that
B) the website that tells you to put in your account number and zip code to access the info will bring the info up instead of a little spinning icon on “Account Activity”.
A healthcare agent can only do so much. The patient is the one who has to dig for the gold. I DID get 90 pages (yes 90) of medical records that contained so much redundancy they could have been reduced to about 10 pages…not to mention a heckuva lot of details that were just wrong.
My sister-in-law was kind enough to bring chocolate to me on Saturday.
It’s not on Esselstyn’s list but I don't care.
Forget meditation. When dealing with the healthcare system sometimes a bar of Trader Joe’s 72% raw cacao is the only thing that helps.
Post a Comment
More Blogs by Flo Fitzpatrick
• Commercials and Diversity - Sunday, September 27, 2026
• A Second Remembrance - Saturday, September 12, 2026
• Legacy - Thursday, August 27, 2026
• The Founding Fathers...Good and Bad - Tuesday, August 25, 2026
• The Saga of the Printer - Saturday, August 1, 2026
• What do you want? - Monday, July 20, 2026
• Playing Detective - Tuesday, July 14, 2026
• Mick, Mick, Speak English! - Monday, July 13, 2026
• Bills and Bins - Thursday, July 9, 2026
• Father Joe - Wednesday, July 1, 2026
• Land of Confusion - Tuesday, June 30, 2026
• Do What You Love - Thursday, June 25, 2026
• Crayons and Flight 800 - Monday, June 22, 2026
• Be Kind - Thursday, June 18, 2026
• Words - Tuesday, June 16, 2026
• Pride and the 10 Commandments - Thursday, June 11, 2026
• French Fries and The Full Monty - Wednesday, June 10, 2026
• More scams - Tuesday, June 9, 2026
• Ferris Wheels and Color - Wednesday, May 20, 2026
• The Journey Continues - Thursday, May 7, 2026
• I'm so Confused ! - Thursday, April 30, 2026
• Tales from the Floor, the Hospital/Rehab and Beyond - Sunday, April 26, 2026
• The Oldest, Established, Permanent, Floating, Work-in-Progress in History - Tuesday, March 31, 2026
• Past Time to Fix Things - Sunday, March 22, 2026
• Holding out for a Hero - Thursday, March 19, 2026
• When Fear Wins - Monday, March 16, 2026
• The De-evolution of Humanity - Wednesday, March 11, 2026
• What Do You Want? - Monday, March 9, 2026
• Do No Harm - Thursday, February 26, 2026
• Hope in a crowd of strangers - Sunday, February 22, 2026
• Sweet Cream Ladies and a Valentine's Card - Sunday, February 15, 2026
• No regrets - Friday, February 13, 2026
• Give Peace a Chance - Thursday, February 12, 2026
• Four for Texas - Tuesday, February 10, 2026
• A nation of sociopaths - Thursday, February 5, 2026
• Moondance...When Characters Take Control - Friday, January 30, 2026
• Clansey's Point of View (Moondance) - Friday, January 30, 2026
• The Why - Monday, January 26, 2026
• Frightened for the Children - Thursday, January 22, 2026
• Beauty - Tuesday, January 20, 2026
• Elements of Hate - Sunday, January 18, 2026
• Julio - Wednesday, January 14, 2026
• Reality - Monday, January 12, 2026
• Dancing to Care - Saturday, January 3, 2026
• Jake, L'il Boy, and Houdini - Wednesday, December 31, 2025
• Hope for 2026 - Tuesday, December 30, 2025
• Propaganda and Disinformation - Monday, December 22, 2025
• All I Want for Christmas - Saturday, December 6, 2025
• Illegal Orders - Tuesday, December 2, 2025
• Pick up the Pieces - Reunions and Stevie Nicks - Saturday, November 29, 2025
• Fake Promoters Upping the Game - Tuesday, November 25, 2025
• Scarecrow's Dream: And the Ghost Fell in Love with the Dead Man - Sunday, November 23, 2025
• Cold Wind to Valhalla - Naked Actors and a Minstrel in the Gallery - Sunday, November 16, 2025
• Another Scam - My Author Friends Beware! - Thursday, November 13, 2025
• Legacy of Silence - Spooky Houses and Hot Air Balloons - Saturday, November 8, 2025
• Chia Seeds - Powerhouse Protein! - Thursday, November 6, 2025
• Another Batch of Kolaches and a Pack of Tonys - Sunday, November 2, 2025
• Kolaches and Mozart - Aria in Ice - Tuesday, October 28, 2025
• Great again...WHEN? - Saturday, October 25, 2025
• Sweet Dreams - How They're Made - Friday, October 24, 2025
• In the year 2050 - Wednesday, October 22, 2025
• Deadly Deja Vu - In Time for Halloween! - Tuesday, October 21, 2025
• What is Your Bridge Too Far? - Sunday, October 19, 2025
• The "Making" of Remake the Song - Friday, October 17, 2025
• Paris Nocturne: Inspiration - Saturday, October 11, 2025
• Haunting Melody: Inspiration - Monday, October 6, 2025
• Silence is Unrelenting - Friday, October 3, 2025
• Inspiration: Hot Stuff - Wednesday, October 1, 2025
• Why the Hate? - Saturday, September 27, 2025
• Ghosts, Wandering Here & There: Inspiration - Wednesday, September 24, 2025
• Shall we Dance? - Sunday, September 21, 2025
• Children Should be the Priority - Wednesday, September 17, 2025
• Moronic - Saturday, September 13, 2025
• Alleged - Friday, September 12, 2025
• Fanaticism and Empathy - Thursday, September 11, 2025
• "Review Packages" - Monday, September 8, 2025
• GO VEGAN - Saturday, September 6, 2025
• Creepy- with a Side of Intent - Monday, September 1, 2025
• P.O.S.S. (Perfect Older Sibling Syndrome) - Saturday, August 23, 2025
• Pushing Back On - Monday, August 18, 2025
• From Compromise to Inspiration - Sunday, August 17, 2025
• Ptiching to Authors...A Nearly Daily Annoyance - Saturday, August 16, 2025
• A Discussion of Literary Agents - Friday, August 15, 2025
• Reach Out and "Touch" An Author - Tuesday, August 12, 2025
• Here, There, and Everywhere - Wednesday, August 6, 2025
• Reviewing the Situation - Monday, August 4, 2025
• Music and Movement (In a beach read!) - Sunday, August 3, 2025
• Remake the Song - coming VERY soon! - Saturday, August 2, 2025
• Writers Who Care - Tuesday, December 20, 2011
• A WRiters Work - Monday, December 5, 2011
• Tell Me a Story! - Tuesday, October 25, 2011
• A Gentle Ghost Story - Sunday, October 9, 2011
• I Got a Name - Part Two - Saturday, April 16, 2011
• Self- E and POD versus Trad - Wednesday, March 23, 2011
• More Dialogue Tips for Writers - Friday, March 18, 2011
• How I Spent Spring Break (A Cautionary Tale) - Wednesday, March 16, 2011
• I got a Name - Friday, March 11, 2011
• Want to help name a book? - Tuesday, March 8, 2011
• Spring Break - Break! - Saturday, March 5, 2011
• Dialogue Tips for Writers - Wednesday, February 23, 2011
• Writing Tip - Singing -Keep it OFF the Page - Tuesday, February 15, 2011
• Respect - A Writing Nudge - Friday, February 11, 2011
• To Stupid to Live? Ouch - Wednesday, February 9, 2011
• Writer's Tip - Know Thyself - Tuesday, February 8, 2011
• "Risky" Business - Sunday, February 6, 2011
|
