Whole apples beat apple cider vinegar any day of the week. I make sure to have a green salad every single day. Forget about red meat or anything roasted. Ditch the standard stuff and stick to Durum pasta. You can have two slices of rye bread daily.
Cholesterol doesn't just appear overnight, so it won't disappear overnight either. It takes time and plenty of patience.
If you’ve only paid half the minimum capital, then $3.25 you HAVE to deposit it into the account . That means you also have to file all those forms, like the balance sheets and statistical reports... Otherwise, you get hit with fines. If you really play the victim in court, they might go easy on you and let you off for about $1,000. 😁
The second half, $3.25, which gets listed under assets, isn't a big deal. Most people just list a computer, a printer, a laptop, a phone—and that's it. Since the auditor announces their visit ahead of time, plenty of people just borrow equipment for the inspection. A few days ago, an auditor charged someone about $0.50 for that exact kind of setup.
I usually brew my last cup of coffee around 10 PM, just enough to settle in for a good movie. The thing is, caffeine actually puts me right out—I often end up falling asleep with the mug still in my hand. 🙄
My poor dog has been acting up for a while now I can't tell if it's him or me, but I felt a bit dizzy last night and knew my temp was hitting about 99 degrees
This morning: stuffy nose, sore throat, popping ears, and a fever of 99.5 So, things are definitely progressing🙄
Current meds: a liter of lemonade made from seven lemons, spinach smoothies, a whole roll of Kleenex, and .
This would have been my first year without feeling this crappy. The mind really plays tricks on you😁
You can actually own the company while appointing someone else as the director. From a tax perspective, it’s not always an issue—especially if you have a lot of capital tied up in equipment. You can leverage depreciation and things like that.😉
I’m getting my eyes checked soon, looks like I might finally get my first and then I stumbled upon this:
"Major hospital tests can take up to six months
The wait times for screenings are mostly due to a shortage of diagnostic equipment. If you want to check your health in America, you'll either be waiting months for an appointment at a public facility or dropping thousands of dollars to get it done in a week or two at a private clinic. For standard patients looking for specialized testing at hospitals or community clinics, wait times range from ten days to half a year—unless it's an emergency, in which case you're seen immediately.
'Wait until after New Year's,' is what we were told when asking about MRI availability—according to our research, it's the procedure with the longest backlog. An MRI for a spinal scan is also one of the most expensive tests; at a private facility, it will cost you $0.53, which is roughly what it costs in a hospital setting too. If you have a referral, you only pay 15 percent of that amount.
The quickest results come from blood or urine work—you can usually get it done in a day, and results are ready by tomorrow at the latest. That’s really the only type of testing where using a local clinic actually makes sense time-wise.
Most hospitals performing advanced diagnostics claim the long delays stem from a lack of machinery. They say new equipment can only be acquired through donations because the costs are so high, while the Department of Health and Human Services suggests the budget is still being tightened.
'Based on the total healthcare budget, following EU guidelines, we should have been able to spend 4.5 percent more, yet we've spent much more than that,' recently warned Secretary Andrew Hebrang.
According to him, financial analysis shows that compared to the first quarter of 2003, drug costs rose by 15.6 percent, medical supplies by 13.7 percent, and capital investments by 49.9 percent. Basic insurance costs went up 12.4 percent, or 791 million dollars, while supplemental insurance jumped 97 percent, or 77.3 million dollars. Meanwhile, all hospitals exceeded their budgets by an average of 39 percent, with some ranging from 8 to 53 percent.
The most expensive scans are linked to spinal diagnoses.
In short, wait times aren't going down anytime soon, and there's a good chance they'll try to balance the budget by hiking out-of-pocket costs.
As part of healthcare savings, supplemental coverage was scrapped—the plan that allowed you to pay a small monthly fee to waive most copays and get one free annual physical.
To help you navigate this sea of options, we've listed the prices for most major tests, how long you can expect to wait, the cost with a referral (your copay), the price without a referral in a hospital, and what private clinics charge. Since we gathered these prices and wait times by posing as patients to ensure accuracy, there might be slight variations. Wait times also vary depending on the hospital and the city.
For blood work, prices are listed in order as Private / Hospital / With Referral: a glucose test is $12 / $10 / $7.22, total cholesterol is $12 / $8.35 / $2.00, kidney or creatinine testing is $12 / $10 / $7.22, iron is — / $26.74 / $16.84, liver enzyme panels (GPT, GOT, and gamma GT combined) are $45 / $33 / $8.25, and a complete blood count is $60 / $97.39 / $23.
Blood tests are worth doing via referral at local clinics, and urine tests are especially affordable there. A private urine analysis or culture costs $200, while it's $113 in a hospital, or $5.75 with a referral.
There is a massive price gap for fecal occult blood tests, which cost $100 privately but only $8.35 in a hospital, or $2.00 with a referral. An abdominal ultrasound, depending on the organ, ranges from $200 to $133 privately, and from $150 to...$67. With a referral, you only pay 15 percent of the cost.
A gastroscopy—checking your stomach—usually runs about $67 everywhere, but if you have a referral, it’s just 15 percent of that. If you need a biopsy included, the price can triple. It’s an uncomfortable procedure because they slide a tube down your throat, and waiting three to four months makes it even worse. That’s nothing compared to a colonoscopy, where they slide a similar tube through the rectum. For that one, you wait half as long at a public hospital, and it costs roughly $25 at a private clinic or $22 in a hospital setting. With a referral, you pay 15 percent.
Waiting for a color Doppler vascular ultrasound at public hospitals usually takes a week or two.
You shouldn't cut corners with your health. But if you just need a basic EKG for a heart check, you can save money by going to a hospital where there isn't a huge wait. A private EKG costs $50, while here it's $8.25, or just $0.25 with a referral. You'll get the results in seven to ten days. Seeing a cardiologist at a hospital involves at least a two-week wait and costs about $2.70, whereas a private specialist charges $50. A color Doppler ultrasound costs $9.50 with a week or two of waiting, while the private version goes for $133.
For a gynecological exam at a hospital, expect to wait a week to a month. It costs about $50 everywhere, and $3.25 with a referral. Only after that do you get a Pap smear, where hospital results take up to a month and cost around $33 or 15 percent with a referral, while private clinics charge between $4 and $67. Waiting for a breast ultrasound can take up to four months, costing $5.50 or $0.27 with a referral. At a private clinic, it’ll be $127. Even longer—up to six months—is the wait for a mammogram, which costs $35 or $0.34 with a referral, compared to over $133 privately.
At public hospitals, you might wait up to 6 months for a mammogram or breast exam.
Eye exams and ENT appointments are worth doing at a hospital since you can get in almost immediately, and they cost about $2.65 or $3.50. In private practice, they run about $4.35, or $100.
For a chest X-ray, you're looking at a week until the appointment and another week for the results. It costs $30 or 15 percent with a referral. Private clinics charge $83.
The only exam that's actually cheaper privately is a spinal X-ray, priced at $83. At a place like Mayo Clinic, you might wait several months and pay $117, though with a referral it's only $0.15.
Thyroid hormone tests (there are three of them) cost about $2.70 or $0.40 with a referral, while private labs charge $23. A urology exam costs about $2.70 or $3.50 at a hospital, and $6.75 privately. An andrology exam with a prostate ultrasound is $10.80 or $0.27 at a hospital, and $127 privately. A head CT ranges from $21.60 to $0.33, and with a referral, you pay 15 percent.
There are more mosquitoes out this year than ever before. Apparently, they couldn't get the spraying done because it kept raining constantly.
In previous years, if a mosquito bit me, I’d scratch it once, see a tiny red dot, and it would be gone by the next day. This year, the bite sites itch for days on end. I bought some Promethazine cream, which helps for a few hours, but then I find myself scratching like crazy again. Any advice? Thanks.
It all comes down to how your muscle fibers react Whenever I head out to the cabin for the weekend to spend the whole day landscaping and clearing brush, I always follow it up with a warm shower—not hot, though, I can't stand hot water—and some Advil Doesn't matter, though; by the next day, I look like a wreck Honestly, the day after that is even worse🙄
I forgot to mention one little detail about my diet: besides fish (squid is off the table!), I’m only allowed to eat turkey or chicken breast. Boiled meat works, but you eventually start craving that roasted flavor, and we don't exactly get to fire up the grill every day. That’s why those clever people invented Teflon pans; if you slice the breast into fillets, you can get a great sear really quickly.😁
After a few months, I managed to drop my cholesterol to 7, and even my blood sugar levels normalized, which was my biggest priority.
I lost 45 pounds in less than a year, and once I started fitting into clothes two sizes smaller, I actually felt good about myself.
Then I let things slide a bit—those designer heels from Nordstrom were definitely to blame. 😉 But I’m back on track now, and it lines up perfectly with the fresh veggies from my garden.
I hope this diet plan works out, since my doctor asked me to write it down for her other patients.
Breakfast: Toast with margarine or some deli ham. A cup of black coffee (with sweetener and a splash of milk).
Around noon: A pastry and some low-fat yogurt.
I always eat an apple—skin on—before lunch.
Lunch: A bowl of chili with a slice of rye bread.
Dinner: Boiled cod fillet topped with garlic and parsley, plus a green salad and a slice of rye bread.
I often have stews (no flour thickener) or, like today, just a big bowl of mixed veggie salad. I'm constantly snacking on raw vegetables since I'm lucky enough to have my own garden. I've read pretty much every book out there about nutrition and dieting. Almost all of them mention how hard it is to give up roasted foods, but honestly, cutting out sweets is the real struggle. The menopause made me crave sugar like crazy, but Walmart saved the day when I found those 505 candies made specifically for diabetics. I wouldn't call myself an athlete, but I do go for a walk every single day. (I bought a treadmill once, but after a week, it was back in the box. 😁 )
I mentioned this before, but I switched to a new doctor who was luckily a pretty young woman. It all started when I had a fever that just wouldn't break, no matter how much Advil, tea, or sweating I tried. She sent me for blood work, and it turned out my cholesterol was at 9.5 and my blood sugar was a bit high too. Instead of pills, she just gave me a strict diet plan to follow. Back then, I was carrying quite a bit of extra weight.😉 Thankfully, that young doctor really scared me straight by explaining exactly what those high cholesterol numbers meant for my health. I knew I had to drop the weight, fast. Once I saw the list of foods I wasn't allowed to touch, I went into full action mode. I bugged everyone I knew with questions and realized I wasn't an outlier—I truly needed to overhaul my entire diet. A neighbor of mine works at a hospital, so she shared a chili recipe with me. The first day I tried eating it, I almost fainted from hunger. I was shaking like a leaf and realized that approach just wasn't going to work. So, I set up my own meal plan where I eat at least 4 or 5 times a day.
I’m eating this chili recipe, but I wouldn’t survive if it were my only meal here. Since I put together my own diet, I’ve actually lost weight. The only issue is that I eat a ton of veggies, but since I love seasonal produce, those rock-hard tomatoes and massive bell peppers in the winter just don't do it for me. Because of that, I only stick to my diet from late spring through late autumn.
I absolutely love raw vegetables and snack on them whenever I get the chance. I’ll munch on broccoli, carrots, peppers, or tomatoes while watching a movie, cooking lunch, or just hanging out. Question for the experts: would it be better for me to eat these veggies cooked instead? (Though honestly, that doesn't sound very appealing.)
Most of these tracks are just catchy little fluff pieces to me I forget them the second the broadcast ends but I still remember ABBE and Gigliola CINQUETTI after all this time 👍
Richard Booth35, give my best to Zagorka 😁 I wouldn't even be dieting if my doctor hadn't flagged my cholesterol. When she handed me that list of "allowed" foods, I was totally revolted.😉 Not a single mention of cheesecake, chocolate, or BBQ ribs... I read through everything until it finally clicked—though it took me a bit longer than most—that I just had to cut back on calories and tighten things up! Since fatty and sugary foods are basically calorie bombs, I cut them out. Luckily, I love green salad, so devouring a huge bowl every second day was easy. The most important part of this whole thing is that I actually ate real food; I refused to starve myself because that’s just not how I roll. At my checkup, the doctor asked if I could write down what I eat so she can share it with other patients who need to lose a few pounds.😁 I'm treating myself a little now 😉 since I need to celebrate, but as soon as that fresh seasonal produce hits the stands, I'm right back at it.