Rant #3,914: Climb Ev'ry Mountain

I am slowly but surely getting back to my normal self.

As you read this, I am having removed one of the stents that was put in during the kidney surgery.

I have another one in there, but the doctor wants to keep that one in for the time being.

So, really, I have moved past the first of many hurdles until my health is where it should be.

I have a lot more things to do medically before I can reach that goal, but at least square one is over and done with.

This past Friday, kind of all of a sudden, I felt that I had energy again--four days after the initial surgery.

I honestly don't know why I felt that way, although I think it had to do with the fact that on that day, I finally had an appetite and ate three square meals for the first time all week.

I even snacked a little bit, and I guess it all made me feel better.

The previous day, I did three hours of work, and let me tell you, when you have little in your stomach and you do work, it completely saps your strength, and after I did all of that, I felt like I could barely make it to my bedroom.

But I got through that, and now on to the next mountain I have to climb.

I am still on a lot of medication, but once I can get off all of that, I feel I will be somewhat back to normal--

Until the next hurdle I have to scale, at the end of April, when I have a colonoscopy, which I am dreading, based on the possibilities described in my recent catscan.

But I will beat that too.

I have too much going for me not to.

I have a wonderful family--

I have two weddings coming up in the fall--my daughter's nuptials and my nephew's celebration--

And then there is Passover, coming by the middle of this week, which is probably my favorite Jewish holiday, with all the foods and family gatherings and stuff like that.

I need to be healthy for all of this, and well into the future too.

I am not a religious person, but I have prayed to God to get me through this--

And I hope that God has listened to my pleas.

But whatever the case, I need to get better, and at the hands of some very competent doctors and surgeons, I know that it will take a while, but I will get to where I want to be.

This past weekend, we had my wife's two brothers and their wives over to the apartment, which lifted my spirits.

My wife's youngest brother and his wife are moving to Georgia to be closer to their son, who is now living and working in that state--my nephew who is getting married--so it was kind of a bon voyage party--

And it was good to see them off, and I know they will enjoy their new surroundings.

At sunset on April 1, Passover begins, and my family will have the first seder at my sister's house, and that is always a fun occasion.

And I have work, which keeps me going. 

So right now, I am down, but I am certainly not out, and again, I might not post every day here in the coming weeks, but I will do the best I can to do so.

Writing, at least to me, is the BEST medicine, so once I get done with these pills I am taking, maybe writing will be the only medicine I need to really get back on the horse and really get better.

The future awaits, and I am all locked in and ready to blast off.

Up--

Up--

AND AWAY!

Rant #3,913: Get Back

I guess that each day, I seem to get better.

On Thursday, I pushed myself and caught up with everything I had to do for work--about three hours of editing and writing--and i have to say, I was pooped after doing all of this in one fell swoop.

Health-wise, I reached another milestone that I won't get into too deeply here, but I did it, finally.

I am still on a variety of medicine, so I am absolutely not myself right now.

But I am feeling better, but not goid enough to go back to my old ways.

Baseball is back, so I am getting into that, but my concentration is a bit off, so it is a bit of a chore to watch a three-hour game.

My family has been top-notch with me during this period, so thank God I have them.

And friends--both newer ones and people i have known forever--have been incredible.

I heard from some people I hadn't heard from in 50 years or even more than that!

Incredible!

Just to sum it up, I am in for the long haul with all of this, and it won't be easy to get back to where I should be.

Like i recently said, I will be in and out of the Blog for the immediate future--

But writing is the best medicine fir me, so I might be here more than I think i will be.

So have a good weekend, and I will speak to you again ...

But I just don't know when.

Rant #3,912: Hunky Dory

I have been through Step 1 of hell.

And then, I went through Step 2.

There are more steps to come.

My kidneys were messed up, and I didn't know it.

I had two stones--one in each kidney--and if they stayed in there any longer, I might have lost the use of my kidneys.

This, of course, could lead to dialysis and other problems.

So they had to come out.

Now.

One major stone was left in--it could not be removed, and in time, i might be able to pass it or it can be removed in a non-surgical procedure.

So as you read this, I am a bit of a mess.

I won't go into detail, but it is better that I stay at home for at least a couple of days.

Again, I knew nothing, felt nothing, but everything came up in a catscan.

I have passed a few stones before, and the one or two times I had a problem, it went away immediately once the stones came out.

Not this time.

And over the next month, I have to have tests fir my lung and my colon and my eye, so I am far from out of the woods yet.

But the first mountain has been scaled.

I have a good family, so they will get me through this.

I might be in and out of here for the next few weeks, but I will try to post things here and there for probably the foreseeable future.

So please bear with me.

I am overwhelmed, overloaded, but not defeated.

I can handle it.

Thanks for the good wishes.

Rant #3,911: Undun

This is going to be a very difficult Rant to put together for you, but I feel that it is my duty to get it done.

I had several doctors' appointments last week, and none of them were good.

Without going into great detail, even though I feel fine, I am not doing well health-wise.

I am going to need a number of procedures done to make me healthy again.

I had a catscan on my lung, because something untoward came up in a previous catscan. I soon have to go and get other tests to make sure that that part of my body is OK.

I have some more cancer on my head, so I got it removed, and hopefully, i won't have to go through the staples thing again.

I have some urological troubles, and they must be taken care of sooner rather than later. I am getting that surgical procedure done On Monday morning, in a local hospital, and I am very nervous about it.

Then I have to get a colonoscopy, where I am hopeful that what is found can be taken care of. And let me tell you, due to circumstances beyond my control, I am scheduled to have this procedure done--

On my birthday, April 28.

And I still have the partially detached retina in my eye, which isn't going away anytime soon.

Again, I am not going into details right now, but if you break it all down, it isn't anything good.

Not good at all ... as the "C word" is a possibility.

As I approach my 69th birthday next month, I am a broken person.

My body is failing me.

Maybe I shouldn't complain, since for more than 60 years, my body gave me little to no problems.

I had my gall bladder removed on my 50th birthday, but honestly, that was it.

However, for the past three or so years, my body has taken a downward plunge.

I don't know for sure if it has to do with aging, or things had been brewing for years and no one knew it, but things are absolutely not too good right now.

And again, I feel fine; a minor ache or pain here or there, but nothing to suggest what I am facing.

What i am facing is not just a broken body but also an empty pocketbook, because insurance will only pay for so much, and my money us being drained by all if these doctors' visits and procedures that i need.

Let me add that I am not giving up on work.

I told the team I work with all about this the other afternoon, and they were very supportive.

I let them know that I will still be supplying material for them on a daily basis, but that I am going to have to step back from the bigger things, like covering meetings and conventions and the like.

I told them that I still want to be in the loop, and to not forget about me--

Because I might be down and out, but I am not done just yet.

And let's be honest about it--

I desperately need the money.

The same thing goes for the Blog.

I am not giving it up, period.

Maybe some days I might not post anything as all these things are coming up, but I simply will not give it up.

So you will continue to see content at the Blog as we push to Rant #4,000 later this year.

Writing is my salvation.

It makes me feel good, takes away my worries for a little while, and actually, keeps me healthy, so the Ranting and Raving Blog will live on.

You can count on that.

And I will too.

"A mere bag of shells ... ."

Not really, but let's just say that all of this, all at once, is a bit of a speed bump in the road.

Rant #3,910: Summer Is Fun

Springtime is in the air ...

Yes, I know that just three weeks ago, we had a blizzard that dropped two feet of snow in my neck of the woods, and we continue to experience frigid temperatures--and continued threats of more of the white stuff--here and there.

But today, spring actually begins--

Which actually means that the winter isn't really over yet, even if it is actually spring.

I sit here typing this, and I see my original Yankee Stadium chair right behind me, sitting in front of the air conditioner we have in the room.

Its placement is kind of an irony in and of itself, as it sits in front of something--and is itself something--that one doesn't need to use during the cold weather months.

I brought it inside from our terrace because I didn't want this chair to experience the cold, the snow and everything else that the winter brings us.

It is sitting here, but within due time, it will be brought outside again to our terrace, and when the really warm weather comes, I hope to plunk my tuckis right on the seat and enjoy the warm weather after a pretty bad winter.

And since this is a seat that formerly was used in a baseball stadium, you just know that the warmer weather is coming because the proverbial "Boys of Summer" are coming, too.

The World Baseball Classic, the very phony and artificial "international" tournament which interrupts spring training every couple of years, is finally over and done with, and players are getting back to their normal routines to prepare for the regular season.

This tournament is so genuinely nonsense; all I have to do to explain that is that if I were a professional baseball player, I could not only play for the U.S. team, I could play for the Israeli team, and if they had them, the Russian team, the Latvian team, the Polish team--

Based on my family background and heritage.

A tournament that is designed to bring baseball to non-baseball countries has teams from those countries--like Italy and Israel--that are manned by American baseball players whose heritage allows them to play for these non-U.S. teams.

I just find the whole thing a waste of time, something that no one gives a hoot about once it is over.

But now it is over, and REAL baseball is set to begin next week.

Thank goodness for that!

And again, even a hint of baseball suggests that winter is over, spring is here, and ...

Summer is right around the corner.

So I look at my Yankee Stadium chair, and I know it is misplaced in this room.

It needs to be out on the terrace, in the hot sun, representing that not only is the baseball season ready to begin, but that summer is coming.

And summer is fun--

I can't wait.

Have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again next week.

Batter up!

Rant #3,909: Pay the Piper

Tests, tests and more tests ...

I hated them as a student in school--from kindergarten through graduate school--and I hate them now--as an adult through medical exams.

I have had them this week, I will have them next week, and every new week brings new health tests.

Not only is it taxing on my psyche, it is taxing on my pocketbook.

When you are forced to use Medicare as your only source of health insurance, you are getting near the bottom of the barrel for coverage.

It is a step above Medicaid, but when you really look at it, it is not a giant step above it, just a small step.

Unless you are wealthy and can invest a lot of money in your plan to keep costs down, you are stuck with a plan that doesn't cover that much and where the co-pays are astronomical.

And if you are sick and/or you need constant testing, well, you are outta luck.

Your pocketbook is going to be taking a hit--

Mine has, for sure.

My deductibles are high because that is all I can afford with my measly Social Security and wages.

So for certain things, I have to pay a high price for coverage.

I found that out the other day related to my latest catscan, which I will be taking today.

I received a text to pre-register for my visit to the radiology office, and after I completed everything, I found that they were charging me four times as much for this particular catscan as for any other I have ever taken.

I quickly questioned this over the phone, but every operator I spoke to had no explanation, other than it was related to my deductible, and even though the price was high, it could actually be even higher if they went strictly by the deductible.

I called both the radiology center and my insurance company, and I all I got from them were non-explanations about why this time, the catscan price was four times as high as normal.

After about two hours of this, I was instructed to contact my doctor's office, and find out what code they put in for this particular catscan--was it a "chronic" code--which would lead to a lower, and normal for me, price, or the "catscan" code, which would lead to the higher price.

Just imagine what I went through when I contacted my doctor. They must have though I sounded like a real idiot about this--

And they, too, passed the buck, telling me that they were going to contact the radiology center where I was to get the catscan, and they would contact me about an explanation--

Which they did.

I spoke to the office administrator at the center, who offered me the real reason why I was being charged four times as much for this catscan as compared to any other I have recently had.

According to her, most radiology places charge patients an initial lower price for the catscan in person, but then a followup bill is sent to the person later on to account for the other money owed for the catscan.

So, according to her, those getting catscans generally pay twice for the procedure--once while at the office, and another time with a bill sent through the mail.

The difference this time is that this radiology center--which I have never been to--doesn't do that, preferring to collect all monies owed by the patient up front and right then and there.

No second bills, the bill is paid in full at the time of your visit.

Yes, they will accept partial payment at the time of visit, but you will have to eventually pay the remainder of what you owe at another time.

Thinking of my other recent catscans, I honestly don't remember getting a second bill for any of them, but maybe I have and didn't realize that it was for this reason.

I will have to check my check register ...

But funny, I don't remember a single catscan resulting in another bill.

Maybe it would come months later, months after the catscan, so perhaps I will be getting bills in the mail in the coming days or months, but let me tell you, I have yet to receive any of them--

And I don't ever remember getting a second bill for a catscan.

But so be it.

This is the way this place does it, so I am just going to have to live with it--

And pay for the bill down the line.

Health insurance has changed drastically over the years, with costs rising as more of us live to ripe old ages.

A high percentage of our money goes for health costs, and it is getting worse each and every year.

I guess that now, at age 68 with age 69 right around the corner, I am in that category, where personal health costs are spiraling out of control.

My advice to anyone is to get the best health plan that you can afford once you have to use Medicare, or keep your old plan once you retire if it is part of your benefits/retirement package.

You aren't going to get a very good plan out of Medicare, take it from me.

And as they take my money from me, I know that to be a fact.

Rant #3,908: Elected

Anarchy in New York City ...

Even though the Hamas groupie's mayoralty is just beginning, it is time to think about who should run against him, and his anti-Semitic ideology, when his term expires.
And I have the perfect candidate, one that would satisfy both Democrats and Republicans ... even though this person is a Democrat!

The candidate's name is Jessica Tisch, the current police commissioner.

She has a well-rounded background in city government, and she served under both Mayor Adams and the current mayor, the latter of whom was advised to rehire her as part of his administration because of her cross-party popularity.

If she ran, she would have the support of most of the major unions in New York City--less the teachers' union, which has become so left wing as to defy belief--and she is popular among the citizens of the city.

She would not have to run under the Democratic banner; leave that to her current boss, and she could run as an Independent.

I do believe that at this point in time, she might be the only person who could actually beat the current mayor.

And I believe that Democrats and Republicans alike would vote for her.

Tisch for Mayor!

Let me be the first one to suggest it ...

Although I realize that I am probably not the first person to think that she would be perfect for this job.

I know some of you are going to laugh and shake their heads at all of this, but let me remind you, sometimes I know what I am talking about.

Whether you are a fan of his or not, I was one of the first people to bring up the possibility that Donald Trump--then real estate baron and TV star, nothing more--might run for president of our country.

I said that way back in 2013 or 2014 or so ...

But I also said later on that after he lost to Joe Biden, he would never be elected President again.

Shows what I know.

However, I will stand by my choice of Tisch until the opposition to the current mayor comes up with a better candidate--

Which they won't.

They certainly didn't with Cuomo and Sliwa this time around, so do you expect anyone better?

Not me.