Accessible Gardening: #20 Practical Matters for Physically Challenged Gardeners, 3 by Agavegirl1

Agavegirl1 wrote:
Good Morning gang, :D
Hi Carrie;
They have a thicker surgical glove we used at the prison dependent upon task. It is made with Kevlar. It is still relatively thing and easy to work with but more thick and protective than the regular surgical gloves. Again can pick them up on line or at a medical supply place. I don't think you're going to find the Kevlar ones on shelves in drug stores. Little bit more but worth it. Can wash the outside with mild soap and water, dry them off and re-use.

Ants are another thing. Yikes. Have no suggestions or ideas there except unfortunately a can of Raid or a bottle of Clorox.

Fall is still pretty active with us out here. Late fall (November) we knock off and do more "projects" like building shelves, walls, pruning, fertilizing, etc. Not rubbing it in but keep in mind Winter here is still very mild. Nights get chilly 40s and high 30s. Where I'm at no frost. Very rarely have I encountered a frost and had to cover my plants and outdoor water spigot. Has happened but maybe 1 or 2 times in 2 years. We cover anyway if it dips into the mid 30s.

Late February when danger of frost has passed (usually) most of us are plant shopping/storing on patios, etc. March is usually when we plant in earnest. Would be nice to have a greenhouse. Although Winter is "chilly/cold" for us acclimated here the sun does shine and the greenhouse would make good use of that! Problem is even small ones monopolize too much yard space. Unless you have a huge home (we don't) you don't have a huge yard. Space is at a premium.
Still would be nice though. Maybe I could grow 'maters!!! Winter I could possibly force some tulips or daffodils and such. (Bulbs get kept in fridge in a bag or in the dark).

Then there's Summer when everyone else gets to reek their revenge upon us! It is 108-118 degrees. Any outdoor activity involves hosing yourself off as much as the plants, trying not to keel over from heat stoke or pass out from dehydration and attempting to keep plants from looking like kettle cooked potato chips or turning into overwatered rotted guacamole!

But hey....it's a dry heat you know! (LOL)


Bets,
Realize germs don't get in through skin. Needs mucous membrane. But keep in mind we touch sick children, door handles, knobs, shopping carts and then maybe 20 minutes later rub our eye, powder our nose, reapply lipstick and maybe wipe off a smudge with our finger, or dip our finger in something to "taste it" while cooking..eating food with your hands (hamburger; fries).
As a mom, how many times have you picked up one of your kids carelessly discarded or left about tissues or even helped them blow their nose and not washed your hands?You let them have a sip off of your glass? Common things mothers do.
Little subconscious movements we do without thinking about them in the course of our day. We never consciously think about how many hand to eye/mouth/nose area movements we make a day! Or hand to "other areas" we do? Basic biology..some areas ARE mucous membrane. May wash our hands when done but how about BEFORE tending to?
You can see how easy it is to get sick. I just try to be "conscious" more at this time and hose everything down with Lysol and wipe anything I can with a Lysol product. I'm constantly washing my hands, and washing my hands, and washing my hands and carry those little alcohol sanitizer wipes.

Don't always have 100% success but seems to work better for me. That and Airborne. :D

I seem to suffer more from allergies! Grrrrrr! Oh, I hate my allergies! I know I live in a dessert but as I've demonstrated there is ALWAYS something in "bloom" or getting ready to. Lots of pollen floating around from cacti, trees, hay, farms and just weeds (people here quaintly call them wild flowers...they're weeds!). We also get tremendous winds on occasion that just blow garbage in from other parts. Highly, highly allergic to dust...which is why I'm always on a cleaning rampage. I get hives as well as sneezing fits!

Jim and Kay,
Sorry about the blood draw today! Yucky! They like to make a pincushion out of me too. Dr. gets mad because I don't get blood work every year. I get them done maybe every 2. Hey...if I'm not sick I don't need to go to a doctor. I'm not going in to pay for an office visit I don't need and a blood test. My Epilepsy meds aren't "toxic" due to build up in blood stream or hard on any of my organs per se; so again unnecessary. It is their C.Y.A. practice. My Neurologist is pretty good about ignoring the blood test thing. My regular generic "doctor" isn't. He's a Nazi about it.

I also demand a copy of my CMP 13. Either the doctor or the lab will mail it to you.
That's how I found my B12 deficiency. They kept saying "it's normal". Well yeah, 280 is more normal than 250 which is rock bottom! BUT they never put 2 and 2 together and said...oh, the reason for a large part of your symptoms is because you are almost bottoming out and have been for probably 20 years! Had I not looked up the B12 levels myself and saw what the appropriate "normal" functioning range is it never would have got fixed! There's plenty of places on the web that will show you how to read your
CMP 13 and other tests and what to look for.

I also found out that my prior pill pushing pimp of a neurologist was making me sick by overdosing me and collecting from the pharmaceutical companies. He earned over $600K in 3 years from pushing pills for drug companies!

Check out Dollars For Docs website. See if yours is there or any specialist. See who they are collecting from then look up the meds you take and see if they match the same pharmaceutical company/manufacturer.

Did you know you can automatically become a guinea pig without your knowledge? Just by agreeing to take a drug your doctor can report to the drug company the "results" of how it works in you and that gets compiled into a "test" with millions of other people! You have to expressly tell them you do NOT want to be part of any tests or clinical trials. You forbid it!

Also there is extended detailed patient labeling available at the pharmacy is you ask the
pharmacist for it. It goes way above and beyond what the drugstore slips into the package with your pills. READ IT. It tells you 9 million other things you never knew about the drug, long term/short term effects, more side effects than listed, what else the drug is used to treat, etc. etc. VERY informative and educational.

Last but not least there is HIPPA. Clearly state, "I have the right to refuse any medical treatment I don't want and feel is unnecessary. I don't want this. I find it unnecessary, and I refuse to pay for it if you administer it because I expressly told you and clearly stated that I did not want this!" Make sure you have a witness.

They tried this crap on me. One tried to give me a pregnancy test to see if that was causing seizures. Uhm....my husband had a vasectomy! They pushed. I refused. They pushed. I told them I would sue them if they didn't get off the subject. They stopped. Also your spouse can do this for you if you "type up" and sign and date a note and put it in your medical file. Demand (nicely) that your doctor keep it there or just keep bringing it in every time. I even bring my own aspiring, razor, shave cream, personal items etc. They'll charge you exurbanite prices on your bill for these things if you accept them. Also I take my pills my self so there is no "administering fee." Sneaky #%^&*@. Bring your own RXs to the hospital and take them your self. I also had 2 additional doctors walk into the room to hear what the other one was saying about my hand. I told them "I'm not paying you. You are not here to consult or treat me. You're hear because you want to be and on your own time. If I receive a bill from you I'm reporting you." Do you know if more than 1 doctor walks in the room they could technically bill you for a consultation?

Review your bill with a fine tooth comb. Ask for a detailed explanation of each and every line. Call your insurance PRIOR and ask what they cover and won't. Burn center tried to keep me there more than 23 hours so they could bill me more. I demanded to be let out at 23 so they couldn't and called my insurance to let them know what they were trying to do. I expressly told insurance company I WAS leaving and to monitor the bill charges. (Will admit though made very liberal use of that morphine drip..took full advantage of it while it was there!)

Also see if certain doctors, follow up places for rehab/physical therapy, out patient surgery are covered. Some doctors although they work in a hospital in your network DO NOT get reimbursed by insurance. They are contracted and bill you directly. Not all rehab/labs/ etc. are in network.

I'm sure you guys all know this stuff though. But still these places are so sneaky. All I have to say is I hate the present private insurance system. I'll leave it there.

I just found that to be well you must do your own research and present it to them.
Never, never, never be afraid to ask for copies of your tests. They HAVE TO give them to you.
I also keep all my own records. I bring them to them. I do not allow them to keep my records. Why should I pay to get my records. They want them, they can ask me. "We can only send them to another doctor." Bull crap. I'll be there in person to pick them up and to hand carry them to another doctor. They are legally and rightfully my property.
I have an 8 inch file of my entire medical history that goes with me to every doctor I go to. I make it clear that they may copy they may NEVER keep! Nobody has given me grief.

Quacks. Liars. Fraudsters. Flim-Flam artists.....Montebanks. HATE them all. I avoid doctors like the plague. Basically I won't go to one unless it falls into the categories of :

broken, pointing the wrong direction, or hanging funny
won't stop bleeding profusely after 2 days;
I can not avoid some medical means of keeping it closed, together or on my body;
turns a color I don't recognize (kind of hard considering I'm an artist);
smells/oozes more than a week;
throbs more than 2 weeks;
hinders range of motion more than 70% for more than a week with no improvement;
I see double; (not self inflicted)
have a fever over 103 for more than 3 days;
vomit more than 3 days; (not self inflicted)
get bit by something poisonous;
I can't avoid stitches and skin bonding self stitch doesn't work (Yes, they have this product);
I can't stand up and am groaning in pain for a reason I can't determine. (not self inflicted)
I go deaf, dumb, blind; (temporarily)
Crazy and senile don't count. I'm already there.

Other than that I do not go to a doctor! Hate them. I pretty much have my personal doctor visits down to 3xs a year for Neurologist and maybe 1-2 times a year for regular M.D. Everything else I go to the pharmacy, or free clinic (make a donation) for. Tired of the health care system pounding me.Also do like the threat they can throw me off because they feel like it and arbitrarily decide I use too much of it. So I say: %$*$^*.... &%^@ and @$*$ THEM!

On the lighter side.....:D
So glad you liked the Hedge Hog cacti. Yes they are pretty and do bloom. Happy I got a photo of that one in particular. Purple blooms from my understanding aren't real common. Red, yellow, orange, white, pink and cream are standards out here on plants. Purple/purple-ish is not common. Couldn't bring a part home with me. It was in a park.

Also here was my late morning surprise from yesterday! Also will be starting on the raised beds today out in the yard. Pretty happy to get that going.

Pics of my cactus day before yesterday with bloom closed. You can see the bud and if you look closely you can see a few more buds on the way. I hope they get mature enough to bloom it would be delightful.
Also just some far away and close ups of my lovely flower that bloomed yesterday morning. :D