Ed. I heard a story today about Ed, a mover and shaker - an engineer who has his own construction company. He is a man of wealth and influence. He got where he is by using his knowlegde, his experience, his common sense, and sometimes just using his sheer force of will. His most recent battle is with his own body. He fought hard, and tried everything to be the director of his own healthcare, but he could not save his leg. He had an amputation of one leg (below the knee) about 3 weeks ago, and it was a bitter loss for him.He has finally come round to the point where he can concetrate on physical therapy and getting used to an artificial leg. Many people worked hard to get him lined up to start at a rehabilitation center that has an excellent reputation for accomplishing what they set out to do. But at the eleventh hour, his HMO rejected this plan.

Imagine that. HMOs - Please do not expect them to operate like 'health insurance' of days past. They gave us a big hint about their purpose by their name - health maintainance organizations- good only while you are healthy. If you have the bad luck to veer off course and develope a need for health care..........you are in the wrong place.

11/17/2000 4:22:47 AM | Susan Rizkalla]
The church ladies.At work today, there was a pot-luck luncheon for a co-worker who was leaving to take a position elsewhere. The food was excellent. People seem to bring food that represents their cultural backgrounds - no culinary snobbery here. Home style comfort foods.Puerto Rico, Poland, Phillapines - really a big variety. There is even one citizen from the land of Fat-free Vegetarians. What really made it special was the extra efforts of the church ladies, Hattie and Bessie. They went to the extra trouble to coordinate table linens and bring in centerpieces There were even a crisp white lace table runners set in the center of the bright orchid tablecloths. The effect was really quite stunning. I complimented them more than once and told them that the way the tables looked made all the difference in the atmosphere of the break room. They took the first few compliments in stride, but then Hattie looked at me and said, "That's because we are church ladies."

Oh.

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