Teetering on the edge…how does Bret Michaels do it?
I have to give Bret Michaels credit, he has battled a life of disease and he keeps bouncing back.
At the age of six, he was diagonosed with Type I diabetes and has struggled to maintain his health all the while becoming an 80’s glam metal rock god, a history of hard hard partying, and what seems to be a constant limelight on his fame and health.
Over the years, Michaels has nearly died numerous times from a lethal mix of booze and his own personal battle with diabetes. Just in the last year, Michaels has suffered an emergency appendectomy, just weeks later he’s rushed back to the emergency room with an intense headache which turns out to be a brain hemorrage. Just the other day, he is again rushed to the ER while suffering a mild stroke and doctors discover a small hole in his heart called a Patent Forum Ovale. The condition is treatable but Michaels will be forced to rest again.
I see Michael’s story as a sort of wake up call to the average person out there who is convinced they are in tip top shape. Granted he has not taken the greatest care of his internal organs over the years, but looking at him, he’s thin, fit, and has the financial means to eat right and take care of himself. What scares me is the thought that diabetes has taken a toll on him. This internal tornado has been wreaking havoc on his body over the years and sadly I think his own doctors know why this is happening. It’s a very hard condition to control, it takes constant discipline, sugar control, and lifestyle modifications forever. Michaels is a shining example of the sick kid who has masked a serious condition for years with glitz, fame, sex, music, and any poppy distraction that the normal sufferer isn’t able to do.
Maybe he’s been hit with incredibly bad luck the last six months, is he being tested by somebody bigger. Be what it may, I hope he pulls through this and he can get back to the semi-slimy Bret we love to follow.
Brittany Murphy’s death is troubling
Not that it’s another tragic celebrity death, not that it’s another young life taken so early…these are all troubling and sad in their own right.
It’s another tragic case of someone getting caught up in the web of drugs…the legal type!
It truly saddens me that so many of these stars seek out more and more prescription drugs in a never ending spiral of adding another and another to the mix. All the while not realizing that these too are toxic substances if used in excess or used in the wrong combination.
I hope Miss Murphy did not have an underlying heart condition which went undetected, only time and further medical examination will determine that.
I also hope her death is not overshadowed by news of bedside drugs and eating disorders. Already, the media is jumping all over the story that an assortment of prescription drugs were discovered in her room and she recently appeared stick thin. So I ask…
Hollywood…why must you render this life on your victims?
Hollywood…how come you don’t protect your own?
Hollywood…is the almighty dollar and image always going to trump human decency, compassion, and care?
Hollywood…why do you bless us with talented and energetic individuals only to extinguish their light and take them away just as fast?
Hollywood…does anyone ever hold you accountable?
We can’t help these troubled souls because you keep us away with your body guards, iron fences, and tinted windows.
Whether it be meds or an eating disorder…they both are a result of pain. The outside world sits idle and watches you eat up and spit out those who chase your dream.
They have the courage to leave their live’s behind in order to chase your dream. At least offer them a life afterwards if the chase falls short.
Wow! Those facebook pics sure got some attention!
Interesting story out of Quebec, if you haven’t read the article, do so. Once again, a story comes along that just sends my editorial neurons out of whack.
So, you go to the doctor and are diagnosed with severe depression…so severe that she is forced to go on short term disability for a year from her employer…all the while receiving payments from her employer’s insurance carrier.
All of this sounds normal to me, except for one thing…the diagnosis of the depression. I am not a shrink and I don’t hob nob in the circles of shrinkdom and psychiatric medicine, but I am curious as to how “definitive” a diagnosis of clinical depression really is.
She was seen by a doctor, she was told she was depressed, she was also told to see friends as a way to get herself better…still sounds relatively normal to me….but…..
In my blogging view, if you can jump around the beach, visit your friends, smile for random party pics, and post them on your facebook account…how come you can’t wake up and go to work?
Insurance companies use these tactics all the time to avoid fraud and in many opinions other then mine, this woman committed insurance fraud, or at least in the eyes of the insurance carrier.
There are issues with what happened here. It is sad that insurance carriers are forced to take these measures because there is so much fraud in the claims arena, what other option do they have? Video taping customers is common practice especially when money is involved, money that ultimately is funded by you and I.
The insurance companies definition of “depressed” obviously differs from the doctor’s. All the while, Miss Blanchard fell victim to her own social networking profile (tch tch tch)….and her decision to post them was a costly one. (Oh and for all those “right to privacy” fanatics out there please shush yourself…the Internet isn’t private but you already knew that)
In the end, with a slick attorney, she will probably get her money back…but ask yourself something…after seeing an incident like this…are you sure you want to post some of those pics?
Something I’ve Observed: Health care reform is a two headed snake
I am very confused and troubled by all the backlash and analysis of the health care reform proposals. 
Health care is broken…or is it? The current system employs millions of Americans in good paying, secure jobs in the private sector. Those jobs could potentially be lost if more Americans were given “non-private” options at a cheaper price.
Most insured Americans obtain their insurance from an employer based plan…so if you were to lose that plan are you obligated to now enroll in the government backed plan even if the provisions or coverage was not as good as your employer based plan? However, if the portability option comes into play, you take the plan with you…but you don’t have your job anymore, so do you now pay the actual premium for the plan that your emplorer paid or does it adjust to a more affordable price while you search for a new employer plan? I am hearing that many private based plans could disappear with these changes.
I am all for dissemination of medical techniques and procedures. We should all be granted much more freedoms when it comes to how we are medically treated and what medicinal approaches we are most comfortable with. If a “panel” of experts is assigned to a specific medical discipline and given the task of deciding best courses of treatments for people, does that sever the relationships people already have with their doctor when it comes to health choices? Are we placing too much medical decision making in the best interest of the “whole” or the “individual”?
It’s not that I think the plan reformation will be a complete move to a Socialist plan, I am not that definitive in my thinking. I just want to be sure that our leaders do not sway so far from the private sector that it has a negative impact on the good things the system currently provides.
Which leads my thoughts in a completely different direction? The current system is a market based health system in which individual, stock driven companies call most of the shots. As much as I would like to believe there are regulatory forces in place, my gut tells me otherwise. Multi billion dollar organizations have a lot of influence on health legislation and legislators. Many ask the questions so why with all this market freedom, capital, and research funds…do we not have the magic number on treating societies major ills? (obesity, heart disease, cancer, etc)
With all the focus on health, exercise, and wellness…why is 90% of our country still fat? Does the balance swing back towards the food industry’s interest as well? I think so….actually I don’t understand any of the statistics, the trends, the habits, the demographics, or why nothing ever seems to level out in the long run. Does anybody know, please help me.
Illness spares nobody…praying for Mickelson’s family
Another blow of troubling news hits the family of golf superstar Phil Mickelson. It was reported that Mickelson’s mom has recently been disagnosed with breast cancer about two months after his wife was diagnosed.
I have heard nothing but great things about him and his work in the community. I know people who have had the chance to see him in person and report he is an incredibly down to earth athlete who makes time to meet fans.
Best wishes to the family…
Simple thought #5 – Why don’t civilized countries with National health care riot for private insurance
Simple thought # 5
It occurred to me today that it is a little weird that all of these modern and civilized countries with socialized health care are not rioting for privatized medicine. You see, I hear all the time how bad socialized medicine sucks, and how people who have it hate it, so I find it weird that none of them, not a single one, have demanded private hospitals and private care as an option. I do admit that in some of the countries you can choose to pay a doctor or clinic to treat you, if you wish, but if the demand was truly high for these services there would be private hospitals popping up all over the place, and that is clearly not the case. Is it possible that nationalized health care is actually pretty good, and countries who have it, actually do a pretty good job of servicing the needs of the citizens?
Anyway, just a thought.
Simple Thought # 2 – Socialized Medicine, Good?
This is a new section called simple thoughts. They are not well thought out concepts, but rather just topics to hopefully stimulate your bar conversation.
Thought # 2 -
Met anyone lately who owns a business and thinks buying health insurance for employees is easy and cheap? I can only say insurance ain’t cheap, and employees for the most part do not realize just how much it costs for this all too often perceived entitlement. Healthy children and just the employee costs roughly $500, which is $6,000 a year. The employee still pays their deductible and none of the money that goes unused is put into a pool for when the employee actually needs it. Instead as people change careers, and therefore employers they are viewed as fresh meat and no goodwill carries forward. There is a case to be made here that a national health plan could carry forward payments, much the same way a health savings account does, and therefore offset in great deal the total liability of the medicaid and medicare system.
Just a thought.
Verdict is in…too much food will make you a pudge!
Read the surprising new study! This also just in to the Heard it in a bar news desk: The sky is blue and Elvis is alive.
Thanks again for your continued support.
Bdbdbdbdbd…dat’s just the Swine Flu ee’ee’verybody
As of right now, you probably don’t have it and very unlikely that you will. They don’t currently have a vaccine to kill the media bug but it’s coming…god I can only pray!
Just follow a few standard and simple rules:
1) Don’t share glasses with a stranger in a bar right now
2) Don’t lick door handles in strange places
3) Don’t purposely run into the middle of someone’s sneeze pretending like it’s a sprinkler on a hot, summer lawn
4) Don’t eat fallen food that has surpassed the 20 second rule on your desk. However, food dropped on the sidewalk, in my opionion, seems cleaner so the rule doesn’t apply.
5) You can eat pork and the pork industry wants you to know this.
It should be taken seriously to prevent any further cases like we have seen in Mexico. The influenza virus can be very dangerous if not treated promptly, so take care of yourselves. Wash your hands, cover your sneezes, stay home if you feel poopy, don’t fly to Mexico unless you have a bachelor party scheduled, and lastly drink a lot of water and get your Zzzzz’s. Bust most of all, please do not freak out!
Rural Missouri town getting answers from a big name, Erin Brockovich
Since late 2007, there has been a problem in a small, rural Missouri town outside of Kansas City. Brain tumors, and a lot of them. In a seven month period over a dozen people were diagnosed with brain tumors and since that time some of them have died and others have endured lasting disability. Something was wrong in Cameron, MO.
Doctors are only required to report cancerous brain tumors to the Health Department. Most of the tumors in Cameron are large, but benign. So there is no official agency collecting the data however local residents demanded answers.
Initially, residents got State senators involved until finally the EPA came out and ran tests of the water and soil. To no surprise, nothing was found outside of normal levels. Epidemiologist testing revealed that the number of brain tumors was not “statistically higher than the state averages” They essentially told the residents that compared to national and state averages, the rate of brain tumors is in line. HA! That’s an interesting statement, so basically brain tumor rates are considered “normal” as long as everyone is evenly getting diagnosed. How f”ing comforting!
Enter Erin Brockovich. In October 2008, the story caught wind and the famous activist paid a visit to the small town of Cameron.
Since visiting Cameron and holding a series of town hall meetings and personal interviews, she launched her own investigation into the brain tumor issue. The findings of her investigation are just now coming to light and are beginning to make press in the Kansas City area.
Initial findings indicate a dangerous, chemical byproduct from a manufacturing plant had been used as a fertilizer in the region for over two decades.
The details of the lawsuit can be viewed on local Kansas City ABC affiliate, KMBC News. Currently, it appears as if two plaintiffs have filed suit but I can only imagine what will come of this if the allegations are found to be true and the lawsuit is awarded.
Makes you feel really safe and secure, don’t it?
Heard It In A Bar RSS Feed- Texas – what the hell is wrong with you!? September 3, 2010I’m going to be honest with you, it is going to be very difficult for me to be calm about this. First, we had the Rep. Barton apologizing to BP for the Obama “shakedown”. Even his own party rolled their eyes and popped their Tums. I was up in arms over this and even got [...] […]She
- Lost is over and I actually miss it… September 3, 2010Six years of roller coaster loop de’ loops, dozens of undeveloped characters, and a story line that was as easy to follow as a chicken in a barnyard. If you didn’t watch Lost, you missed a show which challenged the fan to no end. Season after season of questions, theories, hypotheses’, cliff hanging plots, and a [...] […]kansasview
- Teetering on the edge…how does Bret Michaels do it? September 3, 2010I have to give Bret Michaels credit, he has battled a life of disease and he keeps bouncing back. At the age of six, he was diagonosed with Type I diabetes and has struggled to maintain his health all the while becoming an 80’s glam metal rock god, a history of hard hard partying, and what [...] […]kansasview
- A softball player who just happens to know the law, sign her up… September 3, 2010Does this woman really matter to you? If you look deep into the background of a possible supreme court justice, do you want actual bench experience or do you prefer someone who knows the law and has written a few hundred papers on well…the law? Princeton graduate, Harvard Law Dean,…on the surface at least Elena Kagan [...] […]kansasview
- When it rains for Tiger, it pours… September 3, 2010The muscle of this man has shrunk and shows more sign of atrophy as each new story surfaces. This blog did a pretty good job of leaving Tiger alone and I have to say after the recent events, I still stick to that credo. The bomb of the last couple months has dropped, the shrapnel has [...] […]kansasview
- Where have we been? September 3, 2010Well, a few good men and an even better woman started the idea of this blog and we owe it to someone to unspill the contents of our head, or at least mine. The time has come to once again say all the things I want to say and it’s an invitation for you as well! It’s [...] […]kansasview
- Brittany Murphy’s death is troubling September 3, 2010Not that it’s another tragic celebrity death, not that it’s another young life taken so early…these are all troubling and sad in their own right. It’s another tragic case of someone getting caught up in the web of drugs…the legal type! It truly saddens me that so many of these stars seek out more and more prescription [...] […]kansasview
- Internet fun for the weekend… September 3, 2010By far one of my favorite websites of late is called GraphJam.com. Essentially, the website attempts to break down the world and how we interact with it in a series of graphs. It is hilarious when you see how the world around us can be so easily summed up in a pie or bar chart. [...] […]kansasview
- So why are more companies not yet hiring? September 3, 2010U.S. Workers are still filing a large amount of unemployment claims and this is after five weeks of declines in this area. Where are the culprits and which industries are still hurting? It’s apparent as we have seen over the last year is that a gradual stabilization of the economy does not naturally translate to a increase [...] […]kansasview
- Facebook is down…Facebook is down…5:42 (cst) September 3, 2010This website is not a help desk for Facebook but it’s a civic duty to keep the American public aware of all possible natural disasters!! Facebook is down! Facebook is down! Don’t toss your Iphone in the river or hurl it at your wife and complain that it doesn’t work worth a s***. Here is the current [...] […]kansasview
- Texas – what the hell is wrong with you!? September 3, 2010
