Archive for November, 2008
A letter to Dr. Patrick Hammen
Dear Dr. Hammen, I just wanted you to know what my life is like as a consequence of desicions you made almost four years ago. We had our Thanksgiving dinner today, as we usually do. I volunteer to work on Thanksgiving so other people can get home to be with their families, and then members [...]
Could this be possible?
Check it out: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-jesse-jackson-jr/building-a-new-wall-the-f_b_146606.html Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. proposes a Constitutional amendment that would guarantee health care to all Americans. We already spend more per capita on health care than anybody else, and a lot of that is because we don’t give people preventive care or chronic disease management. We could work on eliminating overtreatment, [...]
Insuring everyone isn’t enough
Our health care system needs a major overhaul, top to bottom. It is possible for us to improve our system in a way that gets quality health care for everyone AND costs less money. Check out this piece in the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/20/AR2008112002420.html?nav=hcmodule Pretty impressive. Getting access to quality health care needs to be a [...]
Messages from Mike
I opened an old notebook of Mike’s tonight as I was going through a box of his things. I’ve been meaning to read through the notebook for awhile and finally got to it tonight. I found a short list, ”Foods to eat when I’m better: 1) Roast beef (my own) 2) Sushi 3) Mexican” Then there [...]
Vacation memories
Rob and I are in Cape May, NJ, celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. This is where we came for our honeymoon and several of our anniversaries. One of my rituals was to go to one of the many tacky gift shops and fnid something appropriately trashy for Mike. Today as we cruised the shops, I [...]
Happy birthday to ME
Today is my 56th birthday. It wouls have been Mike’s 34th. We used to joke that the birthday wasn’t really his because I had it first. The first thing we did each Nov. 3 was get on the phone to each other. One of us would call the other, we would sing “Happy birthday to [...]
Second annual Eat at Mike’s
Reserve now
Life o' Mike sponsors its second annual Eat at Mike's, an evening of good food prepared by local chefs, at Tingles Cafe in downtown Asheville. The event also features silent and live auctions with items from Highlands Brewing, artist Angela C. Alexander and more.
Tickets to the dinner are $25; $20 for children 3-12 and free for children under 3.
To reserve, e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com. For more information, call 828-243-6712.
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a new peer support program for people newly diagnosed with chronic or serious illness or with a new disability and their caregivers.
Patient Pals are people who have experience with various illnesses and disabilities, who can help someone newly diagnosed or with a new disability work through the fear, frustration, confusion and grief often experienced in the first few months.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
People with new illness or disability fare better when they have a role model -- someone who can help them negotiate their new path in life.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.