My eyes are itching
Pollen count is ten point five
And everything hurts
Everything Hurts Today is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites.
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Nine point eight today
This is gonna fucking hurt
Tortured by pollen
The Plants are Attacking is a post written by Jen Thorpe on Book of Jen and is not allowed to be copied to other sites.
If you enjoyed this blog post please consider supporting me on Ko-fi. Thank you!
Here is a haiku that I wrote on a day when the pollen count was too high. It was originally posted on Mastodon.
Continue Reading “Not Gonna Happen”
I have a multitude of food allergies. This requires me to spend time doing research before consuming anything. Things get more complicated when something that used to be safe changes some ingredients, or I randomly start having an allergic reaction to things that didn’t cause me problems before.
This leads to unwanted research adventures as I try to figure out what went wrong. I posted my most recent experience with this problem on social media and added in some more details here.
Every year, some people get infected by a flu virus. The strains tend to vary from year to year. The 2017-2018 flu season was especially nasty and dangerous.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that the single best way to prevent seasonal flu is to get vaccinated each year. Good habits like covering your cough and washing your hands often can help stop the spread of germs and prevent respiratory illnesses like the flu. There also are flu antiviral drugs that can be used to treat and prevent flu.
This blog will be updated when I find additional, relevant, information about the 2017-2018 flu season.
Continue Reading “Things to Know About the 2017 – 2018 Flu Season”
On February 1, 2018, I discovered that our water had been shut off. It happened in the wee hours of the morning, when most people were sleeping. This made me very anxious, in part because we were in the midst of a horrible flu season.
I posted a series of tweets about this annoying experience on Twitter, and later decided to post it here (with additional information added.)
The World Health Organization (WHO) says that Zika is caused by a virus transmitted primarily by Aedes mosquitoes. Sexual transmission of Zika is also possible.
People who become infected with Zika can have symptoms including mild fever, skin rash, conjunctivitis, muscle and joint pain, and malaise or headache. These symptoms typically last for 2 to 7 days. Pregnant women, or women who want to become pregnant, must make an effort to avoid becoming infected by Zika. The Zika virus is also a cause of microcephaly and Guillian Barré syndrome.
Continue Reading “A Timeline of the Spread of the Zika Virus”
CHIP stands for the Children’s Health Insurance Program. It provides health coverage to eligible children, through both Medicaid and separate CHIP programs. CHIP is administered by states, according to federal requirements. The program is funded jointly by states and the federal government.
The Medicaid.gov website says that 8.9 million children were enrolled in CHIP (according to 2016 statistical enrollment data). Eligibility is based on income. It covers uninsured children up to age 19 in families with incomes too high to qualify them for Medicaid. CHIP also covers pregnant women who meet income eligibility requirements. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act extended CHIP eligibility to state employee’s children (who previously were not eligible, regardless of income.)
Here is what happened when the United States Congress failed to renew funding for CHIP in 2017.
Continue Reading “What Happened After Congress Failed to Renew CHIP Funding”
The federal government is trying, once again, to allow religious employers to refuse to cover contraception in their employee’s health insurance plans. The time limit for voicing opinion on this proposed change closes on December 5, 2017. This proposed rule change might also take away contraceptive coverage in Medicaid, Medicare, and plans obtained via the Affordable Care Act.
Here is the comment I wrote to make it clear that I oppose allowing religious employers/organizations to refuse to cover contraceptives.
Information on the rule change can be found here. Please add your comment to oppose this change before December 5, 2017. Feel free to use some of what I wrote in my comment in the comment you write.
This blog will be updated as this goes through the courts.
Continue Reading “Comment I Wrote Opposing Religious Exemptions for Contraceptive Coverage”
Shortly after the 2017 Fall pollen season ended, California went up in flames. It seemed like the majority of the state was on fire at the same time. I was fortunate that there were no fires near me, but the smoke from other fires filled the air.
I assumed that the unexpected sore throat I had was due to the fires. Then, I figured it must be a strange sort of sinus infection. It turned out to be tonsillitis – something I’ve never had before.
