Ambulance NB is not free if you are from out-of-province
Before Christmas I was visiting in New Brunswick and needed an ambulance for a midnight trip to the hospital.
My heart almost did a flip when a $650 bill for ambulance services came a month later.
If I had been traveling in a province that didn’t have reciprocal medicare coverage, the bill could have been more than $10,000. Continue reading
It’s easy to get excited when Toyota announces a robot to help people walk.
In the 60 years since my left leg became paralyzed nothing really new in technology has been invented beyond the leg brace to help people like me.
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By Chris Brogan G+ – In both cases, there were tweets or Facebook posts or Google+ updates that hinted that things might be falling apart.
But we rarely notice such posts. We rarely hear them loudly, because they aren’t Siri jokes or cats dressed like astronauts.
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Connect Hearing - the deal is not there
The second audiologist I saw claims to be the largest one in Canada, Connect Hearing.
Connect Hearing promised $1,000 discounts, free trials and even a Veterans discount. In the end they delivered nothing.
When I tried to connect the dots on their audiology delivery, it didn’t make sense. They could not meet their advertised statements. Continue reading
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty Tracy Odell, APDD
Queen Elizabeth Hospital Emergency (Province of PEI)
January 12, 2001 - 2 Celsius at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital entrance and snow blocking those with disabilities from the meters (photo Stephen Pate)
If a person in a wheelchair, walker, or using a cane can’t get to the meter, will they get a ticket? Probably.
Merry Christmas from CBC, sorry you're life is not so merry
Nothing is more obscene than the pampered people at CBC with their annual do-gooder turkey drive. CBC wastes it’s considerable resources attacking the wrong end of the stick.
Do they think one turkey at Christmas will alleviate the crushing weight of poverty or is this all just another WKRP radio station publicity stunt?
If the folks at CBC really carried about Christmas and the message of Christ, they would use their considerable resources to report stories about the reality of PEI’s poverty problem.
A short stint of real reporting at CBC would inform the public and embarrass the government into fixing the problem once and for all.
Dr. Robert Coull wrote that charity drives make him angry. “The need for charity is something that makes me very angry. It reminds me that our society is unjust. The poor continue to be poor, while the rich get richer. Rich people ‘feeling good’ about giving a few dollars or a few hours of their time to the ‘deserving poor’ is something I would love to see the end of.” Continue reading
DietPower Nutrient History
In the now 5 part series on losing weight with a disability, I’ve covered why we want to lose the “30-lb-turkey” of extra weight and using software to get it off.
I was talking to my mother today on her 91st birthday (born 1919 wow!) and she weighs a slight 109 and has for decades. We should all be so lucky but many of us put the pounds on too easily. People with disabilities who are sedentary are especially susceptible to being overweight or obese.
During the past week, I’ve lost exactly nothing. But I did reduce my body fat percentage from 55% body fat to 44%. That wasn’t easy.
It’s the pre-Christmas panic with autumn yard work to finish and inside projects to get out of the way for your Christmas visit. Can’t have you seeing the power tools in the front hallway at Christmas. Continue reading
DietPower Food Log screen (click for larger image)
We’re finally at the part of the series on losing weight for people with disabilities where we get to the software that becomes your personal coach to more energy, a better life and maybe a few extra happy years to your life.
Most of these articles apply to everyone so even if you don’t have a disability keep reading.
In the process we all learn more about ourselves and the levers we can manipulate with food and exercise to maintain a better lifestyle despite disability.
So far we discussed -
1. It’s easier to get through every day without that “30-lb-turkey” of extra weight when you are living with a disability. Continue reading
Scales and measuring cups, measure twice eat once
Sorry for the delay on part 3 of the series Losing weight when you have a disability.
It was sunny and warm on Saturday. I out-did myself mowing up the leaves. Typically after over exertion with Post Polio, Sunday was spent recuperating from my enthusiasm over losing 11 lbs of that “30-lb-turkey”.
Yes, the diet is paying off! Today I clocked in at 189.6 lbs, down from 201 in September!! This whole thing is about feeling better and losing 10 lbs feels better.
I’m pumped and that’s important because you can’t lose weight unless you feel good about losing. Food is too much of a reward to ignore. It feels good to eat. When we are down or depressed, food is a comfort.
Substituting weight loss goals can provide an emotional reward that beats another bowl of ice cream. (OK that one is hard to beat.) Feeling better about ourselves is important: take the positive feedback.
So set a goal and measure your success.
Talking about measurement, there are few tools needed in a weight loss program: a personal scale, measuring cups and a food scale. Measure twice, eat that steak once right?
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