It didn’t, but if you take a look at Google News, there are a ton of non-healthcare related stories on the healthcare page.

I am sick of politics. Part of the advantage of living in this castle was being away from society (for the most part). Then came the internet. Oh yes, the information superhighway, the web, the net, the interwebs… you get the idea. An idea that was supposed to make our lives better. That’s a line of bullshit.

When we first got the webs, we had dial-up. After all, the castle is in the middle of nowhere. Dial-up sounded like bad robot sex and was about as slow as old people screwing. It took us a while for “high speed” internet. Something we looked forward to at the time, mainly for gaming (ok and porn, but does that matter?) Then came social media…and it all went to shit. This is not a commentary on the webs, just a statement on how screwed up the news presented to me is. Now the torches and pitchforks make there way here digitally instead of literally. I guess that is a bit better since it saves cleaning the walks.

I am in my off cycle, which is a lovely 4-day stretch to do pretty much whatever the hell I want. Most of us do not have or take that time anymore, and I am perplexed as to why.

Mentally the value of a break is enormous. It clears the “palette” and allows us to step away from one stress (even it is into another one). Change is good, and we should take that time. I find that folks that are bent on forging ahead, working tons of overtime (or always working) are doing themselves no favors. The body gives up. You end up sick or just so worn out that you want to sleep, and it gets even to the point that you end up missing work unscheduled to sleep. Ya know, instead of taking time away and enjoying some relaxation and life outside of your microcosm.

This happens here at the castle with the husband from time to time, and it really shouldn’t. I do not diagnose and treat at home; by the way, it is not healthy in a relationship. My hubby drives forward to the point he is sick and just needs to sleep. He honestly sleeps for the whole day, getting up only to eat. I don’t begrudge this; I am just astonished that he can go this far this long and then just wear out.

Many times I think it is more a function of a company or boss simply overworking an employee because they have no concept of anything but their bottom line. I am here to tell you that while they think that the reality is that no actual study proves that this is effective in the long term and is very shortsighted.

Funny that we all are shortsighted. Employers think squeezing every minute out of someone and then having them literally in bed for five days is somehow viable in the long term. People believe that doing Keto full force for six months and losing 50 pounds, only to gain it back when the diet becomes unsustainable. We take our blood pressure or blood sugar seriously when it is impacting our health. I have hypertension, and I didn’t take care of it until a doctor friend of mine read me the riot act (thanks to Amy). I started taking it very seriously, and surprisingly a year later, I am 117/72 this morning with an excellent pulse rate of 72. Yeah, I started keeping track of it as well as my weight loss. If you make a change, it needs to be slow and steady. If you have hypertension, you are going to need to make changes for the long term. Taking a 90 script for blood pressure will not cure your problem.

I see this a lot in my practice daily. I see this with psych as well as chronic health issues. Just because you feel better when you take medicine, does not mean you are made better in the long term, UNLESS YOU KEEP TAKING IT!

So what’s the fucking point, Nursie poo? The point is that when you are doing something in your life and make a change, it requires work, it needs rest, it requires a plan to make it sustainable. We all suck at this, and until we follow this plan, we will continue to suck at this. We need to work at sucking less, swallowing our pride, and realizing that the way we did/do things is not working and do it differently and hopefully better.

Be the kind of person your dog and your mom hope you are.