Daily Check in May 21, 2022

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MackerelCat
Posts: 7257
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:44 pm

Re: Daily Check in May 21, 2022

Post by MackerelCat »

I tried Synthroid when first diagnosed with hypothyroid and it did not work particularly well for me. A friend who was on Armour Thyroid never had problems and we had the same doctor, so I asked to be switched to Armour Thyroid. It works extremely well for me, but has the drawback of being expensive: with insurance, a 90 day supply is $158. My other prescriptions are around $4 each, so that's a huge help.

My laundry is done and I laundered the sofa throws as a bonus. Also prepped my lunches for next week and popped them in the freezer. Breakfast next week is going to be a melange of two high-fiber cereals topped with some diced, frozen strawberries. There was just enough left of two boxes of cereal to mix together and make five servings. There were ten strawberries left over from last week that needed to be frozen, but they'll go farther as a cereal topping.

Tomorrow I must do some house cleaning and a bit of sewing. The waistband stitching in one pair of my black slacks unraveled last week and has to be sewn back. I am not sure how old those slacks are, but I think at least seven years. I keep redyeing them when the black fades, and they have been dyed three times. A $3.99 bottle of dye is a bargain compared to $31 for new slacks. :-D
Mackie
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Jackielou
Posts: 13424
Joined: Tue Aug 25, 2015 7:51 pm

Re: Daily Check in May 21, 2022

Post by Jackielou »

Mrscreative wrote: Sat May 21, 2022 6:32 pm Mackie I take Synthroid as my thyroid medication and the cost in Canada for the actual medication is $10.66 with dispensing fee of $8.83. This is for a 90 day supply, the maximum a pharmacy can dispense at a time. ( to prevent misuse of prescription medication). This is the amount a person without any extended health care coverage would pay. Because I am 65 plus, my Ontario Drug Benefits kicks in and I only have to pay $4.00 out of pocket.

My cancer medication Letrozole would cost a total of $142.77 for 90 days supply. But again with Ontario Drug Benefits I only pay $4.00 for 90 days.

I am convinced that the cost of the same medication in the U.S. is much, much more than in Canada.

Canadian TV broadcasting does not allow any advertising for prescription medication. When you watch NBC news, especially the second half of the programming, you almost see more minutes of prescription drug broadcasting than the actual news. It makes me wonder how unbiased some of the health news is when they are receiving all this money for advertising.

Creative
You actually have it much better prescription wise than us in Saskatchewan. In order for the provincial government to cover our prescriptions, we each have to spend almost $2K before the provincial payments will kick in. To make matters worse that 2K spending limit is twice a year. Neither of us spend that much on our prescriptions, so I am really glad that we have other insurance. When Hubby worked for an oil company we paid nothing for prescriptions, eye exams, and other things. Now with the follow me coverage (we get it cheaper because of the company policy with them) we pay a bit for prescriptions (about $40.00 a month), and all the eye appointment charges, as well as about 20% of the dental costs (and that does not cover everything some we have to pay all). Still prices are usually reasonable and since all operations (except cosmetic) are covered as well as hospital stays I am quite happy with universal health care.
Jackie
http://inthelandofthelivingskiesii.blogspot.ca/
Prairie Waif2
Posts: 1896
Joined: Thu Jul 16, 2020 11:33 am
Location: Brandon, Manitoba CANADA

Re: Daily Check in May 21, 2022

Post by Prairie Waif2 »

Mrscreative wrote: Sat May 21, 2022 7:38 pm Good evening beautiful people,

A late check in for me today. I had a very busy but happy day.

Dh had his first golf game of the season and left around 9:30 am. I prepared him a lunch, including a water bottle and a thermos of hot tea. Yes, I spoil him rotten but he knows that and appreciates me. All his friends take their lunches too. Last year due to Covid restrictions there was no food service aside from chocolate bars, chips and soft drinks from the cart girl. This food was consumed outside. So now his friends have gotten into the habit of taking a bagged lunch. They eat quickly after the first nine holes.

I did three loads of laundry today, changing beds and remaking them with clean sheets. Emptied the dishwasher and then went with Dd2 to Marshall’s (similar to TJMaxx) to look at a housewarming gift with her. She found a lovely spring door wreath for her friend who recently purchased her first house. I ended up getting a new sun hat (fits well, doesn’t fall off even when I put and shake my head down, and can be packed easily (non crushable). We couldn’t find a hanger for the wreath there so tried Dollarama and Walmart with no luck. While at Marshall’s I picked up a treat - some honey and pistachio baklava, a product of Greece. If I cannot go to Greece, I shall have Greece come to me!

After returning home Dd2 and I decided to go for a bike ride. It was quite chilly with a strong head wind so I was glad I had worn magic gloves. Dd2 donated some of her books at our little neighborhood library. We biked about 10 miles, developed a hefty appetite and enjoyed our lunch at home with a hot cup of tea.

Dd1 called and we had a lovely, long chat and I discovered Denver was covered with a few inches of snow!! MJ I noticed you had some as well as Jackie. Fortunately we evaded it this time! I sincerely hope no more until late fall. Yet Ottawa is having a heat wave!

I am excited because my step sister and her hubby will be visiting us in July. They are taking a six week road trip from Calgary to Nova Scotia. I hope they plan to stay at least a couple of days with us both going and returning back. Dd1 and her boyfriend will be visiting for about a week and a half in August after she submits her tenure application. They are driving up and now that they have a house, she‘ll take back a few remaining belongings, maybe even the piano. And Dh has purchased a new vehicle and promised to take me on a road trip. We’re not exactly sure when, as the date of the delivery for the new vehicle is not firm, but supposed to be the end of June. He’s getting a Hyundai Tuscon. So a lot of exciting things to look forward to. And a LOT of exciting activities with our 55 Plus Centre including outdoor water acquabics, bocce ball, tennis, golf and guided hikes.

MJ I was wondering if your community offers any safe bicycle classes for adults. Here we have lessons given by trained volunteers to teach older children/teens how to ride a bike. All the kids that have fallen through the cracks. They will teach adults too and have taught adult female immigrants how to ride a bike so they can get to work. It’s a wonderful organization and bikes/helmets are provided free of charge. They have lots of testimonials on their websites and have taught children with autism too. Don’t you dare let your friend deter you. But of course be sensible and do so in a safe manner. My bicycle was a very good investment at $185 in 1986. Yes - I still have the receipt from Canadian Tire! It has given me hours of entertainment over the years and a great means of exercise. It really increases the distance you can cover compared to walking. Environmentally friendly to boot! Our city has really expanded the number of bike paths. I am not a fan of biking on busy streets, sharing the same street with cars.

Sleep tight everyone!
Creative
Creative,

Brandon doesn't have a program like that but I will be very careful starting out if I can get my caretaker to store my bike in the open space under the stairs. It's not in the way for a fire exit AT ALL. So, I'll have to check that out first.

If I can't find storage? Then, I am afraid the bike willl have to go now that we are not allowed to store them outside AND with the THEFT of bikes all over the place, it would probably be gone and painted in no time. That's how they are "disquising" them after stealing them. Of course they look awful but Spring, who is a retired RCMP officer says they will steal anything and sell it for whatever they can get to get their few "points" of meth or whatever. It's sad because so many kids have their bikes stolen. Little Dayton had her bike stolen last year and Zoe was able to find her another in no time on the "mother's circuit" of exchange she has with a bunch of Moms.

We will see how it all plays out once bikes are out of storage for the season!

MJ
Hope has a good imagination.
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Mrscreative
Posts: 2119
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 5:06 pm

Re: Daily Check in May 21, 2022

Post by Mrscreative »

Jackielou wrote: Sat May 21, 2022 9:14 pm You actually have it much better prescription wise than us in Saskatchewan. In order for the provincial government to cover our prescriptions, we each have to spend almost $2K before the provincial payments will kick in. To make matters worse that 2K spending limit is twice a year. Neither of us spend that much on our prescriptions, so I am really glad that we have other insurance. When Hubby worked for an oil company we paid nothing for prescriptions, eye exams, and other things. Now with the follow me coverage (we get it cheaper because of the company policy with them) we pay a bit for prescriptions (about $40.00 a month), and all the eye appointment charges, as well as about 20% of the dental costs (and that does not cover everything some we have to pay all). Still prices are usually reasonable and since all operations (except cosmetic) are covered as well as hospital stays I am quite happy with universal health care.
Jackie I should have added that both my hubby and I both did have a deductible of 100 each before our provincial benefits kicked in. We chose not to go with extended dental care as our premium payments far exceeded our out of pocket expenses, even with the restoration of a previous filling (it was 45 years old! Had it on my dental records).

Considering the state of the art health care I received for my breast cancer care, I am thrilled with our health care system.

Creative
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