Farmerjan's journal - Weather

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Miss @farmerjan,

I concur with Miss @Baymule -- if you are going to have one knee replaced, then do both of them at the same time. That is what my dad did several years ago. It took awhile to recover, and at first he was sorry he had it done, but he later was glad. Miss @Baymule's mentioning AARP made me sign up with them starting in January. While I have yet to undergo major surgery, I am ready should the time come. Please take care of yourself, Miss @farmerjan -- you are still a relatively young woman with many years left. We all want those years to be happy ones for you, not bed-ridden ones.

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[Mike CHS]

I had my right shoulder done in March of last year. I'm still not back to where I was before whatever I did messed up my shoulder but the little bit of pain now is nothing compared to pre-surgery.

 

[farmerjan]

@Baymule ; I talked to our health care lady at work when I was getting into all this medicare stuff. She has been doing our health ins plans at work for longer than I have been testing there. Her husband retired and had a knee replacement done and she told me they paid a whopping $187 total for something the plan that he had, didn't cover. That was all the out of pocket he paid. Covered all his therapy and all. So I said to her that I wanted something just like that. He does take meds for something, maybe high blood pressure? Anyway, she told me/guided me to pretty much exactly what he has, with the exception that she said I would be better off with a different "drug plan" since I don't take anything. The cost is alot cheaper, I will have to pay a little as a co-pay, but when I reach a certain limit that's it. She said that it would save me all the years I don't have any drug costs... and if I do have to use it, I will pay about 3-350 out of pocket for the year... but that would still be saving me off the cost of the plan. It costs me about $15.00 month for the drug plan, and if I had the one he has it is somewhere in the 50-75 month range? I can't remember exactly... but if I save 40 mo off the cost, in a 12 month time I would save nearly 480 year and if I don't use it at all, then it adds up. If I have to use it , then the max I have to pay is like 3-350....I have the paperwork somewhere... but I figure if she has him on this, she ought to know what she is doing. Since I don't take anything, and they won't cover the "alternative" treatments I have done and would still like to try, I may as well save money now. I will look into what you have and see if it will benefit me. I know you can change every year... and I doubt that I will be doing much before the end of this year anyway.
I haven't had much trouble with the one knee, so basically it is my left ankle---real bad ; my right knee----pretty bad ; my left shoulder---getting real bad. Anything I do will be in late late fall, early winter when we are not very busy on the farm and my son can handle most of the chores.
Another reason I have decided to hold off breeding my nurse cows until late June/July. I don't want to have deal with getting them situated with calves this fall and possibly having surgery.... better to be getting over surgery and back to feeling better.... and dealing with calves in the later spring. I won't be doing any AI this year either. Not dealing with that situation with the owners son at the pasture where the nurse cows are either. He has backed off of it for now anyway. But I have made it pretty clear that I am not getting into it and cannot do AI now.... Still want to get them moved elsewhere. But he does stuff like this. Gets all gung ho about something then it fizzles out.

 

[Mini Horses]

I can see where I'd quit your job ASAP -- Hate the snow, cold, etc. Not impressed with 2AM but you get used to it, unless only occasional. Then a PITA. Cows & barns, I can deal with.

My last 2 goats milking were dried off so I wouldn't be out milking Jan/Feb. I'm hoping to have a "warmer" winter milk area for next year, keeping maybe 2 on 1X day. It would be a small job of rearrangement in the barn. Miss my fresh milk, cheese, etc.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Plus there is the benefit of records for the registered stock.. @Goat Whisperer and @OneFineAcre and others who show and milk goats also are covered under the DHIA organization.

The MUN levels were very helpful for us. A lot of our goats were sky high! Milk testing also confirmed some of our suspicions (fat: protein inversions) We are actually feeding a mare & foal feed now. It's lover protein and higher fat. So far so good

The milk awards are nice too

Sorry for the issues you are facing

 

[Baymule]

@farmerjan you have done your homework. It's quite an advantage to have an experienced insurance lady in your corner. My husband is not on a drug plan, we use a Texas Drug Card. Virginia has one too, I just looked it up.

My question is, if a discount card can knock off so much $$, then why don't the greedy $%*%# companies just price it that way to start with?

 

[Bruce]

Because the insurance companies pay the higher prices! It is all about MONEY!!!

 

[Rammy]

Alot of the prices we pay here for drugs is alot higher than they pay on other countries.

 

[Latestarter]

That's because we can "afford" it and they can't...

 

[Mike CHS]

But prices on some things can be ridiculous. I can't take statins for cholesterol so I was prescribed Niaspan which is nothing but a slow release Niacin pill that I took for a couple of years before with no change. It was prescribed again last year during an annual Wellness visit since the doc insisted on doing something to get my numbers down even though they were lower than they had been in years due to diet. I got the 1st 90 days of pills and I then got my Tricare explanation of benefits and saw that the questionable meds went for $635 dollars for 90 days. It didn't do anything for me historically so I canceled that prescription.