Pain, Pain, Go Away!

Equipment (pick one): Pot-style yogurt maker Cup-style yogurt maker + heating pad and insulated container if you don't have enough cups for the recipe (see #4 below) Sous vide stick and pot Heating pad and insulated container (e.g., camping cooler, insulated grocery bag) Note that your yogurt maker must let you set the temperature at 97 degrees F (36C) for 36 hours.   I use this one  (a cup-style yogurt maker). Since the yogurt takes a long time to ferment, and I don't like to go without while I'm making a new batch, I make a few extra cups in an insulated container.  My heating pad does the job at the medium setting in an insulated grocery bag at room temperature. (My insulated grocery bag is just a paper grocery bag with a bubble wrap liner.) I use  8 oz plastic freezing cups , available where canning and freezing supplies are sold. Ingredients 3 T powdered plain gelatin 1/2 c water (cold or room temperature) 4 cans regular coconut milk (13.5 oz each) 6 T c

Keith Smith, the founder of and an anesthesiologist at the Oklahoma Surgery Center, was recently on EconTalk, a podcast from the Library of Economics and Liberty at Stanford University. The Oklahoma Surgery Center is unusual in that they don't deal with insurance companies, they do post all-inclusive prices on their web site, and they typically charge far less for the same procedures compared to regular hospitals. Time magazine interviewed a patient who had total knee replacement done there for $19,000. The average price in the US is $57,000. The actual cost to the hospital? At one, it turned out to be $10,550. Dr. Smith and host Russ Roberts discuss the surgery center and the US health care system in this mind-blowing episode . Sources: "Keith Smith on Free Market Health Care." Keith Smith and Russ Roberts, EconTalk, November 18, 2019.  https://www.econtalk.org/keith-smith-on-free-market-health-care/ "What Happens when Doctors Only Take Cash." Haley S

First, the good news: I'm well enough to exercise. I made it though a 15-minute workout I couldn't get through the last time I tried. The heart palpitations are going away and I don't feel out of breath and exhausted with every little bit of exertion. It's been almost a year since I started another go at getting my health back, and I've come a long way. I've put on about ten pounds (unintentionally) and I'm hoping that adding muscle will increase my metabolism. Now, the bad news. This has not been cheap. It hasn't been ruinous, but my health insurance hasn't covered anything. I can't even use my HSA (health savings account) to pay for my lab tests or thyroid or adrenal medicine. (But I could use it to pay for prescription sunglasses!) So I have over $900 in my HSA that I can realistically only use for sunglasses or an emergency. I'm stuck making more contributions to it for almost another year, since we just made our benefit elections at w

DIYing my adrenal fatigue and low thyroid has been a challenge. At least I'm over the brain fog and can read and think more clearly. After my ears got dry and itchy again--which seems to be a symptom of low thyroid for me--I upped my thyroid dose again. I also lowered my adrenal cortex dose since I was gaining weight, even with the increased NDT (natural desiccated thyroid medicine) and decreased carb intake. The cortisol (an adrenal hormone) will make you gain weight if you take too much. I hope this is the last time I need to up my NDT, since my current dose costs $80 per month. I can't even pay for it with my HSA (health savings account, a pre-tax deal in the US). At least the adrenal cortex is cheap, and hydrocortisone is $5 a tube. The adrenal cortex, which I take in the morning at at noon, started turning me into a morning person. I was up at six doing dishes, vacuuming the house, and packing a lunch. I was tired around 10 PM. Since backing off a little, I'm ba