Better on some fronts, not on others

Well, I called the church as soon as it opened and the secretary didn't seem too concerned since we had done what we could to take care of the window.

And my class today went well; we started out on enzymes and enzyme inhibition and a couple people got interested and started asking about changes that happen in enzymes and natural selection and stuff so it kind of morphed into a discussion of "where does antibiotic resistance come from" which is good, because it tells me (a) the students are thinking about the topics and trying to apply them and (b) they give enough of a damn to ask questions, which is better than some semesters.

But.

My aunt, my 87-year-old, blind and disabled aunt, who had been in a nursing home, is in the hospital. And no one can tell us why. My mom called her nursing home for her regular chat and the person at the front desk was "She's not here. And I can't tell you where she is and why because of HIPAA."

Now, I'm all for medical-records-privacy, but my mom is her SISTER. And her BLOOD sister, as in came-from-the-same-mom-and-dad. And just because my cousin, who is the "medical contact person" can't be arsed to fill out the paperwork to allow the place to notify family members, we're all in the dark until she chooses to illuminate us.

My mom (at least over the phone) didn't seem too worried; she said, "I talked with her the other day and while she was complaining that the area around her [port involved with a medical procedure] hurt, she seemed in pretty good spirits and pretty with-it." Or it's possible she's putting on a good face to keep me from freaking out. I don't know.

But it irritates me that HIPAA makes us jump through these hoops. (Seriously? Once the gyn I see called my mom up [because they had the wrong number on file for me and couldn't reach me] and said, "ricki needs to call us" and they wouldn't tell her why and I was all freaked out that they had seen something bad in my tests and it turned out they just didn't get a good sample for the Pap smear and I needed to come back in...after that I filled out the paperwork and let the doctor know in no uncertain terms that anything that happened to me, my mom WOULD find out. From me. So they didn't need to hold stuff back in the name of "protection." Even including if I got pregnant out of wedlock. [though at that time - and now, as well, for that matter - that is just slightly more likely than my winning the lottery and getting hit by an asteroid in the same day])

It also irritates me that apparently my cousin LIKES having the power to disseminate or conceal information about my aunt as she sees fit. It's just a little power and attention play thing and that kind of mind**** that people do bugs me.


***

And I've decided that part of Eating a Healthy Diet is also knowing when a treat is good. So I'm going down the hall (as soon as I finish my $*%&$ plain lowfat yogurt) and getting a Hershey bar or some peanut butter cups out of the vendeteria if they have them.

Yes, that is the detestable "using food to soothe pain" but you know, for me? It kind of works. And I only need one Hershey bar for it to work, and then I'm like, "Okay, I'm good now." So it's not like I'm falling into a pool of dysfunction or anything.