Go read this if you want cues on how to respond and you live in the States:
https://flamingsword.dreamwidth.org/496875.html
https://flamingsword.dreamwidth.org/496875.html
Health: Dental Milestone Made Official
Jun. 10th, 2025 04:14 pmI mentioned privately last week that I'd been accepted for enrolment into the Canadian Dental Insurance Plan. The one that our federal government hired Sun Life to administer for everyone earning less than C$90K/year and not already covered by their employer or their province?
That one.
I finally got the card in the papermail from Sun Life today.
Orange and pink and white plastic.
It's just hitting me now that, after over three decades of paying out of pocket by instalments for my dental health basics - exams, fillings and repairs of same, that sort of thing - I no longer have to worry about that part of my life's financial juggling. It's already covered through my federal income tax from now on unless I land a sufficiently lucrative job with its own coverage.
Hoping it all works out.
That one.
I finally got the card in the papermail from Sun Life today.
Orange and pink and white plastic.
It's just hitting me now that, after over three decades of paying out of pocket by instalments for my dental health basics - exams, fillings and repairs of same, that sort of thing - I no longer have to worry about that part of my life's financial juggling. It's already covered through my federal income tax from now on unless I land a sufficiently lucrative job with its own coverage.
Hoping it all works out.
Health: Dental Milestone
May. 21st, 2025 04:17 pmI filed my application for coverage under the federal dental insurance plan yesterday.
Finally.
Finally.
Vaccinations
Apr. 4th, 2025 10:20 amI got the first dose on my shingles vaccinations yesterday.
Aside from the hopes of averting that disease itself, apparently there's some small degree of benevolent knock-on effect against dementia too.
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/03/shingles-vaccination-dementia.html
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/shingles-vaccine-dementia-wales-1.7500368
You'll certainly want to do some additional digging into this on your own to be more certain.
Aside from the hopes of averting that disease itself, apparently there's some small degree of benevolent knock-on effect against dementia too.
https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/03/shingles-vaccination-dementia.html
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/shingles-vaccine-dementia-wales-1.7500368
You'll certainly want to do some additional digging into this on your own to be more certain.
National Caregiver Day in Canada
Apr. 1st, 2025 12:31 pmNoting this thanks to newsletters from the Ontario Caregiver Organization...
Peter A. David Needs Our Help
Mar. 19th, 2025 05:33 pmPassing this along, as I have confirmation from multiple sources that it is for real. Peter's work sits in my comics storage boxes and on my bookshelves, and I've enjoyed much of it over the decades. If you can help and haven't already done so, please do.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-peter-david
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-peter-david
Health: Lung Health Update
Nov. 1st, 2024 08:56 pmWhatever I caught, it still wasn't COVID, and I think I'm past the worst of it. What's left is mostly clearing out the junk stuck in the lungs. I don't think I'm going to need the ibuprofen for that.
More on other topics later...
More on other topics later...
Cold? Probably? Still Not Happy
Oct. 31st, 2024 07:23 amI've been coping with another of those ear-nose-throat issues this past week. I have a theory about where I picked it up, which I'm not going to name here.
That said, at least it doesn't seem to be a COVID infection. I just tested again this morning and it reads as negative. Yes, I know about the reliability issues of RAT kits.
That said, at least it doesn't seem to be a COVID infection. I just tested again this morning and it reads as negative. Yes, I know about the reliability issues of RAT kits.
Medical Stuff - Mid-October 2024
Oct. 18th, 2024 08:23 pmDental checkup is done. No new work expected between now and May next year, by which point I expect to be signed up to the federal dental care insurance plan. Pre-paying for my dental care through my taxes will be somewhat easier than out-of-pocket payments, I expect.
What else?
Tomorrow, I get COVID vaccine dose # 9. I would like to have Novovax(?) for that, but Canada's not getting any of the newest formulation. I am unclear as to why none was ordered. So are a lot of other Canadians.
Also, I am getting my influenza vaccination in the same appointment. May as well, right?
What else?
Tomorrow, I get COVID vaccine dose # 9. I would like to have Novovax(?) for that, but Canada's not getting any of the newest formulation. I am unclear as to why none was ordered. So are a lot of other Canadians.
Also, I am getting my influenza vaccination in the same appointment. May as well, right?
The logic of Stephen Harper and Donald Trump is at work here. If you make sure that you can't look for it, you won't find it. If you don't find it, it doesn't exist as a problem. If it doesn't exist as a problem, it doesn't have to be solved.
Linking to tweets by GP and occasional CBC News commentator Dr. Iris Gorfinkel:
https://x.com/DrGorfinkel/status/1841225759681364201
https://x.com/DrGorfinkel/status/1841285113486671877
Linking to tweets by GP and occasional CBC News commentator Dr. Iris Gorfinkel:
https://x.com/DrGorfinkel/status/1841225759681364201
https://x.com/DrGorfinkel/status/1841285113486671877
Health: EEG's 100th Anniversary?
Sep. 4th, 2024 08:43 amI lived with epilepsy for a few years as a child and teenager. Interesting to see someone linking that to autism and/or ADHDivergence...?
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/eeg-patients-brain-scans-medicine-1.7310186
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/eeg-patients-brain-scans-medicine-1.7310186
Health: Eye Health 2024
Aug. 21st, 2024 08:55 pmGood news:
I don't have to be checked out at the Eye Institute again until next August. Probably.
I don't have to be checked out at the Eye Institute again until next August. Probably.
Arm Pains IV: A Tentative Verdict
Jul. 11th, 2024 10:18 pmTwo weeks of Advil Extra Strength and Voltaren for the shoulder joint, plus a date with an x-ray machine, time and location TBD.
Acromioclavicular joint seems to have been inflamed.
More to follow...
Acromioclavicular joint seems to have been inflamed.
More to follow...
Arm Pains III
Jul. 10th, 2024 05:32 pmI'm hoping to see my GP tonight about that issue at long last.
Also, maybe three to five other concerns of note and substance? Maybe?
If the weather allows, and the doctor doesn't cancel because of the weather?
Also, maybe three to five other concerns of note and substance? Maybe?
If the weather allows, and the doctor doesn't cancel because of the weather?
Arm Pains II
Jun. 23rd, 2024 09:39 pmPartly at ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
flamingsword's urging and partly because of a rescheduling of last week's appointment with my GP, here's an imperfect description of my left arm troubles, sometimes all at once, other times in parts:
- "pins and needles"-like numbnmess starting at either elbow or wrist, extending to fingertips
- warm ache in the "inside" of the elbow
- warm/locking ache around the shoulder blade, usually from below
- ache inside the clavicle region
- muscle ache in the upper arm
flamingsword's urging and partly because of a rescheduling of last week's appointment with my GP, here's an imperfect description of my left arm troubles, sometimes all at once, other times in parts:- "pins and needles"-like numbnmess starting at either elbow or wrist, extending to fingertips
- warm ache in the "inside" of the elbow
- warm/locking ache around the shoulder blade, usually from below
- ache inside the clavicle region
- muscle ache in the upper arm
Good Cancer News in Canada
Jan. 18th, 2024 07:27 amI had this pointed out to me via the FutureCrunch newsletter. It's a joint report from the feds and the Canadian Cancer Society, hosted on the latter's web servers.
More on other stuff later...
More on other stuff later...
Eye Exam 2024 - Part II
Jan. 4th, 2024 11:41 amI got back in the house about 40 minutes ago.
Good news: my eyesight remains stable. My next scheduled checkup is in February 2026. It's logged into my scheduleware.
Good news: my eyesight remains stable. My next scheduled checkup is in February 2026. It's logged into my scheduleware.
Eye Exam 2024
Jan. 4th, 2024 07:45 amThis one's with my regular optometrist. Which means paying out of pocket. I think. In addition to three hours' unpaid leave from work.
Time to put some more pressure on provincial and federal governments to roll these things (back) into medicare.
Time to put some more pressure on provincial and federal governments to roll these things (back) into medicare.
Health: Dental Improvements
Dec. 11th, 2023 07:37 amSo...the federal dental care programme continues to be brought into effect.
It's decades late. It's still needed. And I'm glad it's finally on its way.
The out-of-pocket costs have been dogging me ever since I aged out of my parents' work-derived medical coverage, I've never been able to hold a job long enough to get similar benefits of my own, and by this time next year, that financial-medical pain is going to finally end.
Good.
It's decades late. It's still needed. And I'm glad it's finally on its way.
The out-of-pocket costs have been dogging me ever since I aged out of my parents' work-derived medical coverage, I've never been able to hold a job long enough to get similar benefits of my own, and by this time next year, that financial-medical pain is going to finally end.
Good.
