You can reach Sue at (314) 452-3685 or (314) 726-2032. You can write to her c/o Rose Holt, 905 Barnard College Lane, St. Louis, MO 63130


I am off to the Lake this afternoon with Suzanne and Lukas. Doug will ride with Mark Goldman so that I can have the benefit of air conditioning. We expect a full house and are planning a huge community fireworks display. The Fourth of July is always the Big Weekend at the Lake. Den will fry fish one day, and Doug will cook chickens on his fancy rotisserie another day. I'm stopping by the Butcher Shoppee today to pick up various meats. There is a brand new supermarket at the Lake with ride-around carts. I'll be careful with my driving.

Rose is off to Chicago tomorrow morning. Shirley is already there and will return next week just in time to go to visit family in Louisiana. Rose will be home on Tuesday. Rose and I will get Baby Brayden on Thursday evening for eight days. Well, already he is 'Boy Brayden', having left the baby part as soon as he learned to walk. Jalen is off for two weeks of travel with his maternal grandmothers so we won't see him this trip.

Still no report from the Mayo Clinic. We are making good use of our 'Slim and Bulges' workout room, but can't change its title yet. I am up to 118 pounds so we may end up dropping the 'Slim' when what we wanted was to get rid of the 'Bulges'. I resume my formal physical therapy sessions next week on top of my athome workouts. Also, next week I will see Mary Linehan, my healing touch/massage person. For the moment, I am giving up on accupuncture. Shirley knows a Master Wong in Chicago who has had success with neuropathy using accupuncture. After things settle down from the Fourth of July Holiday and after Boy Brayden's eight-day visit, I'll make a trip to see Master Wong later in July.

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I'm spent a lot of time thinking about my illness and what it is teaching me. For one thing, I wonder what people do who have no family or support system to rely on at times like this. Just one example, SOCIAL SECURITY.

Turns out, when you apply for Social Security Disability, you have to fill out reams of forms. I can't write right now. Rose served as my goffer and secretary otherwise I wouldn't have been able to even APPLY.

After you are "awarded" Social Security Disability, you have to wait six months to start drawing it. In my case, I haven't been able to work since December, 2003, (and only sporadically since October, 2003), and I won't draw my first disability check until August. Pray tell, what do people do without family, friends, backup, and resources?

The other bad, bad news about our system is that it will be August, 2006, before I am eligible for Medicare because you have to be disabled--and have proved that you are--for two and one-half years before you can receive Medicare benefits. In the meantime, I pay an incredible amount every month for health insurance.

The Social Security people I have talked with have been extremely helpful, but they have no control over the amount of paperwork and the delays that are built into the system.

Of course, I knew none of this early this year. I assumed Social Security help would be there when a person needed it.

Some years ago, I had another jolting experience with our Social Security System. From 1976 until 1981 Mark went to engineering school in Rolla, partially funded by his father's Social Security benefits. Then the law changed. When Scott and Chris turned 18, their benefits, unlike Mark's, were cut off. You have to wonder how much money our government saved with this kind of short-sighted cost-cutting. And where did that money go?

Enough for now. When I get on my soapbox again, I'll recount some things about medical insurance that I've learned--again the hard way.

In spite of my current difficulties, I realize how very lucky I am. (For example, my son is also my landlord.)