Hey all....I am still alive and still off cigarettes! Staying smoke-free is still a struggle at times! I was in Vegas recently and a couple times it seemed kind of tempting but I really do not want to go back to being a slave to big tobacco. I have also been off work and have not really had much to say out here in blog-land! I have kind of been being a bum so to speak! As a teacher, I work non-stop and then when I do get my three weeks off for winter break, I just feel like relaxing. I did that for three weeks and now it is back to "real life."
Now that the party is OVER I figured it was finally time to post something! My first goal for the year is to update my blog...we will see. I have been wanting to do it since last summer and have not managed to get around to doing it! Can you say "Procrastination?" I can, its the story of my life! Sometimes I am totally on top of things and other times.....forget it!
Anyway, I went back to work this week after having three weeks off and boy was it hard! I am not used to waking up so early. Neither were my students so all of us were brain-dead! Also, I am at a new school and I am still totally not used to the schedule or how things happen. We have "final week" in three weeks so that is definitely a change! The school is really different for me! I went from teaching at a really small high school of 75 students 4 teachers, 1 principal, 1 office manager and 2 teachers assistance to a huge comprehensive high school that has 3,200 students, 20 administrators and over 200 teachers!! I cannot even figure out how many support staff members are on campus! In some ways its good and in some ways it sucks! I am just grateful to have a job as the California state budget is not looking too good and even in the schools, it is looking like a lot of people will lose their jobs.
I am excited that Obama is taking office next week and am hoping for positive change, especially in the economy. It just keeps getting scarier and scarier! I mean, all of these companies going bankrupt....I keep seeing more and more people losing their jobs. Circuit City seems to be one of the next getting ready to liquidate a lot of their store inventories. I will be happy to see a new regime in the White House and am hoping for things to get better for all. What are you guys more looking forward to in the future??
Peace,
Fierce Diva
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9 comments:
Congrats! So very good to see you alive and kicking and keeping clean! My best regards!
Glad to see you're back! Missed you Chris x
So glad you are still doing great! I'm looking forward to seeing where the US goes from here. Obama has his work cut out for him.
I've been a blogger slacker lately as well. Facebook has stolen me away with it's "don't have to think too hard about what I'm going to talk about" ways. Great job staying smoke free. I've had times where I've thought just one would taste so good, but I've stayed strong for the same reasons that you have! Yay for us!
WOW - Good for you and NOT smoking - if I may, please tell you what Chantix did to my life.
PFIZER Drugs has to be aware that CHANTIX - the pill to quit smoking - KILLS!!!
Here is what happened to my only shild.
On September 15, 2008, I found my only child, age 32, dead in her bed. Danielle was totally disabled by mental illnesses for about 12 years. Going along with mental illnesses, Dani drank and did drugs, finally she hit rock bottom. On March 11, 2008,we drove from Kansas to Huntington, WV and picked her up to bring her home. She had agreed to our rules, which really were not many - having a saving account, learning to cook and shop for the best buys, house hold chores, etc. I had set up for her to receive mental health treatment in Topeka. KS with a facility named Valeo. They did wonders for her - counseling, case manager and medication’s. The State of Kansas (SRS) assigned a primary doctor to her, "Dr. Careless". I took her to all of her appointments, due to her fear of driving. Three (3) times went to the assigned Doctor's office - NEVER saw the doctor. She saw two
(2) different ARNP’s. The office had all of her medications listed in her chart - the med.’s included but were not limited to:
Risperdal 1 mg twice a day
Zolpidem 10 mg per day
Doxepin 150 mg per day
Clonazepam 1 mg - twice a day
Depakote Er 500 mg tablets x 3 at bedtime
Danielle was doing really well, doing chores, playing with our pets, taking vitamins, was clean and sober. Then she wanted to quit smoking - one of the ARPN’s wrote not one but two prescriptions for Chantix, one was a starter 0.5 and 1.0 mg and the other was all 1.0 mg. The first box(starter pak) has two (2) full cards with 14 tablets each of 1.0 mg still sealed. The second box has three (3) full cards with 14 tablets each of 1.0 mg still sealed.
Danielle was never told about any possible side effects, nor was I. I have filed a complaint against the doctor with the Kansas Board of Healing Arts and the ARNP with the Nursing Board.
On September 7, 2008, she had talked her only friend out of suicide. Including in her obituary are two (2) poems, RECOVERY was written on September 11, 2008. It was the Sunday after Dani’s death that I saw the commercial “The Tortoise and The Hare.” I called our local Coroner and raised my concerns. He called me back the next day after calling four (4) different labs of which none of them checked for Varenicline.
Last Sunday, January 4, 2009 I was in Kansas City as an uncle of mine had died. I talked to the owner/funeral director about CHANTIX (I was licensed as a funeral director/embalmer in 1982). The director had two (2) deaths at KU Med. Center, he shared with me that one of the deaths was a doctor, taking CHANTIX and he committed suicide.
I hope this will help others from NOT using this drug to try and quit smoking. Does Pfizer know how many people are affected by one death? The impact on a family? Their test subjects were “near perfect” as far as mental health was concerned. Statistics show that most people have episodes / bouts of depression or anxiety at sometime during their lives and the number of deaths relating to Chantix is on the rise. Recently - Heparin and Chantix the two (2) most dangerous drugs in America. Our United States Military (all branches) have quit dispensing it. Is Pfizer’s little pill worth a life?
Her obit -
http://legacy.com/cjonline/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=117558998
Dear Childless Mother,
I am sorry for your loss. I cannot imagine what it is like to lose a child. While I agree that Chantix may not be the best course of treatment for all people, it really did help me quit smoking when I was never able to quit before. I have read more than one horror story about the drug and am undecided if the manufacturer should have to pull it completly. I think they need to put more information about the side effects particularly the mental health and possible depression potential. For me personally, I was going through the worst year of my life and was not depressed at all....in fact hte drug probably served as an anti-depressant. Brain chemestry is a weird thing. Again, I am sorry for your loss.
Peace,
Diva
Yay! Hi! It's great to see you back and blogging!! I've been hot and cold with the blogging myself. I just get inspired and then I don't and well, oh well! Anyway, glad you're about and well!
ps. Hadn't read the comments above mine before I posted my happy happy hello post. That was heavy stuff!
Got your comment about Japan. Shoot me an email if you want to chat about it. Looks like a good opportunity.
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