I vowed I would have my Masters degree by my birthday (July 14). And I did it! In fact I completed my Masters in Holistic Nutrition last week. I thought I would be jumping up and down happy. But I am hard-pressed to describe how I feel. Happy, yes. Jumping up and down happy...... well, not really. Proud of myself, oh very much!

I have gone from almost having to go on disability (some would have) to getting off all the pharmaceuticals and being in remission five years...... to achieving my Masters. Had I just listened to my docs.... I'd either be dead or in a wheelchair in a nursing home ...... for sure I'd still be on steroids..... and chemo drugs. Contemporary medicine doesn't have much to offer Lupus patients..... but nutrition does. It's shameful ....... in all those years my lupus was active, not one physician ( and I had a whole regiment of them) asked me about my diet/nutrition.

Have a doc friend who thinks like I do regarding vitamins, supplements and alternative medicine who wants to talk to me about doing nutrition counseling in her office. :o)

Will be dropping to part time at the hospital soon as the department director will let me! We are without a manager or dayshift supervisor at the moment and have five full time people wanting to go PRN so the department is not in such a good way at the moment. And it's going to get worse before it gets better. I'm willing to wait till sometime next spring but beyond that I'm not sure how I will feel. I am anxious to transition to being a Holistic Nutritionist!

Well last week SSM healthcare in St Louis handed out pink slips to 120 middle managers (or so I heard). A guy I know who was a director over resp, lab, cardiac services at the hospital next to where I live was handed a pink slip. 18 years and the best they can do is tell him to pack up and get out.

This week the healthcare system I work for ..... well my hospital ...  haven't heard whats going on elsewhere yet  .....  handed out 45 pink slips to middle managers.

Times are tough with increasing cost of living and medicare problems. They are saying folks with private insurance are holding off on elective surgeries. Have you all heard anything about a freeze on medicare payout?  Didn't seem logical to me. You know you hear all kinds of rumors in times like these.

So what is going on in your area?

Was very happy to find MedicalMingle! I have been a respiratory therapist for 28 yrs. As you can imagine in that amount of time there has been many changes in both respiratory care and in hospitals. Some changes have been good; some not so good. I'm not terribly happy working in a hospital anymore though it does still have it's moments of satisfaction for me.

Though I am in remission now, I fought Lupus for many years. It was positive mental outlook, nutritional supplements and a conscious effort at eating nutritionally which helped me to achieve remission.  AND then I realized I could help others the way I was helped (by an RN who educated me about certain supplements and nutrition) and that I could make a living at it!

It seemed like heaven to me that I could make a living helping others with nutrition and nutritional supplements. But I didn't feel like I knew enough. So at the age of 50 I started working on a Masters in Holistic Nutrition. I am one course away from completing it! I'm getting so excited...... :o)  Pretty soon I will be able to put my nutrition business into high gear!!!