Random Pharmacy action

Here's a few goodies i'd like to share from the pharmacy. This was all over the last month or two, but you still deserve to read it:

-I realized that 9 out of every 10 people that complain about Obama and his government-run insurance plans either have Medicare part D or Medicaid.

- I had an old man tell me that we shouldn't have the condoms sitting on the shelves like that. He then told me that I should be walking around the store with them and randomly dropping them into our senior citizens' carts.

- A six year old boy was telling me that he was no longer having a birthday party. His mother sheepishly said "someone's not having a party because they drew on the leather couch with permanent marker." To which the kid replied "I didn't do all of it at once".

- I had a kid who couldn't have been older that twenty ask me with a Russian accent what we have over the counter for enhancement. "down there". Why someone your age would need this, I don't know.

- I had a medicaid patient come in for Plan B. This was her third time in 4 months. I asked her what she's using for birth control, to which she replied "I've been too busy to schedule a doctor's appointment". Girl, you're 20 years old. Learn how to make a damn appointment like the rest of us. It's not like you're too busy working, otherwise you wouldn't qualify for medicaid. Get off your back, close your legs and go make an appointment before we have to pay for another medicaid baby.

The last post reminds me of a favorite patient quote:

"If my daughter doesn't have her birth control she'll get pregnant!"

Is it wrong to superglue a medicaid patient's legs together?

CSA week 21 and 222

Yeah, I know, i'm condensing the last two weeks into one. Our summer share came to an end, the last week of October. So sad. Where did the summer go? I do feel blessed to get fresh produce for over a third of the year, so I guess i'll use the next few months to clear out everything I have stocked up in my freezer and pantry.

For week 21:

• 2 leeks
• 1 squash (pumpkin)
• 2 greens: mustard greens and collard greens
• swiss chard
• mixed lettuce
• carrots
• radishes
• apples
• pears

For week 22:

• cut lettuces
• spinach
• radishes
• greens- tat soi
• winter squash (pumpkin)
• thyme
• beets
• asian pears
• apples

Today is a day off, and therefore a cleanup day. For the first time ever, I am making chicken stock from scratch. The last five times I roasted a chicken I cut out their backs to butterfly them, and hopefully the frozen backs are now turning into a delicious stock, with the leftover leek greens and shiitake stems. It smells so good, at least it's distracting me from this precipitation that can't decide if it wants to be rain, hail or snow. Ugh.

I plan on using some of the stock to make a spiced apple pumpkin soup, and I plan on using more of the apples in an apple cake. Here's to good food!

CSA week 20

We got:

• 7 lbs apples and pears
• 1 sweet onion
• 4 hot chile peppers
• 2 bunches swiss chard
• 2 lettuces
• 2 greens (mustard and collard)

only two weeks left!

CSA week 19

• 1 baby watermelon
• 6 lbs apples and pears
• 2 bunches swiss chard
• 2 lettuces (with two bonus worms!)
• 1 large sweet onion
• 4 bell peppers
• 1 quart tomatillos
• 1 bunch thyme

I had to give some of the food away to my parents so it wouldn't go bad while we went on a mini-vacay. I have yet to ask them if they found extra protein in their lettuce like I found in mine.

CSA week 18

In my old age i'm forgetting to post in a timely matter, and almost forgetting what we received each week. It's a little easier when we take forever to eat everything and end up having a loaded fridge. So here's week 18's list:

• 7 lbs assorted apples, plums and pears
• 1 bunch carrots
• swiss chard
• mustard greens
• 2 lettuces
• red potatoes
• green bell peppers

CSA week 17

It's starting to feel like fall around here. Did I miss summer? oh well.

We got:

• 2 bunches greens (mustard greens and arugula)
• 2 bunches lettuce
• 1 bunch radishes
• 1 bok choy
• 2 lbs green beans
• 1 pint raspberries
• 7 pounds plums, nectarines and apples

I think that's it. I had Will do the pickup so I could get rid of my headache.

Lady, I want to help you find your birth control rx.

I had a woman call and try and get a refill on her birth control rx. I tried looking up her name, and couldn't find it in the computer system.

What's the rx number? She tossed out the rx label.

What's the date of birth? Still cant' find you.

Did you change her last name? nope.

This is the location by the water. You sure you meant this call this location and not the other two in this town? No, she swears it was at this location.

This is such and such pharmacy. Are you sure it wasn't at Rite aid, CVS, or Walgreens? Nope, she swears it was at this location.

You tell me that you had your daughter's rx filled here. I see her rx. I try searching for the address and phone number. I can only find her, not you.

Do you have the bag tag or info sheet that came with the rx? Silly me for thinking that.

I tell her that we keep a permanent record of every transaction ever submitted, and that if she ever had a prescription filled here, even 10+ years ago, we would have it. Since I am finding nothing, she must have had the prescription filled somewhere else.

Listen, don't throw a hissy fit because you don't know where you filled your prescription. I suggested she call her insurance (medicaid) to see if they could help her locate her her rx, or she could call the md for a new rx.

And get this- she tried calling back two hours later, and then three days later, trying to get the same rx filled. Sorry, scripts don't just magically appear and disappear. My job is dependent on filling scripts. I have no desire to lose, toss or eliminate scripts. Why would I do that, then offer to do the extra work of calling your doctor for you to get a new script?

And for the love of god, please keep your legs closed until you find the rx.

CSA week 16

Another week, and even more food. It's going to be hard to eat it all, especially with restaurant week starting up on Monday. Wish us luck! We have:

• Tomatoes
• Zucchini
• 2 lbs green beans
• 2 lettuces
• Mustard greens
• Collard greens
• Beets
• 7 lbs assorted peaches, nectarines, and apples

CSA week 15

I had to work last Thursday, so the hubby was in charge of picking up the share. He barely made it in time- a major accident made his trip home and to pick up the produce take more than an hour- he has more patience than he gives himself credit for. Either that, or he knows how much trouble he'd be in if we didn't get our weekly share.

We got:

• 1 bunch romaine lettuce
• 1 bunch mustard greens
• lots of tomatoes
• tomatillos
• green beans
• yelllow and white peaches

I had a productive Monday when it came to cooking- I made gazpacho, salsa, baked haddock with tomatoes and a hazelnut and pear crumble. Thankfully I had my helper to keep me sane as I cooked.

CSA week 14

Holy crap we got a lot of tomatoes! I have to clarify that when I previously listed the number of tomatoes, it referred to the number of tomatoes. Now they are giving them away in POUNDS!

So here we go again:

• 6 lbs tomatoes
• 2 bunches edamamme (yea!)
• 4 zucchini
• 2 greens (mustard greens, and another one that starts with an E, I think it's endive, the curly version. I know it's bitter, so i'm still trying to find a use for it)
• 1 bunch radishes
• 1 pint raspberries
• 4 lbs peaches and plums

I love edamamme as a snack- I prepped it for freezer storage as soon as I got it so I could go through the rest of the veggies we already have. You can't beat it them steamed with some sea salt.

CSA week 13

Here's our latest bounty:

• half a dozen tomatoes
• more zucchini
• a big sweet onion
• 2 bunches lettuce
• tomatillos
• 1 pint raspberries
• 4lbs peaches and plums

I went for tomatillos as a substitute for basil, as I have a basil plant in the backyard that is more than healthy. Now i just have to get my ass into gear and do some cooking.

CSA week 12

You may notice that week 12 and week 13 were both posted on the same day- I'm not naming names, but someone forgot to post.

So here's week 12!

• 1/2 lb spinach
• 2 heads lettuce
• one bunch of radishes
• 4 tomatoes
• 6 ears corn
• too much zucchini
• 1 bunch greens (arugula)

For fruits we got 5 lbs of peaches, plums, apricots and nectarines!

I had some good cooking adventures- I made taco bake with lots of corn and tomatoes, all served on a bed of lettuce. I also made stuffed shells with a ratatouille of garden vegetables instead of a red sauce. Will is still in his "i don't like zucchini" mode. He told me he didn't like it when I was cooking it, he told me he didn't like it when we were eating it, but he still managed to polish off the leftovers.

I also made thai chicken wraps. Will grilled up some chicken tenders in one of my favorite (and easiest!) marinades, and I served it in a wrap on a bed of arugula with swiss cheese and a peanut satay sauce. My only recommendation is don't use the wegmans refrigerated tortillas for the time being. I have the patience of a saint, and these are practically cemented together! Their recommendation to roll the package to separate them is total BS. Out of 8 tortillas, we had 3 usable ones with a few holes in them, and one of the usables was three tortillas thick in the middle.

Chicken Satay marinade

3 Tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced ginger

salt and pepper to taste

Workman's comp rant

I feel bad for people that get injured on the job and need to get their medications filled under workman's compensation. It's a real pain in the arse. Your doc gives you a script for the injury. You go to fill it, and woah... hold up... you thought you'd be getting it filled? Your comp needs to verify that your doc isn't just giving you drugs for fun, it has to be related to your comp claim. The drug needs prior auth. Comp needs to contact the adjustor, the adjustor needs to contact the doctor, and so on. According to them it should take 24-48 hours.

That's just what you want to hear when you're in pain RIGHT NOW.

I have one woman who has been waiting 3 weeks for comp to authorize her pain med. Keep in mind in my state scripts for controls expire after 30 days. Thankfully she doesn't use it very often, because this happens every month!

I go to run a refill for celebrex for another woman and get a DUR reject. I know from getting this reject before that they want the doctor to consider a generic COX II inhibitor. Comp is required to pay for whatever the doctor writes for this comp claim, but they still pull this crap. Why the hell are you (cough_express scripts WC_cough) having me do your dirty work? I've called this doc enough to know that yes, they wrote for celebrex because they want celebrex, not some generic.

Congratulations, you have sunk to a new low on a Friday (daytime) when you kept me on hold for 2 1/2 hours. I hung up. I tried to call to tell you what the doctor wanted, but I suppose this is your new crappy way of preventing people from getting their maintenance pain medications. Saying that you suck would be a compliment.

CSA week 11

Peaches are here! For our fruit share we got 5 lbs of peaches and 2 lbs assorted plums and apricots. I was a little disappointed with how quickly the peaches started to turn. But hey, you never know what to expect, and I still made a peach tart before they all went bad. Here's everything else we got:

• 1.5 lbs beans (green and wax)
• 1 bunch collard greens
• 1 bunch beets (swap for zucchini)
• 6 ears corn
• some tomatoes

CSA week 10

We just got back from Maine on Friday (well technically Saturday, due to a stop at the outlets on the way home) and my awesome dad picked up the share while we were away. I told them to eat whatever they wanted; I was kinda looking for a break from cooking all of the veggies. While they did take some (half of the spinach and blueberries, and the cilantro), there is still a ton left. We had:

• 1 quart blueberries
• a bunch of apricots and plums
• 1 bunch radishes
• 1 bunch spinach
• 1 bunch beets
• 2 zucchini
• 1 bunch cilantro

As if that was not enough, we stopped at the local farmers market and picked up some fresh leeks and potatoes. Apparently the way to my hubby's heart is with soup. This time it was potato leek soup.

I am also trying to eat my abundance of zucchini- yesterday was a 2-recipe day, and I only used a third of our monster zucchini. We had Chocolate zucchini bread and Zucchini fritters. both were amaaaazingly good. I am always looking for recipes where you forget you're eating zucchini, so let me know if you have any ideas.

Advice for druggies

Here's some advice for all the addicts out there- ER docs do not write for a month supply of Lortab. If you think you're being clever by adding a zero to the end of what was originally #12, then you are going to go from getting 12 tabs to ZERO tabs.

I was off on the day this guy came in, and he was fully expecting 120 tablets. He even had the nerve to ask for the original twelve tablets!

Idiot.

I almost wish he came in on my day off. I have fun with people who try to pull one over me; I make them wish they never came to my pharmacy. If he asked me to fill it for the original twelve tablets after altering it, I would tell him my dilemma. If I fill it, I would be filling a script that has been altered in an attempt to procure additional tablets. Altering the script is against the law. If he asked me to fill it I would have to call the cops. Did you still want me to fill it?

I wonder if anyone would say yes?

It's been a slow week at the pharmacy. The most action I've had was a man in his fifties telling me that he loves his wife very much, but he had to let me know my teeth were very pretty, and that they were pearly white. This is from the same man who asked me a year ago what I do to get my hair to fall into place so perfectly. (For those who don't know me, the answer is: not much.)

Ending on a good note: a regular came to the counter for a pickup, she saw my name tag and said "you're the one I speak to on the phone all the time. You're always so helpful and nice".

Ma'am, you made my day.

CSA week 9

Yowzers. I have more than I can finish before my vacay. We're going to Maine! Yet why do I still want to go to red lobster? Pretty sad, huh? Well here's this week's bounty:

• 4 zucchini
• 2 bunches scalllions
• 2 bunches swiss chard
• 1 bunch beets
• 1 head of cabbage
• 2 lbs assorted apricots/plums/cherries
• 1 quart blueberries

Success: braised cabbage with apples and cranberries to go with pork chops

Not-so success: kale chips. Too salty. Oh well, you don't know until you try them.

CSA week 8

• 1 head cabbage (cone shaped, I don't know the name)
• 1 head napa cabbage
• 1 bunch of dill
• baby/medium carrots
• red kale
• 3 lbs cherries
• 1 pint blueberries

This week was rather productive. I made blueberry muffins with a crumb topping. The blueberries had just the right amount of tartness- delicious. I made a sweet cherry pie with an almond-coconut topping- amazing as well, the recipe is a keeper. I found both recipes on other blogs, and also on foodgawker.com

I got zucchini and peas from my uncle, and I plan on making a chocolate cake with the club-sized zucchini.

I also made some cukes sitting in a brine with the dill- I can't wait to dig into those pickles. I want to eat them all today, but my hubby loves full sour pickles, so we must wait. and wait.

I'm also waiting for my vegetable garden to come to fruition. We have some pepper plants that are just about ready to be picked, some green tomatoes, and the cucumber plants are going to explode as soon as I go on vacation, I know it. You turn your back, lift a leaf, and woah, there's a 12" cucumber. If my pickles turn out well, we will be eating a LOT of pickles. Yea!

Too bad I can't quit my day job to cook full time.

CSA week 7

Aargh! It's thursday already and I never posted last week's bounty! So here we go:

• 1 bunch of beets
• 1 bunch japanese turnips
• 1 bunch collard greens
• 1 bunch scallions
• 1/2 lb green beans
• 3/4 lb mixed salad greens
• 2 and 1/2 lbs cherries
• 1 container black raspberries

This whole healthy bounty is really having a positive effect on the way my hubby and I eat. We've been eating more fresh produce with every meal, simply because I would feel bad letting it rot and tossing it. It's a bit of a chore, but my body is feeling the difference. The other night at work I had chicken fingers for dinner. Deep fried, crispy goodness slathered with blue cheese dressing. They were delicious. An hour later, my stomach felt like crap. It felt so heavy; my body was saying "what is this foreign fried substance?" It was easy for my stomach to adjust to eating healthier foods, now I have to train my mind to ignore the scents that spur salivation (Homer Simpson style). I have grown up loving crappy, deep fried foods. I will never own a deep fryer for health reasons, but I feel like I could never give them up entirely. Maybe if I feel like crap enough times my mind will learn not to crave it.

-Healthy snack of the day- steamed green beans dipped in ketchup. They're not fries, but they were tasty and my body said thank you.

C25K

I started a new workout this morning- C25K, also known as couch to 5k. I've got the couch part down. It's an interval program where you gradually increase the running time (distance) while decreasing the walking time. Week one involves running for 60 seconds, walking for 90 seconds and repeating for 20 minutes, plus 5 minutes each warmup and cooldown walk.

I could never run. I was always jealous of people who could run and burn calories so efficiently. I would try and run, yet I could never make it past 5 minutes without complaining about something, usually abdominal cramps, my shins hurting, my inner thighs rubbing against eachother (if you're flabby like me you'll know what I'm talking about), always something. Reflecting on this morning, out of the 20 minutes, I was able to run for a total of 8 minutes. Of course I wanted to stop and walk at a comfortable pace. But how could I argue with myself when I kept saying "only one minute"?

According to the site if I follow the plan I can could be able to run 5k in 2 months, but they do allow you to repeat weeks if you're not quite ready yet. Wish me luck!