April 4, 2009

BREAKING NEWS: Book kind! I just received a request for my entire manuscript from an agency in San Francisco that I queried a week ago, along with a synopsis and the first 10 pages! What's encouraging about this is, with what I sent them, they want to see more! Definitely encouraging, and I will be excited about this until further notice.  This request is in addition to the two agents that already requested more. However, once I send out the manuscript, I will have to wait 8 weeks, or until I receive a rejection from them, to send full ms out to other agents as this one wants exclusive reading rights. Now, back to the original blog report.

Well, we were supposed to go to the beach this weekend, but there was a change in plans. My wife's sister ended up in the hospital, once to have her knee replaced, and then again because of complications, but not with the knee. The day after she returned home, she couldn't breathe. Back to the hospital. They discovered she had a blood clot on her lung. They began giving her a blood thinner. Several days after that, as the time approached for her to leave once again, she began having pain in her other leg and abdomen. They found she was bleeding internally, so they lowered the dosage. Then they gave her a shot of morphine to ease her pain. Her blood pressure dropped to 70-40 and she turned white. She was immediately moved to ICU, where she is this morning several days later, and hopefully getting better.

Not only that, but after she was returned to the hospital, a partner in her regular doctor's practice was supposed to come in to see how she was doing. He never showed up. When he did several days later, he told her he forgot. I guess there just wasn't enough money in it for him.

 

For those of you out there who have the mistaken idea that the US is the best place for medical and health care, think again. The US ranks somewhere close to position 30 in the world. Many of the doctors that "practice" medicine in this country do it for the money, not because they have any affection, or give a damn, for their patients, or their practice. This is not all of them. There are still those who do care, but their number is dwindling. 

The other thing Americans need to wake up about is taking care of themselves. Too many are willing to run to the doctors and follow anything they tell them, taking medications by the truckload. Those people are not taking into consideration that pharmaceutical companies do not want people to be healthy. If they are, they make no money.

I once had a doctor order a prescription for me without even talking it over with me first. It was because my cholesterol was "too high" for him. It was 220. I refused the prescription, began eating better, started taking flax seed oil, and fish oil with omega-3, lowered it to 182, and changed doctors.

Prior to going to Denmark two years ago, my wife and I were popping one or two Zantac a day for indigestion. We have had one or two Zantac total since then, a period of a year and a half. Why? Because we discovered that by eating carrots, or having a small glass of pure carrot juice our indigestion went away. 

Not only that, but I have suffered for years with food allergies, usually ending in allergic bronchitis. I found while in Denmark that if I eat an apple a day, honest, I can now eat many of the things I was allergic to with no after affects.

My question to the medical profession is - why don't you tell us about these things instead of grabbing your pad and whipping out yet another prescription? 

Wake up America! The human body is an amazing machine! We need to stop teaching "Health" in schools, and start teaching "Appreciation for what the body is and how to take care of it". 

Bill Maher said it best... "We will not solve the health crisis in this country until we stop making ourselves sick!" 

Schools could help by not serving unhealthy crap for lunches. 

Okay, I'm off my soapbox... for now.

Book progress. 

Two more form rejections from agents have been received. No word yet from the two who I have sent additional material to. 

I have named another character for book two. Renee DuBois, 42, who is the leader of the Resistance group in the Book. Several of the traits he will develop in this book may lead to yet another one. He is developing into a very interesting character, and I've just begun!

One the agent front - This is the last month for soliciting agents. If no luck by then, I will wait until all the rejects or whatever to come in, and start lining up publishers to query starting no later than July 1. I may never have a book in print, but if I do not, it will not be for lack of trying. 

Went to the bookstore last night. I was able to restrain myself from buying too much. Did buy one book, though. Wanted another one about a Danish spy during WW II. He escaped the Germans and went to England. He got there by flying an old plane that required him to climb out on the wing with gas cans to refuel half way across to England. Several other times, he escaped by walking miles over partially frozen ice from Denmark to Sweden. Others with him did not make it, as the ice was not thick enough everywhere. At least one drowned, and the other froze to death. The writer spent ten years, I think, interviewing this man, who passed several years ago at the age of 89.

Well, that's all for today. Tune in next time when I once again climb atop my soapbox and rant about how stupid this manufactured recession has been in comparison to what could be happening.