When my mother was sick, before I knew it, I was making her appointments, providing transportation, asking the questions, and, I had even developed a first name relationship with her pharmacist.

Not that I shouldn’t have done those things, but, when you first start, it’s just weird to be doing it for your parent. Not only did I have to keep the kids medical appointments in my head, I added my mother, and, 3-5 more doctors. It was already pretty crowded in there, too.

As we have undoubtedly all experienced, doctors have less an less time to see patients who come for an appointment. While there’s 2 sides of that dilemma, I think both doctors and patients would agree that it’s important to maximize the time spent together.

Ivanhoe has an article with a few good tips on using the doctor appointment time wisely.

Though financial impact would vary, I like the idea of making two appointments if there is a lot of things that you need to discuss with the doctor, and, as a nurse, I can attest to the importance of describing your pain specifically, and, thoroughly.

As always, I think it’s a good idea to write down anything you want to discuss, and, always carry an updated list (and some copies if there’s a lot) of your or your parents’ medications and dosages with you. Yes, it is “on file” at the office, but, it can be very important for the doctor to see what you’ve actually been taking, and, a specialist may not always have ready access to all the medicines you’ve been prescribed.

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That’s right! Today’s Blogtoberfest Day here at GenBetween, and, there’s a prize lurking behind this very entry.

Don’t forget, I’m also at Career and Kids, watch for prizes over there, too, during Blogtoberfest!

UPDATED: contest closed for this entry, winner announced here.

Post from: Blisstree

Getting the most out of doctor’s appointments

Blogtoberfest will run through Friday, October 19th, 2007, and, it’s your chance to win some fabulous prizes, and, all you have to do is leave a comment!

Here’s how it works:

Each day randomly selected blogs will post as usual, the only difference is, they’ll post our beautiful Blogtoberfest button and a special note letting you know that it is a sponsored post. That particular post will have a secret prize assigned to it from our list of awesome prizes.

All you have to do to enter to win that prize is leave a comment! That’s it! All prizes will be available to the U.S. and Canada unless otherwise noted. We do have some goodies for our global friends too!

Within a few days of leaving your comment, check back with that blog to see what the prize is and if you’re the lucky winner as well as instructions on just how to claim your prize.

The object of Blogtoberfest is to reward our loyal readers and subscribers – only loyal readers will know when to comment, if they’ve won and how to get their prize! Pretty good, huh?

If you would like to become a loyal reader, visit our channel blogs – add them to your favorites or subscribe – checking back is the best way to win.

And well, with the holidays just around the corner, it’s a great way to kick off your holiday shopping! For Free!

We do hope you’ll come celebrate Blogtoberfest with us!

Participating blogs:

So, subscribe to the blogs, or check back often for your chance to win! Go look around now because the giveaways started today!

Post from: Blisstree

Celebrate Blogtoberfest

Today is the beginning of Blogtoberfest!

Thanks to so many wonderful people and organizations, we’ve got an amazing list of prizes to award during the first ever Family and Relationships Channel Blogtoberfest!

Take a look at who’s participating and the prizes they’re contributing.

Gloves in a Bottle – Gloves in a Bottle is a shielding lotion that rapidly absorbs into, and bonds with, the outer layer of skin creating a protective layer while retaining the natural moisture from within. This makes it the perfect dry skin care product. Value: $12.95

Skin MD Natural is a Shielding Lotion is far more effective as a dry skin care treatment than mere moisturizing lotions or protective creams. If you suffer from dry skin, you know that just using a moisturizing lotion doesn’t solve the problem. Value: $25.00

5 Lara Gallagher Organizing Bags – Do you want to get more organized but you’re afraid if you put stuff away you’ll never be able to find it again? That won’t happen with my Organizing Bags because you can see exactly what’s inside and best of all they take up less space than a box! Value: varies by size.

10 Carpet Bocce Games by FunSlides – Ideal for players of all ages, Fun Slides’ Carpet Bocce combines the skill and strategy of Bocce with a rebound action of the award winning Carpet Puck. Fun Slides’ Carpet Bocce Set keeps things interesting by turning this traditional lawn sport into indoor sliding fun! (Ages 4 and up) Value: $17.99 ea.

12 assorted and beautiful gifts from BabySakes – BabySakes is baby memory book specialty store, featuring a selection of hundreds of baby memory books, baby scrapbooks, brag books, keepsake boxes and journals. Value: up to $39.95

15 Your Baby Can Read Starter Kits – Your Baby Can Read! is a 5 DVD and Word and Picture Card Set designed for children ages 3 months to 5 years. The multi-sensory languauge development system teaches children to read the written word at the same time they are naturally learning to speak and best of all it’s fun both parent and child. Value: $16.95 ea.

2 Hewlett-Packard HP Photo Books – The HP Photo Book includes all the things you need: a professional looking hardcover photo book, easy to use layout and design software, and HP Advanced Photo Paper (12 sheets). Simply add your photos and creative touch, and you’re ready to go. Value: $24.99 ea.

Make Your Own Onesies! A giant collection of original iron on patterns and decals created by a work from home mom who loves to craft! The images are provided in adobe (PDF) format and comes with instructions. Simply print out the image you selected on to iron on transfer sheets, and then apply direct heat with an iron to create your own unique onesie! You can make tons and tons of fun onesies (creepers) for your baby at a fraction of the cost! Or make a few onesies to use as gifts for new moms and for baby showers. They are fun and practical!

Eve Eschner Hogan – Author, Power Speaker and Coach – One of the greatest relationship authors of our time has graciously contributed a copy of How to Love Your Marriage and my personal favorite, Intellectual Foreplay (a book every relationship can use). Eve has just joined the blogosphere so she can share her relationship expertise even more – Ask Eve Advice – Value: $16.00 ea.

Dr. Leah Klungness – Dr. Leah has graciously donated a personally autographed copy of her popular book The Complete Single Mother. Recent statistics show single motherhood on the rise, at 12 million, up from 3.4 million in 16.00+100.00+18.00+5.00+1970. This reference will help single mothers overcome the challenges of daily life with dignity, wisdom, and courage. Value: $16.00

FeeFiFoto.com has dontated a Bucket Bag, Single Photo Mia Cameron handbag made from an extremely sturdy microfiber fabric, trimmed in microfiber or leather. They don’t use an iron-on process, which produces high quality colors, image quality and life. This prize will be handmade to order, and takes 3-5 weeks for delivery. Just in time for the holidays! Value: $100.00

MySuperSaving.com is sponsoring one 6-Month Membership – to a private collection of samples, savings, shopping, rebates and coupons to help you and your family save – And a Lemongrass Clay facial soap. Value: $18.00

Kate Baggott has donated a copy of The Practical Romantic A Confessional Guide to Internet Dating. Imperfect people are perfectly loveable. It’s a message that gets lost in the great air-brushed culture that is modern living. For those of us who seek both romance and the chance to get beyond the tyranny of image, Internet dating can provide a fixed point in the far-ranging search for companionship.

Busy Body Book is going to get two lucky winners a little more organized by chipping in 2 personal and family organizers. One Brown and one ZigZag.

Wendy Piersall from eMoms at Home knows the importance of coffee to many bloggers and blog readers, eMom herself is chipping in a Starbucks Gift Card. Value: $20.00

Just Paper Roses will be contributing one dozen beautiful and personalized long stem roses from their collection. You’ll choose the color and the personalization, they’ll do the rest. Value: $64.95

Special thanks to Randa Clay for contributing the beautiful Blogtoberfest button that will make prize posts easier to locate for those Family and Relationships Channel readers.

Read more about Blogtoberfest to find out how you can win!

To make sure you don’t miss any information regarding Blogtoberfest and the prize giveaways, be sure to subscribe to the b5media.com Family and Relationships Channel and our blogs – you’ll find them all located in the right hand column of our channels main page.

You can watch for prize winning posts to be posted between October 8 – 19.

Post from: Blisstree

Blogtoberfest Prize lineup

Our gracious host is Steve at Inside Fatherhood, and the carnival is where you can find lots of thought about “Hope and Renewal”, a very fitting topic, since Spring is just around the corner for many of us.

Go on over and check it out!

Post from: Blisstree

Family and Relationships Carnival – “Hope and Renewal”

For example, you can get all the updated posts from GenBetween and the other blogs in the Family and Relationships Channel (see others in the sidebar over there ===>) in one convenient feed here.

If you are new to feeds, or, have questions, e-mail me, and, I’ll help you out!

Post from: Blisstree

Channel Feeds from b5 Media