The government sent a team of investigators to our city to check some doctors who were accused of taken a kick back. No results were ever reported. I am sure some of them do take it. My pharmacist told me that the Alzheimer's meds have never been proven to help. He said we are being used as guinea pigs for their research. You may not know this but when you research a doctor on the net, there is a place to click to see if he has ever had any problems like lawsuits. You can also call your local district attorney's office and get the same report. This post was edited by EmmaR on Mon, Jan 21, 13 at 11:01

Leigh K, a question for you. I am not asking to provoke you but it seems that you constantly post antagonist respones to every section. This is a menopause forum. Some of us, (perhaps the unlucky ones) have genetic predisposition to poor health. I was a body builder work out vegetable eating machine, at 28 huge inner ear and jaw tumor (never did drugs, smoked or anything) chemo and four surgeries later (including hysterectomy have left me very unhealth. I am now 36, 2 years ago became so ill I couldnt walk. Auto-immune sle (3 aunts have perished from this) and hypogammaglobulenemia. Therefore, gamma globulin infusions. I have been to more doctors than I could count to the infinity number (slight exageration 'joke'). I have found that doctors are practictioners and try. I will consult a pharmacist regarding meds way before a doctor. Doctors know what the particular drug is useful for but, as I am allergic to sooo much. I fall into the 1% side effect profile. Pharmacist know the composition and such. I have personally taught many phycians about new side effects and after controversy and putting the pdr in front of them they say wow. But on the whole doctors try to do what is best for their patient. I am even sometimes glad they receive free samples from drug companies because they pass those on to us less fortunate long term ill patients that have to pay for meds directly out of our pocket. Now my question to you is. Have you ever had a serious illness for which you had no control, trust me I have now been through 9 surgeries. 2 in 2 months. I have a 13 year old son and an 11 year old. There constant worry is mommy are you going to die on us. Heart wrenching. I come to this forum for advice on what has worked for other people. As far as meds go, because unlike you. Some of us has to take them to have a better quality of life. You remind me of my mother that never had a soar throat telling me to get out of bed and run when the pain is so bad my leggs arent even working. I would do anything to not to have to take another pill but I would a least like to find some form of hrt to make my younger life a little more peaceful.... AND I don't feel guilty about that. Give me good advise instead of bashing please. We all know meds are harmful, doctors are not perfect but companies hire sellsmen to do what it takes. Its everywhere. Banking, escrow and Realtors are worse (Ive been involved in all three).

Could I ask if this was regular eye doctor, an eye specialist or an a eye super specialist? I ask because my husband has had appointments with one of Toronto's super specialists - appointments were booked for 9:00 a.m. and those in the know take lunch and dinner with them - they often turned into all-day events. But this specialist does Vitrectomies, detached retina eye surgeries, that type of thing and there aren't that many Toronto doctors who perform these surgeries. Most of the patients are diabetics - my husband is one of the few who is not, so on a first visit a person with diabetes has a problem with food. Food sharing then happens. Then we have the various levels of more junior eye specialists - some being too senior to do say cataract surgery so you are referred to a lower specialist. Quite the ordeal. The wait times differ depending on the specialist. The optometrist is very good - usually on time. She does Part 1 of the exam, then puts in the drops and has people return to the waiting room for a few minutes while she takes care of a few other matters and then is ready to see the patient with the drops as soon as the drops have done their bit. Of course with me, the drops burn off immediately and I never get blurry eyes. I think you should sleep on your letter and then decide what to do. Years ago I had to see a specialist - every time you would swear that you were in a bus terminal full of people. The receptionist would always tell people that the doctor had been called out on an emergency. So one day one of my fellow patients stood up and asked how many of us had an appointment booked for 5:00 p.m. - every hand in the room was raised. The receptionist looked scared - not her fault though. It is very common for a few people to have the same appointment time - I think doctors hope that some appointments will be quicker than others. Doesn't always happen though.

Thanks to your encouragement, I do think I will move. I won't be seeing my relatives every day because I'm looking in the Dunedin area and that isn't close to any of them. It would be nice to be close for holidays and an occasional get together. Plus I would be close if I needed help or if one of them did. It sure is fun looking for condos on-line. Right now I have a list of 18 condos in my price range. I wrote them on 3x5 cards with a description of each and the name of the condos. I know the ones I'm liking now won't be available when I'm ready to buy, but maybe something better in the same condos will be. I do have a mortgage on this villa, but the payments are cheap even when you add in the HOA fee. OTOW requires a 30% down on your mortgage. Not sure this is entirely legal for them to insist on, but they do. There are some incredibly good deals right now in Pinellas. Getting financing won't be a problem. What I want is a 2/2/1 car garage with washer/dryer. At least 1100 sf and a screened porch first floor unit. I can either buy one already updated or buy one cheaper that needs updating. What do you think about that? The difference seems to be about $30,000 and I could do a heap of updating with that!! I don't want a water view because the taxes and insurance would be incredibly high. I can go look at the water whenever I want--beaches are always close down there. Would you buy one ready to move in or get a contractor and get it the way you want it?