Here's a little something for you!

SO, I don't take pills. When I am pregnant I try to choke down a few because I am generally anemic and tired during pregnancy. I also do not remember to give my children pills. Yet I have an entire cupboard shelf for vitamins, herbs and supplements. My homeopathics DO get used but the rest of this stuff...not so much.

I was organizing my cupboard today and took all of these things out. Nearly half are things I puchased because I wanted to. The Vitamin C, B-12, Folic Acid, Dandelion Root, Papaya Root (pregnancy heartburn be gone), Cran-actin, Cramp-ease, Nettle and Garlic Oil.

The Other half are things that my practicioners convinced me to buy. The trouble with those are ... they aren't cheap. We are talking about $30+ a bottle here folks. Most of them are things that it would behoove me to take or give to my children, but I forget. There are a few exceptions there is the big bottle with a shiny label, that is from the MLM my parents were into before the current one. Why do Mormons Like MLM's so much? I don't know, I did not inherit that gene. I don't know what it does and as I opened it this afternoon I learned, the seal hasn't even been broken.
Then there is the Opti-Gyn. Opti-Gyn is some sort of super vitamin for women with reprodictive issues. I acquired a this bottle during a last ditch effort to avoid surgery. It was a late rainy winter evening, I got a last minute appointment at the Naturopathic College of Medicine downtown. My best friend saved me by watching my son for me while I went in. While I was there I learned 1) My insurance would not cover this visit and the person who recommended it to me had a different idea of affordable than I did. 2) It was hot in that building, and I was in emotional distress. 3) I was starving and dangerously close to passing out from hunger.
After waiting quite some time I finally was ushered into a room with a real doctor and 3 students. I cried out my story to them and told them how much I wanted to avoid surgery and that it was scheduled in 3 weeks.
They grilled me, asked every single question under the sun, 3 times. They then left the room for quite some time to confer and then came back, told me to eat a better diet and showed me out the door. Where I was met with a bill of $80 and told to buy this bottle of pills. Cost $40 - sure I could have declined to do so but all 4 of the doctors were hovering watching me write out my check and as I mentioned the 3 points I was in no state to argue. As soon as I left the building I cried, and cried and cried. I picked up my son, crying out the whole story and then arrived home where my husband had to make me soup and put me to bed.

The next morning I called the office and told them I would like to return my bottle of pills. I was told that all pharmacy purchases were non refundable. I was so mad, I stopped payment on my check. Where I learned 1) banks charge $25 dollars to stop payment on checks. 2) even if you are pissed off about the treatment you recieved at the doctors office you still have to pay.

So I was stuck with the $80 visit, $40 pills, and $25 check cancellation fee, and a $10 late payment fee at the office. Nice, emotional abuse and highway robbery. And I still had to have the surgery.

I can't get rid of these pills because I am so frugal - I can't thow out money. I am not going to take them because I will not remember, I can't get rid of them because Freecycle won't let you freecycle "supplements" even though they won't define supplements.

So I just look at these pills as a tip. I give the practicioners ;who are all excellent (save the Opti-Gyn pushers) a little tip. They do a good job and I smile and buy their pills so they can make a little more money than my insurance company will pay them.