Who's the real expert?

I've always been weary of doctors. Maybe its something that is passed on through the women in my family. My grandma is almost 80 and only goes to the doctor if shes in dire pain or on the verge of dying. My mom has panic attacks (this is NOT an exaggeration) when she has to go to the doctor - one kind of doctor especially. Sometimes I wonder how she managed to have 2 kids. I'm not that bad, but I tend to avoid doctors and instead, diagnose myself using the vast amount of information on the internet. If I ever have to go to the doctor, I usually know what is wrong and what I need. Luckily, Im still young and relatively healthy so its not like there have been any major issues.

Recently though, I have been thinking more and more about taking care of a big ugly varicose vein on my knee that I developed during my pregnancy with Jacob. Although my leg can get achy, its really more of a cosmetic nusiance. My legs are one of the things I've got going for me, yet I have this ugly bulgy vein on my knee that ruins it for me.

Jake heard commercials for a new type of procedure involving radio waves to zap the vein closed and take care of the problem. No pain, no surgery, no recovery period, so I made an appt. The doctor conducted a quick ultrasound and informed me that the main vein was fine, that it was only the tributory vein and that he was recommending a stripping-type procedure. I went home, disappointed, but was thinking about it. The next day, a lady from his office called to talk to me about my options. I felt like I was dealing with a used car dealership more than a doctors office. I told her that I didnt understand why I had to go through an hour long surgery involving an IV, sedation, and ripping veins out, when I could easily just have a 10 min laser or radio wave procedure. She started getting snippy with me, so I told her I would get a second opinion.

So I did. I went to a "real" doctor on my insurance plan. They sent me to get another ultrasound. This time it was an hour long extensive ultrasound done at the hospital. They ended up finding reflux (damage) in my main vein. So that makes me a candidate for the laser procedure. There was no hard sell and the doctor made sure to inform me that nobody dies from varicose veins and this was not something I HAD to do.

This experience has taught me a lesson - even if someone is an expert in their field, you know your body more than anyone else does - you are the expert of your body. Letting a doctor bully you into something just because they have more knowledge than you is never a good idea. I did my homework and had a gut feeling that the procedure he was recommending did not seem "right" for my body - I think it was just "right" for his checkbook.

Is that Shampoo Laced with Gold?

Am I the only woman on this planet that doesn't use $25 bottles of shampoo? I mean, there has to be someone out there buying all the suave and white rain products out there. All my friends (even the ones that are cheap in every other aspect of their life) have all confided that their guilty pleasures include ridiculously expensive hair products - shampoo in particular.

Nobody has ever said that my hair looked bad or greasy, so my .99 cent stuff must be working ok. I havent gone to the hair salon in years (another thing I absolutely hate doing) but I remember the stylists always commenting on how great my hair was and asking me what I used. When I gave my standard "whatever I can find for about a buck a bottle" answer, a gasp and long "this $25 hair product would be sooo much better" hard sell would usually follow. Why would I switch when the cheap stuff I was using was obviously working?

Ignorance in Faith

A lot of people who read this post will probably disagree with my stance on the following story but can probably relate to how I feel if the situation were reversed.

During spring break, one of the moms of a friend of Megan called and asked if we could get the girls together to play. I hadn't heard very positive things about this lady, but I had never met her so I didnt have much of an opinion. The mom mentioned how she worked out of her house and would be doing her taxes that day, so I grudgingly agreed to have her daughter over at our house. Well, it turned out that the other two kids and Jake were sick that day, so Megan went over to her house instead. The mom came to pick Megan up but I never met her (Jake did) because I got tired of waiting and instead, went to go work out (she came an hour later than she said she was going to come).

Two weeks later, we were in the car and Megan mentioned that the subject of monkeys came up when she was at her friends house and that the mom asked Megan if she believed we came from monkeys or from god. Megan quoted the mom as saying "You don't believe that we came from monkeys, right? Because you know that god created yo.? People say it was from a big explosion but its really not. Whoever tells you that is wrong."

Regardless of what someone believes, it is absolutely not their business to preach to a 7yr old, ESPECIALLY one that is not your OWN child. I was furious! Imagine if HER daughter had come over to my house and I explained how what her mom is telling her is a bunch of bologne and that she was just being brainwashed. Then I could have provided her with scientific charts explaining evolution and the massive amounts of evidence supporting it. The difference is that I wouldn't do this because I am more respectful than that.

I think what affected me the most was what Megan told me after I asked her what she said to the mom when she asked her this. Megan said "I just told her I agreed because I didnt want her to think I was a bad person." Basically, my daughter was intimidated into believing (or pretending to believe) a certain thing because she was too afraid of someone thinking negatively about her. I want my daughter to be a strong and intellegent woman who doesn't let others or society determine her path in life. It killed me that she would have felt that way because of what this mom was saying.

I had to explain to her that being a good or bad person is not based on what you believe, but rather, on how you act. I also spent a while explaining that there is no conclusive evidence supporting either theory, therefore nobody can claim their beliefs are right or wrong.

There is no doubt in my mind that this woman went too far. So my question is, do I confront the mom or let this go?