Flower Friday : : Kalanchoe, Mother of Millions

...or at least thousands. This little succulent plant which is no more than 3 inches tall was a 'party favor' at a Mothers' day gathering a few weeks ago. I chose it because of its interesting coloration and the toothy edges of the leaves. I put it on the kitchen windowsill. A few days ago it began sporting little round leafy structures along the ends of each tooth...baby plants, I assume. It does  flower with a beautiful pink bell-like flower, but not this tiny plant and not right now. I still thought it worth a shot as it's quite charming. I might not feel so charmed by it when it becomes a mother to millions, but I think I have plenty of time before that happens.

I feel a rant coming on so those who aren't inclined to read further certainly don't have to.

Our friends Anne and Harold left this morning, but while they were here I spent quite a bit of time talking with Anne, who trained as a nurse midwife in London and a very practical person, about her ongoing quest to find a diagnosis for symptoms resulting from prolonged treatment with massive doses of prednisone. There were lots of serious side effects from this necessary treatment. Many of them went away. A couple of them didn't. One of them remains undiagnosed and as a result untreated. Because whatever she has is rare and the many doctors she has seen are unable to help her, she feels that the 'experts' are both unwilling or unable to use any imagination to figure out what it is. If it's not documented in some medical journal, if there's no recognized protocol for treatment, most of her doctors have lost interest in trying to figure out what is causing her debilitating symptoms.

Anne is a poster child for everything that's wrong with our medical care. I feel that more and more, the system is run by the insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Even if some enterprising doctor had the time and energy to pursue the research and figure out what's wrong with Anne, she probably couldn't afford to pay for the medication, and the insurance probably wouldn't pay for it. It's a sad state of affairs.

Thanks to Biker Bear for continuing to provide a pleasant diversion and an excuse not to read the newspaper (or obsess about things we can't change).