Let's face it, hospital stays are
full of unfamiliar terms and confusing procedures. From wearing a hospital gown
and settling into a small room that you may share with a stranger to
understanding your diagnosis and treatment, many patients feel overwhelmed. To
make matters worse, your confusion may continue even after you have been
discharged and sent home. Weeks pass, life returns to normal, and then one day
there it sits, waiting in the mailbox-that jumble of lines, abbreviations, and
numbers that can only mean one thing: your hospital bill.
The typical
bill can be difficult to understand, even for those in the health care
industry. This is because the act of consolidating fees for the various
services you receive while in the hospital can be challenging. Any hospital
stay will include several services from the hospital's many departments. Most
likely you will receive multiple bills from your hospital stay: one from the
hospital, one from the emergency room, and one from the lab. To add to the
confusion, your bill will likely contain an abundance of codes and
abbreviations, which vary from hospital to hospital and insurer to insurer. In
the end, your statement may look more like a foreign-language puzzle than a
bill.
Recently, we were given the opportunity to review
a book written by a young author. When we received it, I noted how
beautifully done it was. While often the case - we see beautifully
written and illustrated books all the time - but how often do they
originate from a 10-year-old? "Sewing a Friendship", written by a
creative and talented young girl named Natalie Tinti is such a book.
The
book formed in Natalie's mind from her own experience when she noticed
that many of her classmates and friends were lonely, unhappy and
depressed. Natalie came to realize that these kids, including herself,
had extremely different opinions and attitudes about the same
experiences -- the experiences that make us who we are and how we act
toward others.
Natalie's story provides incredible insight about
what makes kids interact with others the way they do. Why are bullies,
bullies - and why are some kids cruel in ways that hurt and demoralize
others who don't deserve it at all? Developing friendships is an area
that Natalie Tinti has researched in her own life. In her book, Sewing
a Friendship, she tells what great things can happen if kids go that
extra mile in giving others a chance.
Tinti's characters in
Sewing a Friendship are colorful and creative personalities. In her
"Introduction of Characters," Natalie presents an overview of the
characters in her book, including her grandma and grandma's dog, Dogon.
Each character has different talents and likes and dislikes. Jonsy
Jipsy loves to sing and belly dance, Sokron Blossom lives in a neat and
tidy world and loves to read fashion magazines. Meeka likes brain games
- the more numbers involved, the better -- and Nina is happy with her
life and the music it brings her.
