THE EMAILER STRIKES AGAIN!!

Many of you just saved $15-$20 + per month from Verizon. Hopefully you received your Property Tax Rebate from the State (and that certainly was a nice check). We will hopefully get back some nice $$ once our Tax Relief lawsuit is settled.

So, now I just convinced Westminster Security to lower their rates to Regency residents who use them for monitoring. Remember, this is just for monitoring your alarms and not the wiring contract (which I personally gave this up). I was paying $22/month and told them that this was too high. She then quoted $18/month and I said that this was not good enough. She then "went to her supervisor" (I heard that before) and now the price would be $15/month. I told her that I am the emailer and that whatever I get, well anyone who is paying a higher rate should get the same thing as myself. She agreed. However there are a few provisions:

1. You must finish your initial contract that you signed with Toll for the 3 years of monitoring at either $22 or $23/month.

2. They might tell you that if you sign a 2 year agreement the price will be $18/month.

3, Tell them to "go to their supervisor" and get the $15/month deal.

4. They will send you an agreement for $15/month for 2 years which you would have to sign.

5. You can call them at anytime after your three years was up. Their number is 800-957-2522

So, $7/month X 12 months = $96 + $6 tax = $102 savings. This is all in a day's work for the REGENCY EMAILER. Aren't you happy that you signed up for emailing!

My next target might be EZ Pass. How do you save money? Well it's a small saving like $12/year but did you know that EZ Pass charges you $1/month for membership or something like that. That's because the State of NJ allows it to happen. However, EZ Pass is in all the States and even in Canada. So why do you have to use NJ for your EZ Pass sign up? You don't. You can get EZ Pass in a State that doesn't allow EZ Pass to charge customers for "membership". Okay, that's $12 more in your pocket but frankly, who is going to change for $12?

Remember we would love to hear from you with regard to any cost savings ideas. Don't let the Emailer and/or our newly formed Purchasing Committee do all the work.

MEETING OF THE PURCHASING COMMITTEE

The second meeting of this Committee was held and the way things will be handled was discussed at length. Naturally our Chairman, Goodie Mollen and the members who were present, had some very good ideas and there are some necessary rules/regulations that need to be addressed before we start going into the actual bidding process.

One important point discussed was - what if some of our residents provide services and/or products that we might need or want. The decision of the committee was that we are going to develop a reference book. In it, we will have the names of the residents who have a product or service that they want to provide Regency residents with.

Therefore, if you have a product or a service that you might want others at Regency to know about, just send me the information about your product or service. Please include the following:

1. Your name and company name (if you have a company name)
Contact information: eg. Telephone number, address, email, fax, etc.
2. Type of product or service - general description
3. Discounts you offer or prices for products and/or services

This information will appear on my BLOG and it may appear on the Official Regency Website (Wentworth), once we discuss this with the HOA. Please keep in mind that you might have an Exterminating Company and the Committee will go out on bids for an Exterminator. You will be listed in the directory but we won't be soliciting a bid from you. Residents of course will have a choice. They could buy from Vendor X or Vendor Y or they can contact the resident and obtain these services from the resident bypassing Vendor X or Y. Needless to say, the resident can obtain these services from anyone on the list, or not on the list.

REGENCY ACTORS AND PLAYERS NEED YOUR HELP

The Regency Actors and Players who will be putting on a show this year, needs YOUR help. In order to defray the costs of putting on the show, Booster Ads and Business Ads are necessary. So click on the following and please help out. If you know a business that might want to contribute please given them a copy of the flyer.
The Actors and Players thank you for your support and help!

Booster Ad Link - Click on the following:
http://www.freefilehosting.org/public/44355/BOOSTER%20AD%20080707.pdf

Business Ad Link - Click on the following:
http://www.freefilehosting.org/public/44356/BUSINESS%20AD%20080707.pdf

STEVE HERMAN - YOU ARE THE BEST!!

I've known Steve and Carol Herman for over 35 years and I've always known that they are wonderful people. Well, Steve found Phyllis Greenberg's gold and diamond necklace. As Phyllis stated in a previous email, the value was one thing, but the diamond was from her late mother's engagement ring. I can certainly understand the value that you can put on something like this.

Steve was the person who found it and turned it in. For this, Phyllis is eternally grateful and rightfully so. Thank you Steve for doing what you did which is something I know that we all would do for each other. Regency, you are the BEST!

MEN'S BOWLING LEAGUE - NEW SEASON
BEGINS, THURSDAY, SEPT 20TH
LIMITED TO THE FIRST 48 PLAYERS PAYING

The Men's Bowling League will begin its new season on Thursday, September 20, 2007. There will be 3 man teams who will bowl 3 games each Thursday night starting at 6:45 PM. The season will run for twelve weeks and the cost will be $125.

The bowling alley has informed us that they are limiting the number of lanes that we will get. As a result, only the first 48 bowlers who send in their checks will bowl with us this fall. Please make your check out to Regency at Monroe Bowling Club and send it to Stanley Sandler at 9 Turnberry Drive.

Call Stanley at 605-9373 or Herb Cohen at 656-3033 with any questions.

GOURMET LUNCH CLUB

If you are interested in joining the GOURMET LUNCH CLUB, please drop off a check for $25 to Chris Barone at 8 Country Club by August 20th. It's another great way of getting to meet other residents and at the same time having a nice lunch. For more information contact Chris Barone.

COUPLES CANASTA TOURNAMENT
OCTOBER 21st

Click on the following link for more information:

http://www.freefilehosting.org/public/44358/COUPLES%20CANASTA%20TOURNAMENT%20OCT%2021.pdf

CHANGE IN SCHEDULE FOR ROMEOS

FOR TUESDAY AUGUST 14TH LUNCH WILL BE
"REGENCY GRILL ROOM"
PLEASE ARRANGE TO BE THERE AT 11:30

ATTENTION: REGENCY GOLF COMMUNITY

CHANGE OF PLANS. The celebration honoring Ruth and Bill Olear will take
place at the combined men's and women's golf luncheon on WEDNESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 5th at 1PM in the ballroom. Any Regency residents who are not in
the league are invited to attend. The cost of the luncheon for non league members is $35 pp. No charge for league members. Please contact Nancy Rubin at 732-605-7963 or at nsrubin@comcast.net to RSVP

SCARY STUFF!

The Regency Community is not a community of friends. It's a community of Family. As such, any knowledge that I might have dealing with what I did in my professional life, I would be happy to share with anyone if this would help. Many times I have been asked about medications and even though I have been retired for several years, certain things are still remembered (oddly enough).

As most of you know, I was a Director of Pharmacy at a hospital and I was also an Associate Professor of Clinical Pharmacy, teaching at the University as well as at my hospital. Over the years, I saw things that hopefully many of you would never encounter on a personal basis.

I had told Greta that when I retire I would write a book. Instead I became the Emailer of Regency. The book will not be written because I am having too much fun and no time to write except to you.

My experiences and observations as a Pharmacist will hopefully help many of you as we start getting a little older. Naturally your physician is the "Captain" of your healthcare boat but remember we are all human and NOBODY knows everything, including physicians, pharmacists and our nurses.

So here is an interesting case that was presented to me in the hospital. A patient is admitted and she is bright yellow from head to toe including the whites of her eyes. Jaundice? That was ruled out. So what is causing this problem. The Medical Staff called me and said, maybe drugs? I took a complete drug history including those drugs that she was taking over the counter. When she mentioned Vitamins I asked her what vitamins and how much. BINGO! I found the problem. She was on this megavitamin "kick" and she was taking Vitamin A in doses that were far in excess of the required daily amount and she was doing this for 15-20 years. Keep in mind that some vitamins, like Vitamin C, you can take plenty of it because it is water soluble and it is excreted in the urine. However, other vitamins, like A,D, E are fat soluble and don't get excreted readily and stay within the body. So the diagnosis, HYPERVITAMIN A OSIS. The point I am making is that you should ask your physician and/or pharmacist, what the maximum dose of your vitamins should be if you are taking them as separate pills vs. a pill that has basically the Minimum Daily Requirement wrapped up in one tablet or capsule.

Talking about the excretion of medications and vitamins, etc. I once heard a lecture from a very prominent Gerontologist (a physician who takes care of people our age). He brought up a very good point. As we get older many of our organs, liver, kidney's etc. aren't working at 100%. So when a physician orders medication, yes sometimes they look at the lab results to see how your creatinine levels are (kidney's) but do they regulate the dosage of the drug based upon these levels. The answer is, some may but many don't because sometimes they don't know how well these drugs get excreted from the body because everyone is different.

So what is my personal answer to this type of problem - if you are on many medications, you should see a Gerontologist at least once a year to let her/him know what you are taking because she/he probably will be more in tune with what the dosage of your medication should be. as you get on in years. However, you might say, well, I feel good taking drug X. Clinically, that might be what your family physician is looking for but is drug X causing some slow organ deterioration that eventually might "pop up" later on? The Gerontologist can also talk to you more about the foods you take and the meds you take and what interactions there are between food and drugs.

The classic example, of course, is taking Coumadin (a blood thinner) and eating a lot of green leafy vegetables. Those patients on Coumadin usually take PT levels to determine dosage. However, one day you eat a lot of lettuce and these levels will change dramatically and frankly you can start bleeding based upon the dosage and the level that you now have. Patients can eat green leafy vegetables, but you have to be consistent and eat about the same each day. This way your PT levels will be consistent also and the drug can be titrated to the level.
Drinking alcohol - STOP! If you are on many different drugs the best advice I can give you is to give up drinking. Besides saving your liver, it could save your life and I've seen a few deaths in the ER because of prescribed drugs and alcohol drinkers.

Synergism - another word for taking two drugs where the therapeutic response is greater then taking each drug separately. Sometimes this is what the physician desires, but sometimes the physician isn't aware of what is causing you to have a greater or lesser therapeutic response. When we start taking 5 or 6 or more drugs, anything is possible. The computers we have today can do so much but the interactions of these drugs, frankly, sometimes you just don't know and you just have to ask a patient how they are feeling and if they are getting any side effects. A patient, near and dear to me was once put on a drug called DayPro. It's a drug like Motrin. However, in combination with other drugs she was taking, her kidneys just shut down. Fortunately, once she was taken off of the drug, her kidneys returned to normal.

While I am on over the counter medication like vitamins, my friend, who was the physician in charge of our ER, called me in to the ER to take a look at someone. She was yellow and Jaundiced. How did this happen? The answer, constant use of Tylenol for years. Don't throw away your Tylenol tablets because it can help, but make sure you don't exceed the dosage and don't take it for years, because it will affect your liver. She took about three times the daily maximum dose and she took it daily for years. He liver was destroyed and I don't think it was reversible.

So when a physician orders one tablet three times a day and you feel you need two tablets, please don't take this upon yourself. Make sure you tell your physician what you are doing. The removal of Vioxx from the market was probably done because of misuse or abuse of the medication. In therapeutic levels over short periods of time, this drug was very helpful.

Like many of us I take a cholesterol lowering agent (Zocor). One of the side effects is body aches and boy was I aching. So, this "smart" pharmacist said, I'm going to stop the Zocor and BINGO, the body aches went away. However, when I went for my next blood test, BINGO, my cholesterol was higher then ever. The point I am raising is a decision on my part was needed. Which is more important - having no body aches or having a lower cholesterol level? I chose having a lower cholesterol level. You might say, why not change the drug where you can lower your cholesterol and lower your body aches. The answer is, what if there is no drug available that can do this? So the point being, accept the side effect because the positive outweighs the negative and sometimes this is what your physician is doing.

Expired medication - I'm always asked what should I do about it, throw it away or take it. My answer to you is throw it away. This of course is the safe answer. Sure, a drug doesn't expire exactly on the date on the bottle. It probably can go for another year or more BUT, as time goes by, drugs start degrading. Where do you keep your drugs? In the worst place possible - your medicine cabinet in the bathroom that you shower in with all the heat and steam. This adds to the degradation of the medication even if the bottle is tightly closed. Antibiotics that expired - guess what, take it after it had expired for let's say 6 months or longer and you can run into some serious problems. Heart medications - don't play games, get rid of expired medication. The life you might save is yours.

Poly Pharmacy - major problem if you use more than one different Pharmacy. For example, you are on Digoxin, a heart pill. One month you get it from a mail order company, the next month you get it from the local pharmacy. What's the problem? A drug is a drug? The answer is NO! Standards for drugs vary and are based upon standards found in a book, I'm not sure if it is still around but in my days this book was called the USP. In this book to make Digoxin a company can have it's purity standard anywhere from 90-110% (this is just an example and may not be for Digoxin). So, if you get digoxin, for example, from a pharmacy that buys brand X and then from a pharmacy that buys brand Y, you might be getting two different therapeutic responses. So what should you do, first off, with certain types of medication like Digoxin, only ask for the brand Lanoxin, made by one company that usually made with the same standards batch after batch.

However, in this competitive market, pharmacy's, whether chains or independent stores, switch generic brands all the time when there are changes in pricing or contracts. Unfortunately, we must accept something like this but be aware that if your usual therapeutic effects change, let your physician know. The other reason of sticking with one pharmacy is obvious. They have all your medications in their computers and they will be more able to handle any problems you may encounter or any problems they see with one or more drugs causing some problems when taken together. If you send some meds to a mail order company and other meds you fill locally, let the local pharmacist know what other meds you are on.
Some other types of generic drugs, I recommend that you only buy the brand. Even something simple like aspirin, I will only buy Bayer or if you take children's aspirin for possibly preventing myocardial infarctions, St. Joseph is fine. How do you know if an aspirin tablet is bad. Simple, open the bottle and if you find it smelling like acetic acid and the tablets are falling apart easily, spend the dollars and buy the brand.

Now let me talk about some of your lab tests and their results. If you are a patient in a hospital do you know how many times my pharmacists spoke with physicians when they started increasing insulin levels because of some lab test that showed high sugar. There are many drugs that cause false positives or negatives in lab tests. Do pharmacists and/or physicians know all of them - absolutely not! Yet, having a clinical pharmacy program where specially trained pharmacists meet and talk with physicians - like the saying goes, two heads are better than one.

Without "tooting" my horn, we were one of the first hospitals in New York that hired these specially trained pharmacists to make rounds with physicians, nurses and to provide interventions when necessary. Six pharmacists in one year made 10,000 interventions. Some of these interventions saved lives, some reduced the patient's length of stay in a hospital and some were made to improve therapeutic responses and yes, some were made to reduce costs but without jeopardizing the care of the patient.

When the JCAHO (they can close down a hospital) came to my hospital, they wanted this program to serve as a model for the rest of the nation. At a time when healthcare costs were rising and the "word" was decrease costs, the President of my hospital and the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, who was the President of Sweet N Low, supported my endeavors 100%. In fact, the Chairman of the Board personally donated enough money to fund 6 scholarships to the school of pharmacy so that I would have enough resources to find capable pharmacists. Enough bragging!

Here's a funny or not so funny story. A friend of mine was going "crazy" because his physician told him that his cholesterol was over 600. The physician told him to watch what he eats and he prescribed a cholesterol lowering drug. He told me he never had a cholesterol problem before. Bells rang in my head. You don't go from normal to 600 overnight. So, I asked him what he had for dinner the night before. No problems with any of the food. Then he said, he sat down to watch the ballgame on TV and started eating peanuts - he finished the bag. I told him to go back to his physician and be retested and told him no more peanuts, liver or any of these fat type foods the day before. His results came back and guess what - he was NORMAL. So he was taken off of the medication that he never needed in the first place. He was surprised his physician didn't pick it up but what he ate for dinner was fine and that's all he told his physician. He didn't think about peanuts causing the problem.

Some drug can cause false positive or negative glucose levels. So you titrate insulin to these levels and when you are done with your medication you can be on too much or too little insulin. Again, sometimes your professionals (physician, pharmacist, nurse) may not be aware of every drug that can cause these lab results to be incorrect.

What is the answer? "Let's go to the video" as one TV announcer would say. However, "let's go to the books", this would be a better way of saying it. There are books that will tell you which drugs affect lab results just like books that say which foods affect lab results. If you see a result that is much different then your previous lab test, think about what you might be doing different. Did you eat more of something or was a new drug added to what you are already taking. Then check to see if these changes can affect your lab tests. With computers today, that information might be found on the internet. I will eventually put various medical sites on my blog so that each of you will be your own patient advocate.
Wait until you read, Chapter 2 which will be forthcoming in my future emails. It will have to do with the Patient's Bill of Rights in a hospital. What you have to do to get well quick and get out of the hospital as quickly as possible. I am a true believer of treating patients, even very sick patients, at home. The home health care companies today provide all the necessary help, equipment, medications, education you need to handle practically any type of problem. At my hospital we made up thousands of IV doses to be used by patients at home. It included antibiotics, chemotherapy agents and hyperalimentation (with all sorts of "goodies" in this specially prepared IV solution.)

The heading of this "ranting" of mine is called SCARY STUFF. Well, what is truly scary is something called NOSOCOMIAL INFECTIONS. These are Infections that you acquire in a hospital. There is basically only one antibiotic left to combat an infection called Vancomycin resistant MRSA. The "bugs" are becoming smarter and our knowledge has not kept up with how to deal with these types of "bugs". With this infection, unfortunately there is no other cure except for maybe some experimental or research type drugs from the CDC. There is hope in these types of experimental drugs. Ten years prior to anyone knowing about AIDS, I had under a research protocol, 3 separate drugs that came from the Center of Disease Control, that were used on a very small percentage of patients who had AIDS in those days. These drugs increased a patient's life span but they were not cures. As time went on and researched increased, so did the lifespan of these patients to a point of living a full and productive life. We probably all knew someone who had this dreaded disease but it is now treatable.

Some of the things I have written might not be things that you want to read about (so when you see this part in my emails, just skip it). Others might welcome it to gain more insight into those little things we put into our mouths each morning that we sometimes take for granted. My intent is to pass along the knowledge I have gained over the years, since we now, unfortunately, are on more drugs then when we were in our 20's and 30's. If I just help one of you then I feel that what I am writing about is worth all the effort.

SPEED TRAPS NEAR REGENCY

Besides my Birthday and Anniversary lists I think it is important, especially for new residents, to know where all the speed traps are located. Okay Regency, start sending me the information and I will compile it and send it out in my next email.

YOUR EMAILS

Remember to add something to SUBJECT when sending out emails. Blank SUBJECTS are treated as SPAM and they aren't received by the person you are sending an email too.

MORE VERIZON SAVINGS

From a resident I just received the following:

Freedom Plan reduced from $44.99 to $29.99 - a savings of $15
DSL reduced from $19.99 to $14.99 - a savings of $5

That's $20/month - GO REGENCY! Some residents are getting $24.99. It depends upon when you call.

CLARK FITNESS SCHEDULE
SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER

Click on link for more information
http://www.freefilehosting.org/public/44197/Clark%20Fitness_SEPT-%20OCT%202007.pdf

REGENCY DINING CLUB FLYER
2007-2008 SEASON

Click on this link for more information
http://www.freefilehosting.org/public/44172/REGENCY%20DINING%20CLUB%20FLYER.pdf

GARAGE DOOR OPENER

It's been almost 6 years since my garage door openers seemed to be problematic. It was always my side of the garage and not Greta's. I have, like most people, a keypad mounted on the outside of the garage door with a code that would open the doors. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The remote that I use from inside of my car, I have to be real close to the garage door to open it whereas Greta could be a block away.

So, Monty Mechanic Ron kept replacing batteries in the keyless keypad outside the garage door but it never improved upon opening the door. Then one day I looked at Greta's garage door opener and saw this little wire hanging down. I knew it was the antenna that is needed for all of these wireless garage door gadgets. On my side - NO ANTENNA. After 6 years I doubt that Toll would do something so I called Chamerlain who makes these garage door openers and they will be sending me the parts that are needed to add an antenna to my garage door opener.

So, stop reading my email (your still reading) and make sure both of your garage
door openers have an antenna that comes out of the bottom.

A TRADER JOE'S NEAR REGENCY?

Some Regency residents are interested in getting a Trader Joe's built near us. They have asked that I send out this email and direct you to the website where you can add MARLBORO/MANALPAN/FREEHOLD as your location request for a Trader Joe's. Here's the link:
http://www.traderjoes.com/location_requests_form.aspx
Your help would be appreciated.

RIDE INTO THE CITY IS NEEDED ON SUNDAY (ONE WAY ONLY)

"If anyone is driving into the City this Sunday, and has room for one passenger, please call Gloria at 605-9413. I will gladly pay tolls."
Thanx.

ANOTHER REMINDER MESSAGE
New Sign of a Stroke- Stick out Your Tongue

There is a new sign of detecting a stroke -- in addition to the one that has been passed around the past year of so. Give it a look. New Sign of a Stroke -- Stick out Your Tongue

STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters.. S.T.R.

STROKE IDENTIFICATION:

During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) and just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food - while she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about enjoying herself the rest of the evening. Ingrid's husband called later telling everyone that his wife had been taken to the hospital - (at 6:00pm , Ingrid passed away.) She had suffered a stroke at the BBQ. Had they known how to identify the signs of a stroke, perhaps Ingrid would be with us today. Some don't die. They end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.

A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...totally. He said the trick was getting a stroke recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.

RECOGNIZING A STROKE

Thank God for the sense to remember the "3" steps, STR . Read and Learn!

Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer severe brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:

S * Ask the individual to SMILE.

T * Ask the person to TALK to SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE(Coherently) ( I.e. It is sunny out today)

R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out their tongue. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or the other that is also an indication of a stroke. If he or she has trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call 911 immediately !! and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.

THAT'S IT FOR NOW (THIS CERTAINLY WAS A LONG ONE)
RON