Recently I made another stab at finding a doctor who might offer suggestions as to the pain in my abdomen.
At my husband's suggestion, this time I sought out the guy who did the original surgeries on me more than 20 years ago. I didn't even know he was still in practice.
My husband liked Dr. D*ckHead way back when but I never really did. He always discussed my issues with my husband, talking around me as if I were an object he would cut on and not a human being. For example, he asked my husband before every surgery (all six of them) if we still wanted to have children, not me. I don't think he ever once asked me. He assumed that I'd rather go through six years of agony and attempt to have children than maybe have the hysterectomy in the first surgery and be done with it. And while I did want children and maybe nothing would have been changed, it would have been nice to have been asked.
At the time so long ago, he was considered one of the better GYN doctors in the area. I mean, we didn't even have a transvaginal ultrasound machine here locally back then, something so common now that a former governor was nicknamed for the device a few years.
Anyway, I went to see Dr. D*ckHead, and he gets the top mark as biggest jerk of a doctor I've seen. I think he even beats out Dr. Dumba*s, the one who did the surgery on me two years ago that has since ruined my life. I pity any woman who is still seeing this jerk for gynecological needs.
I don't know where these doctors get their lack of compassion. Do they teach that in school? Or are jerks drawn to the medical profession for reasons I can't comprehend?
Dr. D*ckHead didn't even try to find out what was wrong with me. He hurt me with his exam, and then told me it was all in my head and the only thing wrong with me was that I was overweight and didn't exercise enough. Never mind that I have a torn ligament in my ankle. Never mind that my weight gain didn't start until I began taking infertility treatment medications that Dr. D*ckHead himself put me on 20 years ago. Never mind that he gave me no direction, offered no suggestions, but dismissed me as if I were a bulging tick on his buttocks. Too bad I wasn't, maybe I'd have given him Lyme Disease.
On top of that, he had the nerve to tell me that physical therapy was a waste of time. Physical therapy is the only healing modality that has kept me on my feet for the past two years. If you need to see a physical therapist more than three times, said Dr. D*ckHead, then either you weren't putting forth any effort or the physical therapist wasn't any good. I call bullshit on that one.
Dr. D*ckHead also said that adhesions and scar tissue don't cause pain. Tell that to every physical therapist in the valley who has to deal with scar tissue. But most surgeons dismiss the theory of scar tissue and adhesions. It is very weird how they get these ideas in their minds and don't let go of them.
And yes, Dr. D*ckHead, I'm overweight. Do you think I don't know that? Do doctors think that obese people are not aware that they're wearing 10 sizes more than they should be? What, you think we don't own mirrors? What is the point in telling me that without offering a solution? Couldn't you give me a printout - here, try this diet, it's been known to be helpful for women who've had a zillion drugs and hysterectomies and whose hormones are screwy. I guess that would be too hard. You might actually do some healing with something like that.
So Dr. D*ckHead, you saw me for the last time. Your name gets filed under "trash," and I hope you never need a physical therapist, because I guarantee you'll be there more than three times.
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Wednesday, September 09, 2015
Could Someone Explain . . .
I am not in the health insurance business, and have nothing to do with health care except that I use it. I spend a lot of time at doctors' offices these days, and as a result I spend a lot of time looking at my EOBs (Explanation of Benefits) from the insurance company.
What I'd like to know is why we're not all yelling "fraud" from the billings between healthcare providers and the insurance company. And before anyone yells "Obamacare," I know for a fact this has been going on long before that went into place.
Here is an example of my complaint: my orthopedic doctor gave me a brace for my ankle. The company that makes the brace charged my insurance company $92.19 for it. The insurance company "allowed" a charge of $54.69 and paid $43.75 of that, leaving me with a 20% copay of $10.94.
The company sells the exact same brace online for $33.94. If they'd charged the insurance company that amount, my copay would have been $6.79.
Why isn't this fraud? If the company can sell the thing online for $33, why is it okay for them to charge $92, and accept $54?
Here is another example: one of my doctors charged the insurance company $117.00. The insurance company "allowed" only $80.57. I had a copay of $20 so the insurance company paid them $60.57.
So can someone out there explain this to me? I don't understand why this isn't fraudulent. To me it is. If you can sell an ankle brace for $33 and still make a profit, then why are you charging the insurance company $92 only to agree to accept $54? If you will see a patient for $80, why isn't that the charge?
What the heck is all of this "allowable" charges BS? And I bet that it differs from plan to plan. I bet your plan might get charged $192 for the same ankle brace, or maybe it would be charged $72. I guarantee that nothing is same across the board.
This is what is wrong with our healthcare, and it wasn't addressed in the Affordable Care Act, apparently, since companies are still doing these kinds of billings.
Can I be the only person out there who thinks this is wrong?
I remember a very long time ago, if a merchant advertised something at a certain price, that was the price they had to sell it at. If there was a misprint, they ate it. I don't know when that changed, but at some point it did, and it became acceptable for companies to backtrack, change prices, and do all sorts of price-fixing that I long thought was illegal. I suspect the rules changed under Reagan and his deregulation movements, but I can't be sure of that. I'm not a business major, either.
What I'd like to know is why we're not all yelling "fraud" from the billings between healthcare providers and the insurance company. And before anyone yells "Obamacare," I know for a fact this has been going on long before that went into place.
Here is an example of my complaint: my orthopedic doctor gave me a brace for my ankle. The company that makes the brace charged my insurance company $92.19 for it. The insurance company "allowed" a charge of $54.69 and paid $43.75 of that, leaving me with a 20% copay of $10.94.
The company sells the exact same brace online for $33.94. If they'd charged the insurance company that amount, my copay would have been $6.79.
Why isn't this fraud? If the company can sell the thing online for $33, why is it okay for them to charge $92, and accept $54?
Here is another example: one of my doctors charged the insurance company $117.00. The insurance company "allowed" only $80.57. I had a copay of $20 so the insurance company paid them $60.57.
So can someone out there explain this to me? I don't understand why this isn't fraudulent. To me it is. If you can sell an ankle brace for $33 and still make a profit, then why are you charging the insurance company $92 only to agree to accept $54? If you will see a patient for $80, why isn't that the charge?
What the heck is all of this "allowable" charges BS? And I bet that it differs from plan to plan. I bet your plan might get charged $192 for the same ankle brace, or maybe it would be charged $72. I guarantee that nothing is same across the board.
This is what is wrong with our healthcare, and it wasn't addressed in the Affordable Care Act, apparently, since companies are still doing these kinds of billings.
Can I be the only person out there who thinks this is wrong?
I remember a very long time ago, if a merchant advertised something at a certain price, that was the price they had to sell it at. If there was a misprint, they ate it. I don't know when that changed, but at some point it did, and it became acceptable for companies to backtrack, change prices, and do all sorts of price-fixing that I long thought was illegal. I suspect the rules changed under Reagan and his deregulation movements, but I can't be sure of that. I'm not a business major, either.
Friday, August 21, 2015
Dear Dr. Dumbass
For some time now, I have wanted to write a letter to the doctor who performed surgery on me two years ago and tell him exactly what I think of him and his arrogant, asinine attitude.
I keep thinking I should let it go, that it would serve no purpose, that I might even get sued for libel or something if I wrote it. Because let's face it, the jerk probably would do that, even he even read the letter.
It occurred to me, though, that I could, in fact, make a public declaration to Dr. Dumbass here on my blog. I've never mentioned Dr. Dumbass by name, so it could be any doctor in the world, really. And I fear this probably applies to many doctors, surgeons or not.
So for my own peace of mind, and because it is time, here is my letter.
Dear Dr. Dumbass:
I am sure you do not remember me. I initially met with you on a Thursday in late June two years ago, and after a cursory look at a radiology report and brief thump on my stomach, you agreed that my gallbladder needed to come out.
After hearing that I'd been constantly sick to my stomach for the better part of eight days (and dropped 12 pounds or so in the process), you said you had some time open the following afternoon and could do the surgery then. We raced off to do the prep work required by the hospital, getting the forms and bloodwork and all of that take care of, as you requested.
I told you multiple times that I'd had previous surgeries. You waved off my concerns about adhesions and scar tissue. "Never causes a problem," you said.
So that Friday we placed my life into your hands. I was terrified, and while the nurses were reassuring, you were not. You barely acknowledged my presence when you came in. You should have treated me as a special aunt, a family member, someone you cared about. I am not sure you ever even knew my name. I was just "fat body A" who needed a cut or two, I think.
My husband overheard you tell someone that you needed to get through the surgery quickly because you had a tennis match to get to.
I sincerely hope that whoever you were playing beat the hell out of you during that game. Maybe they threw a tennis racket at you and hit you upside the head.
You did your job. You took out my gallbladder. You forgot to leave orders for post-op pain killers, though, and I lay in agony for several hours before the nursing staff could run down someone who could tell them to administer the big gun drugs. My 23-hour stay at the hospital was like a badly performed circus routine from that point on, so much so that my husband was afraid to leave me for fear something else might go wrong.
None of that was supposedly your fault, though. You don't make mistakes, the nursing staff told me. Ever. Never does Dr. Dumbass make an error. If there were no post-op orders, it was because the hospital computer ate them.
When I saw you for my two-week post-op visit, you didn't remember me. You looked at the incision, cut out a stitch, and told me I was good to go. You never expected to hear from me again. When I questioned why I had severe pain four weeks after surgery, your staff ignored my calls. Finally, after a visit to the ER, I went back to see you about 10 weeks post-op. You walked in and looked at me like you'd never seen me before in your life. I told you about the pain. You barely touched me. "I don't know what this is, but it has nothing to do with the surgery I did," you said. You turned on your heel and walked out, leaving my husband and I to look at one another. You offered no relief, no other course of treatment, no suggestions. You got out of there as quickly as possible because, God forbid, you might have screwed up.
We thought you were a good doctor. The family had some experience with you and the outcome had been good for that person. Your online profile on the health-check websites sucks - you have no bedside manner, you don't follow up, you are careless and uncaring. I read that before the surgery but you'd done OK with the other family member, so we went ahead with you. My primary care doctor had recommended you, as well. And I was very sick and it was, quite simply, an emergency situation, or so I was told. When three different doctors tell you to get the gallbladder out or you're going to die, you kind of have to go with the advice.
Your operative notes were sparse and indicated that you took little time to see if there was any problem. Basically, you yanked out my gallbladder and sewed me up. I knew when I saw where you'd cut me that you had had no consideration for the state of my body, because you'd punctured a place where I already had a massive scar, cutting through that bulky tissue for whatever reason, because, I suppose, that was where you always made an incision and nothing was going to slow you down.
Maybe any doctor doing this surgery would have ultimately ended up disabling me. I will never know. But not every doctor would have dismissed me, nor treated me like I was simply a piece of meat to take a steak knife to. That is the way you treated me. You did not treat me like a human being, certainly not like someone you cared about, and certainly not like a good physician should treat a patient.
You were a jerk. It's been two years and I bet you still are a jerk because you have probably always been a jerk. I try to console myself with the thought that you have done good things for other people in the past. I was just the unlucky one. But I also wonder how many other unlucky ones you've neglected and rejected because you are an asshole. Three? Three hundred? At least a few, because they've left biting remarks about you on those websites I mentioned earlier. Your rankings range from 1 to 3. Nobody gives you a 5. Nobody likes you enough to do that.
It's not so much that you destroyed my life as it is that fact that you don't care, I think, that eats at me. You're supposed to be a healer. You're supposed to care. You're supposed to treat people with compassion and be human about the work that you do.
But you didn't and you weren't.
You were and you are a dumbass.
Sincerely,
A former patient whose husband would hit you in the nose if he saw you.
I keep thinking I should let it go, that it would serve no purpose, that I might even get sued for libel or something if I wrote it. Because let's face it, the jerk probably would do that, even he even read the letter.
It occurred to me, though, that I could, in fact, make a public declaration to Dr. Dumbass here on my blog. I've never mentioned Dr. Dumbass by name, so it could be any doctor in the world, really. And I fear this probably applies to many doctors, surgeons or not.
So for my own peace of mind, and because it is time, here is my letter.
Dear Dr. Dumbass:
I am sure you do not remember me. I initially met with you on a Thursday in late June two years ago, and after a cursory look at a radiology report and brief thump on my stomach, you agreed that my gallbladder needed to come out.
After hearing that I'd been constantly sick to my stomach for the better part of eight days (and dropped 12 pounds or so in the process), you said you had some time open the following afternoon and could do the surgery then. We raced off to do the prep work required by the hospital, getting the forms and bloodwork and all of that take care of, as you requested.
I told you multiple times that I'd had previous surgeries. You waved off my concerns about adhesions and scar tissue. "Never causes a problem," you said.
So that Friday we placed my life into your hands. I was terrified, and while the nurses were reassuring, you were not. You barely acknowledged my presence when you came in. You should have treated me as a special aunt, a family member, someone you cared about. I am not sure you ever even knew my name. I was just "fat body A" who needed a cut or two, I think.
My husband overheard you tell someone that you needed to get through the surgery quickly because you had a tennis match to get to.
I sincerely hope that whoever you were playing beat the hell out of you during that game. Maybe they threw a tennis racket at you and hit you upside the head.
You did your job. You took out my gallbladder. You forgot to leave orders for post-op pain killers, though, and I lay in agony for several hours before the nursing staff could run down someone who could tell them to administer the big gun drugs. My 23-hour stay at the hospital was like a badly performed circus routine from that point on, so much so that my husband was afraid to leave me for fear something else might go wrong.
None of that was supposedly your fault, though. You don't make mistakes, the nursing staff told me. Ever. Never does Dr. Dumbass make an error. If there were no post-op orders, it was because the hospital computer ate them.
When I saw you for my two-week post-op visit, you didn't remember me. You looked at the incision, cut out a stitch, and told me I was good to go. You never expected to hear from me again. When I questioned why I had severe pain four weeks after surgery, your staff ignored my calls. Finally, after a visit to the ER, I went back to see you about 10 weeks post-op. You walked in and looked at me like you'd never seen me before in your life. I told you about the pain. You barely touched me. "I don't know what this is, but it has nothing to do with the surgery I did," you said. You turned on your heel and walked out, leaving my husband and I to look at one another. You offered no relief, no other course of treatment, no suggestions. You got out of there as quickly as possible because, God forbid, you might have screwed up.
We thought you were a good doctor. The family had some experience with you and the outcome had been good for that person. Your online profile on the health-check websites sucks - you have no bedside manner, you don't follow up, you are careless and uncaring. I read that before the surgery but you'd done OK with the other family member, so we went ahead with you. My primary care doctor had recommended you, as well. And I was very sick and it was, quite simply, an emergency situation, or so I was told. When three different doctors tell you to get the gallbladder out or you're going to die, you kind of have to go with the advice.
Your operative notes were sparse and indicated that you took little time to see if there was any problem. Basically, you yanked out my gallbladder and sewed me up. I knew when I saw where you'd cut me that you had had no consideration for the state of my body, because you'd punctured a place where I already had a massive scar, cutting through that bulky tissue for whatever reason, because, I suppose, that was where you always made an incision and nothing was going to slow you down.
Maybe any doctor doing this surgery would have ultimately ended up disabling me. I will never know. But not every doctor would have dismissed me, nor treated me like I was simply a piece of meat to take a steak knife to. That is the way you treated me. You did not treat me like a human being, certainly not like someone you cared about, and certainly not like a good physician should treat a patient.
You were a jerk. It's been two years and I bet you still are a jerk because you have probably always been a jerk. I try to console myself with the thought that you have done good things for other people in the past. I was just the unlucky one. But I also wonder how many other unlucky ones you've neglected and rejected because you are an asshole. Three? Three hundred? At least a few, because they've left biting remarks about you on those websites I mentioned earlier. Your rankings range from 1 to 3. Nobody gives you a 5. Nobody likes you enough to do that.
It's not so much that you destroyed my life as it is that fact that you don't care, I think, that eats at me. You're supposed to be a healer. You're supposed to care. You're supposed to treat people with compassion and be human about the work that you do.
But you didn't and you weren't.
You were and you are a dumbass.
Sincerely,
A former patient whose husband would hit you in the nose if he saw you.
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Thursday Thirteen
We are soon coming up on National Suicide Prevention Week (September 7 - 12) and October has a Mental Illness Awareness Week (October 4 - 10) and National Depression Screening Day (October 8).
Better to advertise these things before the events, because folks who are suffering really don't need days or weeks or months. People with depression and suicidal ideation tend to live with it daily, taking things day by day. Sometimes they take it minute by minute.
Depression and thoughts of suicide or self-harm came come from out of nowhere, or they can have a physical cause. The truth is, mental health is something humans still don't understand, and probably won't for a long time. The brain is a complex organ, and all it takes is a little of the wrong something - and who knows what that something is - and things can get a little whacky.
So what do people who are having a tough time actually need?
1. They need empathy. Maybe you know why your friend hurts, or maybe you don't. It doesn't really matter. Acknowledge that the person feels bad and don't try to find a reason for it. The reasons may never make sense to you. The reasons may not make sense to the person who is miserable. But it is nice to know someone cares.
2. Tell the person that s/he is not alone. Let them know that you will listen without judgment or lecturing. Not just once or twice. Sometimes depressed people repeat themselves, particularly if the issue is ongoing and chronic. Depressed people can sense quickly when they've overstepped a line and frustrated a friend. If that happens, don't be surprised if the depressed person stops telling you things. Listening to someone who is hurting can be difficult and not everyone can do it. Urge your friend to get counseling if the situation seems perpetual or you can't handle it, but make sure that your friend knows you care and are trying to help the best you can. This can be very hard not just on you but also your friend; this is tough ground.
3. Remind the person that s/he is a good person and has value. Many depressed people have lost their sense of self-worth and/or purpose. They're not sure why they are still on the planet and can't figure out why nothing they do is good enough.
4. Ask the person how you can help. Maybe all s/he needs is an ear. Maybe the friend needs a hug. Maybe s/he needs somebody to fix dinner every now and then. But don't move in and take over. Let the person guide you as to what s/he needs.
5. Remind the person of better times. Maybe you shared a fun shopping trip or you had a nice adventure together. Talk about things other than how the person feels for a while. Tell a joke or a funny story.
6. Be there when the person needs you. That might mean making a suggestion - going for a walk or seeing a movie, for example. Anything to get your friend moving and out of the house. Be ready to follow through, because the depressed friend will likely say "no" to whatever you offer. You may need to say, "I'm going to be there at 5 p.m. and we're going to dinner and hit the 7:30 movie. I'm driving." And then show up at the door. This one time isn't going to fix it, but it will let your friend know that you care enough to take action.
7. Tell your friend that it is okay to take things a day at a time. Acknowledge that tomorrow might not be easier - but then again, it might. But let it be okay if it isn't.
8. Try saying, "I'm sorry this has happened to you, but we can and we will get you through it."
9. Tell the person that life is worth living, and that even if s/he feels stuck and can't see a way out, there is always a different choice or option. The person simply hasn't found the right one yet, but hold his or her hand and tell them you will help them find what they need.
10. If your friend has started pulling away, you may need to pull back. If s/he stops calling or doing things with you, speak up. Tell the person you miss him or her and would like to spend time with them.
11. If you are just realizing that your friend isn't well, apologize for not noticing. Please don't make them feel bad for "bringing you down" or something like that. Depression is not a choice, and no one with depression intends to be the party downer.
12. Don't tell the person that other people have it worse. They know that there are children starving, people sleeping in the streets, and folks with poor drinking water. That doesn't make their pain any better. It might make it worse, because it adds to the guilt.
13. Tell your friend that you believe in his or her strength, and that you accept the person the way they are now, not as you hope they will be.
Here are symptoms of depression. If you recognize these in yourself or in a friend, remember that depression is an illness and something that needs to be dealt with, perhaps with a doctor's guidance. It should never be taken lightly.
Feelings of sadness, tearfulness, emptiness or hopelessness
Angry outbursts, irritability or frustration, even over small matters
Loss of interest or pleasure in most or all normal activities, such as sex, hobbies or sports
Sleep disturbances, including insomnia or sleeping too much
Tiredness and lack of energy, so even small tasks take extra effort
Changes in appetite — often reduced appetite and weight loss, but increased cravings for food and weight gain in some people
Anxiety, agitation or restlessness
Slowed thinking, speaking or body movements
Feelings of worthlessness or guilt, fixating on past failures or blaming yourself for things that aren't your responsibility
Trouble thinking, concentrating, making decisions and remembering things
Frequent or recurrent thoughts of death, suicidal thoughts, suicide attempts or suicide
Unexplained physical problems, such as back pain or headaches
For many people with depression, symptoms usually are severe enough to cause noticeable problems in day-to-day activities, such as work, school, social activities or relationships with others. Other people may feel generally miserable or unhappy without really knowing why.
Remember, depression is not a choice. It may occur once in a person's life, or may occur multiple times.
Here are warning signs for suicide:
Talking about killing or harming one’s self
Expressing strong feelings of hopelessness or being trapped
An unusual preoccupation with death or dying
Acting recklessly, as if they have a death wish (e.g. speeding through red lights)
Calling or visiting people to say goodbye
Getting affairs in order (giving away prized possessions, tying up loose ends)
Saying things like “Everyone would be better off without me” or “I want out”
A sudden switch from being extremely depressed to acting calm and happy
Here are causes and risk factors for depression:
Loneliness
Lack of social support
Recent stressful life experiences
Family history of depression
Marital or relationship problems
Financial strain
Early childhood trauma or abuse
Alcohol or drug abuse
Unemployment or underemployment
Health problems or chronic pain
For more information, check out these websites:
Hopeline
Mayo Clinic
Depression Symptoms and Warning Signs
National Institute of Mental Health
If you or someone you know is suicidal and you feel action must be taken immediately, call 911 or visit your nearest emergency room. There is also a toll-free, 24-hour hotline: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255); TTY: 1-800-799-4TTY (4889), where you may talk to a trained counselor.
____________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 409th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. (I'm not usually so serious.)
Better to advertise these things before the events, because folks who are suffering really don't need days or weeks or months. People with depression and suicidal ideation tend to live with it daily, taking things day by day. Sometimes they take it minute by minute.
Depression and thoughts of suicide or self-harm came come from out of nowhere, or they can have a physical cause. The truth is, mental health is something humans still don't understand, and probably won't for a long time. The brain is a complex organ, and all it takes is a little of the wrong something - and who knows what that something is - and things can get a little whacky.
So what do people who are having a tough time actually need?
1. They need empathy. Maybe you know why your friend hurts, or maybe you don't. It doesn't really matter. Acknowledge that the person feels bad and don't try to find a reason for it. The reasons may never make sense to you. The reasons may not make sense to the person who is miserable. But it is nice to know someone cares.
2. Tell the person that s/he is not alone. Let them know that you will listen without judgment or lecturing. Not just once or twice. Sometimes depressed people repeat themselves, particularly if the issue is ongoing and chronic. Depressed people can sense quickly when they've overstepped a line and frustrated a friend. If that happens, don't be surprised if the depressed person stops telling you things. Listening to someone who is hurting can be difficult and not everyone can do it. Urge your friend to get counseling if the situation seems perpetual or you can't handle it, but make sure that your friend knows you care and are trying to help the best you can. This can be very hard not just on you but also your friend; this is tough ground.
3. Remind the person that s/he is a good person and has value. Many depressed people have lost their sense of self-worth and/or purpose. They're not sure why they are still on the planet and can't figure out why nothing they do is good enough.
______________________________________________
“That's the thing about depression: A human being can survive almost anything, as long as she sees the end in sight. But depression is so insidious, and it compounds daily, that it's impossible to ever see the end.” ― Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. Ask the person how you can help. Maybe all s/he needs is an ear. Maybe the friend needs a hug. Maybe s/he needs somebody to fix dinner every now and then. But don't move in and take over. Let the person guide you as to what s/he needs.
5. Remind the person of better times. Maybe you shared a fun shopping trip or you had a nice adventure together. Talk about things other than how the person feels for a while. Tell a joke or a funny story.
6. Be there when the person needs you. That might mean making a suggestion - going for a walk or seeing a movie, for example. Anything to get your friend moving and out of the house. Be ready to follow through, because the depressed friend will likely say "no" to whatever you offer. You may need to say, "I'm going to be there at 5 p.m. and we're going to dinner and hit the 7:30 movie. I'm driving." And then show up at the door. This one time isn't going to fix it, but it will let your friend know that you care enough to take action.
7. Tell your friend that it is okay to take things a day at a time. Acknowledge that tomorrow might not be easier - but then again, it might. But let it be okay if it isn't.
8. Try saying, "I'm sorry this has happened to you, but we can and we will get you through it."
9. Tell the person that life is worth living, and that even if s/he feels stuck and can't see a way out, there is always a different choice or option. The person simply hasn't found the right one yet, but hold his or her hand and tell them you will help them find what they need.
10. If your friend has started pulling away, you may need to pull back. If s/he stops calling or doing things with you, speak up. Tell the person you miss him or her and would like to spend time with them.
__________________________________________
“There is no point treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad, saying, 'There now, hang on, you'll get over it.' Sadness is more or less like a head cold- with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.” ― Barbara Kingsolver, The Bean Trees
__________________________________________
11. If you are just realizing that your friend isn't well, apologize for not noticing. Please don't make them feel bad for "bringing you down" or something like that. Depression is not a choice, and no one with depression intends to be the party downer.
12. Don't tell the person that other people have it worse. They know that there are children starving, people sleeping in the streets, and folks with poor drinking water. That doesn't make their pain any better. It might make it worse, because it adds to the guilt.
13. Tell your friend that you believe in his or her strength, and that you accept the person the way they are now, not as you hope they will be.
Here are symptoms of depression. If you recognize these in yourself or in a friend, remember that depression is an illness and something that needs to be dealt with, perhaps with a doctor's guidance. It should never be taken lightly.
For many people with depression, symptoms usually are severe enough to cause noticeable problems in day-to-day activities, such as work, school, social activities or relationships with others. Other people may feel generally miserable or unhappy without really knowing why.
Remember, depression is not a choice. It may occur once in a person's life, or may occur multiple times.
Here are warning signs for suicide:
Talking about killing or harming one’s self
Expressing strong feelings of hopelessness or being trapped
An unusual preoccupation with death or dying
Acting recklessly, as if they have a death wish (e.g. speeding through red lights)
Calling or visiting people to say goodbye
Getting affairs in order (giving away prized possessions, tying up loose ends)
Saying things like “Everyone would be better off without me” or “I want out”
A sudden switch from being extremely depressed to acting calm and happy
Here are causes and risk factors for depression:
Loneliness
Lack of social support
Recent stressful life experiences
Family history of depression
Marital or relationship problems
Financial strain
Early childhood trauma or abuse
Alcohol or drug abuse
Unemployment or underemployment
Health problems or chronic pain
For more information, check out these websites:
Hopeline
Mayo Clinic
Depression Symptoms and Warning Signs
National Institute of Mental Health
If you or someone you know is suicidal and you feel action must be taken immediately, call 911 or visit your nearest emergency room. There is also a toll-free, 24-hour hotline: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (1-800-273-8255); TTY: 1-800-799-4TTY (4889), where you may talk to a trained counselor.
____________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 409th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. (I'm not usually so serious.)
Monday, June 22, 2015
Two Years Ago Today, I Was Well
Tomorrow marks the anniversary of my trip to the emergency room in 2013. The ER doctors at Lewis Gale performed an ultrasound and decided I was having a gallbladder attack. They gave me a list of surgeons, suggested I contact them immediately, and sent me on my way.
My primary care doctor found a surgeon for me at Jefferson Surgical Clinic, and that doctor performed the surgery at Roanoke Memorial (Carilion). At first we were pleased with the choice, for the doctor had also operated on my nephew and had done a great job with him.
However, apparently young men receive better care than 50-year-old fat women. My husband overheard the surgeon saying he needed to hurry up and get my surgery over with because he had a tennis match. My post-op care was joke.
I am still paying for that tennis match. It's been two years, and my pain continues.
What kind of pain? Abdominal pain. Something happened in the surgery and/or healing process that left my muscles in my stomach in a perpetual Charlie horse. Imagine how that feels in the middle of the night when you wake up with one. Now think about that in your belly 24 hours a day. Constantly. Sometimes it eases a bit but it never lets up 100 percent.
Add nausea to that, too, almost every day.
Now try to walk, lift things, bend over, do your chores, or sit for any length of time while you have that constant knot in your stomach. It isn't easy.
Over time, I've developed a significant limp, back pain, and ankle pain, as well as chronic weakness on the right side. Doctors attribute all of this to this "pelvic floor tension myalgia" or "chronic abdominal wall pain," which means, basically, they don't know what the heck is wrong with me. I've also been told it's IBS, pancreatitis, spasms, and a number of other things. I've been checked for AIDS, hepatitis, lupus, parasites, cancer, Lyme disease, and vitamin deficiencies.
Mostly, the doctors tell me it's a result of multiple surgeries and scar tissue from events that took place more than 20 years ago. As a young woman, I suffered from severe endometriosis, ultimately ending up with a hysterectomy at the age of 29. I received my records from that last surgery (the final in a series of six) and the notes indicated so many adhesions and scars that the doctors opted to leave things as they were for fear they'd make my insides worse if they tried to clear the scar tissue away.
The gallbladder surgeon was told of my previous surgeries, but I don't think he paid much attention to it. In fact, in a subsequent visit, he told my husband and me that he didn't believe in scar tissue (a statement that sends my physical therapist into orbit every time I mention it).
Unfortunately, after that gallbladder attack, I developed severe ulcers, which were diagnosed in October 2013. I am mostly recovered from those, but in the meantime my doctor determined I have fibromyalgia. It's also been hard to keep depression at bay because of the constant ache and inability to get around.
Two years later, things are improved over what they were in November 2013, but pain continues. I walk with a cane much of the time, particularly on uneven ground. Last week I had my second steroid shot in my ankle. It's bruised and swollen, and the doctor gave me a brace to try.
I have been in physical therapy for 14 months. For a long time I could only walk a whole 2 minutes on a treadmill before I bent over double in pain, and now I can do 10 minutes (sometimes 15!). It has taken a very long time to build up to that, and I am nowhere near as healthy as I was prior to the gallbladder attack. But I haven't given up.
Health care is not yet what it should be. Some doctors care a great deal and I am fortunate that my primary care physician is one of those people. So, too, is my physical therapist. The surgeon, however, was a doctor who practices making money by practicing medicine, and that is quite different from a doctor who practices medicine. The latter are gems; the former are all too common.
I don't write too much about my health. I try not to complain about it here or on social media often (my poor real-life friends get the brunt of my bitching, I'm afraid), but it has greatly impacted my life.
Prior to the surgery, I had big plans. By now, I had hoped to have secured a teaching gig at the local community college. I'd planned to be standing in front of a bunch of eager learners, teaching English 101 or something. I had even hoped to go back to school to work on my Ph.D.
Instead, I've spent my time in the last two years visiting doctors, physical therapists, chiropractors, and specialists. I am taking a lot of medication that I would rather not be taking. It's quite difficult to hold any kind of position when you have to go to see a health care provider of some kind two or three times a week.
If nothing else, I hope my story serves as a cautionary tale. The doctors said my gallbladder needed to come out; it had disease and stones, the post-operative report said. But I wonder, had I given myself a little time and made some dietary changes, could I have affected that organ and saved myself the pain and agony of the last two years?
One should listen to doctors, of course. We are taught to do that and I had three of them tell me to have the operation. My husband, too, was eager to see me out of pain. But sometimes I think we act to quickly. We're too eager to operate, in too much of a hurry to get better right away. Sometimes time is the greatest healer.
I can't put my gallbladder back now. I will never know what could have been.
Now I wait for time to heal me again, watching the years tick by.
My primary care doctor found a surgeon for me at Jefferson Surgical Clinic, and that doctor performed the surgery at Roanoke Memorial (Carilion). At first we were pleased with the choice, for the doctor had also operated on my nephew and had done a great job with him.
However, apparently young men receive better care than 50-year-old fat women. My husband overheard the surgeon saying he needed to hurry up and get my surgery over with because he had a tennis match. My post-op care was joke.
I am still paying for that tennis match. It's been two years, and my pain continues.
What kind of pain? Abdominal pain. Something happened in the surgery and/or healing process that left my muscles in my stomach in a perpetual Charlie horse. Imagine how that feels in the middle of the night when you wake up with one. Now think about that in your belly 24 hours a day. Constantly. Sometimes it eases a bit but it never lets up 100 percent.
Add nausea to that, too, almost every day.
Now try to walk, lift things, bend over, do your chores, or sit for any length of time while you have that constant knot in your stomach. It isn't easy.
Over time, I've developed a significant limp, back pain, and ankle pain, as well as chronic weakness on the right side. Doctors attribute all of this to this "pelvic floor tension myalgia" or "chronic abdominal wall pain," which means, basically, they don't know what the heck is wrong with me. I've also been told it's IBS, pancreatitis, spasms, and a number of other things. I've been checked for AIDS, hepatitis, lupus, parasites, cancer, Lyme disease, and vitamin deficiencies.
Mostly, the doctors tell me it's a result of multiple surgeries and scar tissue from events that took place more than 20 years ago. As a young woman, I suffered from severe endometriosis, ultimately ending up with a hysterectomy at the age of 29. I received my records from that last surgery (the final in a series of six) and the notes indicated so many adhesions and scars that the doctors opted to leave things as they were for fear they'd make my insides worse if they tried to clear the scar tissue away.
The gallbladder surgeon was told of my previous surgeries, but I don't think he paid much attention to it. In fact, in a subsequent visit, he told my husband and me that he didn't believe in scar tissue (a statement that sends my physical therapist into orbit every time I mention it).
Unfortunately, after that gallbladder attack, I developed severe ulcers, which were diagnosed in October 2013. I am mostly recovered from those, but in the meantime my doctor determined I have fibromyalgia. It's also been hard to keep depression at bay because of the constant ache and inability to get around.
Two years later, things are improved over what they were in November 2013, but pain continues. I walk with a cane much of the time, particularly on uneven ground. Last week I had my second steroid shot in my ankle. It's bruised and swollen, and the doctor gave me a brace to try.
I have been in physical therapy for 14 months. For a long time I could only walk a whole 2 minutes on a treadmill before I bent over double in pain, and now I can do 10 minutes (sometimes 15!). It has taken a very long time to build up to that, and I am nowhere near as healthy as I was prior to the gallbladder attack. But I haven't given up.
Health care is not yet what it should be. Some doctors care a great deal and I am fortunate that my primary care physician is one of those people. So, too, is my physical therapist. The surgeon, however, was a doctor who practices making money by practicing medicine, and that is quite different from a doctor who practices medicine. The latter are gems; the former are all too common.
I don't write too much about my health. I try not to complain about it here or on social media often (my poor real-life friends get the brunt of my bitching, I'm afraid), but it has greatly impacted my life.
Prior to the surgery, I had big plans. By now, I had hoped to have secured a teaching gig at the local community college. I'd planned to be standing in front of a bunch of eager learners, teaching English 101 or something. I had even hoped to go back to school to work on my Ph.D.
Instead, I've spent my time in the last two years visiting doctors, physical therapists, chiropractors, and specialists. I am taking a lot of medication that I would rather not be taking. It's quite difficult to hold any kind of position when you have to go to see a health care provider of some kind two or three times a week.
If nothing else, I hope my story serves as a cautionary tale. The doctors said my gallbladder needed to come out; it had disease and stones, the post-operative report said. But I wonder, had I given myself a little time and made some dietary changes, could I have affected that organ and saved myself the pain and agony of the last two years?
One should listen to doctors, of course. We are taught to do that and I had three of them tell me to have the operation. My husband, too, was eager to see me out of pain. But sometimes I think we act to quickly. We're too eager to operate, in too much of a hurry to get better right away. Sometimes time is the greatest healer.
I can't put my gallbladder back now. I will never know what could have been.
Now I wait for time to heal me again, watching the years tick by.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Emails Not Sent and FB Messages Not Posted
This is an email I started to send to my least favorite local hospital (biggest employer, located in downtown, you know the one):
Hello Nurse ____,
Thank you for follow-up email to my visit today to see about my ankle pain. It is very kind of you to write.
My take-away from my visit with Dr. _______ was that I have flat feet, I can try a change in orthotics and hope that stops the bones in my ankle rubbing together, and if that doesn't work, well, too bad. I was not given any options if that doesn't help. If I need to have custom orthotics, it would have been nice to have had some information about that. For example, does that require a prescription?
After my appointment I went to the shoe store as instructed and spent $200 on new shoes and orthotics, which may or may not help. In the meantime, I guess I am to tolerate the pain and keep limping along as I have for the last six months because I'm a 51-year-old overweight woman and therefore completely unimportant.
Dr. ____ probably did not spend 10 minutes with me, and he certainly did not seem to comprehend or understand that I am in a great deal of pain not only from my foot but that I also have other health care issues that affect my foot issue. I realize whole body medicine is a thing of the past, but honestly I am not just a body part. I'm a whole person.
I also realize it is not your fault that [hospital] cares so little for its patients. I was giving [hospital] a second chance but will not give it a third. Thus, I will not be back to see Dr. ______. I will try another doctor not affiliated with [hospital] if I decide to pursue this.
Happy new year to you. I hope 2015 is a good year for you, and that it is the year that [hospital] finds a heart. Goodness knows it needs one.
****
And then I started to post this on FB but didn't:
Not that anyone cares, but I still think [hospital] gives awful service and if I have my way, I will never again see another [hospital] doctor. I'm grateful they saved my husband's hand, but in my experience the doctors there treat women poorly and I do not get decent care at any of their facilities. I am treated as if I'm just in the way and certainly not like a human being. Even my husband has noticed that he is treated better than I am, and we both think it is gender-bias. You'd think a company with a female CEO would remember that half the population is not male.
****
This is just me ranting now here on my blog:
The health care in this valley is terrible. I have been lucky to find a good primary care doctor (not affiliated with any hospital, I might note) and a physical therapist (also not affiliated with any hospital or large health care provider), (and both are female), but otherwise health care here is more about popping pills and taking people's money than saving lives. I am so disgusted with the system that I expect I will die young just because I'm ornery enough to tell them all to go to hell and take their damn pills and leave me alone.
Some things do not work well as businesses. Government is not a business. Health care should not be treated as a business, either. They are entities unto themselves that have separate rules and they should not be lumped under the idiotic capitalistic money-hungry asinine society that we have created to keep people as slaves and servants to the monkeys with the money. For God's sake, will somebody realize that money is the problem and put the human equation back into the mix.
Hello Nurse ____,
Thank you for follow-up email to my visit today to see about my ankle pain. It is very kind of you to write.
My take-away from my visit with Dr. _______ was that I have flat feet, I can try a change in orthotics and hope that stops the bones in my ankle rubbing together, and if that doesn't work, well, too bad. I was not given any options if that doesn't help. If I need to have custom orthotics, it would have been nice to have had some information about that. For example, does that require a prescription?
After my appointment I went to the shoe store as instructed and spent $200 on new shoes and orthotics, which may or may not help. In the meantime, I guess I am to tolerate the pain and keep limping along as I have for the last six months because I'm a 51-year-old overweight woman and therefore completely unimportant.
Dr. ____ probably did not spend 10 minutes with me, and he certainly did not seem to comprehend or understand that I am in a great deal of pain not only from my foot but that I also have other health care issues that affect my foot issue. I realize whole body medicine is a thing of the past, but honestly I am not just a body part. I'm a whole person.
I also realize it is not your fault that [hospital] cares so little for its patients. I was giving [hospital] a second chance but will not give it a third. Thus, I will not be back to see Dr. ______. I will try another doctor not affiliated with [hospital] if I decide to pursue this.
Happy new year to you. I hope 2015 is a good year for you, and that it is the year that [hospital] finds a heart. Goodness knows it needs one.
****
And then I started to post this on FB but didn't:
Not that anyone cares, but I still think [hospital] gives awful service and if I have my way, I will never again see another [hospital] doctor. I'm grateful they saved my husband's hand, but in my experience the doctors there treat women poorly and I do not get decent care at any of their facilities. I am treated as if I'm just in the way and certainly not like a human being. Even my husband has noticed that he is treated better than I am, and we both think it is gender-bias. You'd think a company with a female CEO would remember that half the population is not male.
****
This is just me ranting now here on my blog:
The health care in this valley is terrible. I have been lucky to find a good primary care doctor (not affiliated with any hospital, I might note) and a physical therapist (also not affiliated with any hospital or large health care provider), (and both are female), but otherwise health care here is more about popping pills and taking people's money than saving lives. I am so disgusted with the system that I expect I will die young just because I'm ornery enough to tell them all to go to hell and take their damn pills and leave me alone.
Some things do not work well as businesses. Government is not a business. Health care should not be treated as a business, either. They are entities unto themselves that have separate rules and they should not be lumped under the idiotic capitalistic money-hungry asinine society that we have created to keep people as slaves and servants to the monkeys with the money. For God's sake, will somebody realize that money is the problem and put the human equation back into the mix.
Monday, November 17, 2014
Hell Week Begins
Today marks the beginning of an entire week of doctor appointments.
It starts this morning with a visit to the dentist to have a tooth fixed. It's one of those iffy deals that hopefully will be just an old filling removed and a new one replaced, but could end up in a root canal - or even an extraction - because of a crack in the tooth. It depends on how deep the crack runs, I'm told, though the x-rays look good.
I am not looking forward to this at all.
The remainder of the week is filled with physical therapy visits, a chiropractic visit, and a regular doctor visit. I also had a mammogram scheduled in there but decided that was more than I could handle and postponed that until after Thanksgiving.
So wish me well as I begin this round of health care visits. Mostly I am worried about the dental visit today; I think if that goes well then everything else will be a breeze. While I generally do well with regular dental cleanings, the fact that the upcoming procedure is not clear-cut has me concerned since I am not sure what to expect.
Getting old kind of sucks.
It starts this morning with a visit to the dentist to have a tooth fixed. It's one of those iffy deals that hopefully will be just an old filling removed and a new one replaced, but could end up in a root canal - or even an extraction - because of a crack in the tooth. It depends on how deep the crack runs, I'm told, though the x-rays look good.
I am not looking forward to this at all.
The remainder of the week is filled with physical therapy visits, a chiropractic visit, and a regular doctor visit. I also had a mammogram scheduled in there but decided that was more than I could handle and postponed that until after Thanksgiving.
So wish me well as I begin this round of health care visits. Mostly I am worried about the dental visit today; I think if that goes well then everything else will be a breeze. While I generally do well with regular dental cleanings, the fact that the upcoming procedure is not clear-cut has me concerned since I am not sure what to expect.
Getting old kind of sucks.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Last Year's Trick
A year ago today, I learned that I had multiple ulcers in my belly. On the digital picture I brought home, I counted more than 50. About 10 of them were large and "oozing blood," according to the doctor.
I was quite sick.
The medication for the ulcers raised my cholesterol levels and who knows what else it has done. I lost some weight (which I unfortunately gained back as I began to feel better), and wasn't exercising much.
Tremendous pain in my tummy continued. I had two CT scans, which showed nothing. In August of this year, doctors at UNC Hospital for Women diagnosed me with pelvic floor tension myalgia. This appears to be the result of numerous surgeries, topped off by the removal of my gallbladder in June 2013. Scar tissue and adhesions have subsequently knotted my abdominal muscles, causing pain with movement, and pulling my pelvis out of alignment. This causes me to walk oddly on my foot, and so I have damaged tendons in my ankle.
Or at least that is the physical therapist's explanation.
Last Christmas I could barely get around and was, and still am, using a cane to get about. My doctor in March filled out the paperwork for me to get a temporary disability tag. I can't tell you how much I hated having to get that. Unfortunately I just renewed it.
I have been in physical therapy nearly weekly (except for a month off when my husband was injured in a farming accident) since April.
This Halloween, while I am feeling better, I still have issues with my belly. An endoscopy in September showed the ulcers mostly healed but I still have lots of redness and inflammation. I don't know when or if the knots in my stomach will ease up. Cold laser therapy on my ankle has helped with swelling and I am walking a little better so long as I keep an elastic bandage tight on that foot.
I try not to complain. I don't go on Facebook and whine about how much things hurt or how little I can get around. But every now and then I wish someone would pat me on the head and say "there, there, it'll be okay." That's when I know I'm feeling sorry for myself and need to buck up, as they say.
So on this anniversary of my ulcers, let me wish you Happy Health, not Happy Halloween, though I hope you have that as well. People who have good health don't know how lucky they are. A healthy body is something to be cherished and cared for. I wish I'd learned that lesson about 30 years ago.
I was quite sick.
The medication for the ulcers raised my cholesterol levels and who knows what else it has done. I lost some weight (which I unfortunately gained back as I began to feel better), and wasn't exercising much.
Tremendous pain in my tummy continued. I had two CT scans, which showed nothing. In August of this year, doctors at UNC Hospital for Women diagnosed me with pelvic floor tension myalgia. This appears to be the result of numerous surgeries, topped off by the removal of my gallbladder in June 2013. Scar tissue and adhesions have subsequently knotted my abdominal muscles, causing pain with movement, and pulling my pelvis out of alignment. This causes me to walk oddly on my foot, and so I have damaged tendons in my ankle.
Or at least that is the physical therapist's explanation.
Last Christmas I could barely get around and was, and still am, using a cane to get about. My doctor in March filled out the paperwork for me to get a temporary disability tag. I can't tell you how much I hated having to get that. Unfortunately I just renewed it.
I have been in physical therapy nearly weekly (except for a month off when my husband was injured in a farming accident) since April.
This Halloween, while I am feeling better, I still have issues with my belly. An endoscopy in September showed the ulcers mostly healed but I still have lots of redness and inflammation. I don't know when or if the knots in my stomach will ease up. Cold laser therapy on my ankle has helped with swelling and I am walking a little better so long as I keep an elastic bandage tight on that foot.
I try not to complain. I don't go on Facebook and whine about how much things hurt or how little I can get around. But every now and then I wish someone would pat me on the head and say "there, there, it'll be okay." That's when I know I'm feeling sorry for myself and need to buck up, as they say.
So on this anniversary of my ulcers, let me wish you Happy Health, not Happy Halloween, though I hope you have that as well. People who have good health don't know how lucky they are. A healthy body is something to be cherished and cared for. I wish I'd learned that lesson about 30 years ago.
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
More Purty Pictures
This is looking back at the farm from the Botetourt Sports Complex.
This is Uncle Bill's house, nestled in the trees.
***
I am doing better compared to when I was at my worst, but I am still nowhere close to where I was pre-gallbladder surgery in June 2013. I still can't believe that such a "simple" surgery has completely changed my life, and not for the better. My activity level has been reduced significantly, and my pain level remains high. It is tough to walk around with a level 5 pain in your belly all the time. It is especially difficult when it shoots on up there to an 8 and bends you double.
On top of that, scar tissue and adhesions have pulled my hip out of alignment and created a problem in my gait, which has caused severe and chronic tendonitis in my foot. The pain in my ankle feels like someone is hammering hot spikes up my foot and into my calf. I have been using a cane off and on now for nearly a year. I have good days when I don't need it around the house, but I don't dare do something like venture into Walmart without it.
My husband is doing very well following his horrific accident with the hay baler. He still has some mobility issues in his hand, and I am concerned about the cold weather. I fear it will bother him and cause him some pain this winter. However, he is back to work and mostly doing everything he was before, with some modifications. I am so thankful he is recovering well, and grateful his injury was not worse.
The last two years have certainly not turned out like I had hoped. But I guess that is how life happens: when you least expect it, a beer truck comes crashing through your house. Not that this has happened, but it kind of feels like it.
Anyway, I hope that you, dear reader, are well and spending your days feeling loved and comforted, and in good health. Thank you as always for taking a look at my little corner of the world. I am grateful that you take the time to share it.
CountryDew aka Anita
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Watching the Weight
It's no secret that I am overweight. I've mentioned it here before and anyone who looks at me can see that I could stand to starve for a few days and it wouldn't kill me.
Dieting is harder for some than others. My weight issues began around the same time I started having trouble with endometriosis. Doctors put me on drugs that they now admit causes terrible hormone imbalances and weight gain. Twenty-five years ago, though, I was told that the medicines had nothing to do with weight gain, even though I put on about 30 pounds in six weeks without changing a thing in my diet.
Drugs change you, and change you forever. I seriously doubt I could ever get back to the weight I was when I married simply because my hormones are so screwy.
Of course, I have picked up some bad eating habits along the way. I also don't care for cooking, which makes convenience foods attractive. And then there are those hours when I grow bored and a perhaps a little lonely, and my friend Mr. Chocolate Bar saves the day.
I used to tell myself that I wasn't *that* overweight - I wasn't one of those women whose body fat droops over the edge of the chair, the ones with bellies hanging out of shirts or whatever. The ones driving around on the little cart in Walmart because they can't haul their own body weight around. And I am not that large, but I am at an unhealthy weight.
Serving sizes are a constant challenge. This morning, for example, I chose to eat a fat-free Pop Tart. I've gone back on Weight Watchers and so that's 5 points gone for today, and I only have 29 points all day long. But there are two Pop Tarts in a baggy in the box. If a serving is one single Pop Tart, why don't they put them in separate baggies? Because of course the other one is going to go stale before I get back around to wanting another 5-point Pop Tart. I don't eat them that often. A box of those will last me a month.
Nobody I know actually eats 1/2 cup of cereal, or drinks a half bottle of pop, or eats just 1/3 of a can of Vienna Sausages. They eat a bowl full of cereal, which is at least a cup if not more, and they drink the whole bottle of soda, and they eat all the little Vienna Sausages in a can.
While I take full responsibility for the state of my health, it would be nice if the food industry would also look over the corn stalks and take responsibility for its role in America's obesity epidemic. They don't have to supersize it, and shouldn't a serving of Pop Tarts, when there are two to a baggy, be listed as two of the darned things?
Virginia has a reported obesity rate of 25-30 percent of the population. Right next door, West Virginia has an obesity rate above 35 percent! Nationwide, about 34 percent (78 million) of Americans are obese. Not just overweight, but obese. If you count the folks who are just a little overweight but not yet obese, at least half of the nation is in need of a diet.
I have lost weight on Weight Watchers before. I manage to make it about 3 months before something happens - a holiday comes up, or I simply tire out, or I become ill and then can't get back on track with the diet. I've had so many new health issues pop up in the last 14 months that dieting has been the least of my concerns, but I need to worry about it now.
People who don't have weight issues have no idea how much of a struggle it is to deal with eating problems. It's not like being an alcoholic - you don't have to drink bourbon in order to live. But you have to eat.
The thing I most dislike about Weight Watchers is that I don't think it teaches you how to eat well or how to eat healthily. If you look at some of the foods they recommend - mostly their own brands of snack foods - they are full of stuff I don't want in my body. Aspartame or sucralose, carrageen - all sorts of things that aren't good for you. So Weight Watchers is really all about the money, like most things in the USA, and not about making people healthy. Weight Watchers does help with portion controls and if you stick to the points and simply stop eating when you hit your daily allowance, it works.
However, I want to learn how to eat well and live a healthy lifestyle. My head knows how to do this, sort of, but there is some disconnect between my brain and the rest of me. I've read enough books on the topic to know to eat fresh veggies and as little processed foods as possible, but that not-liking-to-cook thing gets me every time.
Also, at present I can't exercise much because of pain issues. Whatever is wrong with me simply isn't going away.
If you've been successful at dieting and have any tips, I am open to them.
Dieting is harder for some than others. My weight issues began around the same time I started having trouble with endometriosis. Doctors put me on drugs that they now admit causes terrible hormone imbalances and weight gain. Twenty-five years ago, though, I was told that the medicines had nothing to do with weight gain, even though I put on about 30 pounds in six weeks without changing a thing in my diet.
Drugs change you, and change you forever. I seriously doubt I could ever get back to the weight I was when I married simply because my hormones are so screwy.
Of course, I have picked up some bad eating habits along the way. I also don't care for cooking, which makes convenience foods attractive. And then there are those hours when I grow bored and a perhaps a little lonely, and my friend Mr. Chocolate Bar saves the day.
I used to tell myself that I wasn't *that* overweight - I wasn't one of those women whose body fat droops over the edge of the chair, the ones with bellies hanging out of shirts or whatever. The ones driving around on the little cart in Walmart because they can't haul their own body weight around. And I am not that large, but I am at an unhealthy weight.
Serving sizes are a constant challenge. This morning, for example, I chose to eat a fat-free Pop Tart. I've gone back on Weight Watchers and so that's 5 points gone for today, and I only have 29 points all day long. But there are two Pop Tarts in a baggy in the box. If a serving is one single Pop Tart, why don't they put them in separate baggies? Because of course the other one is going to go stale before I get back around to wanting another 5-point Pop Tart. I don't eat them that often. A box of those will last me a month.
Nobody I know actually eats 1/2 cup of cereal, or drinks a half bottle of pop, or eats just 1/3 of a can of Vienna Sausages. They eat a bowl full of cereal, which is at least a cup if not more, and they drink the whole bottle of soda, and they eat all the little Vienna Sausages in a can.
While I take full responsibility for the state of my health, it would be nice if the food industry would also look over the corn stalks and take responsibility for its role in America's obesity epidemic. They don't have to supersize it, and shouldn't a serving of Pop Tarts, when there are two to a baggy, be listed as two of the darned things?
Virginia has a reported obesity rate of 25-30 percent of the population. Right next door, West Virginia has an obesity rate above 35 percent! Nationwide, about 34 percent (78 million) of Americans are obese. Not just overweight, but obese. If you count the folks who are just a little overweight but not yet obese, at least half of the nation is in need of a diet.
I have lost weight on Weight Watchers before. I manage to make it about 3 months before something happens - a holiday comes up, or I simply tire out, or I become ill and then can't get back on track with the diet. I've had so many new health issues pop up in the last 14 months that dieting has been the least of my concerns, but I need to worry about it now.
People who don't have weight issues have no idea how much of a struggle it is to deal with eating problems. It's not like being an alcoholic - you don't have to drink bourbon in order to live. But you have to eat.
The thing I most dislike about Weight Watchers is that I don't think it teaches you how to eat well or how to eat healthily. If you look at some of the foods they recommend - mostly their own brands of snack foods - they are full of stuff I don't want in my body. Aspartame or sucralose, carrageen - all sorts of things that aren't good for you. So Weight Watchers is really all about the money, like most things in the USA, and not about making people healthy. Weight Watchers does help with portion controls and if you stick to the points and simply stop eating when you hit your daily allowance, it works.
However, I want to learn how to eat well and live a healthy lifestyle. My head knows how to do this, sort of, but there is some disconnect between my brain and the rest of me. I've read enough books on the topic to know to eat fresh veggies and as little processed foods as possible, but that not-liking-to-cook thing gets me every time.
Also, at present I can't exercise much because of pain issues. Whatever is wrong with me simply isn't going away.
If you've been successful at dieting and have any tips, I am open to them.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Just a Bird
So the doctors on Monday, when I had an endoscopy, said to me, "Oh, it couldn't have been the anesthesia we're giving you that gave you nightmares after the last one." The last one being the one I had October 31, 2013.
And for the next three weeks I had the kind of dreams that make you wake up screaming and shaking.
But it was the same drug, propofol, which is now in the news again today because it is the same drug that allegedly killed Michael Jackson, and now there's some talk that Joan Rivers was under its influence, having an endoscopy herself, when she went into cardiac arrest.
It was no surprise to me Monday night when James woke me up as I was screaming. The dream was not necessarily a nightmare - apparently I was having a vocabulary crisis, needing someone to look something up, as best I can recall.
But last night - oh my. Last night I woke myself up screaming "Don't leave me!" and then sat there, shaking and sweating and trying very hard to find my way back to the world, after falling down the rabbit hole and into someplace Alice might have found familiar. It was a very long time before I was able to go back to sleep, and the dream and the drugged feeling has hung with me all morning.
I hate it when doctors disregard what I tell them, as if because it's not common, it can't be true. I have never fit the pattern of "normal" in health care and this doesn't make me weird, just unique. But that uniqueness shouldn't be discounted.
I will not allow this drug to enter my system again, if I can help it. Given that it's apparently ended the life of two celebrities, maybe everyone should rethink its use.
Friday, August 08, 2014
I Believe In Yesterdays
Yesterday was Thursday, and for the first time in over 350 weeks, I missed writing a Thursday Thirteen.
I even managed a Thursday Thirteen the week my husband was hurt. So why did I miss something that I've done for so long?
1. I was out of town.
2. I neglected to pre-write a Thursday Thirteen.
3. By the time I remembered, I was in North Carolina and I didn't have my password to my blog with me.
4. The reason I was out of town was to see a specialist about my health issues.
5. I was very nervous and upset prior to our leaving, mostly because I don't do well in strange places and I was afraid of what would happen when I saw the doctor. That's why I forgot to write a Thursday Thirteen.
6. UNC Chapel Hill has a huge medical facility. I had no idea it was so large.
7. They have specific hospitals set aside for various illnesses and types of people. There is a cancer center, a children's hospital, and a women's hospital. I went to the women's hospital.
8. The doctor was nice and I felt like I received better attention and care there than I have here in Roanoke.
9. I also came away with an actual diagnosis, something I had not been able to obtain in Virginia.
10. My new diagnosis is pelvic muscle tension myalgia.
11. To the credit of the physicians in Roanoke, they were on the right track with treatment.
12. This is a long-term issue with only a small chance of a good outcome. I will probably be in pain for the rest of my life. Physical therapy may ease the pain, but there is no real cure. Sometimes it magically goes away, though, so let's hope for some magic.
13. That's why I didn't write a Thursday Thirteen for the first time in about six years.
I even managed a Thursday Thirteen the week my husband was hurt. So why did I miss something that I've done for so long?
1. I was out of town.
2. I neglected to pre-write a Thursday Thirteen.
3. By the time I remembered, I was in North Carolina and I didn't have my password to my blog with me.
4. The reason I was out of town was to see a specialist about my health issues.
5. I was very nervous and upset prior to our leaving, mostly because I don't do well in strange places and I was afraid of what would happen when I saw the doctor. That's why I forgot to write a Thursday Thirteen.
6. UNC Chapel Hill has a huge medical facility. I had no idea it was so large.
7. They have specific hospitals set aside for various illnesses and types of people. There is a cancer center, a children's hospital, and a women's hospital. I went to the women's hospital.
8. The doctor was nice and I felt like I received better attention and care there than I have here in Roanoke.
9. I also came away with an actual diagnosis, something I had not been able to obtain in Virginia.
10. My new diagnosis is pelvic muscle tension myalgia.
11. To the credit of the physicians in Roanoke, they were on the right track with treatment.
12. This is a long-term issue with only a small chance of a good outcome. I will probably be in pain for the rest of my life. Physical therapy may ease the pain, but there is no real cure. Sometimes it magically goes away, though, so let's hope for some magic.
13. That's why I didn't write a Thursday Thirteen for the first time in about six years.
Monday, June 30, 2014
My New Friends
With a mystery ailment that the doctors can't figure out or do much about comes interesting attachments that they hope will help.
This is Mr. TENS.
A TENS unit (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation) is used for nerve related pain conditions. The machine works by sending electrical pulses across the surface of my skin and into the nerve strands.
It kind of tickles unless I crank it up high. Then it can hurt. It can also cause burns if you're not careful. It's a little bit like being zapped with an electric fence.
The pulses prevent pain signals from reaching the brain. Supposedly, these units also stimulate your body to produce higher levels of endorphins. Endorphins are supposed to help you not feel so much pain.
I attach those funky looking little round pads to my tummy and then push buttons. Note they do not have an easy "belly pain" button as it is not a place one usually requires a TENS unit. I have to manually select what I need.
I'm so special.
My other new friend is this disability placard:
It says I can park in the close parking spaces at the supermarket. Let me tell you, that is not necessarily as helpful as one might think. For one thing, there aren't many cart return racks close to the handicapped spots, so you either have to push the cart to the nearest cart return or haul the cart back across the parking lot to the building. What good is that?
Anyway, these are my new friends. Say hi!
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Thursday Thirteen
I am overweight. This is my own fault for not paying attention and for lacking the will power to say no to a chocolate bar. I am owning this. But getting the fat off is something else again. It's especially difficult now that I'm dealing with this weird abdominal issue. A 30-minute visit to Barnes & Noble does me in, so exercise, aside from the physical therapy I'm doing, is not feasible right now. Because I'm not well, I'm not getting out as much. So I'm alone a lot more than I used to be, and I think that makes the bad stuff look even more appealing.
Plus I have ulcers, and that means no 'maters or spicy foods. I've been looking at diets. Diets confuse me and always have. They are like some sort of math only written in alien language. I simply can't figure out why if I eat a pound of fudge I gain more than a pound. I mean, the fudge just weighs a pound, right?
My problem with weight loss books is they go into all of this detail about why their diet works better than others, blah blah. I don't care. I just want a month's worth of foods spelled out for me, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks, that I can live with, that are healthy and filling, that are fairly easy to fix, and don't cost a fortune. Apparently no one can offer that.
Anyway, here is a list of diets that I've tried or looked at or read books on. I hope I can come up with 13.
1. FODMAP diet. This is my latest one. My gastroenterologist handed me a piece of paper several weeks ago with this word on it, FODMAP, and a list of foods you could eat and a list you couldn't. Here, do this, he said, though you won't be able to stick to it. That was incredibly unhelpful. I've done a little looking online but still couldn't figure it out. I ordered a book. It just came yesterday. I will be reading it this weekend.
2. Atkins diet. My husband likes this one. He did it about 10 years ago now and lost a lot of weight, all of which he gained back once he stopped the diet. That's the trouble with diets. You gain it all back plus 10. I lost weight on Atkins, too, but also got very depressed. I need some carbs.
3. South Beach Diet. I tried this one some years ago, but it had too many foods on it that I couldn't eat. I have a lot of food sensitivities and I think this diet had most of them in it.
4. Weight Watchers. I have done Weight Watchers online a couple of times and in the first several months, I lose weight, but then Thanksgiving comes and that's the end of that. My issue with WW is that it doesn't teach you anything at all about healthy eating, really. I mean, if you want to eat 28 points in chocolate (which would be about 4.5 candy bars, btw) and call it a day, you can do that. And that's not healthy.
5. The Scarsdale Diet. This is an old one. My husband used it 35 years ago when he finished high school. He's always had a little trouble keeping his weight in check, and right before I met him, he went on this diet and he was fine looking, let me tell you. :-)It's a lot like Atkins. Eliminate the carbs.
6. Jorge Cruise. I had never heard of this guy until someone who had just started his diet recommended him. "Oh, I've lost 9 pounds in a week," said the skinny friend who probably didn't need to lose that much anyway. I found his book online for $1.99 so I downloaded it. It's low carb. But it's on my kindle and I have discovered I can't manipulate that like a book. Still might try this one if I can figure out how to get the diet onto a piece of paper. However, above-mentioned friend confided a few weeks later that she and her husband had found it impossible to stick to the plan.
7. The Schwarzbein Principle. This is one of the best diet books I've ever read, even if I couldn't stick to the program or figure it out. I did understand this one more than most. Maybe after I finish the FODMAP book I'll go back and reread this one.
8. The Dash Diet. The Dash Diet is supposed to help with high blood pressure. I don't know if it works because again, I couldn't really get my head around it. This is supposed to be one of the better diets.
9. The Sugar Addict's Total Recovery Program. I have already admitted I'm a sugar-holic, so this seemed like a good idea when I read the book. The most interesting premise was that you needed to eat a high carb like a potato before you went to bed. I actually tried that for a while. I had the craziest nightmares. You ain't had a nightmare until you've had a potato-driven one.
10. Eat Carbs, Lose Weight. This is diet book by Denise Austin. It seemed pretty good.
11. The Writing Diet, by Julia Cameron. Yes, really! A diet for writers. Good advice in here, but no menus. This is more about self-care and mindset, and I need to reread this but I see my copy has gotten musty. I should stick in the freezer a while, ha, to get the musty smell gone. The best thing I took from this book was her acronym of HALT: Don't get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired.
Hmm. I've run out of diet books. I only had 11. So here are two diets I've heard of but never tried:
12. Simply Weight Loss. I hear ads for this on my local radio station all the time, and have for years. It must work for somebody. It's herbs and supplements.
13. Jenny Craig, Nutrisystems. We've all seen the commercials. I've never tried either of these because they seem to rely too much on prepared foods, which have a lot of salt in them. My aunt has attempted Nutrisystems and I looked at the labels - way too much sodium for my high blood pressure. But anyway, there they are.
What diets have you tried? Any tips for the chocoholic who is trying to quit?
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 349th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Plus I have ulcers, and that means no 'maters or spicy foods. I've been looking at diets. Diets confuse me and always have. They are like some sort of math only written in alien language. I simply can't figure out why if I eat a pound of fudge I gain more than a pound. I mean, the fudge just weighs a pound, right?
My problem with weight loss books is they go into all of this detail about why their diet works better than others, blah blah. I don't care. I just want a month's worth of foods spelled out for me, breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks, that I can live with, that are healthy and filling, that are fairly easy to fix, and don't cost a fortune. Apparently no one can offer that.
Anyway, here is a list of diets that I've tried or looked at or read books on. I hope I can come up with 13.
1. FODMAP diet. This is my latest one. My gastroenterologist handed me a piece of paper several weeks ago with this word on it, FODMAP, and a list of foods you could eat and a list you couldn't. Here, do this, he said, though you won't be able to stick to it. That was incredibly unhelpful. I've done a little looking online but still couldn't figure it out. I ordered a book. It just came yesterday. I will be reading it this weekend.
2. Atkins diet. My husband likes this one. He did it about 10 years ago now and lost a lot of weight, all of which he gained back once he stopped the diet. That's the trouble with diets. You gain it all back plus 10. I lost weight on Atkins, too, but also got very depressed. I need some carbs.
3. South Beach Diet. I tried this one some years ago, but it had too many foods on it that I couldn't eat. I have a lot of food sensitivities and I think this diet had most of them in it.
4. Weight Watchers. I have done Weight Watchers online a couple of times and in the first several months, I lose weight, but then Thanksgiving comes and that's the end of that. My issue with WW is that it doesn't teach you anything at all about healthy eating, really. I mean, if you want to eat 28 points in chocolate (which would be about 4.5 candy bars, btw) and call it a day, you can do that. And that's not healthy.
5. The Scarsdale Diet. This is an old one. My husband used it 35 years ago when he finished high school. He's always had a little trouble keeping his weight in check, and right before I met him, he went on this diet and he was fine looking, let me tell you. :-)It's a lot like Atkins. Eliminate the carbs.
6. Jorge Cruise. I had never heard of this guy until someone who had just started his diet recommended him. "Oh, I've lost 9 pounds in a week," said the skinny friend who probably didn't need to lose that much anyway. I found his book online for $1.99 so I downloaded it. It's low carb. But it's on my kindle and I have discovered I can't manipulate that like a book. Still might try this one if I can figure out how to get the diet onto a piece of paper. However, above-mentioned friend confided a few weeks later that she and her husband had found it impossible to stick to the plan.
7. The Schwarzbein Principle. This is one of the best diet books I've ever read, even if I couldn't stick to the program or figure it out. I did understand this one more than most. Maybe after I finish the FODMAP book I'll go back and reread this one.
8. The Dash Diet. The Dash Diet is supposed to help with high blood pressure. I don't know if it works because again, I couldn't really get my head around it. This is supposed to be one of the better diets.
9. The Sugar Addict's Total Recovery Program. I have already admitted I'm a sugar-holic, so this seemed like a good idea when I read the book. The most interesting premise was that you needed to eat a high carb like a potato before you went to bed. I actually tried that for a while. I had the craziest nightmares. You ain't had a nightmare until you've had a potato-driven one.
10. Eat Carbs, Lose Weight. This is diet book by Denise Austin. It seemed pretty good.
11. The Writing Diet, by Julia Cameron. Yes, really! A diet for writers. Good advice in here, but no menus. This is more about self-care and mindset, and I need to reread this but I see my copy has gotten musty. I should stick in the freezer a while, ha, to get the musty smell gone. The best thing I took from this book was her acronym of HALT: Don't get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired.
Hmm. I've run out of diet books. I only had 11. So here are two diets I've heard of but never tried:
12. Simply Weight Loss. I hear ads for this on my local radio station all the time, and have for years. It must work for somebody. It's herbs and supplements.
13. Jenny Craig, Nutrisystems. We've all seen the commercials. I've never tried either of these because they seem to rely too much on prepared foods, which have a lot of salt in them. My aunt has attempted Nutrisystems and I looked at the labels - way too much sodium for my high blood pressure. But anyway, there they are.
What diets have you tried? Any tips for the chocoholic who is trying to quit?
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 349th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Why Isn't This Fraud?
Having a medical condition that has forced me to delve into the recesses of the health care system has left me perplexed.
I have to wonder why the insurance companies, hospitals, medical device providers, and pharmaceutical companies, aren't all being charged with massive fraud.
"Free market" I guess is the answer, but if so, it is a sucky one and one that I do not accept. Because what is going on in the system in this country is, to be perfectly frank, wrong.
I am going to give you two examples from my own recent history.
In September, I received a CT Scan at one of the local hospitals. My insurance was billed $10,582.80 by the hospital for the procedure (this did not include ER or other tests, this was the CT scan only). The insurance company "allowed" $3,472.13, and that is what they paid as I had already met my out-of-pocket deductibles. (For my readers outside of the US, that is a cap the insurance companies place on policies. Once you pay X amount out of your pocket, then the insurance pays 100 percent of its allowable costs. It's very confusing.)
In April I had another CT scan at an affiliated satellite location with the same hospital. The charge for that scan was $7,949.00. The insurance company "allowed" $2,276.48, and I had to pay 20 percent of that "allowable" cost because I had not yet met my out-of-pocket deductible for this year.
When I go to my insurance company's website and look at their "estimate the costs" link for procedures, the cost for a CT scan of the abdomen with and without contrast (which is what I had), is less than $1,000. Good thing I wasn't depending on that to be right, huh?
How is this possible, you ask? Here's my understanding of it. The hospital "contracts" with the insurance companies and they make agreements about what is acceptable. You and I have no say in this matter. Neither does the government, except with government-paid policies (Medicare/Medicaid).
Obviously the hospital can afford to do a CT Scan for $2,276, the lowest price my insurance company "allowed," and not $10,582, the highest price the health care facility billed.
Read the comments on this website about the costs of CT Scans. One commenter claims to have been charged $252,000 for a CT Scan! Public bilking, anyone?
Here's the second example:
My doctor prescribed a TENS unit to help me with pain and so that I am not taking so many pain killers. A TENS unit sends electrical shocks into your muscles to trick your brain into thinking the spasms and pain aren't there. It helps.
The bill for the TENS was $795.00. The insurance company "allowed" $185, and I will have to pay 20 percent of that amount. The rest of the cost vanishes into thin air.
Last week I received a notice from the TENS unit company that it was time to get new electrodes (little pads that attach to your skin so that the electric current can go into your body). My insurance supposedly will pay 80 percent of the "allowable cost" for these supplies. This is my first time ordering them.
However, because of the "contract" with the company, and what may or may not be allowed, no one can tell me what my cost will be. I will be paying 20 percent of whatever the insurance company allows, as I understand it.
So I could be paying $2 or $200.
The company that sells the electrodes told me over the phone that they could sell them to me at the "out of pocket" cost (i.e., the cost without going through insurance), for $21.60 a pack. A pack, by the way, should last me 10 days. That is a lot of money.
What do you bet they charge the insurance company about three times that amount? And then the insurance company "allows" so much - but will it be less than $21.60 or more? I don't know.
So I asked my physical therapist today if they sell the electrodes by the pack. Why sure they do! For $9 a pack.
Will my 20 percent share on my insurance be more or less than $9 a pack? I don't know.
How am I supposed to make any kind of an informed decision about purchasing these items? How do you work that kind of thing into your budget when you don't know the amounts?
Tell me, somebody please, how all of this - this making up amounts and back-door dealing - isn't one great big fraud being perpetuated upon the American public. We Americans think we have the greatest health care system in the world when it really ranks 38th, right under the health care of Costa Rica and just slightly better than that of Slovenia! Slovenia, for Christ's sake. We are not number one. That would be France. Yes, France.
Health care should be regulated. Free market my ass. F--k capitalism and the so-called Free Market. This is nothing but a rape of the sick, who generally are too ill to fight and advocate for themselves. The greedy shysters in the industry know they can easily take sick people's savings, cars, homes, and lives. What a distasteful and immoral system we have, one that allows such devils to prey upon the weak. Blood sucking leeches, every last one of them, and they all should be behind bars serving time in jail.
This is why we need real health care reform, one with regulations, checks and balances, and oversight that keeps people who are ill from having to grow even sicker trying to figure out how to keep food on the table and the lights on.
Unfortunately, fraud is legal in US health care, where only dollar bills count and people are just so much chum in the ocean filled with sharks.
I have to wonder why the insurance companies, hospitals, medical device providers, and pharmaceutical companies, aren't all being charged with massive fraud.
"Free market" I guess is the answer, but if so, it is a sucky one and one that I do not accept. Because what is going on in the system in this country is, to be perfectly frank, wrong.
I am going to give you two examples from my own recent history.
In September, I received a CT Scan at one of the local hospitals. My insurance was billed $10,582.80 by the hospital for the procedure (this did not include ER or other tests, this was the CT scan only). The insurance company "allowed" $3,472.13, and that is what they paid as I had already met my out-of-pocket deductibles. (For my readers outside of the US, that is a cap the insurance companies place on policies. Once you pay X amount out of your pocket, then the insurance pays 100 percent of its allowable costs. It's very confusing.)
In April I had another CT scan at an affiliated satellite location with the same hospital. The charge for that scan was $7,949.00. The insurance company "allowed" $2,276.48, and I had to pay 20 percent of that "allowable" cost because I had not yet met my out-of-pocket deductible for this year.
When I go to my insurance company's website and look at their "estimate the costs" link for procedures, the cost for a CT scan of the abdomen with and without contrast (which is what I had), is less than $1,000. Good thing I wasn't depending on that to be right, huh?
How is this possible, you ask? Here's my understanding of it. The hospital "contracts" with the insurance companies and they make agreements about what is acceptable. You and I have no say in this matter. Neither does the government, except with government-paid policies (Medicare/Medicaid).
Obviously the hospital can afford to do a CT Scan for $2,276, the lowest price my insurance company "allowed," and not $10,582, the highest price the health care facility billed.
Read the comments on this website about the costs of CT Scans. One commenter claims to have been charged $252,000 for a CT Scan! Public bilking, anyone?
Here's the second example:
My doctor prescribed a TENS unit to help me with pain and so that I am not taking so many pain killers. A TENS unit sends electrical shocks into your muscles to trick your brain into thinking the spasms and pain aren't there. It helps.
The bill for the TENS was $795.00. The insurance company "allowed" $185, and I will have to pay 20 percent of that amount. The rest of the cost vanishes into thin air.
Last week I received a notice from the TENS unit company that it was time to get new electrodes (little pads that attach to your skin so that the electric current can go into your body). My insurance supposedly will pay 80 percent of the "allowable cost" for these supplies. This is my first time ordering them.
However, because of the "contract" with the company, and what may or may not be allowed, no one can tell me what my cost will be. I will be paying 20 percent of whatever the insurance company allows, as I understand it.
So I could be paying $2 or $200.
The company that sells the electrodes told me over the phone that they could sell them to me at the "out of pocket" cost (i.e., the cost without going through insurance), for $21.60 a pack. A pack, by the way, should last me 10 days. That is a lot of money.
What do you bet they charge the insurance company about three times that amount? And then the insurance company "allows" so much - but will it be less than $21.60 or more? I don't know.
So I asked my physical therapist today if they sell the electrodes by the pack. Why sure they do! For $9 a pack.
Will my 20 percent share on my insurance be more or less than $9 a pack? I don't know.
How am I supposed to make any kind of an informed decision about purchasing these items? How do you work that kind of thing into your budget when you don't know the amounts?
Tell me, somebody please, how all of this - this making up amounts and back-door dealing - isn't one great big fraud being perpetuated upon the American public. We Americans think we have the greatest health care system in the world when it really ranks 38th, right under the health care of Costa Rica and just slightly better than that of Slovenia! Slovenia, for Christ's sake. We are not number one. That would be France. Yes, France.
Health care should be regulated. Free market my ass. F--k capitalism and the so-called Free Market. This is nothing but a rape of the sick, who generally are too ill to fight and advocate for themselves. The greedy shysters in the industry know they can easily take sick people's savings, cars, homes, and lives. What a distasteful and immoral system we have, one that allows such devils to prey upon the weak. Blood sucking leeches, every last one of them, and they all should be behind bars serving time in jail.
This is why we need real health care reform, one with regulations, checks and balances, and oversight that keeps people who are ill from having to grow even sicker trying to figure out how to keep food on the table and the lights on.
Unfortunately, fraud is legal in US health care, where only dollar bills count and people are just so much chum in the ocean filled with sharks.
Monday, June 09, 2014
Medicine Applicator For Your Back
Sometimes when you are alone, you need things done that require a second person. I have a husband but he's a busy guy and our schedules don't always work out so that he can help me.
Applying something like Ben Gay or a similar product to the muscles of your mid-back qualifies as one of those. The same goes with suntan lotion. How do you get it back there without contorting yourself up into a pretzel?
My solution to this issue was to purchase a hardy back scrubber and make it into something I could use as an applicator.
You will need a back cleaner brush, preferably one with stout bristles, some tape (I used some surgical tape I had here, but duct tape would do), a pair of scissors, and a covering. I am using a surgical wound pad here, but I have also used facial cleaner pads with good results.
Cover the bristles with your pad.
Tape all the way around so that the pad is firmly in place.
Apply the medication (or suntan lotion).
I usually rub the medication into the pad a little bit, and then reach the back scrubber over my shoulder and place the medication where I want.
Incidentally, I like BioFreeze, which is only sold at places like physical therapy and chiropractic businesses and not in general stores, but you could use this for any product you need to apply in a hard-to-reach area.
So there you have it. A self-applicator.
*No one paid me to mention any product. This is just a helpful hint.*
Applying something like Ben Gay or a similar product to the muscles of your mid-back qualifies as one of those. The same goes with suntan lotion. How do you get it back there without contorting yourself up into a pretzel?
My solution to this issue was to purchase a hardy back scrubber and make it into something I could use as an applicator.
You will need a back cleaner brush, preferably one with stout bristles, some tape (I used some surgical tape I had here, but duct tape would do), a pair of scissors, and a covering. I am using a surgical wound pad here, but I have also used facial cleaner pads with good results.
Cover the bristles with your pad.
Tape all the way around so that the pad is firmly in place.
Apply the medication (or suntan lotion).
I usually rub the medication into the pad a little bit, and then reach the back scrubber over my shoulder and place the medication where I want.
Incidentally, I like BioFreeze, which is only sold at places like physical therapy and chiropractic businesses and not in general stores, but you could use this for any product you need to apply in a hard-to-reach area.
So there you have it. A self-applicator.
*No one paid me to mention any product. This is just a helpful hint.*
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