I have always thought health care has been a ridiculous in this country, but now, going through all my issues, I pay more attention to absurdity of what is going on. A family friend, who shall remain nameless for privacy purposes (but referred to as "A" from here on out), is very sick. This person has been in and out of the hospital many times in the past 4 months. "A" has lost over 60 lbs. "A" has been losing teeth and hair. Still, doctors can't pinpoint what's wrong. "A" is on all sorts of medications. The latest is that doctors think "A" may have tumors and want to do a scan. Yet, they don't have any available appoints for this until after the new year. Um, this person is rapidly deteriorating yet can't get an appointment to scan for tumors for two months? How does that make sense? What is this country's health care system coming to? I fear for my children's futures with health care. If it's this bad now, how bad will it be when they get to be my age?
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I knew it was going to be a long road to recovery for my back and weight issues. I guess I just didn't expect it to be such a hard road, too. Wednesday's appointment took a toll on me emotionally. I was barely functioning after. I'm a little better, but still mentally drained. I don't know if I can do this, but where will I be if I don't even try? I feel a bit blindsided by some of the things this doctor wants me to do. It is stuff that other doctors have never mentioned. I guess what's most unnerving about this is that I just got to a good place emotionally dealing with PMDD and now I'm worried to mess that up. I would so much rather deal with physical issues that mental ones. I'm hoping I can wrap my head around all this soon for peace of mind. I am so grateful for my village. Without their support, I definitely could not do this.
When it comes to medical issues, I tend to go the more traditional route with some holistic thrown in. I use essential oils and take supplements and try to manage pain without meds. I love yoga and I meditate. However, when it comes to the big stuff, I go traditional. Had my kids in the hospital with epidurals. Get my kids vaccinated (but no flu shot...that's a whole other issue though). So when I started gaining weight like crazy, I went to my doctor and got my thyroid tested. Results were normal. "When women get older, sometimes they just gain weight", was the answer I got. Since my neck and back are so bad and exercising causes physical pain, I needed to just suck it up and pray I'd be skinny again someday.
Yesterday, I went to a new doctor for my neck. His practice also deals in holistic medicine. He ran a large battery of tests, all without needles, testing for things my other doctors never even considered. They tested my calcium levels, my liver enzymes, my adrenal function, and iodine levels, among other things. Found out some really interesting stuff. For example, if you are iodine deficient, it messes with your thyroid, yet it doesn't show up in blood work. The iodine test was a patch test. Basically, he puts iodine on your skin and sees how fast it's absorbed. The patch is supposed to last over 24 hours. Mine was almost completely gone by 9 hours. Now, I'm not a doctor, but I'm guessing that's not good. It could explain a lot though. Then of, course there is the main issue of my neck and back. He did all sorts of testing that other doctors never did. It really boils down to that all my issues could be caused by one little disc. Depending on the way the disc is deteriorating, it could be reducing blood flow. He took x-rays to see what's going on there. Now, all these other issues I'm having could be completely unrelated, but at least I'm getting some sort of answers. I'm really not sure how I feel about this new doctor yet. The office staff seems a bit too nice. How can too nice be a problem? I just don't trust it. That's the big city in me. Everyone there seems to love their jobs. It's just not natural. But, a good friend of mine told me that I don't need to make any decisions now. She reminded me that it's my body and I know what I'm comfortable and not comfortable doing. I go back Monday for results and a plan of action. I guess that will be decision point. If I had to decide right now, I'd go with it. I need some relief. I can't continue in this much pain every day. Part of me is scared though that nothing is going to work. Have to get that out of my head. I also have to get it out of my head that I will be "fixed" after one day. Whatever I decide, it's going to be a long road. Thankful I have such a great support system to come along with me. As a rule, I tend to stay away from topics that I don't have a lot of facts about. Even if my opinions are strong, if I can't back them up with fact, I try to steer clear of getting into discussions about them. I'm about to break my rule.
Last night, I got a phone call from a new doctor that I'm going to see for my neck issues. They called just to get insurance information. The exact wording, "We need to know what insurance provider you have so we will know what treatments we can provide." Shouldn't the treatments be based on my condition rather than my insurance? Can I see the medical degrees of the people who make up the insurance policies so that I know they can tell me I truly don't need a certain treatment? Since when is it OK that we leave our health up to people who have never met us and have no medical experience? Even though my neck is a huge issue for me, it's a tiny issue in comparison. A good friend of mine's husband has Crohn's. He's been very sick lately. Doctors were unable to give him the treatment he needed when he needed it because of insurance. Really? A life literally hangs in the balance and doctors can't help because someone sitting behind a desk crunching numbers deems it as unnecessary? How about have this happen to the person making the "rules" and then have them see if it's necessary or not. Then there's testing. What tests are covered and which one aren't. My mom is going through this now. She is responsible for calling and verifying with her insurance company that a test her doctor highly recommends is covered. If not, what, she just can't get it? This test is to determine if she needs to have her ovaries removed. Um, kind of a big deal, don't you think? Why would this test not be covered? I love when I go to the doctor and there are all sorts of signs that tell you it is your responsibility to find out where your insurance company allows labs to be sent. So, apparently if someone is having tests run, it's not bad enough, but then they have to make sure the insurance company says its OK. In the past 30 years, insurance has gotten crazy. It has pretty much taken over the medical field. It dictates who can have what done and when. Since being on my own, I've had crappy insurance and good insurance. With our crappy insurance, it covered nothing until we met our $5000 deductible. Literally. First $5000 of expenses were completely out of pocket. Needless to say, we never went to the doctor because we didn't have $5000 to spend. When Monster was born, we were still on that insurance. We were lucky because the only thing it did cover were child vaccinations. Each time we set foot in the doctor's office, it was a minimum of $100, but that's nothing compared to the cost of vaccinations. When Sunshine was born, we had "good" insurance. We had an awesome pediatrician. Took Sunshine in for her vaccinations. Then, we got a bill. Well, there must be some mistake. This is good insurance, vaccinations are covered 100%. Yes, 100% when they are coded correctly. Luckily for us, the Cleveland Clinic codes the vaccinations as a hospital procedure, which, guess what, insurances don't pay. I am thankful that I got someone from the CC that didn't know what he was doing when I called to complain the first time around. Because of who I talked to and how things were phrased, when I went in for round two of vaccinations and accrued a $2000 bill, it was waived because of misleading information on the CC's part. However, after that, I had to go to the Health Dept for vaccinations. Now, tell me, how is it I can get a bill from the doctor for $2000 for vaccinations, yet go to the Health Dept and pay $40? Does that make sense? France has one of the best health care systems in the world. They also have some of the healthiest people. French doctors are paid based on how healthy they keep their patients. Yes, that's right, how healthy they keep their patients. For this reason, French doctors still make house calls. You can call your doctor for the slightest sniffle. And here's the kicker, the government pays. Yes, the French pay taxes for it, but no one is denied good medical treatment. How is good medical treatment for everyone a bad thing? I can't figure out why it's not like that in the "land of opportunity". |
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