One of the most exciting experiences of being chronically ill and having to see the doctor all the time is making appointments! Are you getting the sarcastic tone? I dream of getting to sit on the phone on hold frequently while the doctors’ staff or their nurses tell me he/she will be unavailable for weeks..maybe months! It never made sense to me when first dealing with my diseases why I could never get an appointment in the actual week or days I needed the appointments to be! Why could I not see the doctor when I was not feeling well or when I was presenting with the symptoms that could help the doctor diagnose me. Instead, I would have to wait, which would result in an un eventful doctors appointment that entailed me doing my best to explain what I was going through while the doctor would look at me puzzled and state “well, I’m not sure what you were experiencing but since the symptom is no longer occurring let’s just wait and see if it comes back, then call me.”. “FREAKIN GREAT!” I would think to myself. In many cases, said symptom would return, and I would immediately call the doctor to be told “He’s not available until next week at the earliest” or “he’s away at a conference” or “She’s on vacation”. Sigh… “Why can’t I ever get in when I’m actually sick?!” So frustrating right?
LIFE
The United States of UnHealthy Insurance
The touchiest subject of them all. Medical Insurance. Specifically medical insurance in the United States. Now a days of course it’s almost considered politically uncouth to bring the subject up amongst acquaintances, but I’m going there. I can ramble off statistics about medical bills being the number one cause of bankruptcy and why it is so important to get universal health care in this country. I could tout of all the reasons why the arguments against universal health care are ridiculous. How if you think medical care would go down hill or waits would be longer for appointments etc. you may be delusional as we already have those issues, it’s just we have to pay for it out of our pockets. Out of pockets or out of taxes it’s all the same. But it’s not. It’s financial suicide for the people in this country. Medical Insurance companies have all the power and for those of us with chronic disease and/or rare disease it never works in our favor. So I’ll stop there and get off my soap box. I obviously have very strong feelings about this as most who have dealt with the medical insurance industry all feel the same way I am sure. It’s not something anyone who hasn’t dealt with it understands. Instead I’ll share my experience. What one person with a chronic illness deals with. Multiply this by millions and then you get an idea of how big of a problem it truly is.
Understanding.. What we want vs. What we can have
Recently my mom was very sick. She had a bout of food poisoning that knocked her out cold for 4-5 days and then had to be treated for colitis following. It was a rough one. She has always been my number one supporter. Everything I have been through, she has been by my side, ready to defend me, fight the battles I can’t fight with doctors, insurance companies, collection agencies and anyone who questioned my silent illness( as many of us with chronic illness like to call it). She has always been there for me no questions asked. Of course she IS my mom that’s what they are for! I never questioned her level of understanding of my disease because she has never given me reason to. But a few days after her stomach bug she gave me a call… Continue reading
Pills Pills Pills!
When I first came up with this title and subject matter all I could think of was “Bills bills bills” by Destinys Child (flash back to high school). Then I decided to replace some lyrics from the song and have been singing around the house “you can take your pills, can take your little blue pills, can take your giant horse pills and then maybe we can chill”. Cheesy I know, but I love making songs out of everything. My mom used to harass me as a kid about my school work and tell me “if you studied everything as much as you memorize your songs you would have straight As!” But back to pills! Medication is always a fun subject but one that’s extremely important to bring up for anyone really, not just those that have chronic illness.
Parenting in pain (and other life choices)
I am often asked how I manage being a parent while being in pain or sick etc. I am asked if I would have known about my illness before being pregnant would I have decided to not be a parent? I am doubted by many on what I am able to handle with my disease and often held back from doing the things I want to do or accomplish in life because of the doubters. My response is often that you only live once. Being sick should not hold you back from the things you truly want in life or the things in life that will make you happy. Happiness is hard to come by, often, when you are in pain and ill. So we should cherish the moments of happiness every chance we get. Continue reading
The Balancing Act
A lot of what you deal with, with chronic illness is all centered around how to maintain a normal life whilst being sick at the same time. Many of my posts highlight what we have to do to portray this normal life to family, friends and others around us. Actually keeping up with this life is a balancing act on a very thin line. So how do we do it? What do we sacrifice? Is a balance even possible?
TheDiaryofaSickGirl 