Recently in Medical Issues Category

It is the one character flaw that has dogged me my whole life. In many ways it is part of the addiction I have worked hard to overcome. Basically, I have always wanted what I wanted, when I wanted it, and I want it right damn now.

The battle for Health Care Reform has exposed this same underlying character flaw in the United States. While some cooler heads in congress have patiently, and diligently, worked the political currents of Washington, most of the nation outside the beltway have been screeching and howling about not having single payer universal health insurance as of last decade. One of the reasons I have done very little blogging about health care reform -- other than noting some articles --  is because I recognize this is a long-term change for the country. It is a battle of inches, not yards.

Anyway, after all the noise, hair-pulling, and general all-around shrilling is done, there will be a new direction for health care in this country. At this time, I have to accept I am without health care. I also will have to accept it may be possible I never receive the level of coverage I was accustomed to back 5 to 10 years ago. However, I do believe that future generations after me will eventually receive a level of coverage that I never experienced. I am okay with that.

Yes, the selfish part of me desires universal single payer coverage as of October 5th, 1961, but it is not going to happen. But at least I can rest easy in knowing a change is occurring. It is just that it is not occurring at the pace I selfishly desire.

Now, get the hell off my lawn.....

Err, scratch that. I live in an apartment.

I am in pain 24/7. I am not saying this to garner sympathy, or to make excuses. But it has been on my mind for a while to simply share this fact. Ever since I hurt myself rollerskating, I have been in constant pain. Some days are not as bad as other. I can even get in a stretch of 2 days without taking any Tylenol.

For a while I was using Ibuprofen, but when it wore off, it caused my joints and teeth to ache. At least with the Tylenol, I simply have a resumption of my back, legs, and heal/arch pain. When I was biking, and stretching out, I managed to keep it reduced to a simple irritation. But with the weather change, and the move, I have not been able to get out on my bike. So, I am experiencing an increase in my discomfort.

Thankfully, back in 1997, or so, I stumbled across the book "Wherever You Go There You Are." Great primer on Mindfulness Meditation, which helps me deal with the pain. I am still able to focus on other parts of life. Actually, it is more than that; it helps me to not get so worked up about the pain that I keep focusing on it to the exclusion of the rest of life.

Anyway, just wanted to share with you that little tidbit about my life. Now, go on about your business. Ignore me and my pain. Seriously, do not mind me, all crippled and gimpy. And get off of my lawn, you--you--you hooligans! Well, that is, if I had a lawn.

Insensitive pricks. </snark>

No fever. But my nose has enough snot to fill 5 dump trucks. And believe me when I say my nose is big enough for just such a feat. I am currently debating whether or not to call in sick. I work at a hospital, but in a building separate from the actual facility, so I would not be endangering any already sick patients.

Slept like crap last night. I've slept like crap for the last three nights, in fact. It's my back. It doesn't hurt, but it sends tentacles of numbness down my arms and legs, keeping me awake. A few visits to a chiropractor would resolve the issue, but I don't have health insurance, so I can't get it resolved. And, of course, not sleeping well only exasperates the problem.

Welcome to the United States of Lousy Health Care.

Yeah, yeah, I know I'm laid off, so either way I'm home. But today I'm stricken with a bad cold. It started as a head cold, and has now firmly entrenched itself into my chest. Last night, at around midnight, I was awoken with a severe tickle in my throat that turned into a five minute dry heave session. So, yes, today I've a sore throat. As well as congested sinuses, an accompanying headache, and general, all around misery.

So, you damn kids better stay the hell off my lawn.

In case I've actually gained a few new readers, feel free to consider this an open thread. Not that open threads are a favorite activity at this particular castle.

I'm working on getting my medical bills caught up. With Medica Insurance being one of the worse to have, my bills were not immediately paid. For some reason, I had to do some extra paperwork, the exact same paperwork I originally filled out when applying for coverage to begin with. So, now that that log jam finally cleared, I am now facing secondary co-payments.

You see, I made the standard $35.00 co-pays for every visit, only to discover additionally co-pays after the fact. It's those damn deductibles, I guess. But it's in the fine print. You know, the same ones that they are allowed to change without immediate notice. Anyway, I've still got a ways to go. But, I managed to pay a large chunk of my bills and now have a bit of a monthly payment to make.

In case anyone is wondering, I believe that should hell really, honestly exist, the deepest, darkest level is to be reserved for insurance company executives, board members, and bond holders. Because making an obscene profit off of my, and all other people, illnesses is the worse behavior in which a human can engage.

Look, I understand the need for putting food on the table, and a roof over the heads of family. But when people start requiring a profit level of such magnitude that I can not put a roof over my family, or food on the table, there is something fundamentally wrong with the system. That rich bastards believe they are entitled to obscene profits at the expense of hard working, middle class people...... well, fuck them.

Oh, and one last thing: don't even bother calling them health insurance companies. If they were truly about a persons health, they would not be about profits at all, but simply about helping people to get healthy. Do that, and they'd naturally see a profit. Honestly. Sell a good product and word of mouth alone would bring you business. Isn't that the of the free market place? Of course, the whole thing about the market place is there's no room for free. Free market place is an oxymoron.

Well, there has been a medical issue developing slowly with my mother over the last 3 months. First, they suspected she had Emphysema. That was eventually ruled out. Finally, they discovered her right diaphragm was paralyzed. They figured it happened all the way back in 2001. At least, the nerve was pinched back then, and the diaphragm finally stopped working about a year ago.

Well, now she's having other problems. Over Thanksgiving, her ankles swelled up to the size of her knees. Finally, Saturday morning, she was confused and bordering on hallucinating. Dad took her into the hospital at 9:00 PM that night. I went to see her yesterday at the Burnett County Medical Center in Grantsburg, WI. She was doing better.

However, I received word today she was transferred to Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. It's part of the Allina System, a former employer of mine back in 2006. Anyway, tests are going to be run on her heart, to see what is going on. Like my problems earlier this year, it seems to be taking much longer than ought be necessary to discover the source of her discomfort and ill health.

I know that diagnosing illness is as much an art as it is a science, but right now I can not help but think the delay in finding my mother's problem is as much fear of running tests because of insurance interference then just not knowing. To be honest, I would rather see expensive tests run with a quick discovery of the cause, then to err to the side of monetary conservatism. Somehow, personal suffering for the sake of medical cost efficiency just does not seem right. But then, I never did understand conservative compassion.

I had thought of holding off for two more days and making it an even week without posting, but I just had to drop a note and let you all know I am alive. Barely, but still alive. I have been going steady at my novel, writing just about every morning. Most mornings for about 45 minutes. Over the weekend, I get in about two hours a day, give or take. And remember, I have three day weekends.

Anyway, this morning I woke up with a killer headache. Not quite a migraine, but a very painful sinus headache that is as much caused by the dry air as it is by my still lingering cold, which I've had for about two weeks now.

Seriously, two weeks is just too damn long to have a cold. The one redeeming factor is that it's fall, making the cold less of an insult than having it in the summer. There is just something inherently wrong with a summer cold. They feel worse. At least during the winter, you can make the claim of not going outside because of a cold. Not so in the summer. Supposedly, the warm weather should help get rid of your cold.

Yeah, right. Sell me a bridge.

So, right now I am struggling with calling in sick. More likely, I will be heading to work, despite feeling like crap. I'll just have to struggle.

There you go. Now you know I am alive, though not well. Life in Minnesota. No doubt Carl will come along and make some comment about the insanity of living in Minnesota. Thankfully, I have Sarah Palin to use as an example of where insanity truly arises. Honestly, Minnesota Nice surely trumps Alaskan PUMA age wrinkles any day of the year. Even if you have a cold.

Okay, I have pretty much reached the limit to sitting at my computer. I have at the most maybe 4 hours available to me before my side gets to uncomfortable. And that is with some extended breaks among those 4 hours. So, there is a good chance this will be my last post for today. 

I have been hesitant to post anything about my ongoing medical issue. Mostly because I have yet to learn what is wrong. So far an appendicitis has been ruled out, as has any problem with my gall bladder. After two ex-rays, all possible conditions to my digestive track have been ruled out. And finally, after two weeks of anti-biotic treatment, my prostate is still mildly inflamed, though much improved. In fact, the dull, constant ache of my balls has subsided.

Really, I just don't know how to say it any less crudely.

Unfortunately, I am now experiencing a sharp pain down in my right pelvic area. Or more accurately, just above and to the inside, alone side my crotch. In addition, there is pain radiating from this point to just behind my right kidney, down the inside of my leg, up into my lower right chest cavity, and occasionally into my right buttock. This radiating pain comes and goes, though lately more coming than going.

Now, I am not upset with my doctor. Having been involved in the health field for as long as I have, I understand that diagnosing medical issues is as much an art as it is a science. Honestly, diagnosing addiction is easier than medical conditions.

I have been consistent with my reported symptoms. However, I am starting to get worried, which means I begin to wonder about other, probably normal, transitory physical conditions. Usually muscle aches I have been able to recognize as the result of physical exercise, etc. But I have not been riding my bike since this whole issue first started becoming serious (six weeks ago) and I have been haphazard in taking walks.

Anyway, after my visit with the doctor, to inform him of my continued suffering while taking the anti-biotic, and discovering that I've developed a physical abhorrence to apples, strawberries, and honey (extreme gastric/abdominal distress), it has been decided to perform an MRI.

I am expecting a call from the clinic today about the appointment. I suspect I should exercise restraint and patience and not call them immediately, but I haven't been exercising much lately.

However, I am going to attempt just such an exercise now and go take a shower. Though sitting tends to aggravate the condition, I have to put food on the table and make the mortgage, so it's off to work I go. Before I do go, I should note the pain is not yet consistently debilitating. If I am careful, and do not eat anything acidic, such as the aforementioned apples and strawberries, or honey (why honey? I love honey!), I am able to remain at work and perform my job.

I am hopeful a diagnosis and treatment will occur before I can no longer perform my job. But to deny I am scared would be a lie. In moments of doubt, I fear the worst. Thankfully, I rarely experience those moments which are currently much more uncomfortable than the pain I am experiencing.