Eldery parents,caretakers,your own illnesses,surgery,family matters, Humana and insurance,doctors offices and issues, and more...

 Life is not always  BED OF ROSES... but I would settle for a few soft petals for now...




I am so excited - My NEW CORDLESS Weed Eater Came in yesterday! No more trying to pull those heavy cords around the yard, and I can take this out into the "back forty" also. Plus it is really almost lighter in weight than the corded one, and certainly lighter than the "gas" one. I can't weed eat for any long length of time, but I did discover, as long as I take it slow, and take breaks fairly quickly in between, then I can do lots with it. I can't start my darned lawnmower, because I do not have enough strength in my arms anymore to pull it quickly enough for it to start. It sucks, because I just put almost everything new on it last summer. I put the new pull cord device on it, a new air filter, changed the oil, a new spark plug, and fixed the "baffle" on it that deflects the grass. So, I am hoping my neighbor who used to mow the lawn will still do so, and he can see if i did a good job in the "overhaul" I guess when it plays out on me, I may have to get one that is "push button" for starting or something. I no longer can pull the cord quickly enough to start those kind. Anyway, right now I hope "nothing else" breaks or needs replacing around here. 

I've got the surgery to pay for, a doctors visit tomorrow that will have to be paid in full right now by me... he is my PCP and the ONLY doctor NOT on my "preferred provider list"... Hopefully since Aetna bought Humana, (they are on Aetna's plan) finally it will come together and they also will be on Humana's also... it is so odd, Humana used to carry them as a preferred provider for years.... anyway, I am having HELL with the surgeon's assistant that is doing my neck surgery. I go through hell with them on insurance every time... I FOUND THEM AND CALLED NOW 3 TIMES to make sure his clinic is on the "preferred provider list"... and I have seen it and they told me AGAIN ON THE PHONE YESTERDAY, that they are on Humana's "preferred providers list".... BUT the doctors office said the insurance said that they are not... well the issue is they have it listed under their "clinic name" which Humana tells me that means "the doctor" is covered... and I even got a special number on the phone yesterday as a confirmation that he is a preferred provider that I faxed to the doctors office... anyway, I have a 750.00 deductible on any "non preferred" provider then the insurance will pay 60% of the bill anyway, and then I pay 40%... so if it comes down to it, once that 750 is met, I would owe 40% of whatever, office visits, etc... and sometimes that 40% is actually "cheaper" than the co-pay which now is 20.00 for a PCP and a specialist is 45.00 in co-pay.... anyway, between that, trying to get Mom all figured out as far as her medications, and so forth, making sure I have someone to get me back and forth to the surgery next week on my neck and I think my son will be able to, he has to check with his work, then I will be in a neck brace for about 4 to 6 weeks...

 I will be able to drive after a week or so, but being in that neck brace makes it a bit more difficult, plus my pain pump has to be refilled around the 18th or so.... gosh always something... I won't be able to bend over, so I will have to get "creative" in changing the dogs paper and feeding/watering them... the little one is so full of "pee and vinegar" as the old saying goes, LOL, I will have to be extra careful with him after surgery so he does not trip me, or make me do something to "injure" my neck for the first couple of weeks... anyway we have all of that going on, and some others things, with family going on... I think all of us are more stressed out than we can almost handle... keep your thoughts and prayers with all of us right now.... I know my family will appreciate it for sure... 


My daughter and her family are under a great amount of stress due to jobs issues... things are so up in the air with the oil and has industry, and her husband, my son-in-law has worked with that type of thing now for over 10 years... yet with the extreme drop in oil and gas prices, of course it is taking a toll on so many of the companies that have anything to do with oil and gas right now... It is wonderful for us when we go to the gas station, but a nightmare for so many who may lose their jobs, and so forth. Talk about a double edged sword... so I have her and her family in my heart and am concerned for them, as I know this is a difficult time for them also. He does not really know from one day to the next if he will have a job with the company or not, and after having that security, benefits, insurance and so forth for over 10 years, that is difficult to deal with.

TOADY IS THE DAY TAKE TIME TO GIVE YOUR OPINIONS on this Open Docket from the CDC in reagrd to Pain Medications, and "Regulations" - you have till Jan 13th

Everyone DO NOT FORGET ABOUT GETTING YOUR COMMENTS IN ON THIS CDC/HUMAN RESOURCE OPEN to the Public comments that begins today and we have until Jan 13th (I believe to put our comments in) here is the page with everything on it.
This is OUR chance to GIVE OUT thoughts on how many of us cannot be without the proper medications in order to have a "quality of life"..... I realize there is much controversy out there, but we need to give our suggestions and opinions now.... there are many people that can't afford a "specialist in pain management) ... so their PCP help to take care of that... and they do a great job (the ones that do it properly) but now our doctors are running scared of being shut down, or their licenses taken away for good, due to all of the "jumbled" mess that you can read that is included with the docket and so forth.... take time and tell your "story"... tell your own experiences, and let our government know that some of us need those medications and I say it frequently, to have A QUALITY OF LIFE!

http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketBrowser;rpp=25;po=0;dct=N%252BFR%252BPR%252BO;D=CDC-2015-0112

Round Two of Bad Weather (I can tell from my severe pain), Lupus, RA, Flares, MORE unbearable pain, Discographs, Ankylosing Spondylitis & More

Looks like Round 2 of the BAD Weather days for my area around the DFW Metroplex, including Ellis County. It is supposed to start out as rain possibly today, but then turn back into Thunderstorms for several days through the weekend and more... so we shall see. I am supposed to go for that discograph on Monday, But, due to having this corticosteroid injection and having both I think a Lupus and RA flare at the same time, and now I am on a step down large dose of Prednisone for about 7 days or so. I am not sure they will even consider doing the procedure. Since they have to inject dye into my spine, and we run the risk of infection even with antibiotics they will give me IV during the procedure, my immune system is not probably really ready to handle it. I am calling them today and talking to them about it before I even try to go up to Dallas early Monday morning. No use in my son nor I making that trip only to have them tell me I can't have it done right now. Also I did find out my PCP will do all of the blood work my Rheumy wants me to have. I'll go in next week and have it and what my PCP wants done all at the same time. I am sure the lab tech will be thrilled! He cringes when he sees me coming. I am such a horrible stick, due to rolling veins, tiny veins, the "blow" on them, they have to "chase them down, anyway... he just looks like he wants to cry as I walk in the door. But, it all has to be done, thus he will have to stick as much as it takes to get the blood needed for the tests. They are also checking for that "marker" for AS (ankylosing spondylitis) HLA-B27... a "genetic marker" that sometimes shows with this autoimmune disorder. From what I read, lots of people can have the "marker" yet never get the AI. Then many can have AS, yet the marker does not show. Yet, my latest symptoms, with the very severe lower lumbar and sacral L-5/S-1 back pain, down into my hips, that almost keeps me from being able to sit at my computer for very long at a time... I just have all of the hallmark symptoms of the disease. Now it may show I have a compression fracture due to the osteoporosis, the reason for this discograph... I don't care what it is, fix it so I can go back to somewhat of whatever "normal" in my life is anymore. Now, that I am basically here with me and the pups, I have LOTS of stuff I want to do at the house.... but in the pain I've been in, I just am almost in tears by the time I sit here for 10 minutes... So, I do need the discograph done, but even my pain doctor, thinks it is a waste of time and money.. it appears I have something that needs to be fixed in that area, so even if we find the AS is present, then I still will probably be having lower surgery on those places on my very lower spine... My hips hurt so badly, even this morning by 3 am I was awake from pain so severe I wanted to scream.... so let's hope they find something and can do something about it....

As you can see again I'm going through hell with the AI issues. Some days just trying to ignore the pain, the inflammation, stiffness, and go ahead with all of my house projects work... and then others the Rheumatoid Arthritis, the Lupus, and now possibly Ankylosing Spondylitis, and more just about get the best of me. I am attaching a couple of links about AS, for those who want to know more, as well as about the discograph... and so forth. 

I need to try and get to work on my 3rd book on my own history and river of "fun" with Autoimmune Illnesses, and I intend to soon, if I can get to where I can sit long enough to do so. I have almost finished reading Stephen King's book "On Writing". He has some incredible ideas, and of course many I already know. I need a complete "block of time" even if that means weeks, to just write! Nothing else, if I can help it, but quiet time, where I can "bust out" the rest of the writing, then I can begin editing, proofing and so forth. I have no change but to do it all myself. I cannot afford to have a professional help with it, and I did a pretty darn good job with my 1st two books.

This 3rd on of course is so much different. It will be a compilation of my blog posts, my writing about these AI illnesses, and all of the other complications that go along with them... and my personal story, both glory and Lord awful times when I thought not being on this Earth would be better than all I've endured over this past many years... especially since 2005 forward. 

I know I need to get it out there for others to read, and hopefully show that they too can share their problems... people out there do care, even when you think they don't. 

So, as the days go by, keep me in your thoughts... lots of stuff going on with me right now. Some I cannot speak about much until later when things are more settled. 

As time goes on, I will be able to give more details about my life, and what is, is not, and what will go on, for my future. Of course, as I've found out through personal experience, as well as through the experiences of some of my friends especially on Facebook, we are never "guaranteed", what the future will hold. I was thinking about that just a bit ago while I was in the kitchen. In 2010, on Feb. 2nd, which would have been my Dad's birthday, I went to the ER via ambulance, sicker than I can remember... they thought it was my Gallbladder. Well, it came out, and I appeared to be getting better. Yet, within 10 hours or so, I was so ill, they feared I may not pull through. They rushed me via ambulance to Methodist in Dallas, where I stayed 6 weeks. They told us I had a "collapsed" bile duct, that my liver had a nick on it, from the surgery and it was pouring "poison" into my abdomen. I had tubes of stuff coming out of me for weeks and weeks. I didn't even get them out until much later after I came home. Honestly, I don't think they really ever knew what was wrong exactly. I was told by all of my physicians, including my PCP, they thought I would frankly, die... although I am still here, but it was a scary, very long 4 months or even more before I felt like I truly may live. I could not eat nor drink for something like 6 weeks. They fed me via IV the entire time... so we never know... a guy I know that was the "picture of health" in his mid 40's, was found by his wife on the floor when she got home from errands. He had a massive brain bleed. Turned out after having to remove a part of his skull to relieve the pressure, he had had a stroke... and maybe unable to move on his entire right side the rest of his life.

I just read where a friend on Facebook who has "RSD", and I don't know a lot about it, although I do know some... she is very young, and facing having her arm amputated today! It appears where blood may not get to certain areas due to nerve issues, thus it appears like she has the massive sores like an infection on her lower arm. So, they are taking her arm off partially it appears down below the elbow.

Another friend here I went to school with is battling cancer. She had it when we were still in high school! And she kicked its butt. Now, after over 30 plus years, it is back, and she is fighting daily with pain, from a tumor that is pressing on her sciatic nerve. 

That is just a few I can think of... My Dad basically went like of like that... had a knee replacement, and something just went terribly wrong... and he passed away in the hospital.... so we never know, from moment to moment what may happen...


The accident Jim had last year March 2014, who would have known an 18 wheel tractor trailer would have ran him over and now he is partially paralized from about his mid-chest down. 

Those again are just a few that I can think of now, and there are so many more of us that either have suffered like that, or know of dear family or friends, that within a breaths space... have gone through horrid and almost unbelievable health experiences. 


RSD - http://rsds.org/



Ankylosing Spondylitis -   (AS)
http://www.spondylitis.org/about/as.aspx




 

The Essense Of A Nation In Desperate Need of Quality "Non-Greedy" Medical Staff... where have they gone?

As I title this, I know it shall keep the "title" I have here now. This is a very true tale, about a recent occurrence that I've witnessed in a small town close to my very own. Population, probably a great deal smaller than the 20,000 so give or take from Ennis. By driving down "main street" of this tiny town you would assume just about everything has shut down, due to the larger towns around Ennis, Waxahachie, Lancaster, DeSoto, and even Dallas for that matter, so of the 2 entire blocks that make up down town, I would venture to say 80 percent of the window fronts are empty, and the stores have been shut down for a long while. All of this from giving into the larger communities such as Ennis, with its large Wally-World, or Waxahachie with Lowe's, Home Depot and all types of "large" stores that took over our "Mom and Pop" neighborhood stores many decades ago. When we pulled in for the first time about a week or so ago, my first view into a "farming" community in a long while.

I had been in this community just outside of Ennis many times in my younger years. And as usual not much had changed. The dentist I took my kids to see there were closed.

But, when we walked into this place that was supposed to be a "medical clinic" I was not sure whether to run to the car and leave, to ask if this "was the clinic", to laugh, or to just sit down and cry. The upholstery on the chairs must have never been cleaned or vacuumed. The entire place was "junked" up with bric-a-brac, and even though there were plenty of chairs, today the place was more than packed and standing room early. Most of those there you could tell were either living from day to day, and of course this clinic is specifically for those that are without insurance & are not able to afford a lot as far as a medical visit. They also do a great deal of "referrals" to other doctors. So, like Jim, he needs to have several "specialists" that as time goes by, he may need medications refilled, or something to be checked out.... after this huge of an accident, the idea of just anything could go wrong and he needs to have a list of "specialists" that would take the "Superior" Medicare Policy... some type of "state" assistance meant for someone more like himself... an accident,no insurance, also even though we have a lawyer it could be a very long time before we see the finances to be able to "pay" for the medical bills. We have hope their will be something to cover later in life, but at the time we have no clue at all as to what if anything will be given, not given, etc... out favor, not in our favor... we just don't have clue... and until the day the lawyer, or someone hands us a legitimate "check" I don't even want to try and dwell on what that might be.
For now, we can squeeze through month by month, and get everything paid for... and that is what counts for now,

Back to the Subject... this woman in behind the "receptionists glass and wall, was just going on and on about this "person" who had passed away.... talking on and on about the relatives, the funeral.... for at least 25 minutes... at the very minimum... and there was not another patient to be seen. Finally, this "voice" calls Jim back. OMG, I almost fainted. Here is this very feeble, very elderly woman, and she was then and again yesterday - and had no clue what she saw him for the week before, what medications she was "supposed" to have given him... claimed she "NEVER" calls medications in, yet as she began to write our scripts, she is on the phone with our PHARMACY giving them the scripts. All in All when we got through.... we were THROUGH! This woman... and I am sure year ago may have been a great doctor, BUT SHE NEEDS TO BE TAKEN OUT OF THE MEDICAL WORLD!! The lady either has dementia, or the beginnings of Alzheimer's.... and another thing.. she never listened to anything we said to her, and she could NOT sit still. She was up and down, out in the hallway, talking to one person, then another, then would come back in and ask us what medication did we talk about... and at the very last, which took the "cake" as the saying goes... as she began to "name off" specialists Jim needed to see... a GI doctor, yes, A Neurologist, yes, a Cardiologist, yes BUT really only to keep an eye on his blood pressure due to the Spinal Cord Injury and a PCP is able to do that, and then all of a sudden, after WE said a Pain Doctor, she leans over and says to Jim "Also you need to see a "pee-pee doctor" ROFLMFAO!!!! What the hell??? Where are we in a Pre-K class room or what??? What about a urologist, and HE DOES NOT EVEN NEED ONE! There is no issues to even need a "pee-pee" doctor, HAHAHAHAHA!!!! By that time I did not know whether to slap her, or just feel sorry for her... or BOTH! Who I DID FEEL SORRY FOR were the 20 patients sitting h=in the waiting room to see her... Unless they needed a -pee-pee doctor they were sh*& out of luck....