Bad Girl, I have been. My liver numbers are a little high. Too much drink with my weekly toxins, aye? Who knows. My blood results are nicely decorated with many bolded lines: low calcium, high liver, low blood count, and more.
As I've felt pretty good recently, except for pain and severe exhaustion; my body is getting even. Not been working out or eating well, and I have enjoyed a few beers this month (no exaggeration, two). Two is too many to mix with my favorite drug, Methotrexate, however. So, dry now. I'm on the wagon in the hopes of cleaning up the numbers and avoiding a liver biopsy. Cheers!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Persistent Piranha
By now, I had hoped to be beyond their reach, fortified behind rest, exercise, vitamins or some lovely pharmaceutical. Those pesky little creatures that I envision chasing one another through my body; scratching, hitting, gnawing at my joints. They've returned, but it's not the first time. I see them as little piranha.
Sitting still, I can feel their sudden gnawing, as if they are simply famished. The smallest little joint will expel an enormous throb of pain, and repeat, repeat...until it's gone and moving on to the next feeding station. The tip of a finger, any knuckle, the top of a foot, the bottom of a foot, the heel, a hip, the middle of my chest, my ribs--there's no ethical code among these monsters.
Chewing on me from within is what they like do to. Hell, they revel in it and have done so for years. I do fight. They've met Methotrexate, Humira and now Azathioprine head on. I hunt them down and assault their positions with DepoMedrol, Celestone, Prednisone pills. But, they have defeated me. Nothing really works. They have me as they like. My good days are apparently only at their pleasure; my bad days--their revenge.
Sitting still, I can feel their sudden gnawing, as if they are simply famished. The smallest little joint will expel an enormous throb of pain, and repeat, repeat...until it's gone and moving on to the next feeding station. The tip of a finger, any knuckle, the top of a foot, the bottom of a foot, the heel, a hip, the middle of my chest, my ribs--there's no ethical code among these monsters.
Chewing on me from within is what they like do to. Hell, they revel in it and have done so for years. I do fight. They've met Methotrexate, Humira and now Azathioprine head on. I hunt them down and assault their positions with DepoMedrol, Celestone, Prednisone pills. But, they have defeated me. Nothing really works. They have me as they like. My good days are apparently only at their pleasure; my bad days--their revenge.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
My latest companion: Barrett's Esophagus
After enjoying a few months of stability with my health, my biggest long-term issue (after arthritis damage or infection) seems to be my most recent diagnosis of Barrett's Esophagus. I can't feel it. Years of acid reflix, gastritis, ulcers and other stomach complaints may have likely caused it, but even that seems questionable to some degree.
The treatment for Barrett's is seemingly a life of daily Nexium or some other related drugs to prevent it from growing. There are also clinical studies available through Mayo Clinic, where your case can be tracked and experimental treatments are available. I am willing to take the drugs, join the studies, cut NSAIDs from my life and eat less chocolate...with the latter being the most difficult (if it's dark chocolate, that is).
What I am not too happy about doing is having an endoscopic procedure every two years. Yikes. Although I have had an endoscopic procedure before which found the Barrett's, it is still hard. You do a preparation, devote a day at the center waiting and it requires you to be anesthetized. All that is better than esophageal cancer, so doing it is a no-brainer. I will.
The treatment for Barrett's is seemingly a life of daily Nexium or some other related drugs to prevent it from growing. There are also clinical studies available through Mayo Clinic, where your case can be tracked and experimental treatments are available. I am willing to take the drugs, join the studies, cut NSAIDs from my life and eat less chocolate...with the latter being the most difficult (if it's dark chocolate, that is).
What I am not too happy about doing is having an endoscopic procedure every two years. Yikes. Although I have had an endoscopic procedure before which found the Barrett's, it is still hard. You do a preparation, devote a day at the center waiting and it requires you to be anesthetized. All that is better than esophageal cancer, so doing it is a no-brainer. I will.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Fuming at Freedom
America has just traversed a huge chasm with respect to the health care freedom of its citizens. Arguably a civil right, and clearly an inalienable right and part of first world human rights, America was holding out on this issue until Sunday evening. The new laws are not nearly as good as many would have liked, but it has undeniably extended something originally promised in founding documents, to most all of its citizens: the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Being sick in America remains a sentence to poverty, stress and insecurity. These problems are not understood by citizens disconnected from the perspectives, but in time I am confident even the most certain of health care deniers will come around.
Being sick in America remains a sentence to poverty, stress and insecurity. These problems are not understood by citizens disconnected from the perspectives, but in time I am confident even the most certain of health care deniers will come around.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Blue Cross the Bully
Only when you truly experience the joy of regular interaction with an insurance company enjoying unchecked power provided by the US Congress do you understand the issues with health care in America. I hear others speak about being terrified of health care outside the US but none of those people has had any experience with it. Just as often, I find that those who praise the system here in America are also those with no real experience using it.
What is most shocking in this dynamic of naivete comingled with teenage recalcitrance is that real people suffer and die in the hands of American health care. Do citizens of other industrialized countries die at the hands of their systems? Most likely. But, how many Canadians, British or Swedes lobby for their fellow citizens; including children, the disabled and elderly, to suffer and die because the government just can't save everybody. I would bet it is in the range of few to none.
In fact, America cannot really use an argument related to money because we have tons of it and choose to spend it on wars and otherwise filter it to very discrete groups of citizens. Those in our government opposed to health care rights are certainly entitled to their opinion, but should not be able to impose suffering and death on other citizens. On that note, those citizens opposed to life should not otherwise be permitted to give these life and death decisions over to a corporation, which is a human invention with financial focus--not human interest.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield is one of these corporations in America that has been given the right to decide if I, and others who sucscribe to their plans, can solve health problems or suffer and die. As my insurance company, they hold the key to everything and they clearly exercise their authority.
A staff level person who is likely to be less educated than me decides my health care. Yes, a bureaucrat stands between me and my doctor. The monthly cancellation forms, the phone calls, the denial of claims are clearly bullying at the least--terrorizing at most. Oh, I realize the workers there are just doing their job, but they know what they do. Their actions are real, with real consequences.
Blue Cross has recently denied my claim for genetic testing because my genetics are apparently a pre-existing condition. They review all my claims for approximately a year before they pay or deny them. Blue Cross the bully. America can and should do better.
What is most shocking in this dynamic of naivete comingled with teenage recalcitrance is that real people suffer and die in the hands of American health care. Do citizens of other industrialized countries die at the hands of their systems? Most likely. But, how many Canadians, British or Swedes lobby for their fellow citizens; including children, the disabled and elderly, to suffer and die because the government just can't save everybody. I would bet it is in the range of few to none.
In fact, America cannot really use an argument related to money because we have tons of it and choose to spend it on wars and otherwise filter it to very discrete groups of citizens. Those in our government opposed to health care rights are certainly entitled to their opinion, but should not be able to impose suffering and death on other citizens. On that note, those citizens opposed to life should not otherwise be permitted to give these life and death decisions over to a corporation, which is a human invention with financial focus--not human interest.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield is one of these corporations in America that has been given the right to decide if I, and others who sucscribe to their plans, can solve health problems or suffer and die. As my insurance company, they hold the key to everything and they clearly exercise their authority.
A staff level person who is likely to be less educated than me decides my health care. Yes, a bureaucrat stands between me and my doctor. The monthly cancellation forms, the phone calls, the denial of claims are clearly bullying at the least--terrorizing at most. Oh, I realize the workers there are just doing their job, but they know what they do. Their actions are real, with real consequences.
Blue Cross has recently denied my claim for genetic testing because my genetics are apparently a pre-existing condition. They review all my claims for approximately a year before they pay or deny them. Blue Cross the bully. America can and should do better.
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