Skip to main content

2014 through today.



2014.... What can I say about this year so far? My FEV1 is down to 26% which is pretty bad. Well, I heard those tragic words spoken at my last appointment.... 


"you qualify for a transplant." 


So far, I have been working on that. Getting my weight down. I had been up to 206, but have kind of stopped losing at 184. I'm trying, but it doesn't seem to be working!

 My pulmonologist had me come in for another evaluation before she went on maternity leave. Since I was doing great, she decided to wait to make the big decision until AFTER she comes back from her leave. She also put me on a long term antibiotic. That is fine with me. I would rather try to keep the bacteria colony living in my lungs under control. I guess, it is kinda like birth control pills for bacteria! 

I am working on myself, trying to get as healthy as I can be, and waiting for her to get back to work. So when it came time to see my Pulmo my insurance lapsed! I put in all of my prescriptions and the pharmacist called me and said I was not covered!

 HOW do you just drop my insurance without notifying me? 

 Well, since I am on state assistance, and had asked for cash help, they made me go in for child support services. Sure, if you can find him and he happens to actually have any money... Go for it. Well, apparently I missed responding to a form, and that is why they cut off my medication. I raised HELL. 

 "Do you understand that my medications are LIFE SUSTAINING medications and without them there is a very good chance I could die?"

 "What did my child do to deserve you trying to kill her mother?"

 Sure, I exaggerated a bit... But, I got what I needed. And a few terrified case workers to boot.

 So I am still waiting to get into my pulmo. Because of the lapse, I now have to get ANOTHER referral to see her. 

 All of this pisses me off to no end. After the insurance fiasco, I fired off a letter to Sen. Dick Durbin, and you know, he got right back to me. Like he always does. BUT, he mentioned NOTHING of my needs, trouble with public assistance or anything. Just his support for COPD funding. 

 A disabled person who is transitioning FOR YEARS to Medcare from Medicaid, should NOT fall under the same rules as the general public who are fully capable of working. I haven't the energy to make 40 phone calls a day for 2 weeks before I get a human being on the phone, the lady who answered said they don't get funds to upgrade the phone system, it is better to come down there... Umm... If I get there, it isn't going to be pretty. 

 So, I am still waiting to get in to see her. 

 Thanks for reading! 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

COPD Unaware

COPD Unaware A guest post by Duke Reeves  Despite the advances in medicine and technology, COPD rates and the financial burden of COPD continue to rise. While part of the rising rates can be attributed to a growing population, the bottom line is that the majority of COPD cases are preventable through awareness and education.  The most common symptoms and signs of COPD are shortness of breath, chest tightness, coughing up mucus, and a chronic cough. Looking at these symptoms, it’s easy to see how we can brush them off and assume they are from a common cold or old age. However, by brushing these symptoms off we are setting ourselves up for a potentially rude awakening. COPD is a progressive disease which means the longer it goes untreated the more damage it’s going to cause. The best way to ensure you live a full life with COPD is by catching the disease as early as possible. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) predicted COPD would become the 3 rd leading cause of death in
Post a Comment
Read more

COPD at 40

COPD AT 40 Hi everyone, let me start by introducing myself. My name is Justine Peach. I am a 40 year old woman with a beautiful 16 year old daughter and I live in Melbourne Australia. I used to have a wonderful job that I loved doing. I worked as a nursery hand in a wholesale plant nursery. I moved between two different areas every six months. For the first six months I would be doing all areas of the work place. I would transplant baby plants into trays on a conveyor belt or moving trays of plants to their designated area to grow. Once ready we would be moving the trays from the ground to a trailer attached to a buggy and put them down ready to pick orders. Staking tomato plants, or watering the entire stock. Sweltering on hot days in greenhouses. There were many different areas and depending on staff and stock as to what our job for the day would be. The other six months I would spend at the main nursery department as a dispatch worker. Getting plants ready to load on t
Post a Comment
Read more

Am I Unworthy Of Love Because I Have COPD?

Post a Comment
Read more