Hope for COPD

On Wednesday I tried to refill my prescriptions. The pharmacist called to tell me that all them were rejected by my insurance because, it EXPIRED! Now, since I had to quit working, I have had to depend on Medicaid to cover my medical expenses. Great, that is fine. But when I expire without notice? That is a huge problem.  Calling the Department of Human Services is no easy task. It takes about 40 phone calls over the course of several days to finally get a hold of anyone. Of course, that person can't help you. So I explain ever so... Dramatically, that I will DIE without my medication and oxygen. Of course, my oxygen concentrator went out too!  Still waiting to hear back from DHS. He did call back. But of course,  I missed his call and he left no message. I called 4 more times and got no answer. After spending all day on the phone, I took a nap! LOL Have any of you had issues like this with your insurer?  Let me know in the comments, or shoot me an email!...

A huge part of having COPD is the horrible exacerbations we have. If you are newly diagnosed you may wonder, what exactly is an exacerbation? Well, we cough... More than we should. COPD exhibits differently in each of us. An exacerbation, is when we cough excessively and produce phlegm. Coughing up phlegm is actually a good thing for us to do, as some of us over produce it. This can be an embarrassing event. While working as a retail manager, and speaking with customers, this happened often. VERY OFTEN. Coughing up more than a Kleenex could hold, a handful of phlegm. Gross. Now, I said that is is healthy for us to do this, but you must look at it. Yes, look at the phlegm you coughed up. Keep track of the color. The color is telling you what is going on in your body. Is it clear? Then you are fine. White, okay no problem. Gray? That is okay too. Also, keep in mind that if you just drank something with color, like a glass of red wine or soda... It may be scary to see blo...

So this is 40! I wish I was 17 again, no wait... Maybe 21. The past week has been tough. My Uncle lives a block over from me. I saw flashing red and blue, and an ambulance. So I picked up the phone and called my Aunt to ask if everyone was okay. Nope, they were taking my Uncle to the ER. No diagnosis yet. So I took a little trip to Kentucky with a cousin. We get there and find out that another Uncle is in the ER, his pacemaker stopped working well. They sent him home and told him to go to the VA Hospital the next day. Then when we got home my father needed to go to the ER, turns out it was just a UTI, thankfully. Got home from that to find out my mothers cousins husband (LOL they were like sisters) is in the hospital, diagnosed with end stage liver cancer! WHAT???? That was the 5th, his birthday was the 8th, he passed away on the 9th. Tomorrow my baby brother will be getting married. Then I have to clean an office (I actually pay someone else to clean it, but I do some dusting)...

In the USA Mental Health Week is October 5th - 11th.  Please join me this week to talk about mental illness. It's TIME. I will be hosting a discussion in my group, HOPE for COPD at:  HOPE for COPD  on Facebook.  THURSDAY October 9th from 7PM-9PM CST.  Come talk about how mental illness affects you. Be it your self, a family member, or friend. Without open and honest discussion, the stigma will remain. The group is closed, only group members can see your posts. Your friends and family will not be able to see what you post in the group. So, you can speak freely. *One in four adults−approximately 61.5 million Americans−experiences mental illness in a given year. One in 17−about 13.6 million−live with a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, major depression or bipolar disorder. *Approximately 20 percent of youth ages 13 to 18 experience severe mental disorders in a given year. For ages 8 to 15, the estimate is 13 percent. *Approximate...