Diagnosis
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Healthcare vs. insurance
And now that I am healing up satisfactorily, there is no time to sit back and enjoy that, because I am being bombarded with messages from my insurance—Medicare and Blue Shield (PPO). I went online this week and tried to decipher them, and also tried to understand the policies and the logic behind them. People… Continue reading
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Terrible horrible morphs…
…into uncomfortable and annoying. I am continuing to blister and peel, the red has further decreased and become more pale, and the heat is mostly gone from my leg; but the nurse from the hospital visited today and opined that there was still infection happening, so she has called in another prescription for antibiotics (a… Continue reading
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The terrible horrible continues…
…and grows exponentially. I just wrote a letter to the hospital’s Grievance Committee about it, because they responded to my evaluation of their services that original day in the ER by attempting to exonerate themselves from all responsibility and I am appealing their decision, so parts of this are taken from that letter, since I… Continue reading
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Terrible, horrible, the third chapter
I have limited energy, so I’m going to get through this as fast as possible. I remembered on Wednesday (when I was feeling worse) that while the firefighters and I were waiting around for the large gurney, one of them commented that they had a unit called Advanced Practitioner Team who would visit and assess… Continue reading
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I got it!
(See previous post for the whole story.) My doctor’s office finally called me back last Monday, and made a telephone appointment for me with the doctor for three days later (on the 17th). I have to say that my opinion was not materially changed by this interaction; in fact, I felt like she was gaslighting… Continue reading
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Only in America
Have you ever seen that meme that says something like “what country has ever been able to make universal healthcare work?” and then it lists every single democratic country except ours? (plus a few others—see below) Well, this post is to say, I’m wishing about now that I lived in any one of them, while… Continue reading
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It’s a start…?
The Lipedema Foundation has published a blog post entitled “10 things you should know ” in an attempt to raise awareness about lipedema and how it differs from obesity. I have shared it on my Facebook page, and hope that it gives people a clue about what this condition means for those of us who… Continue reading
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Cautious optimism
I may have found a doctor who actually gets it and knows what to do about it. Not celebrating yet, but… I went back to the vascular specialist yesterday, only to discover that the lab hadn’t forwarded the results of my CT scan yet (despite having a week to do so). Both I and the… Continue reading
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Developments
I’m writing this after what seemed like another endless day at the doctor’s. My cardiologist and my urologist (both specialists I never thought I would own—whatever happened to my robust health?) reside in the same building, so I made my appointments adjacent so as to minimize the wash-up-get-dressed-and-drive routine. I first landed at the cardiologist’s… Continue reading
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Myopia
Myopia is the “fancy” word for nearsightedness, a condition in which close-up objects are clear, but things that are farther away appear blurry. Tonight I have been ruminating on the other, less flattering, metaphorical meaning of the word, which is “lack of imagination, foresight, or intellectual insight,” as exhibited by my current lot of doctors. Hell,… Continue reading
About Me
I started this blog to talk about a genetic, fibrotic fat-storing (some say autoimmune) condition called Lipoedema, which is something I began to experience in my 60s, although some see early onset at puberty, or post-pregnancy, or at menopause. The other “L” condition from which I suffer is Lymphedema, as a common secondary effect of the fibrosis that blocks lymphatic drainage. Despite the fact that one in 11 women suffer from lipoedema, most doctors have never heard of it, so on top of the pain and embarrassment of this extremely obvious malady, millions of us are out there being fat-shamed for a condition that isn’t contingent on diet or exercise for its growth. This blog was intended to share my reactions.
I have, however, reserved the right to discuss “other stuff” here and, increasingly, since January 20th, 2025, that is politics, because what else, after all, are we legitimately obsessed with in this age of fascism in these United States of America? So while the “theme” of this blog may be confusing, it is my blog, where I can talk about whatever I wish. You are not constrained to read the parts you don’t like. But I feel compelled to write about them.
MEdoubleLL 