It happens to all of us - you reach for something and your back twinges, you get a bad cold, or whatever, they are part of life. But then sometimes your body really lets you down.
This became very clear to me one day when I was skiing about ten years ago. I was having a wonderful time and then I fell on one run. I thought I was fine but some man stopped and said he friend had gone for the ski patrol. I thought he was crazy but since he insisted on waiting with me, he could help me untangle my skis. Then when I put weight on my knee it bent side ways and I knew he was right. I ended up with a torn meniscus and a partially torn ACL which meant knee surgery and the beginnings of knee problems.
My body has since let me down in other ways. I seem to have collected ailments that won't go away. Tennis elbow, lymphedema, bad back, rheumatoid, fibromyalgia, and that cancer crap. They just keep piling up. Yesterday afternoon I got very frustrated with myself. I try to be a normal person and then my body protests.
Sometimes I feel I should be in a geriatric ward some place with all my aches and pains. But then I try to tell myself that I got through cancer twice so I can cope through all this. But its the continued emotional spiral of coping with aches, pains and scars that is difficult.
I haven't been getting enough rest recently. Nor enough sleep. This makes it harder for me to physically and emotionally deal with life. And since we are at the worst part of the chaos of putting our house on the market (which means I will take our toaster oven with us today so it will not be in the way while they take pictures of the house). I will bring it back tonight so we can have toast in the morning and then take it with us again as they show the house. This is on top of the list of everything else I have to do today to make the house picture perfect.
My biggest problem is with everything I cannot do. I can't carry stuff around (one of my doctors told me that I cannot pick up everything after I told him we were moving). I have to wait for my husband to be home to carry stuff around for me. I get stuck and have to wait for help so often. My body is failing me too soon. And it drags me down and I constantly have to fight back.
Okay, enough whininess this morning. I will go back to being positive.
Sep 10, 2018
Sep 3, 2018
Cancer Drug Costs
These prices are out of control. Upwards of $80,000 per patient per year or treatment protocol. Yes insurance companies pay the bulk of the costs but patients are hit with 20-30% out of pocket co-payments. Since the average family income in the US is $52,000, how are we supposed to pay for this? Can you only beat cancer if you are rich? That really creates a chasm between the 'haves' and 'have nots'. And the current insurance system cannot afford them either.
There is a new call by a group of doctors, oncologists, to get a better control of the pricing set by the drug manufacturers. This was announced in a recent issue of Proceedings published by the Mayo Clinic. It was also written about in Time Magazine and there is a petition on Change.org.
They offer a substantive set of arguments for the pricing changes that are definitely worth the read. They also discuss the high costs of developing drugs that are borne by the manufacturers and how that should be changed as well. They are not just firing at the drug manufacturers but providing multiple recommendations:
"Among the recommendations are allowing Medicare to negotiate prices, permitting cancer drug imports for individual patients, and passing laws to keep drug companies from delaying access to generic drugs."
My only complaint on this issue is that they focus on cancer drugs and not on the other high priced drugs out there. In my opinion, the changes should effect all drugs.
Please go read the articles and sign the petition.
There is a new call by a group of doctors, oncologists, to get a better control of the pricing set by the drug manufacturers. This was announced in a recent issue of Proceedings published by the Mayo Clinic. It was also written about in Time Magazine and there is a petition on Change.org.
They offer a substantive set of arguments for the pricing changes that are definitely worth the read. They also discuss the high costs of developing drugs that are borne by the manufacturers and how that should be changed as well. They are not just firing at the drug manufacturers but providing multiple recommendations:
"Among the recommendations are allowing Medicare to negotiate prices, permitting cancer drug imports for individual patients, and passing laws to keep drug companies from delaying access to generic drugs."
My only complaint on this issue is that they focus on cancer drugs and not on the other high priced drugs out there. In my opinion, the changes should effect all drugs.
Please go read the articles and sign the petition.
Aug 27, 2018
The next stage of my life
I have been developing a plan, a wonderful secret plan. My plan is for the next stage of my life. It will be to focus on taking better care of me. It may sound a little selfish but I need to focus on me.
I have stopped working, taking a 'retirement', so to speak. I stopped working because of my health. When getting through a four hour day, two days a week, was tiring me out, it was time to take a step back. I felt like I was running from one event to another and then not getting enough rest and being fatigued. I constantly felt tired. Yesterday I went back to the office for a few hours and was told I looked 'rested'. That is a good thing.
We are moving to a house which will allow me 95% one floor living. Our current house is a cape. Our bedroom is on the second floor so everything I need is downstairs, except the is a bathroom on both floors. The laundry is in the basement which is two floors down (and back up). I feel like I constantly go up and down stairs, when often I want to skip the stairs. I have been minimizing trips up and down because the stairs are too much work sometimes.
The new house has all three bedrooms and two bathrooms on one floor as well as the kitchen, dining room, and living room. I can do everything pretty much and stay on one floor. The laundry is downstairs but its only down one floor. There are some stairs outside the front door but they are gradual. I will need to go downstairs to get to the garage. But only when I want to. Lots less up and down.
The next step is to find ways to get me out of the house. I will continue to go to the gym three times a week. I have also contacted a local cancer support community about using their services and volunteering. Once we are unpacked, I will start going there every other week or more often. I will also have more time to go see my parents and do their grocery shopping and driving as necessary.
My long term goal is to be more rested, less fatigued, and get enough sleep. I also want to focus on the emotional me so I am getting the support I need and helping others for that sense of satisfaction. And lose that stupid 30 lbs I have been carrying around.
I have stopped working, taking a 'retirement', so to speak. I stopped working because of my health. When getting through a four hour day, two days a week, was tiring me out, it was time to take a step back. I felt like I was running from one event to another and then not getting enough rest and being fatigued. I constantly felt tired. Yesterday I went back to the office for a few hours and was told I looked 'rested'. That is a good thing.
We are moving to a house which will allow me 95% one floor living. Our current house is a cape. Our bedroom is on the second floor so everything I need is downstairs, except the is a bathroom on both floors. The laundry is in the basement which is two floors down (and back up). I feel like I constantly go up and down stairs, when often I want to skip the stairs. I have been minimizing trips up and down because the stairs are too much work sometimes.
The new house has all three bedrooms and two bathrooms on one floor as well as the kitchen, dining room, and living room. I can do everything pretty much and stay on one floor. The laundry is downstairs but its only down one floor. There are some stairs outside the front door but they are gradual. I will need to go downstairs to get to the garage. But only when I want to. Lots less up and down.
The next step is to find ways to get me out of the house. I will continue to go to the gym three times a week. I have also contacted a local cancer support community about using their services and volunteering. Once we are unpacked, I will start going there every other week or more often. I will also have more time to go see my parents and do their grocery shopping and driving as necessary.
My long term goal is to be more rested, less fatigued, and get enough sleep. I also want to focus on the emotional me so I am getting the support I need and helping others for that sense of satisfaction. And lose that stupid 30 lbs I have been carrying around.
Aug 21, 2018
Animal trainers not doctors
Okay, this is getting to be a bit too much. I'm sorry but cancer detection by animals? Well, birds too.
This all seems to be going on in the UK. First of all, pigeons are being trained to read breast cancer imaging to diagnose breast cancer. Yes you read that right. Pigeons. You know the 'rats with wings' (as I call them) that populate many cities.
"Pigeons, with training, did just as well as humans in a study testing their ability to distinguish cancerous from healthy breast tissue samples."
I am so happy to hear that we no longer need radiologists to read our mammograms for breast cancer diagnoses. Instead of 3 years of medical school and four years of a radiology residency, we can have pigeons trained for a few weeks who can spend their lives reading mammograms.
"After two weeks of training, the pigeons reached a level of 85% accuracy. Because they successfully identified cancerous tissue from images they had not seen before, the researchers ruled out rote-learning of the images as an explanation."
Talk about a birdbrain.
Next we have dogs who sniff out cancer. I have heard of this before. We have Lucy's story. She failed guide dog school so her owners thought they should try medical detection instead.
"For the next seven years, Lucy learned to sniff out bladder, kidney and prostate cancer, and was even used in a study. Over the years, she has been able to detect cancer correctly more than 95% of the time. That's better than some lab tests used to diagnose cancer.
Now, Lucy is part of one of the largest clinical trials of canine cancer detection. A British organization, Medical Detection Dogs, has eight dogs sniff out 3,000 urine samples from National Health Service patients to see whether they can discern who has cancer and who doesn't."
Is this a good use of our medical research dollars? I am not so sure. I know people claim their dogs have sniffed out their cancer or stay very close when they are sick but again I do not think a dog is good substitute for a doctor. This research may make us think we need more animal trainers instead of doctors.
You think I make this stuff up? You can read about it the pigeons and the dogs.
This all seems to be going on in the UK. First of all, pigeons are being trained to read breast cancer imaging to diagnose breast cancer. Yes you read that right. Pigeons. You know the 'rats with wings' (as I call them) that populate many cities.
"Pigeons, with training, did just as well as humans in a study testing their ability to distinguish cancerous from healthy breast tissue samples."
I am so happy to hear that we no longer need radiologists to read our mammograms for breast cancer diagnoses. Instead of 3 years of medical school and four years of a radiology residency, we can have pigeons trained for a few weeks who can spend their lives reading mammograms.
"After two weeks of training, the pigeons reached a level of 85% accuracy. Because they successfully identified cancerous tissue from images they had not seen before, the researchers ruled out rote-learning of the images as an explanation."
Talk about a birdbrain.
Next we have dogs who sniff out cancer. I have heard of this before. We have Lucy's story. She failed guide dog school so her owners thought they should try medical detection instead.
"For the next seven years, Lucy learned to sniff out bladder, kidney and prostate cancer, and was even used in a study. Over the years, she has been able to detect cancer correctly more than 95% of the time. That's better than some lab tests used to diagnose cancer.
Now, Lucy is part of one of the largest clinical trials of canine cancer detection. A British organization, Medical Detection Dogs, has eight dogs sniff out 3,000 urine samples from National Health Service patients to see whether they can discern who has cancer and who doesn't."
Is this a good use of our medical research dollars? I am not so sure. I know people claim their dogs have sniffed out their cancer or stay very close when they are sick but again I do not think a dog is good substitute for a doctor. This research may make us think we need more animal trainers instead of doctors.
You think I make this stuff up? You can read about it the pigeons and the dogs.
Aug 20, 2018
Prescription freakiness
I got this email on Friday:
"The following prescription(s) received in Order #"XXXXXXXXXXX on 11/19/2015 cannot be filled.
We can't fill one or more of your prescriptions because the drug was not available, and we have no approved alternative from your prescriber."
So helpful. I had no idea what this was for. Which medication, which doctor, which ailment.
So first I called the specialty mail order pharmacy (because some of my medications are 'special') and I can't look up those prescriptions on line. After dealing with the 'helpful' automated attended for far too long and two phone calls, I ended up with someone who told me it wasn't in that part of the specialty program. She tried to transfer me to the regular mail order department but I ended up in telephone limbo.
So I hung up and made call #3. The woman I spoke with put me on hold to research it and then when she picked the call back up, somehow I got disconnected.
So I hung up and made call #4. The man I spoke with told me that they couldn't fill it because the prescription came in without a medication on it. Very weird.
Even weirder was that it came in from a nurse practitioner in the dermatology department on Thursday where I had an appointment with another NP.
The more I think about this, the freakier it is. How did a prescription get to a pharmacy for me when it wasn't for me? I can only think that this someone didn't realize that they were logged into my account on their computer when they went to enter a prescription for someone else.
This is not a good thing. I will call them tomorrow to discuss this. There is no excuse for this. I know people are busy but when it is dealing with patients and medications, they need to double check what they are doing and make sure they are looking at the correct patient.
Just think if you were in the OR and they were looking at someone else's chart?
"The following prescription(s) received in Order #"XXXXXXXXXXX on 11/19/2015 cannot be filled.
We can't fill one or more of your prescriptions because the drug was not available, and we have no approved alternative from your prescriber."
So helpful. I had no idea what this was for. Which medication, which doctor, which ailment.
So first I called the specialty mail order pharmacy (because some of my medications are 'special') and I can't look up those prescriptions on line. After dealing with the 'helpful' automated attended for far too long and two phone calls, I ended up with someone who told me it wasn't in that part of the specialty program. She tried to transfer me to the regular mail order department but I ended up in telephone limbo.
So I hung up and made call #3. The woman I spoke with put me on hold to research it and then when she picked the call back up, somehow I got disconnected.
So I hung up and made call #4. The man I spoke with told me that they couldn't fill it because the prescription came in without a medication on it. Very weird.
Even weirder was that it came in from a nurse practitioner in the dermatology department on Thursday where I had an appointment with another NP.
The more I think about this, the freakier it is. How did a prescription get to a pharmacy for me when it wasn't for me? I can only think that this someone didn't realize that they were logged into my account on their computer when they went to enter a prescription for someone else.
This is not a good thing. I will call them tomorrow to discuss this. There is no excuse for this. I know people are busy but when it is dealing with patients and medications, they need to double check what they are doing and make sure they are looking at the correct patient.
Just think if you were in the OR and they were looking at someone else's chart?