Apropos of this, Paul says I missed a few; the actual total is closer to $116k. This is how people who are un- and under-insured go bankrupt and end up homeless. We need healthcare reform NOW.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Need a fresh pair of eyes
Hey everyone, especially my editor and proofreader friends--do any of you have a few minutes to look over my WomenHeart Symposium application for me, to catch any typos or other embarrassing mistakes?
If so, please ping me at whatever email address you have for me, and I'll send you my application. It's due tomorrow, but I'd like to get it turned in this afternoon if possible to beat the last-minute rush... Thanks very much. :)
If so, please ping me at whatever email address you have for me, and I'll send you my application. It's due tomorrow, but I'd like to get it turned in this afternoon if possible to beat the last-minute rush... Thanks very much. :)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Are they *trying* to create a repeat customer??
There was a fat-ish envelope from my insurance waiting for me when I got home from work this evening. I opened it up and just about fell over. Unless more bills come in, we're looking at a total cost of right around $100,000 for everything.
If I didn't have good health insurance, that would bankrupt us, really and truly. I read a statistic online the other day that said that something like 65% of new bankruptcies in the US are related to medical costs. I believe it.
And even though the vast majority of it IS being taken care of by insurance, we're still going to have to pay a decent chunk ourselves, and I have a lump in my throat and my chest is a little tight.
Not to sound whiny, but we're going to end up selling some stuff, probably via yard sale. I'll most likely start making jewelry and soaps again and get serious about selling them. Costs will be cut. Whatever 10th wedding anniversary travel plans we've had have gone out the window.
But we'll get through this. Things could have been much worse.
If I didn't have good health insurance, that would bankrupt us, really and truly. I read a statistic online the other day that said that something like 65% of new bankruptcies in the US are related to medical costs. I believe it.
And even though the vast majority of it IS being taken care of by insurance, we're still going to have to pay a decent chunk ourselves, and I have a lump in my throat and my chest is a little tight.
Not to sound whiny, but we're going to end up selling some stuff, probably via yard sale. I'll most likely start making jewelry and soaps again and get serious about selling them. Costs will be cut. Whatever 10th wedding anniversary travel plans we've had have gone out the window.
But we'll get through this. Things could have been much worse.
Progress: I can bike and swim again!
My cardiologist has given me permission to ride my bike and start swimming again, yay! I don't know if I can fully articulate how happy this makes me--please just take it as given. :)
Paul says thanks (and so do I)
Paul's posted a big health update and thanks, so I figured I'd link to it:
http://paulcory.livejournal.com/155724.html
Pretty much seconding what he said. We've really appreciated everyone's support these past few months; it's meant a tremendous amount to us both.
http://paulcory.livejournal.com/155724.html
Pretty much seconding what he said. We've really appreciated everyone's support these past few months; it's meant a tremendous amount to us both.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Call for Submissions: A heart-related fanzine
Since my heart attack and angioplasty/stents, I've been trying to think of a fannish way to get the word out about heart disease. I was pondering this more over the weekend while I volunteered at a health expo on Saturday, at the WomenHeart booth, handing out brochures and information.
Well, on my way to work this morning, a lightbulb went off. Fans don't want to read brochures, we want to read *fanzines*. So I figured I'd try to solicit as many stories from as many fannish heart patients as I could, put them all together in a one-shot, and distribute it far and wide. Maybe even make a nifty, limited-edition button to give to all the contributors.
The last page would be an "In Memoriam" page, or as one my favorite TV shows, Babylon 5 says, "To absent friends, in memory still bright..." with a list of fans who've passed on from heart disease/heart attacks/etc.
Toward that end, this is a call for contributions for my one-shot, tentatively called A CHANGE OF HEART. Stories, poems, letters of comment, and artwork from fans who've had heart-related illness and/or surgery are welcome. If you yourself aren't the heart patient, but an immediate family member is/was, I'd also be glad to hear from you. Emailed submissions are strongly preferred; please send to laurahcory [at] yah00 -- but if you know someone who doesn't do email, ping me and I'll send you my snail-addy to pass along. And I need names for the "In Memoriam" page.
Deadline for submissions is July 24th. That's more than six weeks out and gives me time to put the thing together and send some copies up to Worldcon.
Permission granted to forward this to other fannish places.
Well, on my way to work this morning, a lightbulb went off. Fans don't want to read brochures, we want to read *fanzines*. So I figured I'd try to solicit as many stories from as many fannish heart patients as I could, put them all together in a one-shot, and distribute it far and wide. Maybe even make a nifty, limited-edition button to give to all the contributors.
The last page would be an "In Memoriam" page, or as one my favorite TV shows, Babylon 5 says, "To absent friends, in memory still bright..." with a list of fans who've passed on from heart disease/heart attacks/etc.
Toward that end, this is a call for contributions for my one-shot, tentatively called A CHANGE OF HEART. Stories, poems, letters of comment, and artwork from fans who've had heart-related illness and/or surgery are welcome. If you yourself aren't the heart patient, but an immediate family member is/was, I'd also be glad to hear from you. Emailed submissions are strongly preferred; please send to laurahcory [at] yah00 -- but if you know someone who doesn't do email, ping me and I'll send you my snail-addy to pass along. And I need names for the "In Memoriam" page.
Deadline for submissions is July 24th. That's more than six weeks out and gives me time to put the thing together and send some copies up to Worldcon.
Permission granted to forward this to other fannish places.
Call for Submissions: A heart-related fanzine
Since my heart attack and angioplasty/stents, I've been trying to think of a fannish way to get the word out about heart disease. I was pondering this more over the weekend while I volunteered at a health expo on Saturday, at the WomenHeart booth, handing out brochures and information.
Well, on my way to work this morning, a lightbulb went off. Fans don't want to read brochures, we want to read *fanzines*. So I figured I'd try to solicit as many stories from as many fannish heart patients as I could, put them all together in a one-shot, and distribute it far and wide. Maybe even make a nifty, limited-edition button to give to all the contributors.
The last page would be an "In Memoriam" page, or as one my favorite TV shows, Babylon 5 says, "To absent friends, in memory still bright..." with a list of fans who've passed on from heart disease/heart attacks/etc.
Toward that end, this is a call for contributions for my one-shot, tentatively called A CHANGE OF HEART. Stories, poems, letters of comment, and artwork from fans who've had heart-related illness and/or surgery are welcome. If you yourself aren't the heart patient, but an immediate family member is/was, I'd also be glad to hear from you. Emailed submissions are strongly preferred; please send to laurahcory [at] yah00 -- but if you know someone who doesn't do email, ping me and I'll send you my snail-addy to pass along. And I need names for the "In Memoriam" page.
Deadline for submissions is July 24th. That's more than six weeks out and gives me time to put the thing together and send some copies up to Worldcon.
Permission granted to forward this to other fannish places.
Well, on my way to work this morning, a lightbulb went off. Fans don't want to read brochures, we want to read *fanzines*. So I figured I'd try to solicit as many stories from as many fannish heart patients as I could, put them all together in a one-shot, and distribute it far and wide. Maybe even make a nifty, limited-edition button to give to all the contributors.
The last page would be an "In Memoriam" page, or as one my favorite TV shows, Babylon 5 says, "To absent friends, in memory still bright..." with a list of fans who've passed on from heart disease/heart attacks/etc.
Toward that end, this is a call for contributions for my one-shot, tentatively called A CHANGE OF HEART. Stories, poems, letters of comment, and artwork from fans who've had heart-related illness and/or surgery are welcome. If you yourself aren't the heart patient, but an immediate family member is/was, I'd also be glad to hear from you. Emailed submissions are strongly preferred; please send to laurahcory [at] yah00 -- but if you know someone who doesn't do email, ping me and I'll send you my snail-addy to pass along. And I need names for the "In Memoriam" page.
Deadline for submissions is July 24th. That's more than six weeks out and gives me time to put the thing together and send some copies up to Worldcon.
Permission granted to forward this to other fannish places.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Talking to Rehab
OK, so as I've mentioned here and here, there've been a couple of times where I've felt like a square peg being pounded into a round hole at cardiac rehab. Their usual patient is older, male, and has had a bypass. I'm young(ish), female, and had angioplasty and stents. No prior risk factors. I know how to eat right, how to exercise, all that jazz, and I'm pre-menopausal.
After cardiac survivors' support group on Wednesday, I spoke with the head of the rehab program. Longtime friends and readers know how much I loathe direct confrontation, but this is my health on the line here. So I told the lady that there had been a situation earlier in the week where I felt like I hadn't been heard, like I wasn't being listened to, that it seemed like the rehab group leaders were treating me like "Generic Cardiac Patient X," instead of seeing me for what I am: a woman under 50 years old who had a heart attack caused by a freak occurrence (arterial dissection), not coronary artery disease, or high blood pressure.
She actually seemed to hear what I had to say, and genuinely seemed appreciative of the feedback. She said, "What can we do?" I told her that I needed some reassurance that the nurses were actually seeing ME when they looked at me, and that they recognize that I'm not a 70-year-old male with hypertension and a triple bypass. I needed to know that they realize that I'm a woman who still has menstrual cycles, and that they won't refer me to the nutritionist the next time I gain 3 pounds of water weight in the days right before my period. She seemed to understand, and she asked if there were any staff members in particular that I felt more comfortable with--I named two.
It felt good to speak my mind in a constructive way. It's my hope that by speaking up, I'm making things easier for other young women who may come through the program.
After cardiac survivors' support group on Wednesday, I spoke with the head of the rehab program. Longtime friends and readers know how much I loathe direct confrontation, but this is my health on the line here. So I told the lady that there had been a situation earlier in the week where I felt like I hadn't been heard, like I wasn't being listened to, that it seemed like the rehab group leaders were treating me like "Generic Cardiac Patient X," instead of seeing me for what I am: a woman under 50 years old who had a heart attack caused by a freak occurrence (arterial dissection), not coronary artery disease, or high blood pressure.
She actually seemed to hear what I had to say, and genuinely seemed appreciative of the feedback. She said, "What can we do?" I told her that I needed some reassurance that the nurses were actually seeing ME when they looked at me, and that they recognize that I'm not a 70-year-old male with hypertension and a triple bypass. I needed to know that they realize that I'm a woman who still has menstrual cycles, and that they won't refer me to the nutritionist the next time I gain 3 pounds of water weight in the days right before my period. She seemed to understand, and she asked if there were any staff members in particular that I felt more comfortable with--I named two.
It felt good to speak my mind in a constructive way. It's my hope that by speaking up, I'm making things easier for other young women who may come through the program.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
IT'S JUST MY PERIOD! IT'S JUST MY PERIOD! IT'S JUST MY PERIOD!
OK, so last week there was this, where the cardiac rehab nurses were threatening to refer me to the dietician for my period-related weight gain. That every woman gets. That had subsequently disappeared by the time they expressed their "concern."
Today, near the end of exercise class, while we were moving from the gym back to the room where we do our warm-up/cool-down, the dietician showed up--and made a beeline for me. Oh hell no.
Sigh. She reiterated the "concern about your recent weight gain." I said, "OH MY GOD," and did the facepalm thing, and said through my hands in an obviously irritated voice, "Do you people never deal with any menstruating women here?! IT'S JUST MY PERIOD! IT'S JUST MY PERIOD! IT'S JUST MY PERIOD!"
The instructor at the front of the class glanced in our direction and tried to hide a smile.
The dietician tried to "shush" me. I told her that the weight was already gone, even (it is). She looked very nonplussed, said they did have some women of child-bearing age in the program, one of whom gained and lost six pounds every month. She mumbled something about being caught off-guard and left. It wasn't really fair of me to hit her with both barrels, but seriously now.
We have at least three things going on here.
1. The nurses were completely ignoring me the other week when I said the weight gain was just related to my monthly menstrual cycle. Being ignored makes me cranky. Yes, I know I've had a heart attack; that doesn't mean I don't know anything about my body.
2. If they weren't willing to listen to the patient, me, they could have at least bothered to check the facts on the ground before calling in the nutritionist. The fact that the weight gain has been reversed is documented there on the chart that we fill out every exercise session.
3. They lied when they said they were going to "monitor the situation" before calling in the dietician. They blindsided me by calling her in when they led me to believe they were going to at least look at my stats again first.
I feel disrespected and unheard and like I can't trust them now, and that's not good.
Today, near the end of exercise class, while we were moving from the gym back to the room where we do our warm-up/cool-down, the dietician showed up--and made a beeline for me. Oh hell no.
Sigh. She reiterated the "concern about your recent weight gain." I said, "OH MY GOD," and did the facepalm thing, and said through my hands in an obviously irritated voice, "Do you people never deal with any menstruating women here?! IT'S JUST MY PERIOD! IT'S JUST MY PERIOD! IT'S JUST MY PERIOD!"
The instructor at the front of the class glanced in our direction and tried to hide a smile.
The dietician tried to "shush" me. I told her that the weight was already gone, even (it is). She looked very nonplussed, said they did have some women of child-bearing age in the program, one of whom gained and lost six pounds every month. She mumbled something about being caught off-guard and left. It wasn't really fair of me to hit her with both barrels, but seriously now.
We have at least three things going on here.
1. The nurses were completely ignoring me the other week when I said the weight gain was just related to my monthly menstrual cycle. Being ignored makes me cranky. Yes, I know I've had a heart attack; that doesn't mean I don't know anything about my body.
2. If they weren't willing to listen to the patient, me, they could have at least bothered to check the facts on the ground before calling in the nutritionist. The fact that the weight gain has been reversed is documented there on the chart that we fill out every exercise session.
3. They lied when they said they were going to "monitor the situation" before calling in the dietician. They blindsided me by calling her in when they led me to believe they were going to at least look at my stats again first.
I feel disrespected and unheard and like I can't trust them now, and that's not good.
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