You see, something funky is going on with my right foot (it would be kind of funny if it was my left because I could talk like Daniel Day Lewis’s character and at least entertain myself but that’s neither here nor there because as I said it’s my right foot). The (right) foot in question is very swollen as in could-be-mistaken-for-club-foot and I don’t know why. I couldn’t fit a shoe on it if you paid me. Plus, it hurts/itches like that seven-year thing but worse and strange oozing lesions are popping up on its surface. I kid you not. Had lunch yet?
So as some of you know, I have a dumb autoimmune disease and this sort of thing tends to happen to me. Strange things pop up on my epidermis and mucous membranes pretty damned often (my photo’s not looking so sexy to you all of a sudden now, is it?). But this is verging on Emergency Room visit extreme and my piss has no pot. Last time I went to the ER (I’m hip with the lingo- tuckatuckatucka) after I fell off my shoes and broke my ankle (yes, I’m extremely coordinated), it cost me about $2000 after insurance “paid their part”. David’s three surgeries cost about $5000 each after said “payment”. And, in part because of these things and the Great Deluge of 2008, I ain’t got that kind of dough right now (or satisfaction but that’s another blog post for another day when I don’t have infected club foot).
President Bush, you still there? I haven’t seen much of you lately and I know you’re laying low for the good of the party and everything but I need some affordable healthcare. Today. Or at least when the bills get processed. Right now, I’m soaking My Right Painful Eyesore in hot salt water but it’s not working so well and I’m beginning to fear my skin is going to reenact the Northridge Quake and start cracking and pulling apart and then I’ll get gangrene and David will have to use his hack saw to cut off my (right) foot because we can’t afford the cost of healthcare even after insurance (yes that’s you Blue Cross) “pays their part”.
Those commercials you see about this sort of thing? They’re not making it up.
President Bush, can you give me a hand? Maybe a foot?
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
MissOjib
Ann Nichols
Beth Fortune
j lynn
nanatehay
Outside Myself
Salon.com
Comments
No other party does.
I hope you feel better. If you need cheap meds, I'm going to across to the pharmacia to buy stuff this week. Including a cure for some cancers. Let me know.
(rated)
I used to go to the pharmacia when we lived in San Diego. The drive's a little far now.
Good luck curing that cancer and thanks for commenting.
Antibiotics are already on the shopping list. As well as sulfa drugs. I go for family and friends all the time.
As far as the cancer thing goes -- DCA is a cure for many cancers. It is being suppressed as there is no money in it. Too much time as a generic. The University of Alberta is trying to scrape money together for trials. I am hoping to find it there. I've never asked for it before, but in the past month people have been getting diagnosed.
Send an e-mail to McCain. Ask him to sell one of his houses and help you and another few families. I bet that'll go over well. ha.
In the meantime, yikes, I'm sorry about your foot.
PF I know you have a chemical imbalance in your body that is certainly not easy to treat. Perhaps LT could tell us a bit more about the DCA and get you some? At this point, unless you are alergic to it, what could it hurt?
Don't hold your breath for National Health Care anytime soon. It is going to happen only after lobbyists are shut down and the economy is straightened out. Perhaps by 2011>>!!
anyhow, i am sorry and yes health care sucks. i am going to have to declare bankrupcy about medical bills (nother post:) so i totally understand the stress and anger that comes from having problems you can't help and not being able to afford to deal with them.
one thing i'd take asap if i were you is Bromelain. it is a natural and powerful anti-inflammatory used in Integrative medicine, and works amazing things with any kind of inflammation. i took it for two months after i broke my foot (hm are we sisters!!:) and it speeded the healing so much. it is also used for arthritis, etc.
good luck!!
I'll write a post this week about my trip to the pharmacia and what I buy and what it costs. I have much more than DCA on the list. My mom can get six months of her normal meds over there for the cost of one month's co-pay.
I've never understood how we can spend $10Bn a month on killing people in Iraq, but somehow can't afford the the relative chump change to make sure everyone gets the medical care they need. Or that somehow it's better to wait for minor problems to become major before we treat them. It's kind of a pet peeve. My answer to people who say "But, that's socialized medicine!" is normally "No shit Einstein, what else will get it done?"
Seriously, and I know it's easy for me to say from 1,500 miles away, but go get the foot looked after, kid. You can't be a ass-kicker when you've only got one.
Truly a nectar of the gods...
Feel better. I have a GWB doll and am sticking pins in BOTH feet!
1) for all the words with too few letters in the first comment and
2) for trying to kill you with acid.
I meant well, though! ;)
Lisa, thank you and don't worry about the whole acid assassination attempt. You're not the first to want to kill me. ;-)
Sally, glad you're back. I missed you!
John, I love you madly. What can I say? I talk of disgusting things happening to my body and you still think I'm sexy (insert annoying Rod Stewart song into head).
Did I miss anyone? Bueller?
Thank you EVERYONE! It's times like this when I truly love Open Salon and the support my friends here give me. I LURVE all of you!
Feel better soon. Sorry you're on the prednazone.....
My Brother was an honorary member of the Odawa Nation in Upper Michigan. He had hands lain on him by powerful healers. He knew tent shakers and Native folk who could see a person's illness. Sometime in 2000, he sent me a smudge (sp.?) packet of herbs given him by a tent shaker. I burned some of the herbs, and I gained a feeling of well being that has been sustaining through all the long days since then. I heard some of the folks affected by those powers can will wellness into another person. I send all my best thoughts to you and your family.
thanks for a very powerful post
My foot still looks like I'm deformed but because of everyone here, I feel a lot better.
And David's in the kitchen making me mashed potatoes and salmon withe fresh dill from our little hydroponic Aero Garden. Life is good after all!
I hope that you are able to find a remedy that works in the next day or so, as that just sounds so unbearable.
And, yes, my foot feels pretty miserable but, as I said already, everyone's support has made me feel better inside.
Thanks again.
I've heard of that DCA. The boss of one of my friends was dying of cancer. Kidney I think. The docs had written him off and sent him for final hospice care. He is still alive now two years later and says it was the DCA. There are web sites about it, but I haven't looked into it much.
Welcome to America. Enjoy your stay, but for the love of God don't get sick.
Good night.
G
Oh, Gary, you lie like a rug but you are one sweet man. Yeah, my feet are beautiful, just mismatched at the present. And the right one hurts like Hell.
Do you know they charged me sales tax on my ER co-pay? $100 ER co-pay, $106 total charge. Aargh.
Take care of yourself. We like the idea of you being well over here.
Your comment about maybe Sarah coming over to shoot off your foot was really hysterical.
Health insurance is hard. I will have to get supplemental coverage for roller derby as it is considered a dangerous activity and my normal insurance doesn't cover such things.
CA, no bite, it's the infection spreading. I can't believe it's more swollen than it was yesterday.
I'm going to stop feeling sorry for myself now.
The bacteria thing is interesting. I have an appointment with my rheumatologist on Wednesday and will discuss it with him then. Maybe the bactrim/prednisone combo will work for other things besides my foot.
Thanks again.
I'm not on here very much lately as have some health issues I'm dealing with.
I'm so sorry you are having such a difficult time.
I know your foot must be very painful.
Hope your family is giving you lots of TLC.
Keeping you in my good thoughts.
Take care of yourself, Lauren.
M.
Scruffus, It was very good to see your post for L.
Margie, feel better and chase those blues away.
_Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
It looks like our ruling class is both greedy and cruel. I am very sorry to get this news and hope for the best for you. I'm sure you read Gary Justice's post and I'm sure that there are native people out there who can help. My brother-in-law was saved by one of them. I hope that you can find a healer.
Much LURVE
I will.
M.
Best wishes.
I hadn't noticed it until she pointed it out. It was a case of male ineptitude working in my favor, and hers. I sell health insurance as part of my business, but hate it, since it is so hard to give folks the assurances they are looking for. I find the humor a bit distracting, however, since I also know where such initially small problems can lead if not taken care of.
I'd consider doing more research to see if better plans haven't come onto the market in your community, and making it a higher priority from a budget standpoint if that is possible. Knowing you have pre-conditions means it isn't the place where you want to scrimp.
New legislation is in serious jeopardy right now, even if Obama gets elected, and we could all be dead by then.
I'm sorry if you found the humor in my post off-putting. It's just my way of dealing with a disease for which there's no cure and could very well kill me. For me, laughing is better than crying (which I do way too much of as it is).
BTW, we have the best plan offered by our employer, the very best and the most expensive. When I am well again, however, I will investigate things further.
Thanks for commenting.
The govt already pays for 1/2 of all medical care. The situation is similar to that with higher education. When you regulate & pump that much money into the system prices inevitably skyrocket.
The only answer is a free market in health care & insurance. (No, that's not what we have now.) The socialist alternative will only lead to shortages like they have in Canada & Europe or very high taxes to pay for more available care.
garlic is a powerful antibacterial, that i use whenever my kids have ear infections or i have sinus infection. it might speed the healing process.
can you soak your foot in Epsom Salts and warm water? if it doesn't hurt, i'd soak it a few times a day. Epsom really helps the body process toxins out.
thinking of you and your poor foot!
Maggie, you are very sweet. Thank you for your care and concern! I do take fish oil but haven't tried Epsom Salts, just table in hot water yesterday. I guess I need to send someone to the store.
Kent, you make a valuable point. Before going to the ER yesterday, I knew what I needed and most likely what they'd give me, antibiotics. I also knew that they wouldn't have a clue about my orphan Behcet's Disease and that I could not be certain of receiving proper care. His diagnosis of cellulitis, if correct, coupled with Behcet's Disease is potentially very dangerous.
Anyway, what I'm trying very inarticulately to say is I just needed a script and dosage instructions for antibiotics to get me through the weekend, not to spend three hours waiting for a five minute, very expensive crap shoot.
Sorry, the pain meds are making me foggy.
But we don't seem to be moving in that direction. Opponents (read big hospital corps, pharmas, and insurance co's) shriek "Socialized medicine!" if a serious proposal is made to provide the care that Brits, Canadians, Germans, Swiss, and most other Westerners enjoy.
A Swiss Health Ministry official was asked "How many Swiss go bankrupt due to health problems?" His answer: "None".
Waah, waah, waah, shut me up. I need some cry baby soup. Instead, I'm going to the rheumatologist on Wednesday morning. After speaking to him on the phone, I think I'm in for a bunch of needles.
The ER was the right choice - roids and abx for you, young lady.
No question - people shouldn't be forced to delay necessary medical care for lack of health insurance. If we can afford to prosecute unnecessary wars in foreign lands with no end in sight, we can afford to maintain the health of our citizens. (esp. our Behcetizens?)
DCA was mentioned as a cure for cancer - there are clinical trials in progress, but trials take time. It's promising but unproven at this point (but of course that never prevents hucksters from, you know, huckstering).
Get well.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with the occasional pity party. But you’ve got to shut it down when the neighbors complain about the noise, though.
If the rheumatologist doesn’t work out, there’s always Voodoo.
Hope you feel better soon.
You wrote:
"Hmmmm...Darren, I'm not sure how to opine on your comment. Suggesting deregulation when we've just seen how this has affected the financial markets seems dangerous and irresponsible. I do not know enough about it, however, to make a sound judgment."
While your thinking on the subject of financial markets is common it's also misguided. There was no dereg in that area, just a changing of the rules. Please see my article "Confusion About Government at the Huffington Post" (http://www.nolanchart.com/article5071.html)
Basically it comes down to this, health care is only nominally private it's really controlled by the govt. The medical, pharmaceutical, & insurance industries are among the most regulated there are. The govt pays for 1/2 of all medical care in this country. Our present problems were caused by the govt & can't be solved by them. See ""Bad Medicine" or Bad Economics?" (http://mises.org/story/917) for an in depth explanation.
Let me close by saying that I wish you the best with your condition.