This post takes you through when I used Medicare.gov to select my Medicare part D(medication) plan for 2020. I decided that it might be useful for any of you who also need to make this selection to walk you through the website and the decision-making process I went through in selecting which plan made the…
Once more, I am participating in A Chronic Voice’s monthly linkup. words: paying, attending, organizing, plunging, knowing Plunging into a new diagnosis In early September, I was plunged into the world of migraines. Prior to August, my neurologist(who specializes in FND) and I had suspicions that some of the occasional headaches, nausea, and excruciating arm pain…
Once more, I am participating in A Chronic Voice’s monthly linkup. words: loving, affirming, waiting, parting, and persevering. I hope you guys aren’t sick of hearing about BiRequest or my migraine yet. I promise as soon as the migraine breaks, I’ll be able to do more researched work, but for now, I’m still trying to minimize…
The first thing to recognize is that whatever the issue is, you can not control all aspects and that managing yourself and your emotions are likely to take more energy than usual while managing the event will also take energy you likely don’t have. These pieces are going to leave anybody somewhere between tired and…
I have seen and read a lot about the power of positivity and the importance of finding and maintaining a hopeful or optimistic view of life. I want to dig into that a bit, because I think that there’s an essential word missing from that suggestion: realistic. Having unrealistic hopes is self-destructive, as you are…
Once more, I am participating in A Chronic Voice’s monthly linkup. words: researching, dating, finding, recounting, and recycling. Sometimes in life, you get hit with a perfect storm of stress – and sadly it looks like from mid-august well into September, I’m in that position. There are times when even if you are doing your best…
Third in the series on building a partnership with your doctor, this post digs into how to tell if you are seeing the right doctor.
Doctor and patient communication should be a two-way street, not one. While your doctor has medical expertise and training in how to recognize and treat medical conditions, you are the expert on your body and your needs. As a patient, it’s your responsibility to gather good information about yourself and your history and symptoms, and…
Once more, I am participating in A Chronic Voice’s monthly linkup. words: financing, exchanging, controlling, motivating, and capturing. I’m currently in an odd place in my life where several aspects of my life are going incredibly well, but I am also experiencing symptoms that have been and could be relatively debilitating. I’m working on keeping…
This is the first of three posts on creating a partnership with your doctor(or doctors). This post focuses on how often to see your doctor. The second post will be about how to communicate better with your doctor, while the third post digs into recognizing your doctor’s ability(or inability) to work with you. I always…