Insurance Rant

I'm trying to stay out of politics this election season! I have both conservative and liberal friends and would like to keep both sets if at all possible, but the status of health insurance in this country is horrendous!

I'm a public school teacher, which use to be a good job, with good benefits, now, not so much! I'll over look the lack of materials, ever changing curriculums, increased class sizes and increased hours because we're here for the kids! I haven't got a pay raise in six years (and with furlough days, I've actually received substantial pay cuts). Those factors aren't what bothers me most, it's what I've received in regards to my ability to stay healthy to continue being there for the kids!

What I have received the last six years is an increase in my health insurance costs! By the way, I'm also tired of being told I should be happy to have a job with some benefits? Really? Why? If I didn't have a job/benefits I could get Medicare/Medicaid and not pay health insurance premiums for insurance that continuously charges me more for less coverage! Don't believe that's possible with the new Obama care? Well, you're wrong and if you have an existing condition you just might be dead wrong, unless you have some pretty deep pockets!

My insurance refused to pay for Elijah's EEG to confirm the type of seizures he had and refused to pay for both of our MRI's to confirm we did not have brain tumors (which run in my family)! Those three bills were 2000 a piece (the insurance company was nice enough to make sure the hospital and radiologist charged us the approved provider rate but did not apply the 6000 towards our 6000 family deductible). My daughter's broken arm insured out of pocket cost? Well that was 150 ER copay, 120 for X Rays, four 45.00 co pays and a 1000 hospital bill for using their facilities! None of which was applied to our deductibles.

If diagnostic tests and a relativity simple treatment doesn't get your panties in a ruffle, how about what insurance companies do with prescriptions? Twice I've been asked to change meds because the insurance company didn't find them medically necessary. Yes, I'm sure the nice lady in the cubicle isn't concerned about the quickest, most effective inhaler for when I don't breathe, because she's concerned about the cost to the company that's supported by my 350 a month that is directly taken from my check! How about some rationing? Anyone? I'm allowed 15 Imetrex a month despite the neurological team explaining to the patient advocate why I may need more! They're response? If I'm really in that much pain I can go to the ER (at 150.00 just to go, never mind the doctor bill of the attending). We had a similar argument over Elijah's Maxlat but they agreed to only charge us 50 for 12 tablets! Pretty nice of them, if they don't say so themselves!

Why this current rant? Well mostly in part because I was informed by email that my family coverage will go up from 350 to 450 a month! In the upcoming weeks I'll get online access to compare plans (which all charge 450 for full family). That's mighty nice of them. That's 450 if I and my husband agree to take a wellness test and physical. Possibly my kids this year might have to take the same test. Will our insurance premiums be reduced if we're healthy? Nope! I scored a 96 out of a 100 last year and what I got was a 100 dollar increase! So for all those on the right, the insurance/care system is broke and your politicians should help fix it! For all my friends on the left, Obamacare did not fix insurance/care systems and your politicians should fix it! Instead of arguing, how about both sides stop trying to be right and agree to fix healthcare and insurance! I'd like to be able to get the care I need, and the meds I need to lead a great life!

Thanks!

Honey What?

Just watched my first and last episode of TLC's Honey Boo Boo! Can you say that show is doo doo? I swear I just lost twenty IQ points in thirty minutes!

First, let's examine the show's inclination for promoting stereo types of Southern people! Most of us don't live that close to a train and don't have pigs that we keep in the house! I won't even go into the accents, and the subtitles, but since I brought it up TLC only gets about half of what they say correct with the subtitles! The majority of people in the South do not have babies before graduation, nor do they have ridiculous nick names such as the ones on this show!

Second, the lack of knowledge about basic biology and hygiene is appalling! I know the mon is morbidly obese, but your kids shouldn't point out to you that you need to wash under your folds of fat! The fact that you let your kid sleep in a play pen with a pig who carped in the play pen is just crazy! I'm sure the biology or health teacher that gets the daughters will be so impressed with their knowledge of "biscuits" and eating babies as a way to get pregnant!

Instead of paying for pageants and coaches for pageants, I suggest that a court appointed guardian supervises the Honey Boo Boo family's spending. The money would be better spent on education, gastric bypass, soap and education. Lots of education!!! Of course at 40-60 grand an episode, I'm sure TLC is already prepping for Honey Boo Boo moves to the country club. If I knew that the standards were so low, I would have pitched my family for a TLC show years ago! Maybe there's still time?

A Bad Day At Practice

Everyone has a bad day from time to time. When you have five kids, teach and coach your bad day, or their bad day is bound to rub off on someone. One of the reasons I'm partial to running is that a bad day/practice doesn't effect anyone but me. Alas, I'm not the athlete anymore, I'm the coach! I choose to coach a team sport, where everyone is highly dependent on each other to get a white ball over a net in three attempts! This poses a great deal of problems for a person with a streak of independence and self reliance, oh wait, that would be me!

Today was one of the days that my team had a bad practice. Not the worse practice we've had, but not the quality practice they're capable of and it doesn't help that it's the day before a big game! Some of the girls were snotty with each other, some were not thrilled with new assignments and some were just under the weather.

Some of the girls just didn't take practice as seriously as their teammates, or I would of liked. It frustrates me and I know for the girls who are serious it frustrates them. Back when I was an athlete, coaches had a lot more freedom with punishment, playing time and practice time. Times are different, kids are different and parents are different now. I know many coaches that don't bench athletes because they don't want to deal with the backlash and parent meetings that have to take place to justify a benching,or dismissal from a team. My coaches didn't fear that and the parents respected their decisions, or the athlete didn't play (or they made a really big donation to the program).

A bad day of practice highlights the ups and downs of life as a coach and life in general. The people you put faith in let you down (as evidenced by the chicken winging and trying to hit from your face shots I witnessed today). People you think should know better, don't (how many times have I told you chicken winging and face shots don't work and shouldn't you have picked that up after the first three times you shanked the ball into the net). Someone always surprises you in a positive way (demonstrating you understand rotational defense by not staying stationary or the timidest person on the team mastering a wicked kill shot and over hand serve). Most importantly there's always love and hope that tomorrow's going to be a better day (my athletes love their sport, their team and continue to hold onto the hope that they will be the team that takes down the undefeated team). I can't say that I enjoy a bad day at practice, but I'm hoping I get to enjoy a good day tomorrow!

A Hard Day

Mama said there'd be days like this and I wished she'd kept her mouth shut! Today was hard and derailing to my current project/ quest for happiness and less stress! My support system at home is busy with their own quests of internal happiness, so I'm on my own and I don't like it! If your picturing me crossing my arms, pouting my lips and stomping my feet right before I bust out in tears, then you have a clear picture of my psyche today!

Started my day with an ugly incident with a student of mine that is like one of my own kids. Nothing worse then knowing the current mess is going to change a student's life, probably not in a good way, and all you can do is hand them a tissue and pat their back until the ugliness is done! It's a horrible feeling knowing the grown ups around you messed things up for a kid and there isn't anything you can do to fix it but hold their hand and try not to cry with them while their world falls apart! I hope my student knows how dishearten I am about the ugliness he's going through right now and that he has a grown up in his corner.

Second, trying to convince my son to keep a family tradition going was an extremely trying experience! I really don't want a three hour lecture from my mom about all the things I've done wrong in my life because he doesn't want to comply! I'm a little old for a brow beating from my mom, but know its coming if said son can't get with the family tradition. I continue to fail to understand why he refuses to enjoy the milestones towards adulthood (driving, class rings, letterman jacket, homecoming)! It drives me crazy worrying he'll look back and wished he had!

Third, I went to the dentist! I hate the dentist! Cleaning my teeth hurts, my gums bleed, and I never leave there without a whopping treatment plan! Today's damage? Two fillings, surgeon consult, one crown, two fractured teeth that will require crowns and possibly root canals to avoid infection of my jaw! Did I neglect to tell you Elijah must have braces ASAP with a 400 down payment, the water heater has died and I need 2000 in dental work done! That was a little hard to digest.

Lastly, Elijah screwed up his meds! Not sure how, when or why, but he did! My husbands dog got her paw stuck in the kennel and appears to also be having seizures! I forgot the milk and know I'll forget being the tooth fairy later tonight, I've washed the same load of laundry four times in the last two days (please don't let me have ruined my coaching shirt) and have been fighting a losing battle with fleas!

It's been a hard day! I'd love to curl up and have a nice long cry, but then I'd have a nice long migraine so I won't indulge in a little self pity right now! That will make for a really hard day! Here's to an easy peasey day tomorrow!

The Family That Runs Together Has Fun Together

The Boy and his Sign (and the reason we ran)!

Elijah with his pre race donut!

It started with an idea to do something that would make Elijah feel like he had a little more control over his new life with seizures.  Elijah and I have researched and talked, and talked and talked about how to ensure he can be as independent as possible with a seizure disorder.  Concessions have been made on both our ends, such as he won't enter a body of water by himself, he won't climb on things by himself and he won't play sports where he could land on the top of his head.  The by himself was my concession to Elijah's need for independence, the won't by himself was Elijah's concession to a worried mom.  As we were both learning more about managing his seizures through the Epilepsy Foundation of Georgia, we discovered that they hosted a race every year to raise money for outreach and a camp for kids with Epilepsy.  Elijah wanted to be in control of some aspect of his disease and well, I can't resist the opportunity to have a viable reason to get five kids, one husband and one of their friends up at 5am and running by 7:30! I also promised everyone a soda after the race because they ran for a good cause! I'm not above a little bribery to get the family moving!

I'm not a thing of beauty in this tutu!

In an attempt to convince others, my family especially, that we were really going to run a 5K together, I bet my volleyball team and the family that if I met my individual fundraising goal of $250 then I would complete the entire race wearing a tutu!  For those of you that know me well this is not a bet I took lightly.  You see for the last year and a half that I have been actively running , I have DETESTED (did I make that clear enough) running skirts and tutus! I have rolled my eyes and outright said that such things were stupid additions to the running world and that I would never wear one.  Well today I wore one for a good cause and because a bet is a bet.  Besides, one of my volleyball girls who broke her foot and couldn't run made it for me to run in and would of been very rude not to.  Thank GOD we did not meet the team $1000 goal or I'd be running the race in a running skirt and a tutu!

The kid part of our team ready to run and take turns with the sign!

 It was a beautiful day for a run!  Weather was perfect, the traffic to the race was light, and most importantly, I was able to get all seven of us out the door, pick up Stephen's friend and arrive to the race by 7AM!  Picking up and pinning on race numbers was a new experience for half of us and they're were many questions about having to wear it, what it was for, and most important... when do you get to take it off. I have been the only person to wear a D Tag (a nifty way to have chip timing that doesn't weigh down the race number, which is the best invention ever since I'm kinda attached to my light weight dry fit shirts) so the kids were confused, but delighted to wear them on their shoes! Everyone was pretty impressed with the team sign too, until they realized that they were going to have to take turns carrying it.  Hey, I'm wearing the tutu so I promised myself that I would not be carrying the sign!

The family Kenyan ready to kick all our butts!

At the start we decided to run two by two.  That way everyone would have a buddy and wouldn't be by themselves.  My intention was to put the faster people with the other fast people, but because my family likes to do things their own way a fast person paired up with a slow (read I'm only hear because I have to be and I'm walking this joker)person.  The race started and we started in the back because we were still working on pairings and arguing about who would carry the sign. Colin took the sign first, but handed it off within two minutes to Zeke. Stephen and his friend took off ahead of the group in an attempt not to get passed by the rest of the group.  Then Colin decided he really wanted to run, and my husband who hasn't trained in months volunteered to let him open up and really run! Sometimes adults forget that seven year little boys who run like Kenyan's have boundless energy! After about a quarter mile Zeke and Elijah decided to take off so they wouldn't be beat by the girls in the family and I really didn't mind because they took off with the sign! SO, Josie and I walked and ran down the hills (because I forget my ankle brace in the car)! The boys were so far ahead that they did not get to hear all the great comments I got about the tutu! Despite starting in the back, Josie and I passed Stephen and his friend at mile 2 and at 2.5 miles caught up to Zeke and Elijah who gave us the sign right before they said they would not get beat by a lady wearing a tutu! At the last .1 of the race guess who had to bring the sign home? If you said the lady in the tutu you're the winner!  Of course looking back the carrying the sign wasn't as bad as running with Colin who really did think he was a Kenyan (poor Brian looked exhausted even after a ten minute recovery before everyone came in)!

Me and Brian post race!

Stephen and his friend Kandace realizing they're about to run 3.1 miles!

Earning a tee shirt was new for most of us!  For five of the kids it was their first dry fit tee shirt (hey, maybe I'll have a family of runners yet!). As well as a post race party that involved wet towels, free food (including some really good french toast bagels and cookies), and bouncy toys! The kids were pretty good about letting me get some pictures of one of the few times that they were getting along and playing nicely with each other (could be because they were still not fully awake, or that they were too tired to argue with each other, but I'll take it).  Josie asked if we could make this a family tradition and I'm pretty sure that everyone had a good time.  The older kids and adults were a little embarrassed that a 79 year old guy beat most of us by 20 minutes, but hey it was for a good cause!  Elijah met some other people that were not letting seizures limit them and I was able to see my family have fun doing something I love! Of course an additional benefit of running as a family is that all the kids are ready to go to bed at 8pm!  Yes, I can see many family runs in the future!  After all, the family that runs together has fun together!

One of the few group shots I'll ever get!

Josie will be rocking the tutu next year!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

This post is written in kinda short and to the point sentences! I know it's not my usual entertaining banter, but it's been an interesting day!

So today's been a pretty interesting day as far as interesting days go! I don't know about you, but I always prefer to get the bad stuff out of the way first. That's probably why my husband scheduled Elijah's neurologist appointment for this morning! The news from the neurologist was mixed! I've managed not to kill Elijah by waiting too long to come to the doctor's! We learned that Elijah's seizures, migraines and brain to close to the brain stem issues can cause too much pressure in the brain! Brain Pressure is always a BAD THING! I feel pretty guilty for not knowing Elijah's issues could cause brain pressure that can cause permanent brain damage! If the medication cocktail doesn't improve symptoms in a month then an EEG must be completed and Elijah is not feeling going back into the ring with that machine and another knock out! The doctor's secretaries don't know how to work a fax machine! The new assistant principal doesn't know a damn thing about 504 plans,seizure action plans or my kid (can't wait for her to talk to Elijah tomorrow)!

The UGLY parts of the day were primarily dealing with a couple ignorant, self absorbed and generally hateful people! I'm sorry they're plates are currently overloaded with the demands of work, or their home improvements, or court or they're animals! I would of appreciated not being blamed for things I didn't do because I wasn't present or their lack of responsible behavior! Not my kid sweethearts! I'm a little busy with my own! Since the "sweethearts" are self absorbed with themselves and enjoy kicking people when they're down, I'm sure they will understand the ugliness they get back in return! You know what they say about KARMA sweethearts!

The Good parts of today are several! People have offered prayers up for Elijah and some even offered them for me to have the strength to deal with his needs. Everyone can benefit from some prayers! There doesn't appear to be any increased brain pressure in Elijah's head and he's still neurologically intact! Yeah for Elijah's brain for not putting extra pressure on the both of us because I feel guilty enough! Elijah asked to go for a two mile walk because he "needed to process what the doctor told me, so we wouldn't be stressed about headaches and seizures!" I love a good walk! The guidance counselor was fantastic dealing with the doctor's office and the 504 coordinator! Thank God she finds my kids entertaining! Elijah taught his brother and sister about side effects of medications and how his new meds could effect him. Nobody was too surprised that Elijah is not pregnant, drinking alcohol, or nursing so his side effects shouldn't be too bad! Elijah cut his own meds in half with the pill cutter and managed to not destroy, not lose and not cut a finger doing it! I got two loads of laundry done and remembered to bring milk home (hey remembering the milk is a pretty big deal when four kids can't eat cereal in the morning)! The remainder of the family was extra nice and patient tonight while Elijah and I processed the information from the neurologist to be re delivered to the rest of the world! When you've heard the same info six times and you intently listen each time that's a very good thing! Everyone in this house is sleeping, or being quiet before ten pm! Mom can now get her thoughts wrapped around the interesting day which is not always a luxury I have!

The attached picture is from Elijah's first EEG! We know Elijah is strong, he is brave and he will persevere! We're hoping for good days ahead, meds that work and people who enter our lives to be positive supports and supporters!

How are you feeling? Fine minus the migraine!

It's a new school year and the time of year I spend educating students and teachers about migraine and seizures. Not only do I teach people with neurological impairments, I'm also a client, which means I can speak from first hand experience. This should make for a better educational experience for all involved, but most often not because people don't want the truth and nothing but the truth when it comes to chronic illness!

I have my normal speech I give my athletes and students about having chronic migraine. Such things as to why I don't turn the lights on (thank God for a room with a window this year), why I sometimes wear sunglasses inside, why the alarm in my phone goes off every four hours to take meds, why my face looks saggy sometimes and why my words come out funny sometimes are all major points of the speech! I answer questions about migraines and then the issue is pretty well over until I get a migraine at school, which is the second day of school.

Shortly after the newness of knowing someone who averages 15-20 migraines a month wears off, I start getting questions. Most questions come from coworkers, or other people being friendly, or people who just don't believe someone has debilitating headaches as much as I do and still stands upright! I get the "How do you feel question?" question, the "What's wrong question?" or the "How bad?" question. When people ask how I feel I struggle with the honesty in my response. Most people want to hear "fine," not all the details of which stage of the migraine I'm in. Too bad for them because I've done a lot of research on the stages of migraines and think I do a pretty good job explaining them!

The what's wrong question begs for the following response, "Thank you for asking what's wrong. I have chronic migraine with aura and spend 15-20 days of the month feeling pretty crappy! You got me on a good day, so hopefully your voice and smell have not caused me to become a hermit in a dark, noiseless and fragrance free cave!" Despite some processing weaknesses during migraine attacks, I'm pretty sure that I would not be winning any friends with that response so, I usually respond with "I'm fine" or "Just a headache!"

"How bad" is my favorite because that means the person gets it. They either have migraines, live with someone that has migraines or they are a neurologist. Since I don't travel in circles where large quantities of neurologists frequent, the other two types of people are my most frequent "how bad" discussion mates. We'll talk pain rating scales, MIDAS rating scales, various triggers (food, weather, hormones, lighting, noise or smells), previous preventatives, current preventatives, abortive therapies, diet and supplements. Enlightening conversation for anyone walking by, but I don't get many "how bad" questions from people who don't know me extremely well, and the people who know me extremely well don't ask because they know without asking that migraines suck!

So next time you ask me a question in regards to how I'm feeling, I'll try to remember my very best Emily Post manners, but please forgive me if you catch me on a migraine day and I respond with an honest answer, straight from the heart! Currently that would be six days in a month that I don't have a migraine so, good luck!