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Friday, October 15, 2010

Medical Trick or Treat


I love this blog carnival topic because so often I feel like a vulnerable child, on Halloween, dressed up like a sick girl, knocking on a stranger's door just hoping the practitioner who answers will be competent, understanding, a good listener and a great detective. The ugly truth is that there are a lot of scams, lies and incompetent, unscrupulous folks out there. What worries me is how difficult it can be to know the difference before it's too late.

Here are some of the tricks and treats I've encountered:

-Preventative drugs feel like tricks because none of them have been able to prevent my migraines. My doctor tells me that she has patients who respond to these daily preventatives and I certainly have no reason to think she is lying about it. After all she did not just think up drugs to give me - these are commonly used for migraine prevention. I guess the real trick here is my body not responding as we all wish.

-Rescue medications, on the other hand, feel like treats because they are the only reason I can still function as much as I do. Don't get me wrong, I don't function all that great but they keep me out of bed 24/7. Small victories -right?

-Insurance is a mixed bag of tricks and treats. They continue to make record profits and tell their sob stories about how they need to charge more and more because their costs are going up. Oh, poor multi-trillion dollar corporations. Don't we all feel bad for you. Sure, let us take care of it and hey, why don't you go buy yourself a small island to cheer yourself up. On the other hand, we would all be bankrupt without it. ARG!!!

-Acupuncture is a big treat. It's been several years since I've had it done. In fact it was one of the first things I tried when my migraines started getting out of control. While, it never seemed to do anything for my migraines it made me feel so darn good. It was more relaxing than anything - even a massage. I would always leave feeling different, more together. Perhaps the benefit didn't take hold because I couldn't afford to have it done as frequently as I was told was necessary. Either way, I loved it and hope to have much more of it in the future.

-Laughing is a grand treat too. I often feel like I'm going to explode from the pressure, stress and frustrations that come with chronic pain. Don't know what I would do if not for the release comedy provides my body and soul.

What's your favorite treat? What's the biggest trick you've ever encountered?

5 comments:

  1. I had a great deep tissue massage today. True, at times it felt a bit like medieval torture, but it's all worth it in the end. I've been drinking water all day to cleanse all those bad toxins that she worked out of my tight shoulder muscles - that's a treat too! I've discovered one kind of vitamin water that I can drink. It has Vit C and is pomegranate flavoured. YUM! Mostly I just drink tap water (filtered with a brita), but the vitamin stuff is a treat.

    Biggest trick: The "physiotherapist" with a French accent who charged me $90 for a half hour, spent at least 10 minutes of that time taking phone calls ("Excuse moi"), and in the end all he told me was that I need to breathe more deeply.

    Duh. Everyone does. Chest breathing = bad. Deep down into your tummy breathing = good. NOT rocket science. Not worth $90. I didn't go back.

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  2. My biggest treat are my boys! They will help me with anything I ask them to help me with.

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  3. Worked for a big bad insurance company and yes it is all about profit, and mostly all about executive bonuses. No moral compass except what they take home in their pockets. Sad comment about what started as a not for profit industry to help the poor who couldn't afford healthcare.

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  4. Tricks~ doctors that charge an arm and a leg for 15 minutes of there time.
    Treats~ the medication they do provide to give a little relief from pain. Comedy and family to make me laugh! Crafting to give me something to do!

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  5. Massage is by far my favorite treat!

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