The ODMP Blog: Deadliest Januaries in Law Enforcement History
Showing posts with label Be Your Own Advocate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Be Your Own Advocate. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Medical News: House Passes One-Month SGR Patch - Avoids Cutting Medicare Physician Payment Rates by 23% for One Month.
For anyone who is on Medicare and reading this post, this article is a good summary of an issue that should be of great concern. If the measure, just postponed for 31 days by the current and Lame Duck Congress, is allowed to take effect next month, a 23% cut will be made to fees Medicare will allow for both physician and facilities. The AMA - not without a horse in this race - has said that such a huge cut will cause a Medicare "meltdown". Less directly impacted people may not have concerns, but perhaps they should, as they will want to be on Medicare when they are older or if they become disabled. One issue is that many analysts believe that a significant number of physicians will stop taking Medicare. So, if you like your doctor, or your clinic for out-patient services, you may have to find another.
Personally, I worry about it because I have a complicated group of issues, and a fifteen year chronology - or history, if you prefer - and I could never replace the diagnostic history, the knowledge of the progression of the several issues I have, and the inputs from various specialists that my physician of fifteen years knows well. I also worry about keeping my rheumatologist - the second rheumatologist I've seen - who finally gave me a diagnosis for my health problems. The average time to diagnosis for people like me with Ankylosing Spondylitis is between 7-10 years, and it wasn't until I got real top-flight specialists that I was diagnosed and given treatment that helped with pain, inflammation, etc. Because I have had numerous injuries (which could cause some of my symptoms), and I have osteoarthritis (which could have caused some of the problems and pain in my joints), and I have developed a number of endocrine issues (low thyroid, ultra low testosterone, high cholesterol, low vitamin D, low HGH...), it has been a long, tough slog through tests and treatments and talking and doctor visits, blood work, PT, etc. Now that I know I have an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation, I have a treatment plan. That's great, but I would dread trying to get a new Primary Physician, Specialist, etc., up to speed on what has happened over fifteen years. In fact, I doubt I could -even if they have my giant medical record, how would they have time to read it through and discuss it with me?
No, I don't want to have to get new docs now that I am at long last being treated for the root cause of the many problems I've experienced over the past fifteen years). I do understand that somehow we as a nation must reduce the cost of medical care, and that may mean some sacrifices for all of us. But on a personal level this possibility causes a fair bit of anxiety in me. And after reading this article, it may give everyone pause for thought.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
We Live in a New Age of Touchy/Feely
OMG this is getting out of hand. Why in the hell don't we just get the top people from El Al and take notes? The most targeted airline in the world is also the safest? Maybe we should try some of their screening methods. No, that's crazy, what am I talking about? From the article below: "Anyone who sets off the metal detectors is required to go through a physical pat down, but the TSA says they use a less aggressive touch for children under 12."
Does it bother anyone else that a sentence like that is treated like a normal thing to say, given the actions described in the article - patting the genitals, running the hand between underwear and skin, etc.? Oh, and of course, we only do that to kids over 12. WHAAAAT?????? Would you let some uniformed screener dude or gal stick his or her hands down your 13 year old's pants? Isn't that what damn near bankrupted the Catholic Church? Doesn't that sort of behavior get you sentenced and called a "Registered Sex Offender"? Am I crazy? Sure, there was a guy who tried to make explosive underwear. Is groping every adolescent that wants to fly the only way to make sure he/she is not wearing a dangerous diaper?
Oh, and when did it become okay just because it is after age 12, to grope, pat, touch, etc. adolescent kids? It is just wrong. Oh, and much as I hate to mention it, what about past victims of sexual assault, trauma or rape - no matter what their age? Can you imagine having bad some horrific act done to you and then at some later point, if you want to fly, being forced to submit to what would WITHOUT ANY DOUBT be a SEXUAL ASSAULT were it not being done by TSA at an airport?
Since a guy tried to blow up a plane by putting a bomb in his shoes, will we soon be seeing foot fetishists not only relying on the removal and X-ray of the shoes, but requiring the person being screened to remove their socks and submit to a tongue inspection (to see if the foot tastes like explosives) of the foot?
I flew hundreds of thousands of miles for business and pleasure. I was always polite, and willing to do what was asked of me in the interest of security. I was waiting for a plane the morning of September 11, 2001, and I watched that day unfold convinced that I'd support whatever was needed to keep us safe in the skies and in the country. But now I am second-guessing my blind obedience. Why?
There are better, more effective, less personally intrusive ways to screen passengers and ensure safety than to commit battery and sexual assault. Plain and simple. When my daughter is 13 how can I take her to fly somewhere knowing what I know may very well happen? Will she be subjected to a virtually nude screening X-ray, visible to many? Will it be worse, where she's forced to get molested in order to fly? OMG! How did it come to this?
I think that there ought to be a hue and cry from sea to shining sea, insisting that the BEST and BRIGHTEST security experts available be immediately brought together to develop systems to keep us safe. Without having people putting their hands in people's underwear. Is that too much to ask? To fly without some guy or gal sticking their hand INSIDE your underwear, tapping and patting your junk?
It's time to examine who is making the decisions, writing and training the procedures, choosing the technology and bickering over whether the airlines, airports or TSA should pay for technology to make us safer in the air. All this virtually nude photography - will someone do a statistical analysis showing that a man is 12% more likely to be a terrorist if he "dresses right" (and by that I mean not that he buttons the right button with the right buttonhole, but that his junk rests naturally to the right side of the vertical midline of his body) - all this physical grabbing and groping...is this the best option we have for screening?
In a word: NO. It is not, and the people who can develop screening technology, use the currently available technology, and still keep us safe are out there, and they are willing and able. And it is a dirty secret that there are frequent breaches of the system we use now - both in tests and just when the person next to us says, "Oh man, I forgot to take this out of my briefcase!" and parts the top of the case to show a five or six inch knife.
We can do better, we can do better and be safe. And whether the person being screened is under 12, adolescent or adult, we can do it without battery, assault and sexual molestation. And we should. And though some of this post is amusing and meant to be so, the topic and the practices that caused me to write it are not funny. They are wrong. And a helluva lot of us better stand as tall as we have to and shout "NO! This is not acceptable, not in America."
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
Ankylosing Spondylitis: All - Mayo Clinic.com
When I was finally diagnosed with AS ion 2009, I believe that I was typical in terms of the amount of time it takes to diagnose AS. Recent studies indicate that it routinely takes between seven and ten years to diagnose the disease. I want to link to a very good article about the disease, progression and treatment options, and to encourage you to follow the advice in the article: write a careful, thoughtful, detailed summary of your symptoms, progression of symptoms, and any other conditions that may be present for you.
In my case, I was difficult to diagnose because as a result of significant joint injuries and a series of exceptionally invasive surgeries beginning when I was twelve or thirteen, I had osteoarthritis one would normally expect in a man seventy years old or more. I had symptoms in the hands, feet, shoulders, lumbar back, cervical spine, hips and knees. When I first saw a rheumatologist, the person found the history of surgeries, bone grafting, boring out of spine nerve openings, and combined with the x-rays that showed osteoarthritic changes, the rheumatologist stopped looking and told me that I would need joint replacement and that my problem was osteoarthritis.
Later on, as the fatigue and pain began to affect muscles and connective tissue like ligaments and tendons, I decided to see if perhaps the problem was metabolic. I have hypothyroidism, and when I saw an endocrinologist a complete workup showed that many of my pituitary systems were far outside normal ranges. After some evaluation and treatments, I was referred to a very experienced and exceptional rheumatologist named Steven Overman at the Seattle Arthritis Clinic. The endocrinologist believed I had an autoimmune connective tissue disease.
Dr. Overman did a complete workup, and after evaluating all the data, was able to tell me that yes, I had osteoarthritis, but the main problem, causing the connective tissue inflammation, fatigue, hip, sacroiliac pain and the pain from back injuries and arthritic changes (many of the facet openings were being filled in with arthritic material, causing the nerves to be compressed as they exited the spine). He also found osteophytes (arthritic bone spurs) at the point where ligaments and tendons attach to bone.
Finally, after ten years of declining health, chronic pain that seemed to get worse every year, fatigue that made the travel and long hours of my executive job more and more difficult, I had a diagnosis and could begin treating the root problem. The morning stiffness that lasted a couple of hours and sometimes more, the need to spend hours in a position that took the load off my spine and knees, the poor sleep and frequent interruptions, the increasing number of days when I was too fatigued and too sore, and somehow less able to concentrate…all could now begin to be treated.
I encourage you…don’t give up. Don’t assume you are just a wimp (I did!). Don’t give up when your first (luckily my Internist, Dr. Warren Fein, also saw the deterioration and was willing and helpful in pursuit of the cause(s) of my declining health and possible treatments – I’ll forever be grateful for such an exceptional GP to help me though my struggle to find a cause for truly life-changing health changes) or second or tenth doctor doesn’t get you some improvement. You have to be your own advocate and keep on working at researching your symptoms, finding possibilities and investigating them with whatever doctor you can at that time. The AVERAGE time to diagnosis for AS is 7-10 years. Don’t give up until you find some relief. Some AS patients are able to do amazing things after treatment – I know of one who ran a 5k. I am still very much in a place where I have trouble getting around, and have to conserve my energy every day, just to be able to do the most important things. But I have a path to a better quality of life, and I want that for myself, and for you, if you suffer from AS.
Please read the article below and start your own trek toward a better life.
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Sunshine on Discovery Bay
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