Imaginating.
Jan. 3rd, 2012 02:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
susandennisSo now that all my didjas are done. Swim swum, conf call confed. etc. I'm reviewing the doctor visit and what he told me exactly.
One thing was pretty key for me... and that is that it is not all in my head.
When we were little, my sister had a severe, chronic and constant case of hypochondria. My parents used to tell her (correctly) that she was imagining all of her various ailments. So then she started reporting her aches and pains and diseases and then adding 'And I am not imaginating!'
So, of course imaginating worked its way right into our family vocabulary.
I really wanted to make sure that I'm not exacerbating my breathing issues by imaginating that they are worse than they are. Particularly stuff like the bad nights I had where I just lay gasping all night.
The doctor assured me that I was not imaginating one bit. And that was really a relief to me in a weird way.
Also I remembered in his telling me about the test results, he listed the issue as being the asthma. And, now that I've thought about it, I realize he's thinking the asthma might be caused by allergies - and if we can nip the allergy in the bud, then maybe the asthma will hit the pike. A major DOH for most people, I realize but I'm not used to connecting medial dots.
So, ok, I'll give it a fair shot.
There is emphysema but he characterized it as a 'little bit of' and 'the beginnings of'. And he said that the emphysema is the part that is likely caused by my smoking. So my smoking and my fatness aren't even the big culprits here. I don't know why this is important information to me but it is. I'm just glad to know it.
He replaced the Flovent with Advair. This is what my mother sucked on for years. She had heart problems, too but still. I'm not happy about recreating her end years. Also isn't Advair the one that has the commercial on TV with the elephant sitting on the woman's chest? Yeah, drugs that are on TV are expensive drugs. Today's Advair and Ventolin together set me back $75. I think that's about how much a carton of cigarettes cost these days.
One thing was pretty key for me... and that is that it is not all in my head.
When we were little, my sister had a severe, chronic and constant case of hypochondria. My parents used to tell her (correctly) that she was imagining all of her various ailments. So then she started reporting her aches and pains and diseases and then adding 'And I am not imaginating!'
So, of course imaginating worked its way right into our family vocabulary.
I really wanted to make sure that I'm not exacerbating my breathing issues by imaginating that they are worse than they are. Particularly stuff like the bad nights I had where I just lay gasping all night.
The doctor assured me that I was not imaginating one bit. And that was really a relief to me in a weird way.
Also I remembered in his telling me about the test results, he listed the issue as being the asthma. And, now that I've thought about it, I realize he's thinking the asthma might be caused by allergies - and if we can nip the allergy in the bud, then maybe the asthma will hit the pike. A major DOH for most people, I realize but I'm not used to connecting medial dots.
So, ok, I'll give it a fair shot.
There is emphysema but he characterized it as a 'little bit of' and 'the beginnings of'. And he said that the emphysema is the part that is likely caused by my smoking. So my smoking and my fatness aren't even the big culprits here. I don't know why this is important information to me but it is. I'm just glad to know it.
He replaced the Flovent with Advair. This is what my mother sucked on for years. She had heart problems, too but still. I'm not happy about recreating her end years. Also isn't Advair the one that has the commercial on TV with the elephant sitting on the woman's chest? Yeah, drugs that are on TV are expensive drugs. Today's Advair and Ventolin together set me back $75. I think that's about how much a carton of cigarettes cost these days.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-01-03 10:27 pm (UTC)save some money next time
Date: 2012-01-04 01:32 am (UTC)if you're feeling spendy, call the advair people and ask if they offer a copay card.
Re: save some money next time
Date: 2012-01-04 01:44 am (UTC)so now i am very grateful to only have to pay $40 and will, indeed, investigate the whole co-pay thing.
my insurance changes at the end of this month so once i get a handle what the new insurance will mean, I'm all over your ideas.
thank you! i had no idea!