Life: Version 2.0 » healthcare

Inspired Leadership: Part 2 – one reporter picks on a very smart Obama supporter

Susan — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:04:36 +0000

He makes me proud (and I feel like I need to go read a newspaper or something).

What WAS I thinking?

Susan — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 10:51:58 +0000

I spent this past weekend in turmoil about my job situation. I took a new job as a consultant in a VERY small company (7 people) after working in traditional offices (all non-profit organizations) for the past 20 years. This change is HUGE and risky (financially) for me. Once per hour I ask myself “what the heck was I thinking?”.

Being that I am the sole breadwinner for the family, I really must be insane. I gave up the safety for flexibility, creativity, the ability to innovate, and to drive my own destiny. Not to mention I can be here for my kids a lot more. The job just doesn’t come with the supreme benefits I am used to, so I am having to buy my own health insurance (among other things).

Which leads me to my other issue – I am getting turned down for health insurance because my BMI (body mass index) is too high. Basically I can’t get health insurance because I am fat (which is what they are saying). When I got that letter it sent me reeling into self-doubt and a feeling of worthlessness. They just suck. Just because my height-to-weight ratio is not where it needs to be I can not have the insurance I need to stay healthy? Something is wrong with this picture.

So now I am being offered another “safe” job with all the trimmings and I am SO confused! I wish my mom and dad were alive – I could really use some mommy/daddy guidance here. On the other hand, I am 44 and old enough to figure it out, I guess.

Overall I am thankful that I have all of these opportunities – I am fortunate enough to have options, and make a decent living doing it. There is a silver lining here!

Migraines Suck and so does our Healthcare system

Susan — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 14:10:06 +0000

For the first time in weeks, I had some time alone yesterday to be at peace with the quiet in my mind (and my house). My kids were out of the house for the entire day and evening. I had planned to watch my netflix movies and do some organizing around my room - then attend an “advanced” cocktail party at my friendly neighbor’s house in the evening. I was SO looking forward to this day of peace, adult converstation, and no kid-related stress. Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out the way I had planned.

Now, I don’t usually like to talk about my ailments – because I don’t want it to increasingly become the topic of conversation as I grow old. But there is a point to this, I think. I was a little headachy all day (I chalked it up to the poor air quality and the fact that it was 100 degrees outside and the barometric pressure was dropping) but by 3 pm I had a full-on, I-can’t-see-with-my-eyes-open, get-me-out-of-this-place, can-someone-turn-off-the-sun, I-feel-like-I-got-shot-in-the-neck-migraine.

Of course I had no migraine medication, so I stuck it out with ibuprofen and steaming hot showers with a mix of essential oils, closing all of my shades and windows, and covering my eyes for the majority of the afternoon. Basically I dealt with it, and it was horrible. I really needed an Imitrex.

I found out last week that my healthcare plan limits Imitrex to 4 tablets per month. Are they joking? Do they realize how debilitating migraine headaches are AND that Imitrex is the most popular medication available to treat them? I guess THEY have decided that migraine sufferers should have no more than 4 per month – this of course after extensive research?

Apparently, there is a limit to how many headaches you are supposed to have! I must have missed the memo.