picture from: www.ppaction.org/
Right around the time of my last blog, I had one of two medical procedures that I had been waiting to have for about 2 years. Due to the crappiness that is MDIPA, I had been suffering regularly and missing work often because they decided that my issue was JUST pain. Someone at a desk somewhere- who had never met or spoken with me and who after denying my surgical procedure the FIRST of SEVERAL times WOULDN'T speak to me- decided that my issue was JUST pain.
Luckily, both my primary care physician AND my specialist were both CARING professionals. They came up with an "in the meantime" plan of action while still fighting my former "healthcare insurance". My specialist was convinced that MDIPA had "something against me" as they were very adamant in not covering the procedure. Instead, they suggested he give me a drug that would essentially morph me into a 50 year old woman. The side effects would have robbed me of my youth & my beauty, it seems. That may seem vain, but the medication would have only been temporary and may not have made my issue better. I had to really sit with this for a while. By the time I had decided to go with it, the healthcare company had stopped covering the medication and would no longer allow my doctor to administer it.
My specialist came up with a third idea, which kinda reeked havoc on me emotionally and physically, but I had to trade off one issue that was making me sick often for some others that made me sick SOMETIMES. I powered through it for a few months & finally made it back around to OPEN SEASON! That lovely time of year when employees can change their healthcare provider. I sat down on the FIRST day of Open Season and went through all of the plans, using 2 separate online tools and finally settled on one. Then, my countdown began- 2 months to go. I called my specialist and made an appointment for the new year & informed them I had switched insurance as of January 1. By the beginning of February, I was scheduled for both procedures.
As the outpatient surgery drew close, I began to get nervous not just because I was going under the knife; but also because the last time I was scheduled for this procedure, MDIPA denied me the DAY before the procedure. I was so paranoid this would happen again, I called the doctor's office AND the hospital.
Finally in mid-February, I had my second procedure. Two weeks later, I went to my specialist and he hugged me and said "Thank God we were able to help you!" He told me that I was tough & that I was progressing well. As I was going through this, I realized there were several women I know that had been through this same procedure. I found strength in that.
Right around this time, the attack on Women's Healthcare was emerging. A bunch of self-righteous dirty old men telling women what was they had to do for/to/with their reproductive system. The idiocy of it all is that birth control isn't JUST about controlling birth. It helps women in many other ways, including me. *Deep dramatic sigh* It helped to keep my illnessES from worsening and it helped with some of the pain I had been dealing with regularly. I HATE to think how things would have turned out if my crappy health insurance didn't cover my medication & how much it would have cost me. I never really told anyone other than a few people EVERYTHING that was going on or how severely I was affected. I don't think many people could truly understand, but I know for a fact these blow-hard geezers with their shameful private lives have NO business interfering with women's healthcare just to appear to be a certain type of person in the public eye. Convincing the less-informed to vote against their own best interests. Introducing bills through agricultural committees in their state legislature to attempt to stealthily attack their own daughters' and granddaughters' health & reproduction.
Birth control saved me. That and God's grace have brought me through an ordeal that could have affected me for the rest of my life. As I sit here with tears in my eyes, like a punk, I am so grateful to God for what has transpired in my life in the past 2 months. Caring healthcare providers changed me for the better. Don't let uncaring politicians change your life for the worse.
I encourage all women to pay attention to their bodies and their local politics & to VOTE! Don't let these uterine terrorists destroy you from the inside!
Ok I may be being a little dramatic, but seriously, tell these crazy old men to get their FAKE beliefs out of your private parts!
Picture from: http://www.fmnewschicago.com
