Sunday Stroke Survival: Time to Get Off the Pot

I've spent enough time on the pot to have a nice red ring around my bottom. I've allowed myself too much time on it. The increase in my medicine has helped somewhat. I'm sleeping six hours at night again. It's time to get up and go.

I've enlisted my other doctors to push Emory into getting dates for me. Lord knows, I've tried everything short of physically camping out in their offices. I can ask my physicians to do this because they like me and are doing all they can to help me get back what I've lost. They have watched my decline with much sadness. It's worth it's weight in gold to have doctors like this.

Having physicians like this is no accident. I recently had to change all my physicians with my move to north Georgia two years ago. These people didn't know me from Adam except those specialists that my previous specialists referred me to like my neurologist. I searched, asked for referrals, and interviewed each candidate (doctor) that I would be using.

I approached each in the very first appointment as a employer weeding out candidates for a job. I am paying them after all, aren't I? I paid for my SS Medicare while I was working. I also pay monthly for my BCBS supplement. I also pay out of pocket each year for deductibles and co pays. It makes sense, right? I outline in the "interview" what has been done and tried by others, what worked and did not work, and what I expect from my health care provider. They can either accept my terms of employment or not be hired.

Open discussion of options is an imperative. They've got to listen as well as talk. I also let them know that as my employee, they can be fired. When it comes to my health and well being, this is a necessary evil. I take nothing for granted and don't expect them to either. We have to all be on the same page. I expect all my doctors be aware of what my other doctors are doing, when, and why. They are my team and I am dependent on them. I expect them to have my back as they have mine.

Finding this special breed of doctor is no easy task. So many have a "God" or "Captain of the ship" complex. But choosing your health care provider is your choice and responsibility in the US. Too accept anything less should be against your basic principles.

I'm simply tired of waiting on Emory. I'm tired of the run around I'm getting and it's time to enlist others to help me in this quest.  Even if one or two doctors accept the challenge to help that doubles my chances of actually getting a dates I need. My cardiologist and neurologist agrees. It's been five months worth of waiting and they have worked with me to keep me functioning. They are also getting tired of this waiting also and are running out of options.

My physical therapist is reaching out to other therapist to see if there is something (anything she hasn't tried) to help me to no avail. She's reached her limit also. Twice a month she asks me if I've heard anything. She is honestly getting frustrated too. When we first embarked (first appt with Emory) on this journey, she just found out she was pregnant. She's due next month. Now I'm hoping the surgery date is while she is out with her baby, so I won't have to have another therapist other than the one at Emory.

I'm thinking about joining the YMCA. I am weakening so much from pain/AFO issues imposed inactivity, that I'm thinking aquatic exercises might help. I got the idea from Barb Polan's blog.  She does aqua therapy at her therapy sessions. Water offers resistance and buoyancy.  When I lived in south Georgia, the beach was a stone's throw away, but here in the foothills, there's nothing close by. Even so, the Y is 13 miles away via  the interstate. My physical therapy office doesn't have a pool in their practice. The cost is $42 a month (senior price), but I should be able to afford that and I can also use their weight room for cycling and leg exercises. Monday-Thursday aqua aerobic classes and on Wednesday they have chair strength and stretch class. The classes are early in the morning so it shouldn't interfere with much. The more I think about it, the more I think I should make the call. I owe it to me. I may wait until the first of the month and wait for Emory to call. That way I can start fresh with a new month.

So it's time to get off the self pity pot and go...

Nothing is impossible.