She has recurring/remitting MS, which is the least aggressive, but that's like saying you have a choice of a firing squad, Ol' Sparky, or slow poison. All three are going to get you, one just not quite as fast as the others. I can tell when she flares up and levels off. Plus she changed jobs, and now that we have a new medical carrier, she's having one hell of a time getting her MS meds reauthorized. That shit costs thousands of dollars a month out of pocket and are a specialty medication, so there are a lot of hoops that have to be jumped through, our doctor keeps reauthorizing it, but they want her to get more damned bloodwork done and possibly another MRI with another neurologist before they pass it on to the insurance company, who will get in a pissing contest with the pharmaceutical company over who co-pays what. This has been an endless slog for years, and she hasn't been able to stay on her meds consistently. They have to monitor the holes in her cheese annually to watch the progression, and if they decide to fail her over to a new med, the whole circus starts over again with the insurance and drug companies. She just stays on what she's taking until that boxing match is over. Me? My main ailments (diabetes, hypertension, a few others) are by-and-large controlled by lots of generic meds at this point (with the exception of my shots and a new sugar pill added to my morning cocktail), so I can get away with $4 per month refills at the pharmacy. She used to take Tramadol for her bad knees (she had a dual-knee op a dozen years ago because the joints are totally shot), but our doc stopped it and said he'd send her to a pain management specialist. Ever since these Dr. Feelgood types were busted selling scripts for hydrocodone out of their kitchen doors at home down here, all the other reputable docs have been gunshy about prescribing any Class III CDS to their patients, unless it's a special case. I'm prone to falling because of diabetic neuropathy and infection damamge in my lower legs, and took a header off the porch last December (the 8th, I remember the night), and was laid up in bed for weeks. All the doc would do is give me muscle relaxants, since all it was was cracked bones and stoved muscles, and nothing requiring surgery. How is Valium gonna help? I'm already on lorazepam as needed. Same thing. I don't need an anxiety med, I need a Percocet!!!
There's very little that she eats anymore that she said doesn't have a metallic taste to it. Except Ranch dressing and butter. If I made angel hair, the first thing out of her mouth would be, 'Needs butter.' She's an unrepentant butterholic. LOL I think part of her tastebud complaints are pure puffery, to make me cook what she wants. She helps me make everything-but-the-sink spaghetti sauce, mild Tex-Mex chili, Three-Beast meatloaf, stuffed cabbage rolls, and dives into it when it's done. And you can be by God sure that if I handed her a tub of Philly brand cheesecake filling, she'd eat the whole thing with her fingers. LOL!!!
[/RANT]
she hasn’t been able to stay on her meds consistently...
Boy that’s rough. I will pray that things work out with what seems to be a LABYRINTH of hoops and jumps to get insurance to approve.
And YES it is very hard to get the good stuff (oxy, roxy, perc...) since doctors decided to become street level drug dealer.
But GOOD GOD if you arent someone who needs them who is!?!! What good does a benzo do!?!?
I am glad your wife and enjoy some foods, like cheese cake filling :)
You both sound very tough.
Had I written that post in the same situation you would have read “why us” between the lines 2 dozen times!
i’m a whiner :)
God bless both of you and expect a PM asking how the wife is every now and then.
It’s somewhat of a (dysfunctional) family of friends here and it matters to me how those I get to know a little are doing.
ciao!