A few weeks back when I had the stomach flu, I was also having troubles with really bad indigestion. My doctor diagnosed me with two things when I went to see him: stomach flu and acid reflux disease.
At the time I didn’t put a whole lot of thought into the diagnoses of acid reflux disease because I wasn’t worried about it. I knew about it, Pat has it, but I didn’t really know the symptoms. So I looked them up.
The most-common symptoms of GERD are:
- Heartburn
- Regurgitation
- Trouble swallowing (dysphagia)
Less-common symptoms include:
- Pain with swallowing (odynophagia)
- Excessive salivation (this is common during heartburn, as saliva is generally slightly basic[2] and is the body’s natural response to heartburn, acting similarly to an antacid)
- Nausea[3]
Yep, they all fit. I have it. Now what? To be honest, I forgot about it. Until recently. I don’t know if the stomach flu kicked it into high gear or what, be my “indigestion” has been getting increasingly worse over the past couple weeks. To the point of seriously kicking my ass, the past couple of days.
So great I have a diagnosis, there are meds I can take, I just need to get a prescription and start taking them. Add them to the pill pack.
Wait, no, not that simple.
My doctor closed down his practice. I no longer have someone in my life who can write me that script and I’m honestly kinda pissed. It is REALLY hard to find a good doctor when you are on medicaid who is also accepting new patience.
*sigh*
I know this is a bit of a touchy subject, but I really can’t wait til the government has taken over health care.
Have I mentioned that the local hospital that I delivered both of my babies at no longer takes my insurance? I didn’t know it was legal for a hospital to not take the state’s medicaid. As in if I have an emergency the ambulance will pass two perfectly good hospitals (both Mount Carmel system) before we reach one where my insurance is accepted. Seriously? And this is a recent thing. Because when I was admitted, not committed because I’m not crazy, a few months back it was at that very hospital I sat at for a day before they could find me a permanent bed.
Wow so this went from a rant about acid reflux disease to a rant about my doctor, to a rant about my insurance and the government, to a rant about my former hospital of choice.
Anyway…
I guess feeling physically ill sucks for everyone. But spending my life feeling mentally ill on a daily basis and then adding physically ill to it… Can’t a girl get a break?