Health 101.1
Relocation is tough but finding new MDs that you feel are effective is a toughy. After four failed attempts at a new primary care doc in Southern Indiana --I decided to commute back/forth to Wisconsin (7 hr drive) to see my previous doc. Then he had the audacity to retire, leaving me crossing my fingers I didn’t get sick. This worked for three years. Three years....and then my luck expired. Ahhh yes...that dreaded day in mid Feb of 2017 when I was swimming four days a week, following the Weight Watcher program to a T and I woke up with a 10 lbs weight gain & inflammation like nobody’s business. And that weight gain just continued and my weight soared up 30 lbs than my typical. I didn’t have that new doc yet....so self diagnosis began. You know...webMD and google searches make you a medical professional, correct? Duh.
Wasted $450 on an allergist (all tests were negative). Next...referred by a friend to her primary care - she was a win, Dr. Roberts. Due to the symptoms, she first referred me to a rheumatologist. Not to be rude here, but the rheumatologist, a nurse practitioner who went by Dr. Rachel (interesting that a master’s nurse became an MD overnight...) she was a nut. All my blood testing & ultra sounds came back negative. She insisted I take Plaquinel for that “in case an auto-immune disorder forms.” Huh....? Prednisone and Plaquinel cocktail. She also insisted I was having a heart attack and sent me to a near by hospital but told me I could drive there. (credibility down the crapper....you’re really going to send someone having a heart attack to the hospital in their own car, driving themselves? I think this falls back into the “master’s level MD” whatever that means.) I did not have a heart attack, just some inflammation in chest walls. But I did get a $1400 bill because that hospital was not in-network with my fake insurance.
Fake insurance - it’s actually a medical sharing program. When I became self-employed, I lost my benefits and had to self-insure. This was around the time of the “Affordable Care Act” situation. I want to know who this was affordable for? Not me. Not anyone who earned about a poverty level income. Which resulted in the “medical sharing program.” After 30 days of that with no improvement of my symptoms, I went back to Dr. Roberts who referred me to a Nephrologist (kidney doc). The office she referred me to thankfully, was in-network of fake insurance. But as I’m scanning the list of doctors, I recognize a name of someone I went out on a few dates with when I first relocated. Thankfully, that’s not who I saw, but trust and believe I would have requested someone else. Not to be rude here....but I don’t really want to share my personal health problems with someone I dated briefly. I was matched with a great nephro that we’re going to refer to as “Woo-ster.” He is great. He tried different medications, told me to get off the Plaquinel immediately (well taper down & discontinue). After testing and a biospy, I was diagnosed with Acute Membraneous Proliferative Nephritis Type 3. This disease is a rare one that impacts Asian and/or Black males over the age of 65. As a 36 year old, white female - I clearly fall into this category. SMH. Nonetheless, after failed oral medications, he prescribed four rounds of Rituxan; a form of chemotherapy that kills off the B-cells in hopes of the body regenerating new, healthy B-cells. After the four sessions, paired with the dreaded Prednisone; I would be good to go again.
I received the Rituxan at Baptist East in Louisville, KY. The hospital - specifically Park Tower was very nice. Cadillac infusion center for sure. The nurses were very nice there. I’m not good with needles, I’m not good with pricks who try to hook up IV’s for infusions. The IV nurses were awful. Except for one, there was one lady, Kris who was wonderful. She saw my fear and listen to my previous issues and pulled out the ultra sound machine to find my veins. The third session, I had a guy named Craig --he was AWFUL. I requested he use the ultra sound machine again and he said, “we don’t do that here....” Excuse? I’m paying you for this....do what I asked for, give me the accommodations here, for F*** sake. No, wouldn’t do it. And he was awful to the point that I requested someone else for my fourth session, though she was just as bad as Craig. She was a black lady with a very thick, foreign accent; who also did not respond to my requests. The sessions were terrible. The first time, was scary. I wept through the entire 8 hour infusion. As the sessions continued, it got a little easier, but not much. I had all the side effects I wasn’t supposed to get; hair growth stopped, lack of energy, lethargic, weight gain, headaches, weird cravings, etc. I’m up 45 pounds since this all began. But the best part of this story is that the treatment is allowing my kidneys to “normalize.” I am grateful for this.
