Sticker shock...

It does not make sense to me that the price of gas can keep a cost of living adjustment from being made when it is INORDINATELY more expensive to live, year over year.  I have already noted just how much car and house insurance increases and my real estate taxes, too.  When I first joined Medicare, there was no monthly premium for prescriptions.  Then it was $17 a month.  Then $22.  Now $34.  All the medical co-pays and prescription co-pays were increased last year.  Now, again, they have been raised once more.  And where there once was no co-pays, such as for blood work (which I get OFTEN, imaging, and the like, there is now a $15 co-pay per test.  Sticker shock really doesn't even describe it.  With disability scheduled to become insolvent around September-October of 2016, and the current "solution" to be to only pay 80% of the monthly award, I simply do not know how I will afford the medical stuff in my life.

Other than not going to appointments.
Or taking medications.

It looks like the hormones I am taking will no longer be covered.  They are not optional.  The generic Celebrex has increased in price (SIGH).  But THANKFULLY Zofran is still on the LIST.

I do not want to be the person who pinches pennies so severely (and then finds rebelling financially here and there), who counts the cost of a visit by increases in utility and grocery bills.  But that really is who I am.  And I do not know how to not be deeply concerned about the insolvency of the disability fund.

It is hard, too, knowing that the financial advisor who pushed and pushed me to make liquid all my retirement stock was so very wrong.  She sort of scoffed at my Amazon stock.  It is now $300 more than when I sold it.  Had I done what I wanted, sold every thing but Amazon, I would currently have THREE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS more in retirement to deal with all the financial raises in my life.  I think I am mostly good about not dwelling on that error, but at times like this, when I am scouring the 2016 insurance plan and noting all the increases, I become frustrated that I listened to an "expert" instead of following what I know to have worked for me all my investing years: my own common sense.

The task of comparing available plans and considering total costs, as well as confirming that the doctors I see are still in my network, cannot begin until October 1st, even though the plan changes arrived in the mail today.  So, somehow, I need to set all this medical worry and the need to research my options aside until then.  I STINK at setting aside such.  SIGH.

I have been trying to go without the air-conditioning, but last night was quite warm and I believe the next week or so will have overnight "lows" to high to stick it out.  I would like to chill myself down now, especially because I found an interesting article about dysautonomia and body temperature.

Two bits to quote, since I doubt anyone reads what I link:

Recognizing that probability of heat and cold intolerance and the potential consequences (often fatigue or pain) makes it important for patients and families to use good planning when going outdoors, getting into a hot car, swimming or bathing, etc.

It drives me just NUTS when I try to say that it is too hot for me to be outside and for someone to respond: "Oh, it's not to hot at all!"  I get that a lot.  It is dismissive of my medical condition and rather insensitive.  It is also inordinately frustrating.

"I just thought I was crazy for feeling this way," said one MitoAction member on the call. Be assured, you are not crazy, and the symptoms associated with dysautonomia can be very confusing and really challenging as they affect how one feels and even how well one can function! There are patients whose primary symptoms of their underlying mitochondrial disorder are related to autonomic nervous system irregularities. Still, many people wonder when to react and seek medical help. First, know the patient's baseline. For example, if a person's baseline temperature is around 97 degrees, a temp of 100 degrees is more concerning than in a person with a normal baseline temperature of 98.6 degrees Farenheit. The same idea applies to heart rate, blood pressure, and daily function. Second, always respond by consulting a doctor the first time that any unusual symptoms occur. In addition, rest and good fluid intake are two keys to managing mitochondrial disease, as well as autonomic nervous system dysfunction.


I have actually been reading a lot about how mitochondria might be the actual cause of dysautonomia.  [I always think of Madeline L'Engle's books when it comes to mitochondria!]  But here is an example of where I TRY to seek medical care when my temperature is 100, but each time my concern is dismissed, even though I point out that my baseline temperature is approximately 97.3.

I confess that I have more tea than ginger water of late, which has affected my innards ... functioning.  It took me a while figure that out and have only just started adjusting for having tea, too.  I would like to have cucumber water again, but I do not like the waste of cucumbers going bad if I have not fully used them in time.  I haven't Googled, yet, for dried cucumber to make tea.

Oh, uhm, dried sea cucumber.
No.

The new curry paste is burning a hole in my proverbial pocket.  I have everything I need to make a massaman curry save for potatoes.  Sunday cannot get here soon enough!


PS  In case you were wondering, red velvet brownies are not acceptable for assuaging offense taken over a light at the exterior entrance to a basement.