[MarksAngel]

in reply to: No way to get treatment #1064014

Hello Shirley thanks for the reply let me answer some of your questions.

snelsen wrote:If you feel like it, write some more about why walking is difficult for you. Do you legs hurt?

snelsen wrote:When you got insurance, did you go to a doctor to follow up on your thyroid problems to see where you are?

snelsen wrote:Do you mean that you gained 80 pounds? Or just a few?

I have pretty much always had to deal with some sort of back pain. It seemed to get worse after 3 kids. But mostly it was a wake up in the morning with a sore back sort of thing. I worked a lot on my feet over the years, as having kids young and basically trying to grow up too fast, I didn’t finish High school, so most of my work was in customer service of some sort, after a while it got too the point where standing for too long would cause my back too hurt.

When I was diagnosed with GD I was hyper, and was pretty thin at that point. I’m 5’5 and had gotten down to about 165 lbs which is pretty thin too me as growing up I was never a whole lot on the slender side. It took about a year a so after diagnoses before my husband found a job which provided dependent insurance. During that time I had noticed it was harder for me walk because my legs were loosing strength. We lived on the 2nd floor at that time and I really began to notice I was having a very hard time getting up and down the steps. At the time we lived in Anacortes. I had been too the ER a few times and was given a one month supply of thyroid meds from the ER doc which was good for 3 more refills beyond the intial supply. It was hoped that during that time I would be able to find a regular doctor. but with no insurance I didn’t have much luck finding one. I managed to get seen at the clinic there at the hospital, I was tested and given another one month supply along with 3 more months worth of refills for the meds, but I still couldn’t afford to pay for regular treatment.

Eventually the hubby found a job in Everett, and we moved here. I then finally had insurance. But at this point I was tired all the time, and my back hurt very much when I walked, I had also gone hypo due to the fact I was taking the meds but without regular testing I was unaware that my thyroid had completely swung me the other way. But what I did notice was that the combination of not being able to walk without back pain and much effort I had begun to put on weight, lot’s of it and pretty fast too. When I finally saw the doctor She did the blood work and then explained to me that I was now hypyo and what the difference was. As far as not being able to walk it is a combination of the muscle deterioration caused by graves on top of what was already a not in great shape back, as well as the fact that I put on so much weight (I shot up to 290 lbs) so quickly placing my body in shock(ie.. It had no time to slowly adjust to the weight gain) All that had worked together to make it very difficult for me to walk because doing so brings about so much pain in my back, as well as being very tiring.

After all this was discovered and discussed I was put on a regular test cycle and then sent to physical therapy for my legs and back. This seemed to be working for a while, at least until my husband lost his job due to workforce reduction and then shortly after we lost our insurance. It’s now been a year since I’ve seen a doctor or had any medication.

snelsen wrote:When you said you checked with the state, do you mean you applied for Basic Health?

Yes

snelsen wrote:ARe there community free clinics in Everett?

There are but we can’t even afford the sliding scale fee, after a year with only unemployment income we are really feeling the strain.

snelsen wrote: AND congratulations on accomplishing a most difficult and challenging goal of stopping smoking. Anyone who has had the habit and quit, will surely understand how hard that is.

Thank you very much, actually quitting smoking was pretty easy as I discovered personal vaporizers(electronic cigarettes) and they allowed me to first cut out the smoking then wean myself off nicotine, all without the shock of suddenly having nothing to do with my hands…lol. I’m not saying they would work for everyone but for me and the hubby the did the job nicely.

Thanks so much for replying and I hope I’ve answered your questions.
Angel

[MarksAngel]

in reply to: No way to get treatment #1064012

Thanks Harpy, I updated my profile so my location info shows up now. You are right in assuming I’m in the states. If the health care situation ever gets straightened out over here it will be a miracle…lol. Thanks for the positive thoughts.

Angel

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