I've been very ill....

I've been fighting kidney issues and on antibiotics again. I'm a victim in this 60-40 split of health care - meaning that I don't have health insurance. So, I muddle along like the rest of us. I have to pay the doctor out of pocket, and I have to purchase my meds at full price. I keep fighting dehydration to avoid complications and seem to be losing. I've had tests that I'm still paying my 20% on, and the doctor couldn't tell me why I've got this condition and didn't really help me. He just ran up a lot of bills, and I quit going to him. Even with insurance paying 80% at the time, the bill was pretty high.

When I get dehydrated, the condition seems to get worse, and I need antibiotics to stop the bleeding and then I get better for a while. This has been going on for over 24 months, so now it's considered a "pre-existing condition" and no insurance company will help me with it for quite a while. My kidneys are weakened because of all the meds I take for another condition. I've been on them so long that my kidneys are just processing fluids without discernment.

So, this hot weather hit and the humidity climbed here in Tennessee, and I started having trouble keeping hydrated. I've had this trouble since I moved here just over 5 years ago. This summer seems worse than usual, and long-time residents say that it is worse. Anyway, I've been using lots of "-ade" type drinks, lots of water and still having trouble.

What this means is that I'm never feeling very good. I hurt all over, I have headaches, my digestion is messed up and I'm starting to get very grumpy. I have been eating when I'm thirsty, because I don't feel thirst, which is playing havoc with weight and blood-sugar levels. Even when I drink a lot of water, I'm still eating a lot. So, things are getting worse. My limbs are swelling a lot, even though I'm on water pills. My only hope is that the weather will break and we'll have rain. Then, maybe the temp will go down, too.

So, I'm too grumpy to pay attention to the news. I've been hearing stuff about a mine cave-in in Utah, and it sounds fishy. I'm glad the shuttle crew landing OK, but it was a nail-biter. And I've heard that Florida is getting cut out of the primary process because they want to be first instead of second for voting dates. Well, the rush to be first was won a long time ago because of a law passed in New Hampshire. Can't change another state's law, can they???

While I have my take and thoughts on all of this, I'm too short-tempered to deal with much right now. Maybe when the weather breaks, I'll be able to yell at the radio again. Meanwhile, I'm just turning it off.