Thankful Sunday: Doctors who Listen

In our efforts to write this blog, we thought it would be good to spend Sundays with something for which we feel thankful. Every dissociative person or person with PTSD we’ve ever met or talked with has always had a long and winding road toward finding health-care professionals who understand the conditions, and who actually listen to your issues. Many sufferers still struggle, but we’re lucky that our medical doctor seems to have a good grip on these issues and makes a point of scheduling more time with us when we have our bi-monthly appointments.

One of the trickiest things we find with our conditions, which are complicated further with SLE, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, or Lupus, is that as a dissociative, we never meet “textbook” test criteria for any condition. (My doctor actually calls me her non-textbook case.) Sometimes our Rheumatoid Factor and ANA (Anti Nuclear Antibody) tests match our condition, and sometimes they’re negative or our ANA matches other conditions entirely. (These are two key blood tests used for autoimmune diseases like Lupus.) But Lupus hasn’t been called the great imitator for nothing. Compounded by the physiological difficulties of any dissociative person (for example, one of us may be depressed, while others aren’t, making the use of anti-depressants problematic), our body seems sentient and intent on tricking our tests. We’ve actually blood-tested positive for every other autoimmune disease on the books, but the physical symptomology combined with enough positive ANAs considered Lupus-indicators prompted my doc to start focusing on Lupus and treating me for it. I can’t say I’m all better, but my symptoms are much more manageable thanks to having a doctor who listens.

I doubt many of us with the Lupus-caused Malar Rash (the facial butterfly rash) that is found among 50 percent of us or so would consider it a good thing, but for us, it was. (This is the one symptom of Lupus that is considered a tell-tell indicator, few other conditions have the same kind of rash.) The day we walked into her office after months of tests and a tentative Dx, my rash was very severe (and it isn’t all the time, thankfully), and my doc declared right then and there that Dx testing was done, she would now treat me (us) specifically for Lupus. Anyone who has been through the “House” style rigamarole of test after test for a Dx knows what a relief hearing that is. (Speaking of House, this all happened before I watched the show, although I have been amused at how often the team falls back on the possibility the patient of the week has Lupus.)

In honor of docs who listen, and recognition of the work some fine folk are doing to combat Lupus, we will post some related links this coming week. Today we’re posting the Lupus Foundation. If you or anyone you know suffers from this condition, I urge you to check it out (if you haven’t already).

Supporting UNESCO

If the U.S. discontinues dues to UNESCO due to its vote to include Palestine yesterday, I will be expressing my ongoing disgust with our Palestine policy and may try to help support UNESCO. It is a never-ending source of fury that my tax dollars are spent to oppress and kill.

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/

Senators Introduce Constitutional Amendment to Overturn Citizens United

For once, our Senate is doing something consistent with the desires of the rest of us. See Truthout: Senators Introduce Constitutional Amendment: http://www.truth-out.org/senators-introduce-constitutional-amendment-overturn-citizens-united/1320248000 . (Sorry, having trouble getting the link function to work properly. Until I figure out what I’m doing wrong, this will have to do.)

Introducing this legislation on General Strike day is timely.  I’m not sure I agree with the angle they’ve chosen, but it’s a step in the right direction.  We citizens will have to weigh in.  For us, we’d like to see the amendment focus on enforceable Federal requirements for state corporate charters, where the common good is placed at the top of the charter, ahead all other considerations (e.g., profits and shareholders).  That to me is is Constitutional language and appropriate to get to the root of this “corporate personhood” nonsense.  All because some uppity law clerk made a note on a SCOTUS railroad case back in the late 19th century.   No wonder they called those guys the railroad robber barons.

Now if Greece can avoid blowing itself up….

Trial Run

We’re going to try to use this blog as a diary, in our quest to write something every day. Right now we’re focused on figuring out something to focus on, and we can track our ideas here. For the moment, we want to look at charitable giving and see how best to identify the causes we want to support on our limited income. It is an additional way to give back, this sorting out ideas on a blog which has the potential to be seen by others. We’re also going to start listing the links of the places we’re considering.