Re: New Member Here....LONG story lol

[Guest guest]

Hi

Well sounds like your son is doing great.

Must have a good Mom there supporting him.

High School ...well that will be a big change......a new adventure and I

suppose a new worry for you. Sounds like he's on the right track though.

wrote:

Thanks ...yeah a job with insurance would be nice! It's SO HARD

to go

without it and I certainly can't afford a policy on my own

My son is in regular school....he used to be in 2 special ed classes, one

for math and one for language arts, but a few months ago they switched him

to a regular math class and he seems to be doing pretty good *knock on

wood!*. his grade in language arts is excellent too so they have been

talking about moving him out of that one too...which would be good if he

could handle it b/c next year is high school!!

thanks again for the welcome!

>

> Hi

>

> Welcome!!!!

>

> Gee I sure hope you find a good job with insurance.

> I know that is one of the main reasons I can't quit working.

>

> Does your son go to a specialized school or is he integrated into a

> regular school.

> I work with special need children, those in crisis and resource in the

> school system. that is why it is of interest to me.

>

> I realize how extra much time and energy you must need to be a good single

> parent.

>

> Anyway Welcome again

> A Canadian Fibro Friend

>

>

>

> <heatherm76@... <heatherm76%40gmail.com>> wrote:

> Hi all, my name is ...I'm a 30 yr old female, single mom to my 13

> yr

> old son. We live right outside of Charlotte, NC. I started out having

> migraines when I was a child and they got progressively worse as I hit

> teenage years. When I graduated high school and got a job with insurance I

> decided to venture out and try to finally figure out what was causing

> these

> migraines. I started out w/my primary care dr and after a few months of

> treatment and no success he referred me on out to a neurologist. The neuro

> wanted me to have an MRI of my head so I did and nothing was found that

> looked abnormal. I continued treatment w/him for a few yars and then I

> seemed to start getting worse with no relief from the meds I was

> prescribed.

> I started seeing a chiropractor and didn't get much relief from the

> migraines either. I did start noticing muscle pain/spasms in my

> back/shoulders/neck area around this time. I continued on with the chiro

> for

> a few years and then it got to be too expensive for me. In the meantime

> I had started seeing a migraine specialist. She was a good dr but my case

> was very complicated. She tried to help me but as usual after a few years

> I

> built up immunity to the medications and was in and out of the ER so often

> that I decided to move on to try to find another dr. Also around this time

> I

> started having horrible lower back pain. I went to an orthopaedic dr and

> he

> did x-rays, cortisone shots and steroids. We went on with that and

> medications for a while and he also referred me out to physical therapy.

> It

> helped some but when we got to a certain point in my recovery we just

> couldn't get me any better. We knew there was more wrong than just back

> pain. Finally the ortho sent me in for an MRI of my lower back...and found

> 2

> ruptured discs (L5 and S1). Hence the reason why PT wasn't going to be the

> answer. He scheduled for me to go to a surgerical facility for shots in my

> back. They hooked me up to an x-ray machine and went into my spinal column

> with a needle (syringe) filled w/medicine and basically dug around until I

> screamed and then they shot the medicine in. It was very painful. I had to

> go through 2 rounds of this and finally got some relief. It still hurts to

> this day but nothing like what it was. In the meantime like I said I

> decided

> to find another dr for my migraines also. I found a pain clinic, but in

> order to get into the clinic I had to be referred in by a neurologist. My

> current migraine specialist was a neuro BUT she was very against pain

> clinics and narcotics. So I found another neurologist who would see me and

> in turn if she didn't think she could help me would refer me out to the

> pain

> clinic. She wanted more testing done, another MRI of my head since it had

> been about 10 years by this time since the first one was done. After we

> got

> the results from that, which were normal, she wanted me to do another MRI

> of

> my neck and shoulders, since I had the 2 ruptured discs in my lower back,

> she thought it was a possibility that I might have more in my neck and

> upper

> back area. She didn't find any more ruptured discs but she did find muscle

> spams on the MRI. Based on my symptoms and just everything I told her, she

> referred me to a rheumatologist for a possible fibromyalgia diagnosis. I

> went to the appt w/the rheumy and he did diagnose me with fibro. This was

> probably in 2004. He was a very rude man and I left his office in tears.

> He

> would not explain anything to me about fibro (although I had already done

> extensive research online)...he slid a piece of paper across his desk to

> me

> and said " Here go by this book " , pulled out his RX pad and wrote a

> prescription for Ambien (which my insurance would not cover!), told me to

> take one every night, get 8 hours of sleep every night, wrote a RX for

> Ultram and told me to work up to 8-50mg pills per day!!, watch my diet,

> and

> go buy a stationary bike. He did not have a good bedside manner at all and

> would not take the extra time to explain anything to me. Needless to say I

> was discouraged and didn't go back to him. I did get in with the pain

> clinic

> and THEY don't seem to think I've got fibro but they did treat my

> migraines

> and have been a lifesaver. I haven't had to go to the ER with one since

> January of 2005. On a side note....the job that I was working at when I

> was

> doing all of these visits w/the pain dr/rheumatologist/ortho dr...the

> company was bought out so I had to look for another job and went 3-4

> months

> without insurance. Finally got insurance at the new job in September of

> 2005

> BUT I played HECK getting off work for appointments so I never got around

> to

> making a new appt w/a different rheumy. I switched jobs in December of

> 2005,

> got insurance for ONE month and then THAT company went under, so here I

> sit

> again with no insurance. I worked under the table for a while and then in

> May of 2006 I got a full time job, but this company has no benefits So

> no

> insurance AGAIN. I don't qualify for any kind of assistance b/c I make too

> much money..yeah ok but every cent I make goes towards bills!!!! I finally

> finished up my college degree (6 yrs later!!) and I am in the search for

> a job in that field (Web Design and Graphic Design) but I can't take a pay

> cut and the jobs in that field are slim picking!! The company that I am at

> now, they are good to me as far as being lenient with my time off. My son

> has ADHD and Asperger's syndrome (very high functioning autism) and as a

> single mom I am the only one that is around to take him to his dr's appts

> (child psychiatrist, therapist, regular dr for illness, and dentist, not

> to

> mention time off for school conferences, etc). So while I don't have

> benefits here I do have the luxury of being able to take time off and they

> pay me pretty decent, but not decent enough to see dr's without

> insurance!!!

> LOL

>

> Anyway, I have a lot, lot, lot of muscle pain all over my body and the

> spasms are just atrocious...I do have a supply of meds that I've hoarded

> up

> over time, but with working full time every day I can't take alot of meds

> b/c they'll make me tired. Maybe ONE day I'll be able to get a job w/some

> insurance and start getting down to the bottom of this.

>

> As far as symptoms of fibro and just other issues in general, I have

> migraines and daily headaches, muscle spasms/joint pain, back pain, TMJ-no

> official diagnosis, sinus/allergy issues, GERD/acid reflux, high blood

> pressure, skin problems, depression, anxiety and memory loss...I'll stop

> here! LOL

>

> Thanks for reading if you got this far..

>

>