ok....around when I was 14/15 I got diagnosed with Crohn's disease. I've dealt with it and handled it....usually within a HMO system(which sucks as it is). This year though, my HMO isn't carrying me because I wont pay the extra $40/month they want BESIDES the $90 they get straight out of my disability check...these amounts coincide with $30 co=pays for specialists and $20 perscriptions. It takes a small mint to keep me healthy tht way. I couldn't afford it and started using the County's services(which can be absolutely FREE....if u qualify....well i fudged a cpl of #'s and guess what!....i qualify.

I've been having a lot of health problems with my Crohn's lately along with my colitis....IBS in general.It took me 2 months to get an appointment with my primary care physician....then another 2 months to see the PCP again. Both time I was trying to get an appointment with a gastrointerologist. She/he wouldn't give me the referral. Honestly I had gotten a referral earlier than this, but the referral was revoked because they said they didn't have my medical records from my last gastrointerologust, so then i started the whole process again and we are where we are at. Finally after several(6-7) visits to the emergency room fro pain managemnt and perscription refills...i FINALLY get a legitimate appointment/referral to see a gastrointerologist. I'm even amazed at how soon my appointment is!!!!!



after all that i've been through in these last 2 paragraphs....which is really only the icig on the cake. Cux i've actually been HELLAH fuckin sick and in a helluva lot of pain. For instance...I've lost 40 lbs since July...about 10 lbs a month...and i HAVEN'T been trying to loose weight...i've actually been trying to gain...it's kinda easy to temm u're loosing weight when it' coming off so fast.....we.....ANYWAYS!!!!!(gosh, got sidetracked)....



my appointment(the earliest available...) is April 17, 2008. 2day is november 13th, 2007. That's a 1/2 year wait!. Meantime, the dr's in the ER get mad at the patient cuz they keep going to the ER w/o having seen a specialist.....welll F U...it takes 1/2 year to see one...by then I could very well step into the malnourished range....it's already happened to me and I don't like it AT ALL. I had weighed 280 and had lost 100 lbs over 6 mo's



that's all. I'm done I was sad already but when i finally typed the date again and how far away it was REALLY sunk in...i'm welling up0....bye bye...
[Edited 11/13/07 14:18pm]

so was it any better under the hmo?
damn all that weight coming off...
is there anything you can eat that doesn't make you sick?

i wish there was something i could do hun...

I am real sorry about this...I do hope everything works out for you!

Drink some noni

emm said:

it was MUCH better under the HMO...I could ALWAYS get an appointment within a week of the day I called. They also had a better formulary(choice of drugs they're ale to use). The better the HOM(on average), the bigger fomulary. If the drug exists but isn't on the formulary, u have to pay for it out of pocket. Remicade, which works really really good on me, is over $2000 a treatment...and treatments are 6-8 weeks apart. And the $2000 only covers the drug...t has 2 b administered by at least an RN and be done within the facilit. so u could easily add another $2k to that....soooo...i'd have to pay $4000 every other month to avoid being. I'm no P Diddy and i can't afford that