Or you could, you know, hold your breath for a month!

Craziness. There's a healthcare system rant in here.

Random: what's the noun form of "pedantic?" I could look it up but I'm lazy.

Prof feels like SHIT for making me come in.

Good.

On the part where he asked questions, and we had to answer them, he had to repeat them exta times because of my coughing fits.

Good again!

she was BEYOND livid that my prof made me come to campus and take the exam. She's like, "What is his name? I'm calling the department head to register a complaint." I was all, "No, he feels pretty shitty. I'll deal with it."

You should totally let her do that for you. I mean it. I don't care that the prof feels shitty about it; he'd feel shittier if your lungs collapsed and you DIED while you were taking the exam.

Random: what's the noun form of "pedantic?"

Pedantry.

I wonder if anyone's used 'pedantry' in a personals ad...

I like long walks along the beach, sleeping in late on Sunday and pedantry.

Poor vw! I hope you start feeling better quickly.

It was an eye opener for me to find that to get the best care, S and I need to be on top of her care, know her diagnosis and what the treatment options are.

Or you could, you know, hold your breath for a month!

That could be fun!

There's a healthcare system rant in here.

Yeah. I can't really complain too much. Medicare and MassHealth have taken very good care of me, but some times the bureaucracy is insane-o-making.

You should totally let her do that for you. I mean it. I don't care that the prof feels shitty about it; he'd feel shittier if your lungs collapsed and you DIED while you were taking the exam.

If I had really thought that was going to happen, I wouldn't have gone. I'd have gone above his head with a note from the hospital and my doctor. I'm fine. It's fine. I'm just crabby about the whole thing.

S and I need to be on top of her care, know her diagnosis and what the treatment options are.

It's so true! Especially when you have to be seen by mulitple doctors...even more so if you have to visit the ER or urgent care centers. 30 seconds is NOT enough time to get to know someone like me or S. You've got to be your own self-advocate, which is SO hard when you feel like shit.

Random: what's the noun form of "pedantic?"

Buffista.

Random: what's the noun form of "pedantic?"

Buffista.

You know, I almost said that, but refrained.

It was an eye opener for me to find that to get the best care, S and I need to be on top of her care, know her diagnosis and what the treatment options are.

Unfortunately, patients can't assume that medical professionals are going to provide the care that they (the patients) need.

Now, I think that this is due largely to the fact that medical professionals are overworked and spend way too much time wrangling health insurance problems. Yes, there are some medical professionals who are total douchebags who think that M.D. stands for "me, deity" who don't listen to their patients and end up hurting them. But they really aren't the norm.

Hell, often the biggest problem is that doctors are not as educated about pharmacotherapy as you would expect them to be. But they're too busy with patient care and disease management to stay current with medication trends.

If patients can't be their own advocates (due to lack of medical knowledge, or, you know, BEING VERY SICK [as that makes it really hard to communicate coherently]), they really really REALLY need someone to be with them to act as their advocate.

It sucks that you can't just assume that the default is the provision of the medical care you need.