Financial Stigma

 

Medical care is expensive. Insurance is expensive. I racked up over a quarter of a million in medical fees over the last decade or so. For four of those years, I was unable to work. My Social Security case went on for 10 years because they lost all the exhibits, nearly a thousand pages! As of this writing, I am in the Medicare Gap , formerly known as the donut hole. Tier 3 meds are now carrying a $180 a month co-pay. The circus starts again on January 1 when I meed the deductible. 

Financial stigma includes:

• Having to make difficult choices and ration care
• Inability to contribute to household income
• Draining household income
• Relying on charity or government assistance
• Loss of self-esteem
• Food and housing insecurity
• Ruined credit

 

Begin Again

After a long hiatus from the chronic illness world, I am compelled to write again. Despite endless medical appointments, medications, and random symptoms, I was happily trying to live in the land of the well. Twenty years after diagnosis, I am making another beginning. Yes, I am still working, but I am also writing. Today, I resurrect this blog! 

My third published book is a simple series of day by day meditations addressing the many challenges that we, the chronic illness community, face. If you have Kindle Unlimited, you can read for free! Life Recycled: Creating a New Normal in the Face of Chronic Illness.