Spotlight on Stigma... Welcomed but Not Accepted

I'm now on my husband's insurance. It's good insurance but it has a huge deductible, which for someone like me who has multiple mental and physical health conditions, it makes a difference. Last year my deductible was really low and my co-pays ranged from $0 to $30 for regular stuff and then no more than a couple hundred for big tests/procedures. This year so far I've had some doctor's visits that were "only" $80 to my PT for my shoulder being $130 for each session. Why am I starting this blog with this information? Another hit in this area has been my counseling. Last year I was able to afford to meet with my therapist once every week or two. With the increase in fee, I moved it to once every three weeks for now... and it might be once a month those months that money's really tight. When I went from two sessions a week to one due to the cost, my physical therapist gave me more exercises to do at home since I was missing a session every week. So... I b

I posted this on Facebook yesterday. It's short (so unlike me!), but I so often share my struggles... I thought it might be good to share a success. Unfortunately, I can't share the photos I alude to here, but if you want to see them, go to https://www.facebook.com/nowNovelPhotos and look for the post dated 1-22-23. "I feel very amazed... blessed... and just a tiny bit sad. Below is the first shot I've taken since my rotator cuff surgery on November 21st - almost 9 weeks since the surgery. It's with my shorter lens (lighter) because I still can't pick up my best camera/lens (too heavy).  The "sad" is that I am still very limited in how much I can shoot. I want to go crazy shooting the action, but I still have to be very careful with my shoulder. I'm just now getting back a decent range of motion and my strength is still way below normal. One really cool thing is that Travis and I have full access passes, including media seats, access to shoot on t

  Marriage is, um, interesting. I still look at him next to me in bed or on the couch and ask him, did this really happen... are we really married? It's been an adjustment, especially since we live with my parents and all the stuff that's gone on since we got home from the honeymoon...  My daughter and her fiance' had to move quickly and they have a LOT of stuff. ALL of their help fell through so he and Shelby ended up doing a lot of the move without anyone else. This was after my rotator cuff surgery where I desperately needed help full time, but he had to work and then go help them move when he got off work.  This also took a big hit on us financially because they didn't have the money to move or to pay deposits, etc. There was no one else to help, so we did. This was on top of me not being able to work as soon as they said I would, so I have made almost nothing for 2 months now... and we had some other unexpected bills that came up after we started sorting out financ

Last June I was contacted by Melissa, the host of the "I Am Not My Pain" podcast, about sharing my story through that platform. I was overwhelmed between the surgeries, The World Games, wedding, taking care of my parents, etc... so it took a while to schedule. Then after we finally did the interview, it took a while for her to edit all of my ramblings. However, if you read this blog, you might be interested in hearing my voice through something other than print.  This is how to access the podcasts... Part 1 -  https://anchor.fm/notmypain/episodes/S2E5-Shining-Light-on-Stigmas-for-Chronically-Ill--Part-One-e1p796u Part 2 -  https://anchor.fm/notmypain/episodes/S2E6-Shining-Light-on-Stigmas-for-Chronically-Ill--Part-Two-e1p79av If you do decide to listen to them, I would appreciate it if you would email me and let me know what you thought or if it helped you. My email address is novelphotos@yahoo.com. Hope you like them.

I really thought I had written more posts recently. Thinking back, I pushed myself to write the last post - and regretted it.  I have barely been back to my desk since. To be clear, it wasn't writing the blog post that took me out of commission... it was my anxiety.  This recovery from rotator cuff surgery has been rough. I heard somewhere that it's the 3rd worst pain, just after childbirth and kidney stones. Now that I'm into my 6th-week post-surgery, I would say the pain isn't that bad (though it's definitely there)... it's the limitations that drive you mad. Add to that anxiety and bipolar disorders and being very overweight and it's been, um, fun?  I've had a difficult time staying out of my head while healing. There are mixed signals everywhere you look for advice on how to make it through this time. One YouTube video will say to keep your arm completely immobilized; a website article will say it's okay to move it some; then you'll come acro