Category: health

Obsessed with fiber

On By Florence TandyIn healthLeave a comment

My doctor says I have to eat more fiber. Since my recent illness, I tend to pay close attention to what he thinks I should do, so fiber I will eat. But it isn’t as easy as it should be.  First of all, I thought I had always eaten my fair share of fiber, but it turns out that is not the case.  They say I should eat between 20 and 35 grams of fiber daily to keep my digestive system healthy. 

 The doctor isn’t making it easy, either. He says I can’t eat things with skins, apples, potatoes, etc.  But the skin is where the fiber is, so that makes it a little tough. 

So I have become obsessed with fiber, with counting what I am getting for the day, with finding more sources that will get me closer to my goal of 35 faster.  I have bought fiber supplements to help. I read the nutrition labels on everything. I downloaded a chart from the Internet that lists the fiber content of common foods, and I check it every time I put a morsel in my mouth just in case I can add another gram or two to my tally for the day. 

It’s almost getting to be too complicated to eat, what with the forbidden list of foods (skins, for example), and the need to eat more fiber, less fat, drink more water, less alcohol (translated, no alcohol). I suppose it will get comfortable after awhile, but for now, I am obsessed with fiber.

The things we take for granted

On By Florence TandyIn health, insuranceLeave a comment

I have always been healthy.  I’ve never had to worry about my blood pressure or my cholesterol.  I can always stand to lose a few pounds, or get more exercise (okay, ANY exercise, if you want to be picky), but generally I would say I am in pretty good health.  Until recently. 

I had some abdominal pain recently, thought it was just some stomach virus or something.  I went to instant care for some medicine.  Instead of a quick cure, they sent me on to the emergency room.  Talk about a surprise. Eight days, several tests, and gallons of intravenous antibiotics later, they released me to recuperate at home.  I have to learn a whole new way of eating – not the act, but what to eat.  What I took for granted all these years is suddenly completely different.  And it is hard, trying to figure out what I can and cannot eat and in what quantities. The person who never went to the doctor is now having to plan regular visits for tests, checkups, blood work, you name it. 

The person who never used her sick leave is now down to ZERO leave hours remaining. That is another thing I take for granted – what if I didn’t have the paid leave and had to go without my check for three weeks?

Another thing this whole experience has taught me is how lucky I am to have health insurance.  I wonder what a person without insurance would have done in my situation.  Would they have gone to the doctor, or suffered with the pain?  Knowing they were without insurance, would the ER have admitted them, or even ordered the tests they conducted that night?

I think the cost for this little wake up call from my body has exceeded $30,000 by now, but I am responsible for less than a tenth of that amount with the various co-pays, deductibles, and out-of-pocket maximums.  How would I have paid if I didn’t have the insurance?