My delema... - advice wanted

boyohboyohboy wrote: I know that most of you here have at some point talked about money issues with this economy..
I have been having some health issues for a while now that I have been ignoring. I mean isnt that what moms do? I have had a rash of bad flus and sicknesses with all the boys. They have all had pneumonia in the last two months. I had two of them hosp. in the last two months for some serious illnesses. I havent had time to pay attention to the signs I was pushing out of my mind. My body has been feeling run down, but again, what mom doesnt?

I was told today that I have pneumonia now. I have been taking nyquil like its going out of styel, so when I started having increased heart palpitations, chest pain, numbness and tingling in my arms and hands. I thought it was due to the decongestants I have been taking. Until today when I went to the dr and my blood pressure is up. I spoke to the dr about my history of mitrovalve prolapse when I was younger. I had a small leak. I had an echo when I was 13 but was told it would close on its own and everything would be fine. I have always had heart palpatations.
But now its worse. I was told today that the technology back then was not as good and the tools they used were not accurate. SHe told me today that there are many people walking around with leaky valves who were told that they would close on their own but in fact were misdiagnosised due to poor technolgy and now have issues..she wants me to get an EKG and ECHO and all these tests done and I just feel that the expense is more then I want to give my family.
I know the first thought is, I am the mom, I have to take care of myself, and I have to be here for my family, and believe me I want to do all that...but we also dont have any extra money..our health insurance sucks, we have a huge deductable, and what if I use all that money up and there is nothing wrong with me? then we are in major debt for nothing.
I dont want to incur that expense. and even though dh would never say it, I can see him running numbers in his head already. I know he would want me to get it taken care of but I dont want him to have to work any harder then he is..he works now 16 hour days 6 days a week..and we just barely make ends meet, and I just let those baby sitting job go..
what do you do in this case?
I am going to call the insurance company to see what I can do cheaper but its so hard..

coasterqueen replied: Get it done, Stacy. Your health is important. How will everyone feel if you get seriously sick or God forbid die and all because you were worried about money? I don't mean to sound harsh, but I can hear my husband saying those same words to me. Health is a serious matter and your husband and children need you well and alive.....I'd go no matter what the cost. JMO, though.

Please take care of yourself. I know as moms we push things off, but we have to be healthy to BE HERE to be moms and wives.

cameragirl21 replied: This is a subject that is very near and dear to my heart as my mom has mitrovalve prolapse. And hers never closed up, nor was it ever expected to.
Here is the thing--I have spoken to many a cardiologist about this and they say it's considered to be a benign condition. On the other hand, any heart surgeon will tell you to operate right now...remember, surgeons are all about cutting people open.
I once sat next to a heart surgeon on an airplane and asked him about my mom's condition and even he, as a surgeon kind of and said that no one really needs surgery for that most of the time.
Sometime back, my mom had an EKG in a regular checkup and it looked really abnormal and the doc freaked out, sent her to the ER, where they ordered a bunch of tests and everything turned out fine, turns out she just has an abnormal EKG and it will always be like that, or so she was told. So I got her tests and showed them to my friend Pam's dad, who is a cardiologist and he also said there is nothing to worry about.
My point---you may get all those tests and they may very well turn out abnormal due to your condition and it won't mean a thing in practical terms. I can't even imagine how much all that would cost without insurance.
My mom doesn't have high BP, though. There are natural remedies for that, I think acai may be one of them but I can do some research for you and find out...I'd try those first and see if that doesn't bring down your BP. It could also be stress.
Normally, I'd say get the tests done but I've spoken to SO many specialists about mitrovalve prolapse and they've all said the same thing--that it's considered to be a harmless condition. There are exceptions to this, of course, but none of them told me I had anything to worry about.
If you're feeling really run down, that is another story. But from what I've gathered, you lead a pretty stressful life and that will contribute to all those factors. Try this--first, get off the nyquil...it's not good for you. A cop told me the other day that if you take a reasonable dose of that and get in a car crash and they test your blood it will show enough alcohol in your blood to qualify you for a DUI... ...that was enough for me to stop taking it ever...if I want to get drunk I may as well enjoy the process.
Try taking some valerian root at night before you sleep and maybe some 5-htp or St John's wort by day...they are natural anxiety reducers. I can do some research for you if you want and find out what natural remedy is known to lower BP.
If you still feel run down after doing that then I'd consider maybe going to a clinic where the prices are more reasonable and they can put you on some sort of payment plan?
Take care and feel better.

boyohboyohboy replied: Jennifer, thank you for sharing with me. I think that is half my concern, that we will do all these tests and nothing will come of it and we will be left with a huge bill. We do have insurance, its just we have a 10,000 deductable. I cant see us finding a way to come up with half of that. not right now.
especially if its all done for nothing.
I am feeling run down right now due to the pneumonia. I have let it go on for about three weeks now, hoping it would go away. she asked me to get a chest x ray today and was ordering me to start antibiotics, but I said to her if you would treat it the same anyway, why get the xray, why add that expense, so she agreed to treat me and not do the xray.

I think my bp was high today due to the numerous decongestants I have taken in the last three weeks, almost constantly I have been taking something every 4-6 hours..to try to stop the cough.

I admit I am not in the best of shape, but I had started exercising and I hadnt noticed any chest pain then..this chest pain has been mainly at rest and has woken me up at night. I think that my stress level had been high but since we stopped babysitting its been great here.
I am enjoying time with the kids..


I mainly dont want to incur a huge medical bill for nothing. I also feel that I have had this leak since I was born, and it hasnt amounted to anything yet, I cant see where its something that is extremely important now.. I also have three kids, you would think that the stress of that would have shown up before now too.

I have been looking at sam e have you heard much about that? for mood?

I am interested in hearing about some natural remedies for high bp though also..

I am staying away from caffine and off the nyquil which she told me too, she said the nyquil was bad also..and see if it gets better..

cameragirl21 replied: Well, here's the thing--my parents are very active, they go biking for stretches of 18-24 miles several times a week and hike for hours in the mountains so what the doc said was that if you are active and feel no heart problems, ie, chest pain, racing heart (other than the normal rise in heart rate that is expected when you exercise) and the biggest warning factor--nausea and vomiting, then you don't have to worry. If you go the doc, they will likely give you a stress test where they put you on a treadmill and measure your vitals, etc. If you can exercise without any heart discomfort, other than just being out of shape, then you likely have no problem. If you are feeling nauseous and vomiting after exercise, that is a red flag.
I have heard of sam e but have never spoken to anyone who's tried it so Idk anything about how effective it may be. At Whole Foods, there are some natural stress/anxiety reducers and they've been known to work well. Kava kava is another good one but be careful as that may make you feel so good you won't know what's going on around you...I've never tried it but that is what they recommend to take if you're afraid to fly, like before you go on an airplane. So if you really need to relax, that'll do the trick.
As for natural BP reducers, there are many--potassium (avocados, bananas) calcium, magnesium, walnuts, flax seeds, cold water fish (like salmon), garlic, dark chocolate. If you take a mix of those I bet you'd see a big difference but I have a feeling it's just your lifestyle, with the sickness and the nonstop decongestants that is causing the high BP...I don't think it's anything more than that.
Oh, and cut the salt out of your diet...that has been known to work wonders with BP and even stress.
Take care and KUP. Feel free to PM me if you need to talk.

DVFlyer replied: First cure your pneumonia, get rid of the colds/ flus and then when you're feeling better, decide whether or not to go through the tests. I think there are too many variables going on right now to make an educated decision.

My guess is you're MP has not worsened over the last few months, so the cause of your current issues is related to the pneumonia/ colds/ flus.

CantWait replied:
ITA

msoulz replied:
ITA with too many variables - if nothing else was going on I would be with Karen. Get the pneumonia kicked out, take it easy in the meantime, and try Jennifer's natural remedies and when you are feeling better reconsider the testing. BUT, in the meantime, do not ignore signs of something worse, and you know what those signs are, Mrs. Nurse!!!!

You do need to take care of yourself because no one else can!

cameragirl21 replied:
LOL, sorry but I seriously almost choked on my water! Nothing at all wrong with what you said, Mary, just the opposite, it's SO classic.
Try Jennifer's natural remedies, along with Jennifer's homemade anti-aging cream (yep, I make my own), along with Jennifer's tarot cards, Jennifer's ghost sightings and haunted houses, and Jennifer's "hokey" (as it's been described here before) New Age glory.
THAT is the story of my life, LOL.
Oh yeah, speaking of which, it was brought to my attention that some of you wondered what was in my pic in my siggy...that is my black rock, I keep several around my home...they repel negativity and basically keep a place negativity free. On more than one occasion, I've thought this place needed one but recent events led me to try it out, given I've never tried to use these in cyberland.
Seems to be working pretty well so far, eh?

lovemy2 replied: Have you spoken to your doctor about the cost factor invovled? Is there maybe a clinic somewhere that can accomodate you for less cost or even free? You really shouldn't wait to have those tests done Stacy - your heart isn't something to mess with - even if it does turn out to be nothing which hopefully it does at least then you know - I can't imagine worrying and thinking about this will be good for you either

boyohboyohboy replied:
Christine, you are so right! I HATE having to delay care because we have to think about the financial aspect of the care..

I do the same thing when I am in a situation with the boys, and they are sick and I wonder if whats going on is more then I can handle....I think ok, is this worse then the money its going to cost because if its nothing...well thats more then we can handle..

I think the main issue is, is this mitral value prolapse or something else..
I do know that heart attacks present differently in woman then men. I do watch for those signs being a nurse..but I keep wondering if I am down playing it because the money is on my mind.

msoulz replied:

It must be, because I really wanted to say "ignore Jennifer's hokey New Age Glory stuff" but something made me stop....must be the rock!!

Stacy, you know this better than anyone, different folks react to meds differently. I can not take decongestants, they give me heart palpitations (sp?), and the last time I tried to take BCP I ended up with high blood pressure - never had it before and haven't since. Point being, if you get well from the pneumonia and that goes away too it was probably the nyquil or other stuff. BUT I love Christine's idea, that sounds great - by the time you get something scheduled you will likely be better and the meds will be out of your system!