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Welcome Back to Oregon!!

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When we moved, we made it a point to identify potential regions that could potentially have better healthcare for people, like me, who have complex medical histories and diagnoses. I’m limited on where I can go so, no, I can’t always just get a new doctor when I get gaslit by doctors due to the VA. We moved to Oregon from the Albuquerque VA AOR in the hope for this to be true. Well, just as with other areas and doctors we’ve encountered, they give GREAT lip service, however, when it comes to ACTUALLY helping, there’s lots of room for improvement. At our first appointment, they took an hour or so to do my history, draw blood, and get my referrals for MRIs and X-rays. Great! I got my MRIs and X-rays done a week or two later in Portland. Great hospital by what we saw (this is a big VA facility, but not where I see my PCP). A few days later, I can see my results online. What were my results? Well… Reversal of normal cervical lordosis Scattered degenerative endplate changes, most prominent
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The Poverty of Unwelcome Guests

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It is a little frustrating, but it isn’t necessarily the fault of others, for they are not clued in.Things are tough all around. We each have our own battles that we greet in the morning and see again in our dreams. One’s challenge may be someone else’s strength. We can bring our resources together, both physically tangible, as well as those traditions that are passed on, but only by word of mouth.  Next week I have my surgical consultation. You see, I have a growth, about an inch in size, that is currently growing on my uterus. It is an unwelcome guest, and one that must be evicted. It looks like I will be having a hysteroscopy or hysterectomy, with the latter one hopefully leaving my ovaries for better hormone regulation. Both of these require quite a bit of rest, which is one thing I have struggled with for much of my life. It’s not that I feel like I keep busy to avoid sitting with my feelings. Trust me on that one. But rather, it comes from a place of guilt. Our society has brainw
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The Power is Within Us All

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Get Your Religion Out of My Vagina, Part 3

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When doing a quick search as to what constitutes a “religious employer,” it is not as clear cut as one would imagine. The obvious ones, such as religious schools, have already been brought before the court system for violating the workplace anti-discrimination laws. In  one case , the great RBG questioned if a religious school has the right to fire employees for reasons that have nothing to do with religion. This was in regard to a teacher who was fired after revealing that she had breast cancer and required medical leave in order to undergo chemotherapy. That teacher has since passed away. Also addressed in the case was who fell under the employee umbrella: teachers, nurses, coaches, janitors, bus drivers...  The water gets even more murky in terms of what is considered a religious employer. As of July 8, 2020, the Trump Administration won further control over women’s bodies. It was determined that “employers who have sincerely held religious beliefs or moral objections against provid
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Get Your Religion Out of My Vagina, Part 2

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Sometimes you may find yourself working for an employer that may not perfectly align with one of your personal beliefs. This may be out of necessity, to you know, live and pay your bills, while others may change jobs due to higher pay and the offer of health care insurance. Under the Affordable Care Act, there are 10 essential health benefits that all plans offered by the Marketplace  must  cover.  These include :  Ambulatory patient services Emergency services Hospitalizations (including surgery and overnight stays) Pregnancy, maternity, and newborn care Mental health and substance use disorder services Prescription medications Rehabilitative services for mental and physical conditions Laboratory services Preventative and wellness services and chronic disease management Pediatric services Plans must also include: Birth control coverage Breastfeeding coverage Further, the ACA outlines what type of contraceptive methods, when prescribed by a doctor a
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Get Your Religion Out of My Vagina, Part 1

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Not too long ago, I shared a picture on my backup Instagram account about the importance of providing coverage for women’s health through health insurance. In the United States, the majority of people rely on receiving their health care coverage through their employer. During a massive health crisis, like now, over 50 million people have been laid off due to business closures out of precaution. If you are not employed or your employer doesn’t provide health care insurance options for employees, you’re not covered. You can apply for coverage through programs such as Medicare, but your access to medical care isn’t guaranteed with this program, and it may take a while to get in the system. Without coverage, you run the risk of racking up significant medical bills. A surprisingly large number of people in the United States declare bankruptcy each year due to mounting medical bills, even if they have insurance. A staggering 66% of all bankruptcies were tied to medical issues. A recent ar
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Location: Colorado, USA
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Pushing Boundaries

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Today we are going to talk a little bit about boundaries.  Sometimes boundaries can have a negative connotation in our minds.  Many of us are raised, especially as women (not all women, but this includes people who identify as female) in society, we're often the ones who are told to be like accommodating to other people.  To put their needs first. While, yes, this is helpful, it may not always be healthy though.  When you keep saying no to what you want to do and are not able to pursue what you want, that's a problem.  I'm not saying if you want to go pursue a wild scheme or things like that, but when you're saying yes to something that you don't want to do, it can kind of put you in a weird position where you kind of start to lose track of who you are or what you want. Boundaries are a challenge.  I learned about it in school for my Master's program and I still have a hard time with boundaries because I don't want to be looked at as the bad person, th
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