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Long medical thread/rant (sorry in advance).
So for a while now, I’ve been out of work (on standby). Originally, I was sent home because my work was “shutting down” for lockdown (spoiler: they didn’t tho). Since things reopened last may, I’ve been home because I’m high risk 1/17
So for a while now, I’ve been out of work (on standby). Originally, I was sent home because my work was “shutting down” for lockdown (spoiler: they didn’t tho). Since things reopened last may, I’ve been home because I’m high risk 1/17
I’m considered high risk because I have asthma. I was diagnosed with asthma as a teenager after a slew of lung problems, including pneumonia. It’s relatively mild unless irritated, and I haven’t used a rescue inhaler in years. I’ve learned to mitigate it and live with it. 2/17
Now my coworkers KNOW I have asthma. They’ve seen me have attacks due to strain at work and heavy amounts of dust. But I know how to respond when one happens, and I’ve worked REALLY hard to train my lungs up (thank you, BFA in musical theater for the crucible of singing). 3/17
Is “just pushing through it” the best way to deal with asthma? NO! But I grew up under hard circumstances where I was used to gritting my teeth and bearing it. We were poor and often homeless, which has led to me practically NEVER going to the doctor unless I’m dying. 4/17
So, I’m asthmatic but I deal. My work knows this, begrudgingly. Since the pandemic started, they’ve been laying off people (or forcing them to quit) left and right. However, they can’t fire me because they pay for my health care, and I’m again, considered high risk. 5/17
Now, I would LOVE to be working. I would love to be getting a paycheck and be able to not sit at home with my depression. I CAN’T WAIT to feel productive again. But the pandemic has more than quadrupled in size, and I know that I would be exposed at my work. 6/17
Before the lockdown happened, I was reprimanded by THREE of my higher-ups for “taking COVID too seriously” and “spreading panic” for saying we needed PPE at work. That aside, the nature of the work REQUIRES everyone to be handling the same product (that can’t be sanitized). 7/17
So, I want to go back, but I know it’s not safe to do so. Now, my work has laid off A LOT of employees, and tried to get me to quit multiple times. But as long as I’m considered high risk, I still have health insurance and (theoretically) a job when things die down. 8/17
Enter December, when the definition of “high risk” officially changed. I received an email stating that asthma and lung issues are only considered “possibly high risk” and that I would need to produce a statement from a doctor to see whether or not I can keep my health care. 9/17
Now in a perfect world this would be easy, except....remember earlier when I said I grew up in hard circumstances? That I didn’t go to the doctor unless I was dying? WELL, guess who has practically no medical record before he was 18 because he didn’t have insurance? 
10/17
10/17
Not only that, but what record there WAS mostly vanished when my parents died. Since I was still a teenager and a minor, I didn’t have the forethought to gather what little medical documentation my mom had lying around (plus some of it was under a fake name, thanks Mom) 11/17
So, fast forward to today, where I have moved multiple states away, and lo and behold...my current doctor has barely ever seen me, let alone seen me specifically for asthma. In fact, there’s not even a record that I had asthma or a rescue inhaler! I didn’t exist before 18! 12/17
Over the past month, I’ve been emailing and pleading with different doctors (including mine), explaining my circumstances, asking to get retested, and being ignored. I finally was able to get a base test to see if I need a rescue inhaler (spoiler, I don’t). 13/17
The results were officially “inconclusive” and will require further testing. They show that I don’t need a rescue inhaler, but that my lungs aren’t operating at full (the same thing I’ve told them from the start). It’s almost as if I’ve lived with this and know my body. 14/17
So, I need to get more in depth testing. My doctor has set up a phone visit for Feb 1st to TALK about scheduling more testing. The problem: my doctor also only gave me til January 31st to figure this out before I have to return to work or lose my health insurance. 15/17
King County is breaking apart at the seams with the virus. I know returning to work will expose me and more than likely land me in the hospital. But if I don’t return to work, then I can’t get the testing needed to prove that it’s not safe for me to return to work. 16/17
16/17
So here I am. Today I have tried to call my doctor but I get hung up on. I’ve tried emailing, but their website is down. I am mortified and, funny enough, the panic attack is making it hard to breathe.
The fact that we aren’t taking this virus seriously, still, is insane. 17/17
The fact that we aren’t taking this virus seriously, still, is insane. 17/17
