Coco crossed over the rainbow bridge and it hurts so much, a couple new biopsies, battling health insurance denials and fascism, pessimism for the win, and some good news, too
Oh dear Jo, I’m so desperately sorry to hear about Coco. It’s never not utterly shit and I’m so sad for you. No platitudes from me, however true many of them be, only gentle hugs.
I am glad to hear about the cancer tests but sad for you that it’s been such a tough time for you recently, I hope the sun shines and shines for you soon.
Please do remember if you ever think a transatlantic hug, shoulder, setting the world to rights or a gossip, laugh and cwtch, you just message. I couldn’t mean this more. The world is so small when we have zoom or WhatsApp…..if you don’t have my email let me know and I’ll get it to you.
I am so sorry to hear about Coco, that one stung deeply to read.
At the same time, I am very grateful for your test results and that your lovely girl was part of your life (and for the drive to go walking that she shared with you).
Fur babies certainly can leave a huge dent in our hearts and my thoughts are with you while you navigate this storm.
To both that and with what's happening with your government I'll say this:
You are very strong and definitely worth the persistence of battling through.
We are here with you (although I do wish there was more we could do).
Thank you again for sharing both your struggles and your strength with us.
Thanks so much Julian. I am so so grateful she was a part of my life. She helped me get through so many things. I tell myself she knew my good test was coming and that I'd be okay. I miss her so much though, and still can't quite believe she's gone. I am weepy now as I write this! She's so missed because she was so loved and she really did live her best life up until the last.
Struggles and strengths - I really like that! Thanks so much for your kind words. It means so much. I'll keep sharing both 💔💪
So great you're back writing. Losing loved ones is brutal, hope you're managing to be kind to yourself as you ride through the grief.
Your take on health insurance and how unperson centered it is really resonates with me about how hard it is for healthcare to truly be person centred.
You're either stuck in an almost pure business model like health insurance or in the UK in the unwieldy beast of the NHS where any sort of continuity of care is often hard to find, particularly for chronic conditions which it isn't really built for.
Then you have private healthcare where I live which despite my best efforts still boils down to paying someone to care. Of course when the healthcare workers there feed their family from the money they get helping people it brings another centeredness into the mix.
I wonder if the best we can do is the venn diagram type thing and look for the biggest overlapping part of personcenteredness but accept that all are imperfect in some way.
Lots of love and looking forward to reading more of your thoughts xx
Thank you Steven! I always love seeing you in my messages and so appreciate your thoughtful reflections. They keep me going!
I keep thinking about the patient/person-centeredness thing. The term is thrown around so much, but is not well defined and certainly not well enacted! I think about my time in the work comp system, too, when I had an absolutely wonderful surgeon who had all of his person-centered care thwarted by the case managers who were ultimately in charge of my care, people who have never treated a patient in their lives and denied everything he requested, things we decided together would be the best way forward.
So care isn't even clinician centered! Neither in public care nor private. As you said, in private healthcare other factors have to come into play, people have to be able to pay their mortgages and feed their families so how much money they make matters. I'm sure many cannot provide the care they'd like because of financial and business constraints. Here in the US the debt alone that health professionals incur during their training is the 'center' of many decisions, I'm sure!
Insurance is such a determinant of care here in the US, and so much care that clinicians want to provide is denied by insurers' agents (and now many of those agents are AI) who have no medical training. It's maddening. And I know countries with public health systems have their own issues, like you mentioned. No continuity of care, long wait times for appointments, a feeling of being lost in the behemoth system. And from my understanding, work comp everywhere is nightmare.
The systems as they are are not compassionate or caring, neither for patients or for clinicians. There has to be a better way!
I just ran into a friend of mine that I used to work with when we were still running our chronic pain retreats. She's a rural health advocate and consultant. We are going to be meeting for lunch soon to discuss what's happening in our own county, and what type of future we'd like to see. I look forward to the conversations, as I think it's going to be up to all of us at the grassroots level to build something better. Clinicians, policy makers, researchers, community members - I know if we all come together without titles/barriers and just a common goal to make things better, we could build something better.
I'm in a moment of optimism, though, ha!
If we could build a system of care with no financial constraints, what would it look like? This is something I'm going to keep thinking on!
So sorry that you have had to go through so much this year Jo. I hope that the second half of the year is a LOT better for you. It is never easy losing a pet and Coco was an awesome doggo.
So happy for you that the cancer tests are ok. I know another person with Lynch syndrome and it's a pain, but they will watch you carefully
The photo of the location of the Casting for Recovery fly-fishing retreat looks so peaceful that I can fully understand why you would want to just stand in the water and take in the calmness. I would come and join you, but I would be afraid to visit your country right now I think. I feel for you and all your people. What you are enduring right now is unbelievable.
Can't wait to catch up again. Take care and thank you so much for the post ❤️❤️❤️
Oh dear Jo, I’m so desperately sorry to hear about Coco. It’s never not utterly shit and I’m so sad for you. No platitudes from me, however true many of them be, only gentle hugs.
I am glad to hear about the cancer tests but sad for you that it’s been such a tough time for you recently, I hope the sun shines and shines for you soon.
Please do remember if you ever think a transatlantic hug, shoulder, setting the world to rights or a gossip, laugh and cwtch, you just message. I couldn’t mean this more. The world is so small when we have zoom or WhatsApp…..if you don’t have my email let me know and I’ll get it to you.
Thank you for your courage as ever.
Thank you so much Niki ❤️❤️❤️
Hi Jo,
I am so sorry to hear about Coco, that one stung deeply to read.
At the same time, I am very grateful for your test results and that your lovely girl was part of your life (and for the drive to go walking that she shared with you).
Fur babies certainly can leave a huge dent in our hearts and my thoughts are with you while you navigate this storm.
To both that and with what's happening with your government I'll say this:
You are very strong and definitely worth the persistence of battling through.
We are here with you (although I do wish there was more we could do).
Thank you again for sharing both your struggles and your strength with us.
Thinking of you Jo.
Thanks so much Julian. I am so so grateful she was a part of my life. She helped me get through so many things. I tell myself she knew my good test was coming and that I'd be okay. I miss her so much though, and still can't quite believe she's gone. I am weepy now as I write this! She's so missed because she was so loved and she really did live her best life up until the last.
Struggles and strengths - I really like that! Thanks so much for your kind words. It means so much. I'll keep sharing both 💔💪
So great you're back writing. Losing loved ones is brutal, hope you're managing to be kind to yourself as you ride through the grief.
Your take on health insurance and how unperson centered it is really resonates with me about how hard it is for healthcare to truly be person centred.
You're either stuck in an almost pure business model like health insurance or in the UK in the unwieldy beast of the NHS where any sort of continuity of care is often hard to find, particularly for chronic conditions which it isn't really built for.
Then you have private healthcare where I live which despite my best efforts still boils down to paying someone to care. Of course when the healthcare workers there feed their family from the money they get helping people it brings another centeredness into the mix.
I wonder if the best we can do is the venn diagram type thing and look for the biggest overlapping part of personcenteredness but accept that all are imperfect in some way.
Lots of love and looking forward to reading more of your thoughts xx
Thank you Steven! I always love seeing you in my messages and so appreciate your thoughtful reflections. They keep me going!
I keep thinking about the patient/person-centeredness thing. The term is thrown around so much, but is not well defined and certainly not well enacted! I think about my time in the work comp system, too, when I had an absolutely wonderful surgeon who had all of his person-centered care thwarted by the case managers who were ultimately in charge of my care, people who have never treated a patient in their lives and denied everything he requested, things we decided together would be the best way forward.
So care isn't even clinician centered! Neither in public care nor private. As you said, in private healthcare other factors have to come into play, people have to be able to pay their mortgages and feed their families so how much money they make matters. I'm sure many cannot provide the care they'd like because of financial and business constraints. Here in the US the debt alone that health professionals incur during their training is the 'center' of many decisions, I'm sure!
Insurance is such a determinant of care here in the US, and so much care that clinicians want to provide is denied by insurers' agents (and now many of those agents are AI) who have no medical training. It's maddening. And I know countries with public health systems have their own issues, like you mentioned. No continuity of care, long wait times for appointments, a feeling of being lost in the behemoth system. And from my understanding, work comp everywhere is nightmare.
The systems as they are are not compassionate or caring, neither for patients or for clinicians. There has to be a better way!
I just ran into a friend of mine that I used to work with when we were still running our chronic pain retreats. She's a rural health advocate and consultant. We are going to be meeting for lunch soon to discuss what's happening in our own county, and what type of future we'd like to see. I look forward to the conversations, as I think it's going to be up to all of us at the grassroots level to build something better. Clinicians, policy makers, researchers, community members - I know if we all come together without titles/barriers and just a common goal to make things better, we could build something better.
I'm in a moment of optimism, though, ha!
If we could build a system of care with no financial constraints, what would it look like? This is something I'm going to keep thinking on!
So sorry that you have had to go through so much this year Jo. I hope that the second half of the year is a LOT better for you. It is never easy losing a pet and Coco was an awesome doggo.
So happy for you that the cancer tests are ok. I know another person with Lynch syndrome and it's a pain, but they will watch you carefully
The photo of the location of the Casting for Recovery fly-fishing retreat looks so peaceful that I can fully understand why you would want to just stand in the water and take in the calmness. I would come and join you, but I would be afraid to visit your country right now I think. I feel for you and all your people. What you are enduring right now is unbelievable.
Can't wait to catch up again. Take care and thank you so much for the post ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you so much Mary! It was so peaceful, and we all really needed that peace. Thanks for your kind words my friend 💚