Gravity

So, my insurance has been trying to not cover my SNRI because it is new on the market and no generic available yet, so pricey.

I apply for a refill and the request gets locked for review. Again. For the 3rd time.

This time I call and immediately ask to speak to the actual doctor making these clinical decisions. Very politely. Must be a slow day because they allow it.

ME: [Teacher voice] I'm calling in regards to the SNRI you have placed a lock on. Why was this decision made?

DOC: Well, there are dozens of other medications on the market in that tier, and far cheaper for you and [insurer]. We have sent a request to your doctor to consider alternatives.

ME: I am aware of that. So, can you do me a HUGE favor and look up my prescription history really quickly and tell me how many SSRIs and SNRIs were only filled once in 2022 for me, showing they were poorly tolerated?

DOC: It looks like eight.

ME: Great job! Now, can you please look at my genetic test for psychiatric drug tolerance and tell me how many medications are listed in the safe category?

DOC: Two.

ME: Awesome! Now, can you tell me what type that other drug is that I'm not taking?

DOC: Yeah, totally, it's an MAOI.

ME: That's correct, you're really knowledgeable! Should I be taking something as dangerous as an MAOI with my other medications, or even just in general?

DOC: It's contraindicated for sure.

ME: It is! So true! So, last question since you've been incredibly smart and helpful. Is it less expensive for [insurer] to pay out for the medication knowing they already get a huge manufacturer discount anyway, or is it more expensive for them to pay for me to need potentially long-term inpatient psychiatric care?

DOC: I'll clear the code, ma'am and flag it as medically necessary. I'm sorry about this.

ME: I appreciate you SO MUCH. You have a great day now.

President itself used to be a much more humble word before it got associated with politics. It was the title picked because it was used for stuff like the leader of your local horse riding club or whatever the fuck.

Like even if the president is an evil dirty rotten nepo baby, he’s supposed to be just some guy. A very powerful guy, but still just some guy.

It’s like how during triumph processions in Ancient Rome they had a guy there to whisper in the general’s ear “remember that you are only a man” to remind them that this was a temporary honor and if they got too ambitious they would be put down.

A president needs to be seen shoveling ice cream into his face. A president lives in a relatively tiny apartment above the White House. A president lives in tasteful but relatively humble surroundings. The White House doesn’t belong to him after all. It belongs to us. The Americans. And anything he does to fuck up the White House he’s doing to our goddamned house so he’d better watch himself.

President 47 is an extremely weird case. Because he wants to be a king. Clearly. But the White House is too humble for a king. It’s not a white palace. It’s a White House. Very important distinction. More important than you probably think.

It doesn’t even belong to him though. So he decided to act like it belongs to him anyways. To treat it like a palace. And it looks bad and the courts keep blocking him from building his gaudy ballroom with real gold decorations.

Why the fuck are we paying for real gold decorations? That’s us paying for it. American taxpayers. Why does it need real gold? Genuine question.

It doesn’t. That house doesn’t need a ballroom. It doesn’t need gold. The gold that he’s putting up is being held on by superglue.

Like his design sense is somehow the cheapest looking and most offensively expensive looking “improvements” that have ever been done to the White House.

Previous presidents added like. A basketball court. A vegetable garden. Solar panels. Some offices. You know. Stuff you’d need in a big house that you invite guests into and also functions as a government office space.

This guy is adding… a ballroom? With gold hubcaps on the outside? Why the fuck do you need a ballroom in a house?

Answer: you don’t. You might need one in a palace though.

The message is clear. He’s not even trying to be just some guy. And does that matter?

Probably not as much as a lot of other things that he’s done, but still yes. Because since the very beginning it’s been fully understood that the president of the United States must constantly be reminded that he is but a man. This guy is doing his very best to remove all of those reminders and make himself the cheapest looking expensive palace he can imagine.

1. borrowing misery from future

2. carrying grief of the past

sleep apnea is more common in people who are fat.

society decided for some reason that this meant that being fat causes sleep apnea. its often difficult to get referrals for sleep apnea treatment if you are fat, because some PCPs will tell you try losing weight first.

turns out!! having untreated sleep apnea causes weight gain in a not-insignificant number of people. it also makes it fucking impossible for many people to lose weight.

my husband worked out the same amount before he got a cpap as he does now. there have been no major diet changes either. yet he has been losing weight -- and gaining muscle tone -- consistently since he started using a cpap in january.

also, his blood pressure -- which was high, which docs blamed on his weight/diet -- went down significantly within one month of starting cpap treatment, before his weight changed significantly.

ANYWAYS. this is getting long. two final thoughts.

- I Want To Strangle Medical Fatphobia With My Bare Fucking Hands