Hello everyone,

I hope everyone has been heeding the advice of doctors and the CDC in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. A few things have changed since I last posted.

I literally complained to my doctors office about my lack of long term asthma medicine (I mentioned the Symbicort in a previous post). Fun story. My insurance denied the Symbicort and sent it back to the doctor office. I heard nothing for two weeks, and was using my puffer 5-6 times daily. Frustrated, I reached out. They told me my insurance showed cancelled. That’s right, cancelled! I’m on Medicaid, Medicaid doesn’t cancel unless you make too much. After a week of back and forth they finally figured out I wasn’t cancelled but insurance wouldn’t cover the Symbicort. So the doctor suggested Qvar, and said it would be covered. I get to the pharmacy, and it’s denied. More back and forth with the doctor. The following week I get a prescription for Pulmicort, which is actually more expensive than the Advair, but they covered it. So, I went 35 days without asthma medicine, except my rescue inhaler. Fun.

I still have a ridiculous cough, and a nighttime wheeze that’s so loud it wakes me up. I have an appointment with a pulmonologist but not until middle April (subject to reschedule due to the outbreak).

Another thing I’ve noticed, when I was out trying to walk. I felt a stabbing feeling in my right armpit. I didn’t think anything about it. The next few days the stabbing feeling is still there. I hop in the shower, and there it is. It’s a lump. I only feel it when I move my arm forward. It lines up with the numbness in my pectoral area, and my cough, and my back pain in the same location. The lump is painful like a bee sting. And come to think of it, the numbness in the front of my neck follows the path of the lymphatic system. No other swelling I noticed in my neck, but my lymph nodes in my neck are extremely sore, as are the ones that go behind the ears. I’m not going back to my GP for that. I want to see a new doctor for it. I don’t know when would be a good time to have it looked at, with everyone forced to stay home.

My legs have also been swelling up, with pitting in the same shin area on both legs. It’s not all the time, but the numbness is always there.

I heard back from the neurologist, after 3 weeks. I’m assuming that’s normal. And his office said he wanted me to come in for a full evaluation. They said the nerve conduction study showed “problems”, but they don’t think it’s MS. I see him in early April. I will ask for a brain MRI, just to get it over with.

Anyway that’s all I have so far. Just kinda limping along, but still staying positive. I’ll update when I have more information.

Cheers,
-Ryan