People confronting serious illness or disease need to know -- perhaps more than anything else -- that they are not alone. Help comes in many ways: through the counsel and care of a doctor, access to innovative new medicines and procedures, the support of loved ones, and the inspiration provided by others who have faced or are facing similar challenges.
Sharing Miracles is a forum for people to relate their own personal stories of hope and survival. Every patient's battle is unique, but the collective power of shared experiences can offer great help and courage to others who are fighting for their lives. Please join us -- and share your own story of hope and triumph.
How I’ve dealt with my health issues seems like a story filled with many chapters. I’m dealing with many different health issues right now, including emphysema, allergies and cholesterol problems. I also have arthritis, and WITHOUT MY MEDICINES I can tell you, I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO GET OUT OF BED… Read More »
In February 2006, I embarked on a new, exciting journey with my new husband. Unfortunately I suffer from a number of serious health conditions, including asthma, clinical depression and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). PMDD is a condition that causes severe emotional and physical depression that is linked to premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Each month I take seven different medications. After losing my job and consequently my health insurance, I was paying approximately $450 to $500 each month for my prescription medicines. Without insurance I was not able to get my prescribed doses. I was at the point of wanting to end my life because I could not handle having no where to turn for help. Read More »
I live with my wife and three daughters. My wife and I both work part-time jobs and live on a limited income.Three years ago, I suffered a heart attack and subsequently was placed on several prescription medicines. I didn’t think life could get any harder. I was on medication to lower my blood pressure, to keep my cholesterol down and to slow my heart rate. It all happened so quickly and was a little overwhelming… Read More »
I had worked all my life and expected to do so for many more years until I faced a turning point in my life in 2004. My husband unexpectedly passed away. Obviously, we had not planned for this devastating life change, but I dealt with it the best I could. I decided I would then go into early retirement. I moved to Newark, Delaware, to make a new start and chose Newark because I would still be close to my family in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, with all this change, I still had to deal with my multiple health issues. I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), so I must regularly take my prescription medicines to keep my health problems under control. Read More »
I developed diabetes six years ago, and at the time I was still working. I have since then developed high blood pressure too. Within the last two years I had to quit work because of health problems. I now have no insurance. With the help of PPA, I am able to get the medications I need at no cost. Read More »
After having my second child in March of 2005, I was diagnosed with post partum depression and prescribed Zoloft. I have no insurance coverage and the medication runs $110-$150 a month. I began to look for ways to help pay for the medication. I found PPA because my mother had seen a commercial and told me about it. I called the next day and spoke with a real person and about 10-15 minutes later was being sent applications. Upon receiving the applications I filled them out and sent them off. Approximately 3 weeks from the day I called I received my medicine for FREE! This took a huge burden off of me. I am a full time nursing student and full time mother. To not have to worry if my children eat or I receive medicine that I need is wonderful.
I have been living with Rheumatoid Arthritis for 20 years. Coping with a chronic disease and its effects can be trying at times. The disease can be manageable with the help of the Lord as well as through doctors, medications, family and friends. But recently the threat of losing my medication caused me great concern and stress. You see, I was laid off and I lost my group health insurance as a result. Finding comparable yet affordable individual health insurance seemed to be impossible for someone like me with a pre-existing condition.Thank heavens I saw a commercial on TV giving a toll free number to call (1-800-4PPANOW) for prescription assistance for underinsured and uninsured people. I called, and in just a few moments I was relieved to find out there was help for me. Read More »
What we do at The Wellness Community is help patients with cancer restore hope, find control, and connect with other people who have been through the cancer experience. Because, there is nothing that a person with cancer wants to see more than a cancer survivor. All of our programs are free of charge. People with any type of cancer and their loved ones, family members, and friends are all welcome to come to The Wellness Community. You walk in, and you’re immediately embraced. Come visit us at:
http://www.thewellnesscommunity.org/ or call 888-793-WELL, because we want everyone to be well when they’re fighting cancer.
Kim Thiboldeaux is the President & CEO of The Wellness Community.
I’ve had arthritis for 16 years. You know, in the winter, you go out one day to help cut firewood, and then you are stuck in the house for two days because you just can’t move because it just freezes your joints and freezes your body. I lost my husband in 2000, and it turned out I lost all my insurance and all my medicines, my prescriptions. It was hard. I was mad at the world. And I moved to Oklahoma, actually on September 11 of 2001, and I couldn’t have the surgeries or the medicines I needed. I could not afford it. And I also developed carpal tunnel syndrome, and some days it brings you really down because you can’t even pick the babies up. Then I got on the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, and I was so happy, when I got my medicines, I thought I could go dancing again. Well, I can’t really do that, but it helps a lot. It has helped me do some things with my grandkids. It has really, really helped, and I don’t know what I would do without my medicines. I take 11 different medicines every day, and they let me live the kind of normal life that I want.
When I was first diagnosed in 1988, the same year as the Seoul Summer Olympics, HIV was thought of as a death sentence, so I was going to do the honorable thing and go back home, lock myself in my house and wait to die. Because that was the mentality during that time. And then my cousin – who was my doctor and who did the HIV test – he really encouraged me to stay in training. He said that was probably the healthiest thing for me to do for myself. And I was very thankful for that, because I was able to focus on my diving, which was very positive, rather than on this cloud that potentially loomed over my head. Secrets are devastating, they can really isolate you, and that’s what happened with all of these secrets about my sexuality, and also about treatment, about my illness, about HIV.
You really have to go back to 1988, when there was a lot of miscommunication about HIV, about how you get HIV, and also how you don’t get HIV.
Unfortunately, now a lot of young people are seeing a lot of the progress in HIV treatment as a silver bullet. And so that is the reason why it is important for me to go out and talk to people and share what it’s like: my drug regimens and the side effects from some of the medications. It’s important for young people to understand that we’re progressing with treatment with regards to HIV and AIDS, but it shouldn’t be thought of as a silver bullet. My message to young people is to love yourselves enough to protect yourselves.
In addition to my treatment regimen, I stay physically active. I get to the gym, I spin or do yoga, and I focus on alleviating the stress in my life. That’s the biggest thing, as far as advice that I give anybody who’s been living with HIV or is newly diagnosed: get physically active. Take care of yourself. Do everything you can to alleviate stress in your life. Most of the stress that we contend with in our lives is self-imposed, so take a break and laugh at yourself and have a good sense of humor. It’s very important.
Having diabetes came as a big shock to me. When I finished “Leave it to Beaver”, I went to a regular high school. I did a little acting…Lassie, My Three Sons…but I pretty much withdrew from the acting profession. I came back to it later in life, and appeared on a new show called “The New Leave it to Beaver” which I did for 10 years…102 episodes…and those were long hours. I had a fairly young family at the time, two daughters and a son. And, I’d be away from the house for 12-14 hours a day. So when I finished that show I said…”You know, I’m gonna retire now, this is the good life.” I started eating way too much, and not doing a lot of exercise. I put on about 45 or 50 pounds. When I was getting ready to turn 50, a good friend who is a doctor cajoled me into get checked. I finally went in, and she asked me if I wanted to see my kids get married and hold my grandbabies. I said…of course! That’s when she told me that if I didn’t do something about my high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, I’d be dead in three to five years.
Most people would have had some symptoms, but I absolutely didn’t. I knew I was overweight and tired, but I looked around and saw a lot of people like that, and said it can’t be that bad…but it was!
I like to use my celebrity to go out and tell other people about the danger of diabetes. I was so lucky that my doctor cared about me. I care about my fans that much. People that have diabetes have to take care of it. There are so many people that have been diagnosed with diabetes, who say “it’s not bothering me”. We just have to get to those people and tell them to start treating it because by the time it becomes a problem for you, it could be too late.
If you find out that you have diabetes, you have to treat it aggressively. You’ll have a much better quality of life the earlier you treat it. And it can be a long and productive life. You have to take control of the diabetes. You can’t let it take control of you!