How is MS treatment lifestyle different in other areas?

[jackiesj]

I am curious of different countries and different states. I know it should be a straight accross the US same treatments but i had a chance encounter that made me think.

A gentleman at the Pharmacy(my social hangout place?) started out by apologizing for his illness. Sad but true. .He had stated that he talks to hisself because he has a mental conditition ( the brain is a body part so i think..mental is physical too..)

As he helped me to understand his issues he stated he had just moved to this state and had the hardest time with adjustments due to housing, medicine, etc.Change is certainly hard for many of us. He had stated in his old state that he would be set up immediately. So i am wondering how area changes and is anyone from another country besides US have and opinion on this.I do realize that it also depends on so many factors of the individual themselves.

food styles

easy access

meetings gatherings

doc issues

may i say Im just grateful for all blessings especially the MS Society and my peeps.

Before i left the gentleman at the pharmacy.....i am a curious person...i asked....Since you hear another person and talk to him, do you feel alone or is it like having a friend?

He smiled and said he had never thought of it like that and wanted to remember.That no...he never felt alone and that was a positive on his negative.....interesting....

[twooldcrows]

hahahahahha....good one ...

[goatgal]

Your kindness in listening to and talking with a stranger was probably greatly appreciated. Thank you for sharing your encounter.

Medical care, world wide including the United States, depends on where you live. If you live in or close to a major city, you can probably find the help you need from specialists. If you live in a rural or isolated area, it becomes much more difficult. In the United States, help from agencies at the state level is completely dependent on political philosophy and funding: some states provide less help to those in need, others attempt to be more helpful; probably none do as fine a job as would be ideal. In my Mid-Atlantic state, those in the middle class get very little state help; those truly impoverished may get help with housing, food, and transportation. Almost everywhere, this is a truly difficult problem without easy solutions.

[NorasMom]

Like Goatgal said, a lot depends on city vs country, then there's Medicaid vs Medicare vs private insurance. In my state, even moving to a different county can significantly affect the way things are handled.

[sashaming1]

I had a monthly infunsion then two sets of week-long infusions then nothing else. In Arizona and then Alabama.

[mrsmike9]

Particularly in Indiana, the mentally ill and homeless don't get much help. I believe much of it has to do with how important each state's government looks at these issues. Pence was our governor when things really went wrong. (Not wanting to get political, it's just the individuals.) We've had a ton of Republican governors before who were fine but not that one.

[hairbrain4]

I'm in a rural area of Arkansas, 2 hours from a big city (or a city with 100,000 or more people) in any direction. It used to be hard to find a specialist without going out of town. Now the doctors have realized that they can travel one day a week to our town. We are actually the biggest town in our county (5,600 people) & people from the smaller towns come here for doctor visits & the hospital. Arkansas does a pretty good job at helping people with medical care if they are disabled. They can get Medicaid from the state if they aren't on Medicare. In this small community, people help each other a lot. About 65% go to church & get help through their church groups when needed, but if not then someone in town will hold a BBQ dinner to raise money to help & announce it on the radio that "Jimmybob..." needs help with ..." We also will offer to take someone out of town to a Dr visit when needed. We don't have the convenience of the big city but we do have people that care about each other & to me that's a lot more important than convenience.

[kycmary]

Hi Jackiesj here in Northern KY there are differences in each county on some things. I don't know much about it but I told a friend she could check this out through welfare she did but that was a while back.