šA Most Unreliable Narrator āļø Issue #198 Sugar Spiking
This week: healthcare in America is a joke, teaching classes, running up that hill
Welcome to A Most Unreliable Narrator, the slice-of-life newsletter of GenXer around town, Lisa Rabey. I talk about anything and everything with a bit of swears. Iām glad youāre here.
Dear Internet,
My therapist rescheduled our next session to Saturday morning, and it was such a relief to talk to him since itās been a few weeks, and a lot has been going on. Iām in maintenance mode which means I only see him once a month. When I was in crisis earlier this year, it was once a week. As time has ticked on, and my brain has settled into an innocuous beat, I donāt need to see him as much.
Plus, itās cheaper. Overall, for a therapist, heās cheap. Iāve paid as much as $300/hr without insurance. Mental care in the US is a fucking joke and Iām so grateful Iām in a space where I have a good team behind me. I try not to think about the āwhat ifsā of this scenario. OK, I lied. My medicating RN is only licensed in KY and when we move up to MI permanently, Iāll need to find another place to manage my meds. This in and of itself isnāt a huge issue, but my KY medicating RN uses Mark Cubanās CostPlus for my drugs, and I get Latuda, without insurance, for maybe pennies per pill. Iām talking three monthsā supply with my other two psych meds comes out to $60 or so every 90 days. Even with insurance, Latuda alone is $100 or so a month. Alone before the other meds. So, that is obviously a concern.
Mr. Lisa is entering the foray himself into seeing a therapist. Heās caught in the tangle of finding someone who can practice in KY and MI. Heās looking at various online options, suggested by our insurance company, and Iām hoping he can find someone. Mr. Lisa did GeneSite, the genetic test to see what psych drugs work and donāt work for him. Turns out the meds heās been on in the past were in his yellow and red lists which is why they werenāt working. Heās trying something new, but heās been off it since his hospitalization. Weāre hoping he gets back on one soon.
Update on Mr. Lisaās Health
This week was a ringer for the Mr. and Ms. Lisa household.
Mr. Lisa was on 20 mg of prednisone, a steroid, to help with his kidney function since it got demolished when he was in the hospital due to an allergic reaction to the antibiotic. Docs warned Mr. Lisa the steroid would push his sugars up to close to 300 (your sugars should roughly be between 80 ā 120) but despite eating the way he should be eating, sleeping like he can sleep, his sugars were raging between 300 to 350. There were a couple of scary times when it spiked to nearly 400.
On this day it spiked to nearly 400, we called the diabetes management center at the hospital to get his insulin adjusted. They were closed. We called urgent care, they donāt monitor insulin. We called our local GP office but since Mr. Lisa hadnāt seen them in over 3 years, heād be listed as a new patient, and they couldnāt get him in for another 10 days. Look, I said to the scheduler, we need help now, not in 10 days. They kept apologizing over and over again. Our last resort was ER which Mr. Lisa wanted to stay away from. He was beyond frustrated that they cut his insulin more than Ā½ and sent him on his way. He did the research on insulin adjustment and coupled with what he was getting in the hospital before they dropped it to 1/2, he did the adjusting himself.
Heās feeling a lot better.
Health care in America is beyond awful.
He saw the kidney doctor and wound surgeon this week. His kidneys are bouncing back, and the wound surgeon was beyond pleased with the process. Ā The kidney doctor cut Mr. Lisaās prednisone in half for the next few days and then half again until Mr. Lisa sees him in a few weeks.
It is a relief heās not dead, but we are both angry and frustrated with health care in America. Mr. Lisa shouldnāt have provided his own care but here we are.
Nerd Girl Industries
I released the first issue of NGI Presents this past week to my whopping six subscribers. Iām pleased as punch there are six because I never advertised. Hopefully that will change.
Anyway, it was just a brief update on the upcoming video series I plan on doing which is delayed since Mr. Lisa and I are in KY for a few more weeks.
The other update I dropped is Iām teaching a class for an online writerās group on social media and online presence for non-profits, creatives, small businesses, and freelancers. The goal of the class is for someone who canāt necessarily afford to hire me but want to keep current with their online presence. Stats, free or cheap tools, guides, etc. The class is set to go live in July 2025. I started reaching out to other writerās groups with the proposition and so far, people are loving it. Whatās expected of your online presence changes every damned day and I keep up on the industry, so the class will be as current as possible.
Mr. Lisa suggested why donāt I sell the class on Udemy. I thought, āSelf. That is a damned good idea!ā I hadnāt been to Udemy in a while, so I signed up and checked out a few classes on social media. From what Iāve seen, the content is outdated (TikTok was not mentioned in at least one class), no stats, no handouts, itās just a shit show. Ā Iām appalled these classes have thousands of students. Iām in a class right now that compliments my idea and Iām taking notes. I donāt know when my class will go live. Iām hoping by the end of the year.
A friend who is also in my industry with complimentary work recommended I get on Fiverr. Yes, Fiverr can be hard to hustle but after doing research on whatās available, I feel I have a pretty good shot starting to get work since I go beyond social media services. The services are sold piece meal, so Iāve been building out on that. Another thing I hope to have done by the end of the year.
Lastly, selling the course directly from my site. This is also an option and honestly, the best since it guarantees updates for students for life whereas not the same with Udemy. Also, something I hope to have done by the end of the year.
Iām still adjusting my pricing structure. Itās been a pain in the ass.
One of my existing clients wants to go on Pinterest so I created a business account over there and I have started posting. I signed up for a free marketing event they are having in a few weeks. Their intro guide to passive income on Pinterest was really interesting and for my existing client, something we can totally get into.
Iām also cross-posting over to LinkedIn because āitās all about networking.ā Iām trying hard to balance my personality and that of a douche. I despise high pressure tactics, inflated prices, and bravado as a selling point. I have an idea, I want to execute that idea, and I want to do it in a non-smarmy way.
Michigan Arrival Finalized
We were able to schedule Mr. Lisaās follow ups before the end of the month which gives us leave to head back up to MI early October. I have a specific date to be there as I have an author reading, the gas stove needs to get installed, and so do the blinds. Weāve been pushing everything out to accommodate our current schedule.
If things go well, we wonāt be coming back to KY until next spring. Weāre going to transfer Mr. Lisaās care up north since we do have a GP weāre using as well as get a kidney doc and wound care specialist.
I canāt wait! Iāve got plans to snowshoe this winter!
My dear pal Sloth (yes, his legal name) volunteers for Code for Good, a free tech event where tech people and non-profits get together to do some good once a year. Mr. Lisa and I are volunteering our skills and time so Iām pretty pumped to go. Itāll be helpful for both of us to network and make new friends. We can always make new friends!
Sometimes
ā¦I say a lot without saying anything at all. (It feels often like this is true.)
Wonderful Thing
Running Up that Hill by Kate Bush covered by Meg Myers
Iām going to lose my Gen X street cred here, but I really like the cover by Meg. Kateās great and all but this version speaks to my soul. PLUS! Itās hand colored by over 2100 kids! How cool is that?
The behind the scenes video is also super neat!
Let's exchange the experience,
lisa x
(Fuck fascists and Nazis!)
You've just finished readingĀ A Most Unreliable Narrator: the slice of life newsletter from the GenXer about town, Lisa Rabey. You can find me on Instagram,Ā FacebookĀ and Bluesky if you're so inclined. I am everywhere. Copyright Ā© 1996 - 2025 by Lisa Rabey