Random Health & Personal Notes

Ariane May 20, 2024 · Filed under Blog, Health, Personal, Server Problems & Fansite News

I received my new mattresses and the new couch exactly two weeks ago! The new couch (shown above) is lovely, and very good to sit on. I was rather worried that the new matresses wouldn't be firm enough - my old one felt like there was almost no give, and when I slept on softer beds in a hotel or at my Mom's, my back would hurt after a two nights. But I've slept on the new mattresses for 12 nights now and it's great! Feels firm just like my old one, and both my lower back and bra-area back actually feel better! Not as stiff, and they don't hurt as much. That happened immediately after the first night! I dare say now that I'm happy with the new mattresses ❤️
I participated in a Vocational Rehabilitation Assessment that lasted for 10 days and happened over two months, April and May. 4 days, 1 day and 5 days. It ended on Friday, and I haven't yet received the official summary, findings and recommendation that they will write for me, but I know it will recommend me for intensive medical rehabilitation, either neurological or musculoskeletal disorders because I have various pains around my body in addition to the head pain because of migraine and stomach pains because of Crohn's Disease. The doctor in his assessment also mentioned that my pains might be Fibromyalgia in nature. That hasn't been mentioned to me ever before by any doctor, but I've looked a bit into it myself because it keeps coming up when researching my symptoms. I just somehow have thought my symptoms are too mild for Fibromyalgia? I don't know. I guess it's something to bring to my GP, see what they think. So next step later this week is to try and make an appointment with my GP in order to get the required medical certificate with which to apply to the intensive medical rehabilitation and to talk about the Fibromyalgia thing, and the sleep study that I did a couple of months ago. The appointment will probably take a couple of months to happen, so the intensive medical rehabilitation might likely begin in the fall the earliest. The Doctor of the assessment also recommended rehabilitative work arranged by unemployment agency and county wellbeing services. I did that before COVID-19 and it was good for exploring my functional and working ability. To that end:
I have an appointment with the unemployment agency in early June where I'll learn what they want me to do, likely rehabilitative work at least.
Had my vision checked today, and as suspected because reading things like small text product information on containers while shopping has become impossible, I need varifocal glasses. My first ones! Ordered them, should get them in about 1,5 weeks. They had a an offer going and I got varifocal sunglasses for completely free! It's still not cheap - 509 euros, but that's for two varifocal glasses. The normal combined price for them would've been 1000+ euros. There's a lot of air in the normal prices if they can offer 509 euros glasses completely free.
I've been fighting with KELA all this year. Every month they make incorrect decision about my financial assistance, and I have to calculate the things for them and request a re-check. So far they always corrected it, but it's fucking stressful because the delays mean I don't get my financial assistance for the electricity bill, medical bills and medications in time. I always get them, but have to juggle all my money to be able to buy my meds in time. And the errors KELA makes in their calculations are basic ones that they've never done before - only after the new regulations issued by the right wing government have come into effect. I think they make them automatically with a formulaic program, and then don't have any human to check circumstances of the applicant and the results for correctness in those specific circumstances. And I think this is by design because a lot of people trust blindly the decision is correct, and/or sadly it's too difficult to for them to ask for re-check and tell KELA why it should be re-checked. And I think it's by design by because the orders from the current government are to cut and save wherever possible, especially when it comes to the unemployed, the poor and the sick. There are a lot of people in the Facebook unemployment and chronic illness groups experiencing this same thing this year. But at least in my case, KELA is just making more work for itself, while simultaneously complaining of too much work, because I will fucking request a re-check every fucking time it's needed.

2 Comments

Marcin May 21, 2024 at 8:00 pm

Onneksi olkoon uusista kalusteista! It's good that they are comfortable for you, there's always a risk when buying something online without a possibility to try it out beforehand.

About KELA, I had the same impression when I was unemployed myself! In my case they didn't make any errors but they were nitpicking so much about my activities that I was doing in my free time, even though I didn't benefit from it in any way, so I thought it should be irrelevant. I didn't feel that they actually want to help me, I thought that they would do everything not to give me any unemployment benefits. At least I have a very friendly coach from TE-toimisto (she was Iranian). As I once said here, I felt really happy when I came to Finland in 2020, despite the pandemic. But after the government changed I feel sometimes a bit disappointed. My situation is generally not bad so I don't want to complain but I didn't expect that I would miss the pandemic times. It would be a pity to leave Finland. There are things I like here, like the closeness of nature, the fact that people respect others' privacy. Maybe social life is not easy for foreigners here but people can be really friendly too, a lot of Finns that I just met randomly appreciated that I learnt some Finnish and spoke it with them, even though at work we mostly use English due to foreign employees. Anyway, let's hope the next elections will be a change for better!

And good luck with your rehabilitation! I hope it will be helpful for you!

intothisshadow Post author May 24, 2024 at 4:57 pm

Kiitos! :D We did look online first to get an idea of the selection, but there is a Sotka nearby so we were able to try them beforehand, so knew the couch would be good for sure. But new mattresses are always a bit iffy 'cause you can't try them out and sleep on them for like two weeks to know for sure they really work for your back!

That's KELA - and also TE-toimisto! - for you - they really want to control you if you're getting any benefits from them, often in ridiculous and illogical ways. KELA used to be able to reasoned with up to a point, but since January this year it's been much more difficult than previous years. They don't seem to do the "kohtuullisuusharkinta" anymore and take any technical formula calculation as an excuse to deny benefits that in previous years kohtuullisuusharkinta made them allow.

I'm really sorry the current government isn't welcoming to foreigners! It feels like the government just wants to close all the borders and go back to the 1950s and ignore and deny <em>all of the challenges of today</em> like they didn't exist. I feel like the message the government is putting out is one of general hopelessness.

We Finns just like to mind our own business, and don't like to bother/interrupt other people because we assume they are doing their own thing so no idle chit chat on the bus stop with strangers or even in the lunch room! I personally can't ever think of what to say when someone starts to talk to me out of the blue when waiting on the bus stop or whatever, and I suspect a lot of Finns are like me. We're not trying to be unfriendly - we're just not that used to chit chatting!

Marcin May 21, 2024 at 8:00 pm

Onneksi olkoon uusista kalusteista! It's good that they are comfortable for you, there's always a risk when buying something online without a possibility to try it out beforehand.

About KELA, I had the same impression when I was unemployed myself! In my case they didn't make any errors but they were nitpicking so much about my activities that I was doing in my free time, even though I didn't benefit from it in any way, so I thought it should be irrelevant. I didn't feel that they actually want to help me, I thought that they would do everything not to give me any unemployment benefits. At least I have a very friendly coach from TE-toimisto (she was Iranian). As I once said here, I felt really happy when I came to Finland in 2020, despite the pandemic. But after the government changed I feel sometimes a bit disappointed. My situation is generally not bad so I don't want to complain but I didn't expect that I would miss the pandemic times. It would be a pity to leave Finland. There are things I like here, like the closeness of nature, the fact that people respect others' privacy. Maybe social life is not easy for foreigners here but people can be really friendly too, a lot of Finns that I just met randomly appreciated that I learnt some Finnish and spoke it with them, even though at work we mostly use English due to foreign employees. Anyway, let's hope the next elections will be a change for better!

And good luck with your rehabilitation! I hope it will be helpful for you!
1. intothisshadow Post author May 24, 2024 at 4:57 pm
  
  Kiitos! :D We did look online first to get an idea of the selection, but there is a Sotka nearby so we were able to try them beforehand, so knew the couch would be good for sure. But new mattresses are always a bit iffy 'cause you can't try them out and sleep on them for like two weeks to know for sure they really work for your back!
  
  That's KELA - and also TE-toimisto! - for you - they really want to control you if you're getting any benefits from them, often in ridiculous and illogical ways. KELA used to be able to reasoned with up to a point, but since January this year it's been much more difficult than previous years. They don't seem to do the "kohtuullisuusharkinta" anymore and take any technical formula calculation as an excuse to deny benefits that in previous years kohtuullisuusharkinta made them allow.
  
  I'm really sorry the current government isn't welcoming to foreigners! It feels like the government just wants to close all the borders and go back to the 1950s and ignore and deny <em>all of the challenges of today</em> like they didn't exist. I feel like the message the government is putting out is one of general hopelessness.
  
  We Finns just like to mind our own business, and don't like to bother/interrupt other people because we assume they are doing their own thing so no idle chit chat on the bus stop with strangers or even in the lunch room! I personally can't ever think of what to say when someone starts to talk to me out of the blue when waiting on the bus stop or whatever, and I suspect a lot of Finns are like me. We're not trying to be unfriendly - we're just not that used to chit chatting!