Monday, October 01, 2007

Munchausen Syndrome

My ex's wife is showing signs of Munchausesn's Syndrome. She has for years. She is on all kinds of antidepressants and had had lots of stomach stapling surgeries and operations and orders to take medicine, but she is also an alcoholic and frequently drinks with her medicine cocktail. She let herself get into a mess last week with certain issues and the ex had to go home from work to rush her to the hospital. Peaches started to google various terms and told me what she thinks she has. I've known it for years. Peaches is trying to act like it's not a big deal so as to not positively re-enforce her behavior.

I hate seeing doctors, but she relishes it. It is so weird. I get doctors smirking at me and I get up and leave. One poor guy called me on my cell phone after I walked out on him and was like, "I've never had a woman throw her clothes on with me in the room and leave. What did I do wrong?" I told him that he smirked at his nurse when I mentioned certain female-related symptoms and asked about herbal remedies instead of hormones. Well, he said that it was my age and he hears it a lot, thought nothing of it, it was just typical of women of my age to ask about. I asked him what he'd do if his kids rolled their eyes at each other when he spoke. He apologized.

I hate talking to nurses about my problems, then telling the doctors when I am in a gown. If I seem stressed out, they downplay it and if I act like it's no big deal when I am worried, they still go slow on reacting. Therefor I go see the doctor once a year. I have one who I have clicked with. I coach his son's basketball team. I feel like knowing him out of the office makes a world of difference. He knows how to joke with me and his nurses and I have taken classes together. He does the history on me himself which is really spoiling me, but he said, "You have nine children and you are a good person. I just want you to be healthy and comfortable getting help when you need it."

Anyway-- my daughter's stepmother relishes medical appointments. Tiger said that when she lived with her and my ex husband, her SM was always seeing doctors and complaining that they didn't take her seriously. She had stomach stapling surgery and started binging on purpose, has always obsessed over taking her antidepressants and she'd get into a situation and grab her happy pills. When Peaches spoke to her last night, her two days in the hospital was exaggerated to a week in the hospital. She made the tests sound worse. Argh. Do people with Munchausen make it impossible for the rest of us? If I go in with pain over say a pulled muscle, it takes me two hours with most doctors to get two doses of weak pain medicine-- for my daughters' step mother, they said that she goes to the hospital when it's busy and complains and they can't get her out fast enough.

I asked what good things were happening to other family members for her to do this as it seems like it happens when all is good with everyone. Well, their son was getting honors in Boy Scouts, then my ex got a promotion (that he had had to drop so he can be home with his wife,) PEaches is getting college scouts calling over her GPA and languages, Tiger was given a raise at the college job she is in after three weeks of working, and basically, everyone was getting attention so she didn't get her due and drank instead of taking certain pills that she needed to treat diabetes, headaches and whatever. Tiger doesn't even listen to her. This woman is someone who'd fake suicide to revenge someone.

My daughters asked me if this will go on for the rest of their lives and I said I didn't know but the truth is, I think it will and she will keep it up. She's someone who looks at people in wheel chairs and envies them--it is gross. Weddings, births, college graduations. Peaches said that with how she drinks that she won't live long. She drinks a big bottle of brandy every day.

How can people afford that?

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