Health Care or Health Fear?

Have you been listening to the healthcare reform debate? Mostly it just confuses me. On many levels.

I suppose the biggest point of confusion for me is this movement to stifle debate and turn it into the lowest form of discourse -- name calling, shouting, not allowing conversation, misdirection, not listening.

When did the freedom of speech become freedom to end discussion?

I also don't understand this need to make people afraid of healthcare when associated with government. Medicare and medicaid has certainly saved alot of lives. Is it a perfect system? No. But then again privately owned insurance companies are designed to best benefit only a few -- the owners/shareholders. I suppose if I had invested heavily in insurance companies or held a big block of stock in them, I might be against a program that will cause the company to provide better service at perhaps an impact on profits. Yet, I have this altruistic part of me who thinks that everyone is entitled to good health and pursuit of their life goals.

This conversation about government telling us what we can and can't do as far as health treatments sounds familiar. Oh, that's right. My INSURANCE PROVIDER already does that! HMO -- it tells me who I can seek treatment from AND then tells me what treatments I can and cannot get. My son's health is impacted by a lifelong weight problem. He wants to do something about it and gastric bypass surgery was recommended by his physician. But, his insurance won't cover that 'cosmetic' surgery.

I know, I know, fat people are simply undisciplined and lazy and all of those other negative stereotypical attitudes. This is no more true than saying that people with chronic depression should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps, suck it up and stop indulging in a pity party. Or a woman with breast cancer should just get them cut off and stop trying to save all parts of her body. Or someone with diabetes ate too many sweets. Or people with heart disease brought it on themselves....

I will readily admit that I do not understand what is being proposed by President Obama. I thought in all innocence that he was offering an opportunity to publicly debate the pros and cons and come up with a better health care plan that all can live with. But obviously free and open and rational and intelligent discourse frightens a very vocal faction of the country. So they replace communication and facts with fear.

Killing Grandma? We don't need a government to mandate that. We already have doctors and insurance providers who determine that people with white hair deserve less heroic measures to prolong their lives. The American Medical Association has noticed that its members don't know how to talk to older folk, so they have special training in geriatrics. Yet for the longest time when I accompanied Mom to see doctors, or have tests, or discuss options, the health care providers turned to me and ignored Mom completely. There are good reasons to color your hair and try to look younger. White hair and wrinkles are a form of invisibility accompanied by decreased value.

But what about our status quo coverage? I can only speak from my own experience. If and when my husband is unemployed, we cannot afford insurance. Right now we devote 10 percent of our income to pay insurance premiums and that is with his employer offering a company discount and picking up part of the cost as one of his benefits. In addition to that 10 percent; we spend at least another 10 to 15 percent on out of pocket health care expenses. So with one of the better health care situations we are still paying 25 percent of our "GROSS" income on health care. And that is with one of us generating virtually no health care costs.

Did you know that a power wheelchair costs the same as a KIA -- maybe more. A lift and a van to convey this power wheelchair so that my husband can still work -- another $65,000. And before you shake your head and say, "Well, if he had only been more proactive, had practiced preventative medicine" let me tell you that he INHERITED this disease. But all people who are diagnosed with ALS have done NOTHING to cause the disease. At least doctors have never found a reason for this spontaneous generation other than a few rare cases such as Derrol who inherit a mutant gene -- something research discovered only recently.

Our situation is dire.

My husband's disease is incurable. He will continue to degenerate and be unable to work in a not too distant future. At that time he will lose his income AND his healthcare AND he'll die within an abbreviated time due to lack of care. He pays about $400 a month for one pill that treats the illness. We can barely afford that right now. If he is forced to get new insurance -- he will not be covered for the very thing that is taking his life.

The sad part is that companies treat people as raw materials or expenses and pursue profit rather than making a quality product. Because of this dehumanization, we have been forced to follow his job from state to state as companies downsize or buy each other out and relocate or lay off employees. These decisions have very little to do with product.

Yet, while some people have put down roots, invested in a property 30 years ago at a much smaller cost, we have relocated during the highest housing costs in history. And we are not alone. The highest number ever of employees are relocating due to downsizing, buy outs, take overs and consolidations.

We were forced to invest in something that has now lost a great deal of its value, just so my husband could continue to work. Companies did not focus on product. They focused on profit. They didn't have concern for employees, but used them to build profits. The personal cost of these relocations have been tremendous. Our family is separated. Our investments are almost worthless and we're facing a future without health care coverage. The very company who pays my husband's wages have also put us in a precarious position far from our roots and family. But hey, 'everybody' does it.

Many companies don't provide health care because they hire only part-time employees and do not offer benefits to them. And with unemployment numbers at this level, even more people face each day praying that no catastrophic illness or accident will send them into bankruptcy or make them face death rather than life because they can't afford the treatment. Many small businesses -- such as the one-man business who tiled our floors so my husband could use his wheelchair in the house or the man who painted our house -- have no benefits.

Recently I wrote about fabric artist Anna Millea who couldn't get insurance coverage because of a pre-existing illness. The same will happen to my husband if he is forced to find coverage elsewhere. Our sons already are under covered or seeking government assistance to provide for medical needs. Our oldest son has had diabetes since he was five years old (No he didn't indulge in sweets!) and whatever insurance he gets will probably NOT pay his most needed health care.

We must have a better plan so that the United States does not turn further toward a have and have-not divided country.

You can push people only so far until they fight back. Right now if we look around we'll see alot of angry people who have been raising the crime rate because they can not have a reasonable life within the legal limits. The rise of gangs instead of the sanctity of family -- do you really think that is a choice anyone truly wants to make. But we all need a support system. Someone who will protect and care for us or at least stand beside us to support us while we pursue or life goals. No man is an island. We all need to hang together or we fall apart.

We need reasonable and rational discussions. We need a better health care plan. And we need to lower the cost of health care. The country already pays trillions on health care. Why not find a way to make those dollars more effective?

Updates on Reverse Auction and Lightning Strike

Today we are closer to getting back to our normally scheduled lives after that near-direct lightning strike scrambled not only our electricity but shook up our lives a bit. Not as dramatic as the steam break in New York, our little emergency involved only us and the long line of service people we contacted.

Phone service has been restored, although I don't know if the telephone repair man hooked up the necessary line for the security service -- I guess we'll find out Saturday when the security tech arrives. We have one land line and our cell phone of course. Our cordless phones are forever silenced, fried. The DSL works then quits, then starts again, then flashes, then turns red and often requires a restart. I'm hoping this is temporary.

According to the Direct TV tech, our black boxes -- receivers -- were toast, too. Derrol was glad to see television reception restored -- too bad there isn't something worth watching!

The electrician checked out our wiring and it is all good. We are excited to find a reasonable, responsibile certifed electrician and are putting together a list of things we've been needing done, but didn't have anyone qualified to do them. Of course about all we saw was him test wires and change a lightbulb and reset a few outlets. But it was enough to bring the beloved toothbrush back to life.

The garage door opener isn't so easily fixed. It still remains mute (like the cordless phones) waiting to find out if we need to replace a little $20 transformer or the entire opener (for much MORE than $20). So far Sears is saying they don't have the part, that is when they answer the phone.

Our hot tub stands dead in the water, so to speak. The electrical hook up is fine, but the tub doesn't work. We're hoping it is as simple as a fuse blown. If you have ever dismantled a spa in an effort to find the fuses, you'll know that 'easy' may not be the appropriate description. Inexpensive may be what I am hoping for.

The adjuster sent by the insurance company climbed up on our roof and said how nice our chimney looks. But doesn't have an explanation for the leak that left spots in several areas of our ceiling. He suggests caulking around the roof vent, just in case.

And our security system continues to tick -- whether it is like a clock keeping track of the minutes since it was zapped, or a time bomb waiting to fly apart, I'm not sure.

Also in a totally unrelated topic, the SAQA Reverse Auction began July 16th. Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA) asked members to create and donate One-Foot Squares. Members responded in record numbers. The squares and the rules of this fundraiser are available at: http://www.saqa.com/hotnews.aspx?id=126 I want to point out the beautiful landscape square made by good friend and amazingly talented art quilt designer Eileen Doughty that can be seen at: http://www.saqa.com/newsebulletins/onefootsquaresT2.aspx and the prices are beginning to go down (thus the title 'Reverse Auction). It was at $500 earlier today. Several other prices are going down, too. It's a great opportunity to get some one-of-a-kind fabric art for yourself.

And for any of you wanting to read an educated, well-thought out blog concerning social, political and economic concerns, visit Barbara Ehrenreich's blog site. Her comments on the Medicare situation is worth the visit.

Oh how I appreciate my fingers!

For a couple of months it looked like my body was attempting to grow an extra finger out of the side of my middle finger on my left hand. My 'e' finger. If you're a typist you'll know what I mean. Health care providers call it my 'long' finger. Those of us who know sign language call it the bird finger.

Finally after several doctors looking at it, giving it a name -- pyogenic granuloma -- a fancy name for an infected benign growth of unknown origin -- they scheduled surgery.

Surgery!

It is a little growth, not much bigger than a wart. Just freeze it or give me a cream to make it vanish. Shave it off.

Noooo. My general practitioner named it and then named a surgeon for me to go see. She wouldn't touch it.

Surgery?

With all of the bells and whistles, I was told. They even wanted me to have an EKG and blood tests in preparation for this minor or all minor surgeries. They took a complete history right down to my foot surgery back in the 1990s -- "and which foot was it?"

Who cares? I'm having surgery on my FINGER!

I'm not one for unnecessary expense or procedures, so I searched for a way to simplify this removal procedure of a tiny little growth that had transformed into a major life-event.

The key, I discovered, was to omit the need for an anesthesiologist. The way to do that was to just have the procedure performed with a local anesthetic that the surgeon could administer himself. Just numb the finger and whack off the growth.

Well there is more to it than just whacking, I was informed. The complication comes for this kind of growth in the connection to a blood source. A tiny little vessel feeds it blood like it was sipping on a straw. Cauterizing the bleeder is key to success as well as getting all of the granuloma so it doesn't just grow back again.

No one knows what causes them. I read on the Internet that pregnant women and children tend to get them. Sometimes they just disappear. Mine didn't disappear, it grew an ear.

My surgeon, up to the last minute was still concerned that I might feel some discomfort. I've given birth to two large babies. LARGE babies. I can handle a little pin prick in my finger. My oldest son must test his blood three and four times a day -- ask him about discomfort.

So on Thursday, I went under the knife. The surgeon demanded that I have an IV and fed me antibiotics and Ringers Lactate -- whatever that is -- and I had to undress so that he could fix my finger -- sterile field, he kept reminding.

Seems that all of my clothes except my Fruit of the Looms are contaminated. Of course the nurse who has been dealing with all manner of patients for the past eight hours didn't seem to have any contaminates on her clothing as she accompanied me into the operating room, touched everything with her unwashed hands that she thrust at the last minute into a pair of gloves.

I just couldn't get past the ironies of this 'sterile' terminology. They do operations every 15-20 minutes. There was maybe 10 minutes between the previous surgery and mine. Do they really think that germs can be killed that quickly? They can't even get the room wiped down in that amount of time. Of course they do use enough of that awful-yellow colored soap benzo-something. With the amount they foamed up on my hand, I could have washed my car.

In less than 30 minutes in the operating room, at least half of that time making sure I didn't feel any discomfort, the surgeon -- a young lad with delicate hands -- removed the granuloma. Done!

Then he bandaged my finger. I have had catchers mitts smaller than this bandage. He tied my middle fingers together and so I am typing this as if my fingers were in a potato sack race.

I haven't seen his handiwork, but I would like to tell him that the type two narcotics he prescribed for the pain were also a bit overkill. I took a couple of Tylenol the first night and that's it.

I'm fortunate, I know.

And if I have something major happen, I'll know the surgeon to go to. But it seems that everything is done the same, no gradations, no common sense, no different levels of need -- all surgeries, all the time, all the same. I suppose it saves the staff from making decisions about how to prepare for the next surgery.

I'm so thankful that all went well, that this young man was gifted in the art of granuloma removal and that they cared enough to over protect me. I'll be ever so grateful until I get the bill. Then I will be thankful for insurance coverage -- something that is becoming more and more precious and even more difficult to get than a simple procedure.

And that is why my blog has not been updated until today. Thanks for your patience.