It’s All in Your Head

Well. Just got off the phone with my gastroenterologist, and I’m not sure what to think.

There’s a lot of good news. I do not have the bacteria that creates ulcers. I don’t have ulcers. My biopsies are normal. I’m going to get some good old Carafate to help my esophagus heal after this flare up. I’ve had it before and it works.

We don’t know what’s causing the gas. This is where things get a little hinky. The nurse told me that I probably swallow air. I’m supposed to chew more slowly, not talk while I eat, continue to avoid carbonation, and that should do it. I also need to lose weight (nothing new there) and experiment with food, seeing what does and doesn’t make me gassy. I suppose I should keep a food diary or something like that.

These guys are the medical professionals. They are supposed to know what they’re doing, so I’m going to go with the program. However, it seems odd to me that belches that shock the gastroenterologist are suddenly written off to poor eating hygiene. I’ll try this plan, but I won’t be afraid to push back if my symptoms don’t improve in a couple of weeks. I’m taking their advice seriously. Part of me, regrettably feels that once they determined my trouble was nothing life-threatening, they could brush me off. I’m..not satisfied with my overall treatment in the system.

My problem is a first world problem. I’m lucky that it’s not more serious. Let’s talk about the other side of serious.

Jim Hines wrote a great post last week about health care. Besides some excellent facts and figures, he talks about the recent death of Melissa Mia Hall, who died of a heart attack because she didn’t have health care and was afraid to go to the doctor to have her chest pain checked.

What a wicked system we have fostered in the US, when people can be brainwashed into the idea that your health is less important than your financial health, to the point that you are afraid to seek help when it’s a matter of life and death. I am ashamed to be part of that system.

Recently I was with a bunch of writers. Two of the writers there had medical issues. One writer was losing his hearing after years of cortisone injections for his allergies. The cost of diagnosing him and fitting him with appropriate hearing aids would have been $2000-$3000. Even if he had had insurance, my understanding is that this would not be covered because it is not life-threatening. That’s a lot of money for someone who is a small business owner.

Another writer has a condition like my own. She has ulcers because in a way she has reverse reflux disease, and the lower part of her GI tract is affected. Because she has no insurance, she can not get prescriptions to help her manage her pain, nor can she monitor the damage from the condition via medical testing. She does have the recourse of over-the-counter medication, like Prilosec or Prevacid. She should obviously be under a doctor’s care.

Is it fair to deny these people access to health care? One lost his job, a job where he did have health care. He is now running his own business. The other is a graduate student. These are people who have illness and are trying to be or are on their way to being gainfully employed. Should they be punished because they weren’t lucky enough to have health care when they were sick?

I remember my own graduate school days. I had enough health care to cover a major medical disaster, but mostly I crossed my fingers and hoped that since I was young and healthy, the chances of me needing insurance was slim. If I’d had this trouble then, I would have been in a world of hurt. Fiscally and physically.

I wouldn’t care much for the option of becoming bankrupt to take care of a serious problem, like my heart, but I can assure you I would take that option, rather than letting someone take away my basic human right to seeking medical care. I know you may disagree with me, and you may not think health care is a right. Some people think that the management of your health is a marketable commodity. We make a profit off the sick. Think about that. Ponder the humanitarian angle.

I recently had a gastroscopy. That costs about $15,000. I will pay about $500, I suspect. I don’t mind, comparatively. My sixty Aciphex cost $500 a month. I have to prove again in two months that I still need it. I pay $25 a month. I don’t mind, comparatively. If they don’t let me keep it, even though I have health insurance, I could be in real trouble.

You know what I would really like? If some of my country’s taxes, including the ones I pay, could help some of my friends take care of their health, AND if we could find a way to reduce the costs of these tests. I suspect that it shouldn’t cost 15K to put a camera down my esophagus and take some pictures. Call me crazy, but that’s the way I feel.

No one should be sentenced to practical deafness because they can’t get what they need. No one should have to live in pain if we have a solution to that pain. And no one should die because they are afraid that they can’t afford to go to a doctor. All this is madness, pure and simple. We shouldn’t just shrug because we’ve got ours.

To those who might scream “entitlement,” my answer would be simple. What’s your point? People are entitled to health care. Aren’t we supposed to take care of those who need it, to the best of our ability? It is an entitlement. It is a right.

Developed nations seem to agree with me. Taken from a global perspective, you Ferengi are outliers.

Feh. I should move to Canada.

Catherine