The Waiting Game Promotes Wondering

The holiday season is not the time of year I like to sit in doctors waiting rooms but this year I seem to be doing little else.

It has gotten me to wondering about what sort of experiences those affected by the ACA insurance debacle will be facing come the new year.

I recently got a new primary care physician.  I like him and have found that there are times when a change can be advantageous.  Even so, long term associations that have been good are hard to let go even if you get to a point of diminishing returns. Which I had.

Being of ever advancing years, I have a handful of nagging issues that had for years never been satisfactorily addressed.  On the other hand, I'm not in as bad a shape as I had thought.  With the new cholesterol guidelines and new blood pressure guidelines I see pressures to take certain meds along with ones I am taking to soon go away.  Goes to show if you wait long enough...

As for those nagging ones, my lower back has been an issue for years.  I finally reached the point where meds were no longer working.  I don't want even stronger ones.  So.  The new doc does his poking and prodding and figures the previous diagnosis had either been a red herring or I had a combination of issues.  So.  A new x-ray of a new spot.  Bingo!  A pretty good dose of arthritis in the last joint of my tailbone.  Painful. That area had never even been considered. Off to a spinal diagnostician I go and he decides to do an MRI to confirm the x-ray.  Do you see the costs going up here?

Okay.  A shot to my bottom.  Owwww.  Now I need an MRI of the old problem because I still show symptoms and the two don't relate.  That comes tomorrow.  No shot though because it hasn't been the required 10 days since the last one.  Nor could he do the MRI the same day because medicare wouldn't pay for two the same day.  However that works.  More $$$$ to be sure.  All this last minute rush is to get it in before January 1 when the new deductible cycle kicks in.

If there is to be another shot I may squeeze it in right after Christmas but I doubt it.  Why?  I still have to have a spot checked out which I suspect is the return of a pesky basal cell.  Removal, if in fact I'm correct, will again come after the first when it will be out of pocket.

Not that any of you are interested in all this but I've been thinking about all the new doctors I've seen and will be seeing all based on the change of my primary care physician.  Fortunately I wasn't wed to anyone from my past and am actually looking forward to a better level of expertise than I've experienced before.  But it is complicated, time consuming and fraught with anxiety. Will they fix the problem this time or not?

There are always the questions.  Who did that procedure, who did another one.  Over the years it's hard to remember names of someone you may have seen but once.  So familiarity has its blessings.  But so does a look see through fresh eyes.

Hopefully I'm settled in with this new entourage for some time to come.  Hopefully I'll remain in relatively good if not better health.  And hopefully the Secretary will keep her nose out of it.

For those who are just approaching major changes in not only their insurance but their health care protocols in total, I can empathize though I've had it relatively easy.  Many won't and that's enough to make anyone queasy.

A Shot In The Dark One More Time

I recently changed doctors.  Not because my former one wasn't in my network, but rather because he didn't take any insurance. But he was a good doctor and over the years we came to understand one another and worked together quite well.  Still, there are things I didn't address because of the out of pocket costs.

 On top of what an office visit cost, I still had my Medicare and supplemental premiums to deal with along with the deductibles that of course also out of pocket. It was pricey.  When he decided to convert his practice to a concierge practice, he priced me right out of his business.  Everyone does what needs to be done.

I was lucky.  I found a practice accepting medicare patients.  In fact since that find I've seen more and more advertising just that.  It's a good time to be on medicare.  The doctors are sure of you even if reimbursements are less.  And you're sure of your doctor.  Few drop you once they have you especially if you go on medicare after the fact.

So that brings me to where I am now.  Still with an aching tailbone that is beginning to affect other parts of the ole bod.  Especially the legs.  Not a happy thought.

The phone rang late Wednesday afternoon and it was my new doctor's office nurse.  She said he had been able to review my previous records and has some thoughts about how we can treat my problem and would I like to come in and discuss it.  Would I!  Boy, was I impressed.

Tomorrow bright and early I will make that call.  I didn't do it Wednesday because I was elbow deep in turkey and no where near my calendar though I'd cancel just about anything to see him.

We'll see what happens.  I'll swallow my pride and waddle in with the dregs of Thanksgiving dinner and the myriad of leftovers clinging to my frame. We'll talk.  I'm willing to do just about anything except dope up on narcotics.  We'll see.

But the idea that he called!  He did what he said he'd do when first we met a month or so ago.  And he says he has some ideas.  There's little more for which I can ask - except that those ideas work.

For those who are losing their doctors and their networks, I have the utmost empathy.  I know the gut wrenching feeling when you lose through no fault of your own a doctor you trust.

If they want to save the ACA cut the fluff from the programs that people neither want nor need and reimburse the doctors and hospitals in sufficient amounts to keep them in business and making a living.  Other than that get the heck out of medicine and insurance.  Let the market take care of itself and let the doctors take care of us.

I'm an easy case.  Most of what ails me is due to aging and less than perfect lifestyle choices.  I can complain but I can live with it.  For those with catastrophic illness to have to contend with what I'm going through it's a life changer and not for the better.  Hopefully it won't take some youngster with cancer dying to get their attention. That's a price the government should not be willing to pay.

What Value A Human Life?

The problem with my style of blogging, which seems to lean toward finding fault and wondering why there seems to be so much, is there is never a dearth of subject matter. It isn't always political either.

Today I'm going to lament the decline of human decency, compassion and the lack of value of a human life.

Just a few weeks ago 28 people met their end due to the slaughter at Sandy Hook.  Most of them children.  The populace was so upset it got the politicians off their duffs and over reacting as usual.  I don't think it was the numbers as much as it was mostly children.

Let's reverse the situation.  What of one person lay dying and twenty eight people stood around and did nothing? I can't be sure of that figure of 28, but it was a good many.  Staff.  In the dining room of an independent living facility an 87 year old woman collapsed while staff, including a nurse, did nothing other than call 911. The nurse refused to administer CPR as did all others watching.

The dispatcher pleaded with them, begged them, asked if there wasn't someone they could flag down to help.  No.  Wasn't anybody willing to help the lady?  She even assured the nurse no one would be held liable if the CPR didn't work. No matter.  "Not at this time," the nurse replied.

By the time the EMTs arrived it was too late.  The woman died.

This bothers me on a number of levels.  One because it happened in an assisted living facility.  The reason people go to them is to live, not to die! Would no one have utilized the Heimlich Maneuver if she had been choking? As I get closer to the age when I may have to look at such an alternative, it scares me to death!  That's probably not the best phrase I could have chosen, but  I now have a deeper understanding as to why the elderly resist such moves.  Not only does it take them from their homes and comfort zones, they don't trust them.  Small wonder.

When questioned, the administrator defended the nurse saying she followed protocol.  They call 911 and wait for help to come.  And allow a person to die.  What have we become?  Sheep?  No.  Sheep are benign and not too bright.  We've become worse.  Monsters of a sort that would stick to a rule and allow someone to die.  Even when their own lives were in no way endangered. Where is the common sense?  Where is the line between right and wrong?

One has to sign a contract to reside in such a dwelling.  The executive director informed the media each resident is informed of the policy before they move in.  To make the story even worse, the policy does not apply to the assisted living and skilled nursing facility adjacent to it. Do you have to live in an assisted living facility to get assistance to live?  In my mind each and every person witness to this episode is guilty of murder and should be so treated.

There is a lesson to be learned, for sure.  Always read the fine print then run, limp, even crawl away from it as fast as possible if such a clause is to be found!  I ask you, is what happened here any less horrific than the loss of the 28 in Sandy Hook?  Too bad you can't ask the dead.

Dying To Stay Healthy

I'm feeling the need for a break from politics today so this is a generational post. As I age I find myself thinking more about my mortality.  I'm thinking more about years now rather than decades.

Forgetting what Obamacare is going to do to make maintaining my well being more difficult, I can't help but think about the commercials that emanate from television and the constant stream of contradictory studies that are reported religiously be they valid or not and the tests I'm encouraged to take.  What am I to do?

The commercials for various medications are the most intrusive.  By the time they list all the disclaimers the last thing I want to do is take the stuff.  I especially like it when they tell me to be sure to tell my doctor if I have high blood pressure or corns or whatever. If my doctor doesn't already know why would I have him in the first place?

It seems everything we eat is suspect.  Take wine for instance.  I enjoy good wine.  Too much is bad for me, just enough is supposed to be a tonic for my heart. What is it now, no more than a glass a day for a woman?  What size glass? A standard pour?  Is that four or six ounces? It can depend on whether you're buying wine by the glass at a wine bar or if you're in a tasting room! Actually,  I don't need a study to tell me.  If I have too much both my head and my stomach let me know in the morning.

Coffee - good or bad? How much?  Again, when I get the jitters it has been too much!  Sugar bad.  Artificial sweeteners came along and now the jury is out on them.  I could go on forever.

And the tests.  Bone density, mammograms, colonoscopies, blood sugar, cholesterol, etc.  My Mom never had any of those, didn't worry about them and lived to a ripe old 95.  I fear if the disease doesn't kill me the worry about getting one will.

Why just today two headlines caught my attention. One informing me that butter flavoring may be linked to Alzheimer's and chemotherapy can boost cancer growth! Well, I don't like artificial butter or any other artificial flavoring.  My theory is a reasonable amount won't kill you.  What about my cholesterol?  If I'd get off my duff and away from this computer, and get out into the yard where something always needs done I'd have little to worry about.

I'll leave you with a couple more to ponder. High blood pressure drugs may be linked to lip cancer and you might be able to determine someone's sexuality by gazing into their eyes.

Maybe I'm too old for romance but the thought of kissing those lips and gazing into those eyes might give me pause.  Too much information and all that.

I often speak of my Mother's mantra, "I lived in the good old days."  Yep.  I finally get it.  The key word here is 'lived'!

Death Panels Do Exist

Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, better know as the Lockerbie bomber, is dead.  Good riddance some say.  Others say not so fast, we've not yet learned who his accomplices were.  For better or for worse, however, he is dead.

Had he not been released on compassionate terms he'd have been dead three years ago when he was diagnosed as having but three months to live with the latter stages of prostate cancer.  Yet he lived - and lived - and lived.

Why?  Because, as hard as it is to believe, he received better medical care in Libya, his home country, then he did in Scotland.  It had nothing to do with his being in prison or that he had been convicted of a heinous crime.  It was because the medications needed were denied not only to him, but to any man in Scotland by it's National Health Service.  That to my way of thinking is death by committee or a death panel.

According to The Wall Street Journal the Scottish Medicines Consortium, the rationing body of the NHS, decided that although certain drug combinations were known to be effective the cost effectiveness had not been demonstrated.  NHS.  National Health Service.  Health care run by and dispensed by a governmental committee.  Take note.

Upon arriving in Libya Megrahi was given the medical treatment needed to prolong his life and he survived an additional three years.  Today the needed treatments are available to only those qualifying under certain circumstances because this Consortium insists the 3000 pound per month price tag isn't worth it.  Tell that to the man suffering from what doesn't necessarily need to be a death sentence.

You may feel Megrahi got what he deserved and the extended life was certainly undeserved.  I'm wondering if too many will look at his circumstance from that point of view rather than what's really at stake - an individuals ability to obtain life saving drugs is being dictated by a committee who is looking at nothing more than the price tag.

Could it happen here?  You bet it could.

Socialized Medicine - A Global Nightmare

At my age one spends a lot of time with health concerns.  Everything is wearing out and you no sooner get a handle on one issue when another one pops up.  I've come to grips with the idea this is my new normal.  I don't like it, but I manage.

One thing that bothers me is that I've had to go to a doctor who does not accept insurance of any kind, including medicare and I cannot bill medicare for his services because he is not part of the network.  This has been my choice because he's the best doctor I've found.  There is a market for his services.  By not having the expense of billing clerks, etc., he is able to keep his rates reasonably low.

It is of concern as to what will happen to doctors like him if Obamacare goes into full effect.  It is, essentially, socialized medicine to be run by bureaucrats rather than medical professionals.  What's the worst that can happen?  My care could be 'rationed'? I could die before my time?  Who knows, but I want to share with you a story from a friend.

We met years ago when she and a friend were travelling in the states and found themselves stranded.  They were Romanian, spoke passable English but found themselves in a strange country with strange customs and at a loss as to how to get out of their predicament.  Hub and I helped as best we could.  They arrived home safe and sound and we've been friends ever since.

I've been privy to her health problems.  After what seems to have been a stroke, she had difficulty finding adequate care.  Living in Bucharest, you'd think the best the country had to offer would be available.  Well, maybe it was.  It just wasn't good enough.  After years of persistence my friend now has a Swiss doctor who communicates with her long distance.  Hardly an ideal situation.

She now has a new problem.  Her mother needs surgery but has a heart problem and they are worried about anesthesia.  The economy of their country is in a slump like the rest of the world.  And like much of the rest of the world, they have their version of socialized medicine.  Because of the slump many of the good doctors left the country for better salaries elsewhere.

She wrote to me that many of the hospitals were closed because the health  ministry  has no money to keep them open.  One sentence struck me deeply.

In this situation it was very difficult to find a good doctor and a clean hospital for my mother.

Could it happen here?  You bet.  Just think about our economy and the world's economies and how everything controlled by governments are intertwined. It's a chilling reminder of what reality is in the real world.  Just something to think about.

An Escape Into Myself

Today, Halloween, seemed an appropriate day.  Especially after what I'm watching happen to Herman Cain.  I'm not sure I have the stomach for what's coming as the campaign unfolds.

But today, for an hour or so, I was cocooned within myself in one more attempt to gain control over my back pain.  I went to a hypnotherapist.

We were in a loft area, her home office.  She sat next to me and had me relax in the biggest, most soft recliner I've ever sat in.  We talked about what ailed me and how the doctors couldn't pin point the cause.  About how I want to get off the pain medication because it's nearing the point if being ineffective.  About what sort of life I had before the pain became all encompassing and what type of life I'd like if I didn't have it.

Then she had me close my eyes, relax and so began my decension into myself. It began with attaining a peaceful vision and the feelings that went along with it.  She'd ask me to drift back to a time before the pain and what happened that might have caused it.  What was I seeing.  It didn't take me where I had expected but it clicked.  We worked through several scenarios as I slid deeper; I could feel it.  We equated the physical pain with an emotional pain then began to unravel it.

For a long time I thought it wasn't working then all of a sudden strange things began to happen.  I could feel degrees of release.  We spent some time at it. Talking.  Reacting.  By the time she brought me back up the pain hadn't disappeared, but had, indeed, receded. I felt like a rag doll.  I didn't want it to end.  I can't recall when I last felt so relaxed.

I was told to expect things to be happening in my body for the next two or three days.  I was told I would not relapse.  Positive thinking if nothing else.

I will undoubtedly go for another session after I see what the final outcome of this one is.  It has been several hours now and I'm still as mellow as I can be.  Again, I don't want it to end!

With all the ugliness in the headlines today, it was a saving grace in more ways than one.  One more step toward healing. I'm looking at the bell that sits on my desk year round.  Like the one from the Polar Express.  To hear it tinkle you have to believe.

Today I choose to believe the therapy will work.  I only wish I could believe as strongly in the decency of the press and the politicians.  Maybe one out of two is enough.  At least for today.

When Sciatica Isn't Sciatica

For five years and counting I've been going to doctors trying to find out what has been causing nearly debilitating pain through my buttocks and down my leg. As years passed the pain increased and crept steadily down my leg to the point where my knee doesn't work without a wince of pain and pause to let it pass.

Five years. I think I've taken every muscle relaxant, anti-inflammatory and pain killer known to man. All to no avail. Everyone was convinced it was a back problem and I was convinced it wasn't since the pain emanated from my hip. Finally, my pain doctor, who is an anesthesiologist by training, and my acupuncturist told me it was indeed not a back problem. It was a muscle and nerve problem. Something called Piriformis Syndrome. A malady where the piriformis muscle is pinching the sciatic nerve. I apparently am a text book case.

Five years. My family practitioner at the outset told me nothing showed on the x-ray so there was really nothing to treat. A specialist had looked at an MRI and found some torn muscles in the region but nothing on which to perform to do surgery so take a pill and call in a month. Chiropractors, massage therapists. physical therapy - no one focused on the area I insisted was where the pain began.

Five years. An anesthesiologist and an acupuncturist. Even with the pain specialist I've gone through a pot full of pills and shots to no avail. It took awhile to pin point the problem though I think I explained it as well as the journal he showed me. One more shot is on tap. Botox. Hub is having a fine time with that one. Botox in my butt! It is funny. The pain isn't. The theory is that Botox will relax the muscle big time and release the pinch in the nerve. One hopes! Meantime physical therapy, especially stretches of that muscle, continues on and on and on.

Five years of having my life like nickel and dimed away by a lack of diagnosis and ineffective treatment. Funny, there is so much about the ailment on the Internet you'd think the doctors would have thought of it! Talk about having to be master of yourself and tenacious! If you don't want to settle for "there's nothing there" you've got to push and push and push.

One more shot. I hope it's not in the dark.

How Many Pills Would YOU Take?

Remember a few months ago when actress Brittany Murphey was found dead? Being an actress it was natural to think "drug overdose". Though they found prescription drugs in her system, it was determined an overdose was not the cause.

Today her distraught husband was found dead. Some of the prescriptions she took were found in his bedroom. It's too soon to know if his grief was so great he decided to follow her or that two young people, married, died within weeks of one another was a coincidence!

There was a time when I wondered how they got the number of drugs necessary to cause a death. I now know.

Those who follow me know I occasionally write of my problem of chronic pain. It's been five years now since the problem started. I've done everything asked of me. Physical therapy, massage, shots, etc. etc. ad nauseam. And pills. I think I've been on every non-narcotic pain and anti-inflammatory medication known to man. With no relief.

It started slowly. Adding one medication to another. Increasing the dosage. Still to no avail. Essentially we're working toward the implantation of a neurostimulator that sends electric impulses that block the pain. Before I get to that however, I have to try everything. That includes narcotic medications.

On my last visit I was given one such prescription. I asked if it was in lieu of what I was already taking. No, take them together until I feel I don't need the original pain killer. When I told Hub what was happening, he suggested in no uncertain terms that it should be absolutely the last resort. What about hypnotism or acupuncture from a practitioner not trying to rearrange you're life by selling you programs and products you neither want nor need?

I called the doctor and was told to forget hypnotism but was given the names of local acupuncturists. I was told to take the medicine too because of the time frame needed for acupuncture to work. I got on the handy dandy Internet to do some research and didn't like what I read.

Here's my problem. We're meeting friends from Great Britain in a couple of weeks and no doubt will want wine with our dinner. The following weekend we're meeting friends for a weekend of wine tasting. I hadn't planned on being the designated driver. But when I asked the nurse if any alcohol was allowed she said the medication affects the respiratory system as does alcohol and when over done people tend not to wake up. Maybe Ms. Murphey's husband? I'm remembering Heath Ledger. I think not.

So here's the decision. I'll struggle on as I am until the festivities with friends pass. I'll have started acupuncture by then and we'll see where it goes.

What I don't understand is why, if there is a device that is known to be effective, why one would be asked to take a narcotic before insurance or medicare would pay for the device! It makes no sense to me. I can give up my wine. That's not the issue. What is, is putting someone on a narcotic when it's not necessary. What point is proven?

I have no idea how this is going to shake out. I tried acupuncture before with poor results, but I'm firmly convinced the practitioner did not have my best interests in mind. I can but hope for better results with a doctor recommended one.

Will I take the narcotic for a month or so if necessary to satisfy medicare? I'm really not sure. Really. Not. Sure. What a position to be put in. Live with pain that is barely tolerable or take an addictive drug as a mere step toward no medication at all!

And they wonder why there is insurance and medicare fraud!

I Have No Hooray For HIPA!

I am eternally grateful the young Doctor I'm going to for pain has a good sense of humor. Through this five year process of trying to find the cause of and eventually cure the pain in my hip and buttocks has found me with a very short fuse.

Three more shots yesterday in specific spots marked by pen where it really hurts when pressed. That was more uncomfortable then the shots themselves! However the shots weren't a picnic either.

I told the Doctor I was very tired of being a pin cushion. This is a total of seven; the first four had no effect what-so-ever. Let's see. A brief recap. GP puts me on an Ibuprofen regime. Nothing. Physical therapy. Nothing. Acupuncture. Medicare doesn't pay, but basically nothing. Muscle relaxants. Nothing. Back to Physical therapy morphing to heavy duty massage therapy. Nothing.

I ask about a pain specialist and was told they don't treat cases like me. Live with it. As a consolation and at the urging of the PT I went to an orthopedic surgeon. Hadn't seen anything like it before and there was nothing to do surgery on so pop some pain pills and if I wanted try, a different PT. I did.

PT sent me to chiropractic who sent me for more message therapy of a different sort. Nothing. A back specialist. The first two shots. Nothing.

I changed GPs. "You need a pain specialist after all this." I'd have kissed him if his wife hadn't been in the room! All this has taken five years! Now we're trying to find where exactly the pain is coming from by process of elimination. Then treat it.

Here's part of the problem. HIPA! Because of that confounded privacy act doctors who you've been referred to have to have a release from you to share it with your GP. If you're then sent to another specialist the GP can't forward the records from the previous specialist. You have to request it. They expect seniors to be aware of all this what's more remember, over five years, who did what, when and where? Isn't it in the records? In a word, no.

Fortunately, I've learned to have test results, be it lab work, MRIs or x-rays sent to me. I had a copy of the MRI of my hip and when I realized my doctor hadn't access to it, gave it to him. "It says right here where the inflammation is," says he. We had a rather terse conversation about why the attending specialist didn't suggest it was out of his area but was in someone elses!

"This is where I tried to start five years ago!" Okay, this has gotten long enough. You certainly get the gist of it. I'm just tired. Tired from the onslaught of different medications they keep trying; very tired of hurting.

So yesterday's shots? I know enough to not even be cautiously optimistic. However, as I rose from bed very tentively this morning I felt different. I felt like someone had whacked that hip with a hammer, but it was a different sort of discomfort. When the lidocaine completely wears off who knows. Been there before.

I do know that Hub and I walked with more vigor this morning. I did my stretches and treadmill without the usual discomfort. And could rejoice that at least one of the Killdeer hatchlings made it through yesterday's horrific wind storm because it was out with it's parents when we returned from our walk. Hopefully there are more. I checked and there is an unhatched egg so who knows. Miracles can happen so I'm told.

Perhaps one day it will be my turn.

It's Only Freedom Of Thought, Not Ethical Malpractice!

Ethics. The fine line between abiding by them and crossing over the line seems to be at issue with a urologist, a staunch Republican, who posted a sign on his practice suggesting you go elsewhere for your urological needs if you voted for Obama. If he were in any other profession than medical it would probably have gone unnoticed. But because he's a doctor who is upset with the health care reform, he's opened his situation to great scrutiny.

He is being accused of pushing the limit. Why? He hasn't turned anyone needing attention away nor does he question anyone about their politics. He's making a point. He's angry and frustrated and is letting it be known. I don't see that as being ethically challenged. I see him as a man as frustrated with the legislation as many of the rest of us.

According to the story, civil rights protections prevent patient discrimination. Well. Let's have a look at patient discrimination. Just last week I wrote of a conversation telling how local doctors will not see patients suffering chronic pain. Is that not unethical?

A subject that is near and dear to my heart is the number of doctors who will not take Medicare or Medicaid patients. Or only "some insurances". I understand the need for decent reimbursements for services in order to keep a practice up and running. I also understand that many patients have no choice as to what insurance, if any, they have.

I have always thought if one is to be a doctor there is an ethical obligation to treat a person in need no matter what. That's why doctors used to take chickens or eggs as payment when no cash was at hand.

In my own situation I've returned to a doctor who takes no insurance what-so-ever. I have to pay for his services out of my own pocket even though I have Medicare. Why did I take this step? Because he spends whatever time is necessary to talk through an issue before I leave his office. It doesn't matter if it takes five minutes or an hour.

The Medicare provider I had previously gave my 15 minutes tops and one topic. We never, in four years, spent time investigating the issue of my back. Oh sure, I was sent to specialist on occasion, but without thought as to which might best address the situation because the situation wasn't known! I couldn't get beyond high blood pressure and cholesterol. I can tell you where the high blood pressure came from!

With the millions of dollars slated to be cut from Medicare reimbursements, along with chunks of the program targeted for elimination, the government and ethicists should be looking at themselves rather than the doctors who will have their livings and, along with it, our care, slashed.

To me a sign on the doctor's door is a pretty sane method of expressing displeasure. If they think this is "pushing the limit" they have yet to talk to me!

People - The Best Cure to The World's Ills

You live in Mississippi, one of the most impoverished areas of the country. It also has some of the worst health statistics. What do you do? Turn to government?

No. You turn elsewhere; somewhere that has experienced the same problem and ask for help. In this case it's Iran. Yes. Iran. Facing a shortage of doctors after the Iran/Iraq war they experimented with a series of "health houses" to serve within their communities. Rather than having the ill travel to a hospital, locals were trained to go out among the people to give advice about healthy practices as well as monitoring conditions such as blood pressure and diabetes.

It took one man visiting the area to consult with a financially strapped rural hospital. Remembering a conference in Europe where Iranian doctors explained how they revolutionized their system, he joined forces with another mover and shaker to study what had been done to achieve near miraculous results.

The Americans were, to their surprise, welcomed with open arms when they travelled to Iran to learn more. The Iranians were equally surprised to be asked for advice rather than being told what to do! Especially from Americans!

Iranian experts then came to Mississippi to help get the project up and running. The first "health house" to facilitate training will be in an abandoned car showroom leasing for $1 per month. Fifteen more communities are interested in pursuing the concept and Harvard's School of Public Health will monitor the project.

All this is being done by people in the field who know the field and all the needs that are part of it. This is being done by interacting with others who are ahead of their position on the curve, not by a bunch of politicians who know little if anything about the problems needing to be addressed.

Iranians and Americans who care about the well being of their people over and above personal agendas. I'm sure there are more projects like this going on around the world. It is refreshing and encouraging to hear about them. So much can be learned, so many can be helped.

Too bad our politicians have placed themselves so far above the people they have no idea what we can do together down here on our level. Government of the people, by the people and for the people seems to exclude the people these days. The people are doing it all by themselves.

Inside Information

For most of the past five years I have had burning, aching pain in the areas shown in the illustration. I have changed family practitioners, gone to physical therapy ad nauseam, tried acupuncture and chiropractors, orthopedic surgeons and spine experts, all to no avail. Increasingly stronger doses of medications do not work. Finally, my current GP sent me to a chronic pain specialist.

Herein lies the story. It is not about my discomfort. It is, surprise, about the health care bill!

I was in this morning for my latest whammy; shots in both hips to see if we could quell at least some of the inflammation. While waiting my turn, the medical assistant asked me if I'd like something to read and laid a selection of magazines next to where I was sitting. An issue of Newsweek with Obama on the cover was on top. She turned it face down commenting that he wasn't very popular in that office of late.

Everyone in the room joined in the conversation. The Dr. doesn't understand how seniors can be happy with it considering the cuts.

The nurses all made a point of being concerned about both their salaries and benefits. You might say they just don't understand. I think that is beside the point. The fear is palpable and Obama running around the country still trying to sell it isn't helping.

The conversation turned to the reimbursements the doctors are now forced to live with and the increases coming. They talked about how family practitioners will no longer take chronic pain patients because they are a "pain". I was beginning to feel guilty being a Medicare patient on top of it!

Doctors are going to be leaving their profession looking for more lucrative opportunities. This particular doctor is thinking of creating a blog to talk about chronic pain and also, from what I've seen, help you wade through the information out there from a physicians perspective. At best it will be a difficult undertaking.

Staff? Those who are part time have decreased opportunity to go full time. Benefits, you know.

I've had similar conversations with the staff in my GP's office. They all have fear of what's ahead. My pain doctor had read my post where I commented I was off to see him while he still took Medicare. He laughed. I was dead serious.

Hub has for some time now thought I am a hypochondriac because none of the doctors and specialists I have been to have been able to pin point anything. I understand where he's coming from but he doesn't have the pain.

Then again, maybe he's right and it's all the fear factor in my head that the care may not be there when I really need it. I'm no longer sure. One thing I am sure of, however, Obama's ongoing campaign telling us we're going to love it won't ever convince me it's a good bill. It's not. That is not my imagination!

It would seem many in the medical community agree with me.

Just Who Should Apologize?

So things got a little contentious in the House as Bart Stupak was reneging on his promise to vote no on Health Care Reform. Representative Neugebauer shouted "baby killer" according to reports. Mr. Stupak took it personally, Neugebauer contended it was not. Stupak then added, if not perhaps Neugebauer should apologize to the House.

For the outburst, okay. The House seems to be sensitive to emotional outbursts. They consider it a lack of decorum. Threats and bribery are not, but outbursts are. Go figure.

Actually, Mr. Stupak should apologize - to the people. He changed his vote for $800,000 and a meaningless executive order from the President. Once the law is passed, which it was, an executive order cannot change it. If Mr. Stupak did not know that he should not be in the House.

Taking it a step further, the entire Democratic wing of Congress, especially the leadership, should apologize to the American people for their lack of decorum for the shenanigans involved in getting this legislation passed. Yes, deals are made all the time but usually not so blatantly nor so much against the will of the people.

Do we matter at all? Or only Congressmen who've had their feelings hurt.

On that note I'm off to see a chronic pain specialist while he's still taking Medicare patients.

Eh?

I've come to the conclusion that my parents were far more healthy than I am. Even with the huge steps that have been made in the field of both preventive and curative medicine. My Mother, especially, may bear that out. She was 95 when she passed away. She still might be chugging along had her doctor been more vigilant, but then she was just an old lady.

To what did she attribute her long life? One was not running to the doctor with every little ailment. Two, was not loading her system with a myriad of drugs so as to confuse her body to the point of not being able to function. An aspirin now and then usually sufficed.

Another thing she wasn't exposed to was the vast number of advertisements of various remedies which had side effects worse than the ailment. Therefore she just didn't think about such things. Hub is much like her and considers me, with all my aches and pains which I continually try to sort out, as nothing more than a hypochondriac.

Look at what we're faced with. Everything from the health benefits of coffee, or not, to how often we should suffer through a mammogram.

What usually keeps us going through thick and thin is the old stand by. "Take an aspirin and call me in the morning!" Now we learn that aspirin could damage our hearing! How many of us have been told to add a baby aspirin to our health regime as an aid for a healthy heart!

Further research pointed out that those at greatest risk are men younger than 50. It's a far cry from what the headlines scream! Reading further I found what has proven to be the norm when it comes to headlines dealing with health. Contradictions or darn right reversals!

The Hearing Loss Web has an article that claims aspirin can prevent hearing loss from certain medications. Keeping up with all of this is more than I really care to do. I wish I could be more like Hub and ignore it.

I've learned, however, not to panic. Wait a few months and what had been dire is no longer. Whew.

My hearing is no longer what it used to be. It could be I just need my ears cleaned but I doubt it. I probably could do with hearing aids. After all, though no where near my Mother's age, I am in most circles considered old.

That's one thing I know for sure that aspirin can't cure, though it sure can make it more comfortable!

Up Yours!

What is the one exam people hate more than anything else? A colonoscopy, right?

President Obama has inadvertently shown exactly why we don't want a medicare type system for the country by virtue of his colonoscopy. You see, he had a virtual colonoscopy. If you're on Medicare, you can't. Dr. Mark E. Klein explained it quite well in Today's Wall Street Jounal . He explains that it takes about 15 minutes and requires no sedation. Though if polyps are found that have to be removed in a second procedure, only about 10% of people have them. It is also perfectly safe, eliminating the possibility of perforation and all that goes with that.

So why would this highly approved procedure be turned down in favor of the traditional one? Because it could "identify possible abnormalities outside the colon that might lead to further testing and additional costs". Hello? If they find something abnormal wouldn't you want to find out what it is and what to do about it? I would!

Then too, he goes on, there are the huge numbers of people who refuse to have the traditional procedure and that can lead to untimely death that's quite preventable!

I find it interesting that the President personally chose a procedure that those of us over 65 cannot have unless we're willing to pony up out of our own pockets. It wouldn't be because it's, in the long run, less expensive, more comfortable and, most importantly, safer.

How timely, as the health care war is heating up for the final battle. I fear we're not so much being governed as much as we're being ruled. There are privileges to being a part of the ruling class. Those of us who aren't part of it are close to having to live by their dictates while they enjoy the finest medical technology available.

And they wonder why we're angry.

Plural Progress

I don't get sick often, but whatever I have now has really knocked the pegs out from under me. Hub knew I was in trouble when he came home from running errands last Tuesday to find me sound asleep on the couch instead of on my computer. It went downhill from there to two solid days in bed. I never knew I could sleep so soundly for so long.

It would seem to be not quite the flu, not quite a bad cold and not quite whooping cough which is making the rounds locally, but rather a sampler. I'm upright today and even have clothes on. If it weren't for football I'd probably head back to bed, though I am slept out. Also wiped out. So. We'll see how it goes.

One thing, I've listened to a lot of news. When I feel too sick to make my way to the computer to comment on the events of the week just past, trust me, I'm sick.

Of many stand out subjects, one thing struck me as extremely important. I think Americans, as a whole, are coming of age. No longer are we a complacent bunch content to let those in Washington have their way with us. We elected Obama because we were tired of it. We've also sent him a message. Don't fall into the same pattern of patronizing and/or bullying us or we'll turn you and yours out too.

I listen with interest while the few hard core ideologues stick to the same mode of bullying even as their world is collapsing around them. I guess there are those who will never get it. Not to worry. The people do.

It's one reason not to be overly concerned about the Supreme Court's decision on campaign finance allowing corporations to have a say. We do. Unions do. Special interests do. Why shouldn't corporations?

I'd be a lot more concerned if the people weren't showing that we are now capable of seeing through the spin. This is a huge step forward when it comes to taking the country back from those who would force upon us their own ways.

The time since 9/11 is often referred to as the new normal. I hope that's what we are now seeing, this coming of age of the citizenry. That old style politics becomes the anomaly.

I hope too, as I head back to the couch, that whatever it is I have soon becomes the anomaly, not the new norm!

Time Out For A Few Days!

Quit Playing 'Keep Away' With My Medicare!

We used to play 'keep away' with Bacchus all the time. When he grabbed the bone or the ball, however, the game was over. He had it, he was keeping it and that was that.

I feel much the same way about my Medicare! It's an imperfect system to be sure, but I need it and sorely resent Congress playing games with it in the health care debate. Not Medicare in of itself, understand, but Doctor reimbursements. On top of already ridiculously low reimbursements they are facing another 21% cut!

The Republicans are fighting the Democrat's attempt to add $200 billion to the deficit, according to an AP article in the Spokesman Review, in order to eliminate more huge cuts in payments to Doctors. It's one thing in this mess of a bill I would support!

The Republicans claim it's payback to the AMA for supporting the bill. The Democrats say "It's the right thing to do." I have little doubt it's both.

With all the areas in which deficit cuts can be made, this should not be one of them. Unless, of course, the idea that seniors are expendable is true. I, of course, resent that assumption. Remember none of them will have to live under Medicare.

Let's look at reality here. I have a Doctor who accepts Medicare patients. She advertises for new patients every week in the local paper. With all the seniors in the area needing a Doctor, one might wonder why. My guess is it's the way she handles her practice. When I go to see her I have 15 minutes. Period. I've learned to deal with that though I often have more than one issue I'd like to discuss. Fifteen minutes. Check the watch. Uh, that's it. Next time.

Most of us have better things to do with our time than to keep running to the Doctor. Especially if you live some distance away, as I do. So ailments I can live with get back benched. In the back of my mind is the nagging thought, "I hope it's an ailment I can 'live' with."

Here's the thing. I can go in and find no one other than myself in the waiting room. I then leave after my fifteen minutes, or less, and still no one occupies the waiting room. Why couldn't I have had twenty minutes and saved myself another trip? Is it because with the ridiculously small reimbursement she gets for that office visit, fifteen minutes is all it pays for? I would guess so.

You know what I would like to see? I'd like to see this handled separately from the overhaul. But then I'd like to see a lot of the issues handled separately from the overhaul. There are too many variants to be lumped together. The bill may pass but it will fail.

So may my health and well being. Unfortunately, unlike Bacchus and his Booda Bone, I may have my Medicare now, but two players are trying to take it away, each in their own way. I guess the next game we try will be 'tug of war'!

Premium Premiums!

The Friday the 13th edition of The Wall Street Journal had an interesting commentary by Andrew Heinze about what Health Reform would do to his health insurance. An appropriate day for such an article was my thought. He explains how his insurance, basically catastrophic, will go away unless a plan is purchased that covers more than is wanted or indeed, needed, or be fined. This still sticks in my craw. That the government is going to bully us into health care options by threatening us with fines and even jail.

You see, as Jim Hightower points out, government employees, especially Congress, have their own gold plated system that bears no resemblace to the one they are foisting on us. That includes Republicans and Blue Dogs. Even those who serve but one term have their coverage for life. There is no having to revert to what with which the rest of the country will be saddled!

Somehow I can't feel too badly for government employees who are facing an increase in their premiums whiel the rest of us will be facing increased taxes (mark my words), fines or jail!

It will never happen, but if the Republicans or the Blue Dogs really want to do something for us, even if it's for no more than satisfaction, bury in the pork that they have to give up their goodies once back in the private sector! Just think of the savings that could be derived.

On the down side, we'd probably have more of them thinking election mandates a term for life and we'd never get them out of office unless we rid them of gerrymandering!