07 June 2012

Health As In HELLth

I had surgery yesterday, for an umbilical hernia I aggravated more times than I care to admit. It wasn't as traumatic an event as one might think for three very good reasons:

1--This was My third operation, the first occurring when I was 3 years old.

2--I wanted the operation, since My overall health was being compromised.

3--My Wife is a medical doctor.

What struck Me most about My surgery was several seconds after having an anesthetic dropped into My IV, while watching the nurse place a blood pressure cuff on My arm, I went blank. Out like a light. Zap. Woke up about 3 hours later with Dr. Mrs. Jenius sitting next to Me and within an hour of that I was getting into the car to go home.

All's well that ends well, right?

Not exactly. For although My surgical experience was relatively painless, the whole procedure leading up to it was a sidewalk in the upper levels of Hell.

It took a total of eleven visits to doctors' offices to get the required paperwork, seven of them to the same fat toad of a bitter bitch who after the fourth visit "suddenly remembers" at 3:00 o'clock that I need an X-ray done that day... with the radiology center closing at 4:00. If I had followed My instincts, the fat toad's bitter box of an office would have harbored My arrest for vandalism, but Dr. Mrs. Jenius' wisdom and practicality prevailed.

The problem, as several doctors took the time to tell Me, is that Our health system is a shambles, where insurance companies make out like bandits, specialists are being used primarily to pad medical records (in attempts to ward off lawsuits) and general practitioners are treated like wage slaves. And since the focus of the health system is on treatment rather than prevention, We as patients get less-than-stellar service that borders on fostering addiction rather than enhancing health.

Nothing new, right? Well then Why do We put up with this? I see 3 reasons:

1--Health care as politics: The overwhelming vision about Our society's health system is that it is a political issue rather than a medical one. In other words, health care is manipulated to garner votes, not to actually improve health services. And since We are what We are, the political side invariably leads to corruption, so hospitals are sold in sweetheart deals, insurance companies play merry-go-round with health services and medical personnel are respected yet treated like peons.

2--The business of health care is business: If mechanics worked on Our cars the way the health system works on Us, they'd staple, glue, tape or jury-rig autos to run for a few miles and then break down again in order to create a steady stream of clientele. Insurance companies count as profit the money they don't spend on Our health, so the system is set up to generate revenues by not really curing a patient and not really treating a patient. That's where the real tug o'war emerges, further pushed by pharmaceutical companies and laboring under the weight of potential lawsuits...that raise the already-crushing insurance rates for doctors.

3--We believe in "magic cures" rather than taking care of Ourselves: Take Me. Knowing I was already injured, I kept indulging in sports, hell-bent on competing. I knew surgery was needed to patch the break in My abdominal wall and kept putting it off until it wasn't optional anymore. Many of Us do the same with Our diet, alcohol, drugs, laziness and more. In short, We do what We want and then expect the health system to fix Us up so We can go back and do what We want again. Because We don't take care of Ourselves, We care very little about the system. Because We don't take care of Ourselves, We end up needing the system, especially when it comes to diabetes, high blood pressure and heart conditions. And because We don't take care of Ourselves, We end up being held hostage by fat toads with bitter bitchiness spewing from every pore.


I'm feeling fine now, somewhat sore and walking in a hunched manner. I already know I'm going to very careful in the next several months, exercising to get back into shape, but making sure I don't let My competitive side take over and push Me too far. What's crystallized in My Mind is that to every extent I can, I will not be held hostage by another fat toad of bitchy bitterness. That's part of hell I don't want to visit again (or have Dr. Mrs. Jenius do for Me.)

Odd, but the very hellish nature of the system make actually be My strongest incentive to focus on prevention. That and avoiding another look at the ugly toad's sour wreck of a face.



The Jenius Has Spoken.

1 comment:

lucilla said...

While pregnant, I noticed the hoops we had to jump through at times for visits, and tests that could not be done right in the doctor's office. I loved the way my doctor answered all my questions and was patient. What was odd is that something as simple as a sonogram machine, was not in his position. I had to get a an order to go and get one done elsewhere. When I would get them done, it had to be timed, perfectely in order to have the results in seven to ten days. Something so simple, made so complex. But in the end I understood that it was a business. Which really makes me think twice about ever having another child because of all the hoops and loops one has to jump through. Have a speedy recovery Gil and congrats to Dr. Mrs. Jenius!