My post this morning is related to health care or as I like to think of it wellness care, or the lack thereof.
In today's on-line version of The Wall Street Journal there is an article titled "Health-Care Anger Has Deeper Roots" By JANET ADAMY and JONATHAN WEISMAN
You can read the article by Clicking Here. After reading the article here is my response.
I've not been at a town hall meeting yet. I've watched all of this take place in the headlines on the internet, in my in-box and when I have the odd moment that I want to hear more rhetoric I turn on CNN or MSNBC.I don't leave it on long.
Good God People. Could we please give the man and his party a chance?
He has been in office less than a year and has inherited one of the biggest messes going since the Great Depression.
There is a great deal that needs repair. And even more than that, there is a great deal that needs to be torn down period and rebuilt from scratch.
Cash for clunkers has helped a lot of people, in sales for the auto industry, and for those getting the new cars. Yes, there have been some delays. What program does not have hiccups? I could post for a week of Sundays on that topic.
Health care??? Would you like to talk about health-care? We have to pass some kind of a program that will change the system. It's broken in my book and it is one of those systems that requires rebuilding from the ground up.
While doing that in the short term might not be an immediate option, it is going to have to happen in some form because what we have and are currently using does not work.
My sister is a case in point. You've head me talk about this in the past. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor in June of 2007. A glioma that is located in her brain stem so surgery is not an option because it could kill her. It is the same kind of cancer that Senator Ted Kennedy had. The difference is that it is a slow growing version of the disease for which we are all very grateful because she is still here with us and it's our intent that she be for many decades to come.
She was diagnosed in June of 2007 and it took months of hassles with her insurance before she was able to finally gain approval to see an oncologist in October of that year. In mid October she finally started receiving treatment via radiation therapy. If you can call radiation to the brain therapy. To this day she is still jumping hoops to get her daily needs meet.
She takes an anti nausea medication so that she can keep food down and not have the dry heaves all of the time. It's expensive at $300.00 per refill and her insurance will not cover it. If she does not take it she can't eat.
Perhaps the reason that this medication is so ridiculously expensive is because it is made especially for nausea related to nerve dysfunction. Meaning that the tumor is pressing on nerves that cause the nausea. I still feel it is an outrageous amount to pay and what would happen if she could not afford to pay for it. She worked for the State Of Texas for many years and had good insurance and still had to jump hoops for coverage. What do those who have no coverage and no money do to get treatment?
How many die because they can not afford treatment. How many won't even go to the hospital because they have to choose between food on the table and the cost of a co-pay or a prescription refill.
Sometimes I wonder if we are a third world country. And when I say that I mean no disrespect because ALL people, everywhere, deserve the right to have compassionate health and wellness care. Our family grew up with this system and it was as broken then as it is now. My dad was a Korean War Veteran and he got the best health care in the family because he could go to the VA Hospital when he was sick, which was often because he came home with what they used to call 'shell shock' and they now call PTSD.
He was in the hospital more days then he was out for much of our childhood. That meant that work was spotty at best. The end result of that is that for the most part we lived in sub standard housing, sharing it with assorted creatures and health care for us was the public system what there was that we could access. Do we want the same thing 48 years later? You may not like the plan that he is offering, but do you have a better idea?
I mentioned a couple of days ago in one of my posts that someone does have some positive, constructive suggestions ( The Policy-Speak Disaster for Health-Care) to make this work and I hope that President Obama sees it.
My work has been in health and wellness for the past 28 years. I started off working in a VA Medical Center. Over the years I have progressively moved towards a wellness model, preventative care verses treating the dis-ease after the fact. I see what can be done through wellness with my clients every time I work with them.
Part of President Obama's plan includes support of and implementation of wellness programs. Programs like these, were they in place might have helped my sister to be diagnosed much sooner and to have gotten treatment much sooner.
If not Obama's plan then what?
It can't be fixed by slamming the President or yelling and screaming at town hall meetings or likewise through radio personalities that incite hatred.
A great man once said "Be the change you want to see" - Gandhi
We did this when we elected President Obama. We can do it again with wellness.
We had to roll up our sleeves and do a lot of work to make it happen. We made phone calls. We knocked on doors. We stapled till our fingers had callouses. We told our stories and we united for a common purpose.
Every great and wonderful change in our world has required this kind of commitment. From the Suffragettes, to Rosa Parks, to Gandhi. People have gone to the streets, many times at great peril and loss of life to change systems that did not work. To change systems that did not honor people and their rights. Systems that ignored human rights, compassion, respect, dignity and so much more.
Instead of being part of the problem and slinging hate and spreading fear, how about being part of the solution. We are a great nation. We come out in numbers untold in disasters or a catastrophes. Tornado's, earthquakes, floods, bridge collapses, hurricanes, mudslides, tsunami's.
We donate millions each year to the United Way. To charities of our choice. Millions and billions of dollars per year. In the 2007 Philanthropy 400, United Way of America was cited as largest charity in the United States, with local United Ways reporting over $4.2 billion in contributions.
We add on hospital wings and name them after a family member. We build libraries to honor past presidents and spend even more on the entertainment industry.
Have we ever considered that the well being of every women, man, and child, on this planet deserves the same kind of response? Is our health care system a disaster?
Perhaps it is time to take it to the streets again. Maybe we would benefit from reading the story of Henry Dunant. His book " A Memory of Solferino " was based on his experiences of working with the wounded on the battlefields in 1859 during the Battle of Solferino, an engagement in the Austro-Sardinian War. In one day 40,000 soldiers on both sides died or were wounded. The lack of medical care was near total. Henry succeeded in organizing relief assistance because he motivated the local population to offer aid without discrimination. Later with his own money he published his book A Memory of Solferino in 1862.
He advocated the formation of national voluntary relief organizations. He went to the people and the people responded. From Henry's compassionate response the The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement was born. What we know in the United States as The American Red Cross.
Perhaps a page out of Henry's book is in order. It's time to move from anger to compassion. As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton once said "It takes a village".
It's up to us. We, each and every one of us is a part of our United Village. What are we going to do?
What if it were your sister with the brain tumor?
What would you do?
Blessings,
Nellie
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