Choosing between prescription and basic needs

I’m having a hard time focusing to write this. It’s been a rough week for me. I had surgery and somehow found myself in that small percentage of recovering patients who experience a random complication. Back to the doctor and back to adjusting into my recovery. I was doing so well, but life has plans of its own sometimes.

For anyone who knows me the past few years, it wouldn’t be surprising. I don’t have the best track record when it comes to my health. I’m not that old. I don’t have any harmful vices. And yet, I just can’t seem to get to where I want to be.

I’ve written before that I’m working on small steps to make it there. But when there’s a leap back, it’s hard to envision that finish line.

So why, some may ask, would I put my body through this? It hasn’t been the quietest year after all when it comes to my health. Maybe I should have waited until the New Year. While that does make sense, we are in a boat like so many others. It’s that numbers game.

I’m not going to go into political rhetoric. I’m not going to even try at a solution. I know, based on our family experience, that something needs to change.

What was the No. 1 motivator for me to accept a surgery date sooner rather than later? Money.

Sure, I needed this procedure. It will improve my overall health and in turn our family quality of life. But, how many others are thinking of the cost and not the need in making that decision. We are fortunate that I could say “yes.” There are so many who cannot.

We are in that population which relies on our health care. It’s saved my life. It’s also extremely expensive. I’ve seen the numbers. I read my bills. I am thankful for both our health care providers and insurance. How many others are in the same boat as us?

Thankfully, our Valley has slowly improved its options in health care. When our oldest was a baby, there were not as many and we paid the price. And it was not cheap. It was our first experience on weighing the needs of the patient vs. the outcome of the charge. We learned to be strategic in our choices.

I have turned and walked out of the emergency room waiting area because I believed the situation to no longer be “a true emergency.” I couldn’t afford to get that bill. Turns out that night was a precursor to a return trip that landed me on a helicopter to San Diego.

If I had stayed, would they have probed to find out the cause and saved me from an even more emergent situation later? I’ll never know. I can’t look back and say I would’ve done it any differently. It’s a decision that could literally cost us thousands.

Just this summer, I found myself in what I’ve been trying to carefully avoid. Yet, another charge when I thought I’d hit our limit. Turns out, two different doctors who ordered the same test each do not, according to my particular insurance plan, have just cause. You would think that two medical professionals, who have different specialties and are caring for the same patient, would be justified in doing so. Here I go trying to figure out how to remedy the situation. I might not be able to get it fixed and that money will have to get paid out somehow.

It is a decision that is literally life-altering to so many. It’s not hard to find articles about Americans choosing between a prescription and other basic needs. It isn’t only the elderly on fixed-incomes. Families with hardworking parents could easily find themselves with unexpected high bills in the times of unforeseen circumstances. Every day, it seems that somebody is posting a call to help for expenses for families like yours and ours, who one day found themselves not only facing battles for their lives, but for their finances, too.

There’s got to be a better way. From this campaign to the next, there needs to be a turnaround for Americans and their health care, and I for one am looking forward to that change.