Category: Health

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OK, I have a bit of a beef with Visine eye drops. The product is fine. Pretty much instant relief from itchy eyes. However getting the protective plastic wrap at the tip of the container is a challenge.

I am sure there is some easy way to rip the protective plastic wrap off but whatever that may be eluded me. It broke me. It got to the point I was trying to determine what form of physical force I could use to open the fucker. I am afraid to say that pounding it on the bathroom marble doesn’t work which led to me considering chewing through the wrapper.

The only thing that stopped me from this method was the embarrassment of having to explain my cracked tooth to my dentist who already thinks I am of an asshole because I won’t fix a tooth that he says is due for imminent collapse, something he has been saying for the last 7 years and has weathered the most rigorous assault from the vast arsenal of dental tools at my dental hygienist’s disposal. My tooth beats them every time.

I think it is pure orneriness on my part that I haven’t gotten it fixed. I get a great amount of pleasure in depriving my dentist of the couple of thousand dollars it would take to repair it. They have definitely toned down their pleas that I will be in Paris some day and my whole trip will be ruined when my tooth falls out. Now they just say I might put it on my calendar for this year.

So I am overdue for the damn tooth to come out. I would hate for it to break my tooth for such a lame reason that I lost my temper with the plastic wrapper on my eye drops that I, in a moment of uncontrollable anger, I decided to rip it off with my teeth. I couldn’t bear the look he would give me. After 7 long years of them trying to knock that fucker off with every dental instruments known to man, all it took was a plastic wrap to do the trick. I am afraid it would break him.

Anyway, back to the plastic wrap. I had to use my nose hair scissors to finally get underneath the plastic enough to remove it. It was a minor trauma in a life filled with minor traumas.

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It has come to this. A woman in Florida was in labor. Her doctor advised her that their might be a problem if she decided to have her baby vaginally. They advised a C-section. She wanted to continue with vaginal delivery. In a normal world, the doctors and the woman would make a decision based on the medical circumstances involved. This is far from a normal world and Florida is being pretty much at the center of the weirdness that now revolves around pregnant woman delivering a baby. The woman, while in labor, had to discuss her delivery choices with a judge who then made a decision on how she could proceed.

This type of decision is, even in the days before Roe versus Wade, a medical decision. No ruling from a judge is needed. The woman and the doctor would work it out based on the woman’s circumstances. Why does a judge have to be involved at all?

Well, because now, the fetus, in Florida, has protected rights. In the past, there was an assumption that since the woman wanted the baby and the doctors wanted to deliver a health baby, then everyone involved was working together for this same happy ending. But, because Florida’s abortion laws are so restrictive, doctors now are worried that if something were to go wrong with the delivery, they may be held liable if the baby were to die in the process. Hence a judgement from the courts was required before the doctors would proceed.

This is worrisome for a number of reasons:

  1. The law was intended to protect fetuses from abortion not delivery. This case does not involve abortion in any way, yet the courts were dragged into it because the anti-abortion laws make any tricky delivery suspect. Did the baby die in delivery or was the doctor sneaking in a late-term abortion? If a doctor wants to cover her ass, she will make sure that a judge knows what she is doing and she goes on record with the courts what she is trying to do. Hopefully this will prevent any busybody from claiming otherwise later thus protecting the doctor from future legal hassles but also delaying medical attention to the woman in labor.
  2. Delivering a baby involves a woman’s health. It needs to happen when it needs to happen. Waiting for a court to make a decision on the best way to proceed is ridiculous here. Delaying medical procedures in order to get this decision is criminally stupid because both the mother and the baby are at risk. In this case, the judge decided for the woman with the caveat that the doctors could perform a C section if the vaginal delivery became difficult. This is how the doctor and the patient wanted to proceed in the first place. What possible wisdom did the judge add here that the doctor and the patient hadn’t already discussed?
  3. The doctors were over reacting you say. This should never have happened. Florida’s draconian abortion laws have nothing to do with this case and it was unnecessary for a judge to be notified. Well, probably, but try telling that to doctors who are trying to avoid going to court over their handling of women going through childbirth. Any state with such restrictive laws will have this problem. Better to go to court to check that you are right, then to go to prison if you are wrong.

The irony here is that laws instituted to protect the fetus from abortion are now causing delays in health care that both endangers the mother and the baby. It is also making it more difficult for medical professionals to advise women how to proceed during a difficult delivery. What if the judge makes a decision that the doctor’s and the patient disagrees with? How will the doctors proceed? A certain amount of good faith needs to be given doctors trying to navigate on how to proceed in a difficult situation. Florida’s abortion laws have only created confusion not better health care for pregnant women.

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Why is it that every time I see a new doctor, I have to complete the same questionnaire. This is so irritating. I thought the whole point of having your information on line was every medical professional now has easy access to your data and you won’t need to keep supplying it every time you go to a doctor.

This is not my experience. Every time I walk into a new doctor’s office, I am handed a clipboard with a questionnaire asking for my details. You know name, address, emergency contact, medical history, medications you are taking and why you are visiting the doctor. Yes, I get it that they need to get it right but to see my questionnaire sitting unconsulted on the doctor’s desk while she asks me the same questions yet again is a bit insulting.

Or to have the office hound me with texts and emails too complete the an on line questionnaire before my appointment with the caveat these replies will make it easier and faster for the doctor who is treating me, only to be asked to fill out a paper version of the same questions when I arrive at the doctor’s office.

Sometimes I will be working on the questionnaire and I am called into to see the doctor. I will let the nurse know I haven’t completed the questionnaire yet, only to be told don’t worry about it, she never looks at it in the first place. Then why am I filling it out? Are they giving me busy work to keep me occupied while waiting for the doctor? Quite frankly, I’d rather being perusing the People magazines stacked on the tables than completing yet another form with my medical history.

If I were a smart ass, I would advise them I already given them this information and could they possibly retrieve the data there. Thank God, I am not a smart ass. More of a coward I suppose. I don’t want to look like trouble to the doctor’s front desk staff. They have a lot of power for you, they can offer you an 7:30 AM appointment tomorrow or a 1PM appointment sometime after the first of the year. Neither choice is good. You can keep asking but the choices are never good. Whatever you do keep on the good side of the office staff or else you will never get a decent appointment time.

And keep filling out those damn questionnaires or your chances of seeing the doctor are pretty darn slim.

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One of the vows I made when I started exercising many years ago was that I would never exercise when injured or if I felt sick. If I screwed up a knee or had a cold, I waited a couple of days and then start with a less vigorous routine until I returned to normal. Once I was back to good health, I returned to my routine. This has served me well.

Until now, at 68, it is impossible not to exercise without being sick or injured or both because I am always one or the other. If I stopped exercising every time I was sick or injured, I am afraid I will never return to exercise at all. It is that difficult for me to find a block of healthy days for me to keep this youthful promise to myself.

So another broken promise to myself in a string of broken promises to myself.

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The present American medical system is a mess. It is a system that nobody understands. Trying to explain the American system to somebody from a different country is virtually impossible. Co-pays, insurance approvals, denial of coverage, cost deductions based on different insurance carriers, Medicare versus Medicaid, write offs between the insurance company and the medical provider, it is head spinningly difficult to explain to any person from the western world. Yet Americans think they have the best healthcare in the world.

There is a disconnect between actual care and how the bills are paid. I am basically happy with the physicians, nurses and drugs I receive. What makes me unhappy is arguing with insurance companies about my bills. These are two very different aspects of the health system. I am happy with one and unhappy with the other. Care is not payment but when someone asks what do you think of your healthcare. You are probably going to think doctors and nurses and not the toll-free customer service representative who can’t explain your bill based on your understanding of your insurance and their somewhat different understanding of it.

Here is the thing, I, of course want the insurance companies to pay for everything. Knowing that is impossible, I would like to know going into any medical procedure, how much I actually owe and I want to understand what the division between my costs and the insurance company’s. I should be able to understand it so that when I look at my bill, it makes sense to me. Is that really too much to ask for? Apparently.

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I have reached the age where I realize that my body just isn’t going to get any better. As someone who has been exercising regularly since I was in my early 20’s, it has come as bit of a shock. My idea for exercising was eventually I would get it right — the perfect body. And, at some point, I whipped it into pretty good if imperfect shape. But not any more.

For the past 20 years, I have resigned myself to maintenance. Just keep the old boy presentable. But,in the past few years, it has dawned on me that even maintenance is no longer possible. The hairline keeps receding, what is left is grey. The stomach which I kept comfortably around a 34 inch waist simply won’t return. I’ve tried. I stopped running because when you run, you fall occasionally, the falls just took it out of me and I worried that the next fall would cause broken bones instead of scrapped knees.

More distressing is I have had to watch what I eat. For most of my life, I have been on the skinny side. Indeed, when I was an adolescent I could stuff myself to the point of sickness and not gain a pound. No more. Just a casual glance at a chocolate chip cookie can drive my weight higher.

I surrender. I donated all the 34 inch waist pants to the more in shape out there. I will try to maintain the 36 inch waist as long as possible but once the amount of work and diet I have to put into keeping a 36 inch waist exceeds the pleasure I have in living, well, the 36 inch waist trousers are gone as well.

It is both sad and liberating to feel this way. Sad that my body has seen its best days. Liberating in that I can focus on enjoying my life without guilt because no matter what I do to make my body better looking it is never going to make me better looking than the average 20 year old after gorging on pizza and beer. So I might as well enjoy the pizza and beer.

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Talking to a doctor’s office, not the doctor, but just the fucking doctor’s office has become nearly impossible.

In late September, I talked with my primary doctor about a skin problem I was having. He advised me to see a dermatologist and referred me to one. I called the dermatologist for an appointment where I was strongly advised to leave a message and that someone from the doctor’s office would call me back. I get an email that very same day saying that someone would investigate (I am assuming whether they take my insurance and they will pay for it) and get back with me. So far, things are going swimmingly.

But then no return phone call for a week. As I was going out of town, I put it on hold, thinking foolishly, that eventually someone would contact me with an appointment. When I returned to San Diego, still having not received a response from the doctor, I called the office to inquire about my appointment. I talked to a nice woman who apologized profusely about the failed response and booked an appointment for me. Success.

A day or so later, I received a phone call from the nice woman telling me that while they took my insurance this year, they weren’t taking it next year. Since it is now mid-October and the soonest they can get me an appointment for was mid-November, they didn’t want to start seeing me as a patient in cases their services were needed into 2026. All vaguely rational sounding, so I went back to my primary physician.

The assistant at my primary physician’s office, who has always been helpful, couldn’t understand why they just didn’t keep the appointment and, if I needed further treatment, refer me another dermatologist in 2026. She said I had a legitimate concern about a growth on my hand and they could, at least, get the ball rolling.

She told me she would take care of it. A day later she calls me back saying that they don’t want me as a patient and she find another dermatologist to look at my hand. She added it might take a little time because she now has to investigate which doctors will take my insurance in both 2025 and 2026. Towards the end October, she finds one.

I got swept up with other events in my life but was finally able to contact the new dermatologist at the beginning of November. A very unhelpful phone tree took the call. The recorded message kept advising me to use the on-line scheduling system. My experience with on-line scheduling has been horrendous. There is no response to my request or a continual back and forth about a suitable date for the appointment.

I opted to stay on the phone line where every so often I was encourage again to use the on line system or leave a message on the recorder and someone would call me back that very same day. My experience with this is I rarely get a call back and, if I do, it is never on the same day. I chose to stay on the line. Fifteen minutes into my wait, I was disconnected. Or I think I was disconnected. I stopped getting the annoying messages about using the on line system and my phone stopped timing how long the phone was. There was just silence which I deduced was a hang up.

I called again but this time I decided to look at the on line system. I completed the form as best I could knowing that there would be a back and forth about the actual appointment. I sent the form in while waiting because what the Hell, I was on hold any way, it was something to fill the time, I got some lunch and, after a half hour on hold, I surrendered. I would just have to trust that the on line system would work.

Later that day, I received a response from their on line system telling me that they were working on scheduling my appointment and I they would confirm an appointment soon. I don’t like the sounds of soon. Soon. That could be any time frame they choose.

So it is approaching the middle of November and I still do not have a scheduled date for someone to look at the growth on my hand. Think about that. A month and half just trying to get a fucking appointment.

Thank God I don’t live in a country with socialized medicine who knows how long I would be waiting for an appointment.

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I was appalled to read that Mary Lou Retton, Olympic Gold Medal winner, doesn’t have health insurance and has to raise money for her hospital stay through an on-line fund raiser. She has a life-threatening pneumonia and is in critical condition. She has been in the hospital for over a week, so you can imagine the cost already and she isn’t out of the woods.

How does someone so well connected not have health insurance? This absolutely blew me away. If Retton is taking risks regarding health insurance, then the number of people who faces these choices must be much larger than I imagined. This doesn’t mean that they decide not to get health insurance either, they may decide for health insurance but what are they doing without. This is about life on the margins where the cost of health insurance might make people sacrifice other necessities of life — like not paying the mortgage, half dosing prescription medicine, skipping meals. But, then, there will be people who will argue that this is good, Retton will make better decisions in the future from the lessons she learned from not having health insurance.

Like delaying necessary treatment because she doesn’t have health insurance. I can’t imagine what I would do if I were sick and didn’t have health insurance. You don’t know if you will get off easy with $100 bill for a doctor’s visit and prescription or a $50,000 hospital stay. And even if you only have to pay $100, it may be $100 you don’t have, so what do you do? How is not taking care of your health beneficial to society?

Then when you are so sick you have to seek medical treatment, who pays the bills when the person involved is not America’s sweetheart? What happens to a person who is an asshole and people hate the person so much that they are angry at you for even thinking of helping the asshole. Though it pains me to say this — even assholes deserve healthcare and they probably won’t fare well in the Go Fund Me Route. So instead of contributing to every Go Fund Me asking for help with medical bills, our system is set up to treat everyone through a universal health care system.

That won’t happen because that is socialism and socialism is bad. I honestly don’t care how it is done either. If you can propose a way to do it through the markets and it is both affordable and universal, I am cool. But I haven’t heard one yet so there is that. The Republicans, who I would assume after bitching for 8 years about Obamacare, would have passed reform bills with these market solutions incorporated when they took over, but they didn’t so it looks very much like they don’t have anything. Which is unsurprising but nonetheless disappointing.

Until then I will continue to enjoy the best medical care in the world.

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A television ad blew my mind the other day. An American Health Insurance companies was offering health plans that included Mexican doctors. I thought this had to be wrong. American Insurance companies would never include cross border doctors. I was wrong. I googled it and sure enough I found a Health Insurance company that includes Mexican doctors. Forget the bullshit about being culturally sensitive and giving customers a wider network of doctors. They can’t contain themselves about the real reason. I am betting you already know the answer but just in case you are struggling, I will let you know — it is cheaper. The lower co-pays for using Mexican doctors gave the game away.

Living on the Mexican border, on and off, for the past 30 years, I knew people who have crossed the border for medical care but I always was a little suspicious because there alway seemed to be some horror story attached with the doctor’s visit to Mexico. Plastic surgery gone wrong, dental work that turns into health emergencies. Of course, the same horror stories happen with American doctors every day so why this influenced my thinking is a mystery. I am sure it has something to do with having been told my whole life that American healthcare may be expensive but it is the best in the world

But now that American Insurance companies allow Mexican doctors in their plans, this lays to rest these concerns. Of course, it also raises a big question – why is American healthcare so much more expensive. I mean, any insurance company that includes Mexican doctors has to believe that Mexican doctors are, at least, comparable to American doctors or why would they include them in their plan. They could never publicly say there is a difference in service because to do so would undermine the whole idea of American Healthcare which is price doesn’t matter. The quality is the same, the different prices customers pay only means lower co-pays, lower deductibles. and more doctors in the plan. But the quality is exactly the same.

How, then, can American Insurance companies continue to say that American Healthcare is the best service at the best price when they are also willing to pay for comparable services of Mexican doctors which is a lower rate. It is a contradiction that requires some explanation. I am listening.

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We are all sinners. This is one Christian teaching I have admired as it humbles, or it should humble, Christians when they are tempted to judge other people. Pope, Prince and Pauper — we are all sinners. It is the great equalizer. Christians would be wise to keep this teaching in mind instead of throwing their moral superiority around to influence public thinking. Unfortunately they rarely do. Instead they divide the world into two camps — Christians and everybody else. Moral people versus heathens. This type of American Christian enjoys pointing out everyone else sins and, because heathens continue to sin, these Christians are committed to making sinners lives as miserable as possible.

This divisive thinking among American Christians can be seen on a daily basis but a particularly vivid example of it occurred the other in the Florida Legislature. Republicans there passed a law saying that they don’t have to treat anyone if they disagree with them on moral grounds. The intention, as I understand it, is to enable doctors to refuse treatment of patients who they find morally dubious.

I am confused because aren’t these same Republicans and Christians complaining about cancel culture. They want to be able to be disagree on subjects like transgender treatment for children without fear of retribution from trans activists who would view this as transphobic. Since their stated goal is an open society where anyone can speak their mind freely without fear, its particularly annoying that whenever they get control of a legislature they try to cancel the groups that fails their morality tests. A morality test that is pretty much focused on people Christians view as sexually deviant. They aren’t complaining about treating robbers, rapists, adulterers and con men. Their focus is on doctors being forced to treat gay and trans people.

I didn’t know they were being forced to now. This is the first I heard of it. I would think if this is a widespread problem that the outrage machine at Fox News would have spread the news far and wide. Are any doctors in Florida complaining about being forced to take on Drag Queens and Trans patients? Don’t doctors have a pretty easy way of taking on patients they approve of without making much of a scene. If I call a doctor for an appointment and the receptionist catches my gay lisp, they can just say the doctor isn’t taking new patients and I wouldn’t be the least bit suspicious to hear that. It happens all the time. There is no need to get into a conversation about morality much less a law suit. As with many issues that the Republican Party take on, this isn’t a problem. It is a show tune song to please their constituents and not because there is a problem. Florida Republicans have made a mountain out of no hill. It does give the illusion of movement and that is all these legislators want.

Another big problem with this startling ill-considered law is it is so broadly written that non-Christians can use it too. This will be its undoing. What is to stop a Gay Doctor from saying I believe that Christian Republicans are evil and I refuse to take them on as patients. What happens if there is a mass casualty event and the police bring in the wounded gunman, can a doctor decline to treat him because he disapproves of murder? Would Emergency Rooms across Florida have to staff a cross section of faiths, sexual identities and political persuasions to accommodate all the different political and religious passions that inspire disapproval? Where exactly does this end?

What we have here is a solution to something that isn’t even a problem. Nothing will change. Doctors will carry on doing what doctors do without having any patients forced on them. Nobody will see the difference because nothing needed to change. There will be legal battles because, of course, this is what it is all about. Republicans want somebody to challenge this law so they can point how unreasonable their political opponents are because, of course, some Trans Activists will take the bait and bring suit.

It is a lot of fuss for nothing. Most doctors will treat any patient they have without question. If a person wants a gender reassignment, I am pretty certain that most Christian doctors aren’t experts in that particular field and will have to refer them to another doctor any way. Most gay people want a doctor they feel they can talk freely to and will choose someone who is sympathetic to them.

If there is a problem then I suggest these Christian doctors remember the teaching that we are all sinners. Every patient that a doctor treats has sinned and is going to continue sinning every day for the rest of their lives. They will sin because they are human. In the mean time, a body is a body. If you have the power to make someone feel better why not do it? What would Jesus do?