In addition

I sort of feel the need to clarify my post on Obama care.

Keep in mind; this is only my personal opinion.

I am not anti-medical card.  I am anti medical card abuse.

There are people who genuinely need and deserve financial aid and Medicaid.

People with true physical and/or mental disabilities.

For these people, there should be no limits. All medical doors should be wide open and all services should be available.  Unfortunately, that is not always the case.  I have friends that fight the Obama care red tape to get even minimal medical services.

Friends that have fought the system to get nursing care for family members that very obviously need them. Yet they are forced to provide documentation and proof that they are truly unable to care for themselves or work for a company that offers insurance plans that they can purchase..

People that have maintained steady employment and find themselves in medical crisis, should NOT have to fight the system. And they should not have to fight the insurance company they have been paying premiums to, for specialized medicine, medications, nursing hours etc…

I would also interject that with a personal history of depression and long term treatment of attention deficit, these things do not qualify.  There was a point in my life when the idea of slamming my car into a wall sounded like a more peaceful option than simply getting out of bed. Facing each day was torturous. But every day, I put on my big girl panties, and drug my ass to work, grocery shopped, put gas in my car, kept the house clean enough to avoid infections and parent my children.  Depressed parenting is better than no parenting. And looking at my son and his huge heart full of compassion, I think I did a pretty good job (we’re still working on the female 15 year old).

My point..  Don’t tell me you’re on a medical card, living in subsidized housing or collecting a social security benefit because you’re too depressed to work. Suck it up Buttercup. We all have hardships. Life is tough..  If we all took the easy way out, the government would run out of housing.

My beef is mainly with the children’s clause of this plan..  If Obama care is going to award one child the ability to receive services from the best doctors, and access to the most up to date technology, free of charge, then all children should be awarded the same privilege.    According to Obama care, I make enough money to pay for my children to have insurance.  But however it may appear on paper, I do not make enough money to seek out special treatment or tests that I think my child might need.  For anything that my doctor does not recommend, or anything my insurance carrier (in another state) deems unnecessary,  I must pay out of pocket.

Obama care for children should be across the board.  No matter what the family income is. No matter what tax bracket a family is in.  Whether or not the parent/parents are employed by a company that offers health insurance.  Every child should have the magic card that allows them access to only the best doctors. 

That’s what I would call socialized medicine.

Our life saver lost his dad this week.

In the seconds, minutes, hours following Andrew’s accident on July 4th 2010, there were several  people that were instrumental in saving his life. EMT’s, nurses, doctors, pilots.

I will forever be indebted to those people.

There were 3 in particular.

#2 Was a nurse that we refer to as Berta.  We named her this because of
her disposition and physical likeness to Berta on Two and A Half Men..

Immediately after Andrew hit the ground, there was blood flowing from inside his ear.  I assumed he had damaged his ear drum.

It was Berta in the emergency room who finally realized that it was NOT blood that was draining, but spinal fluid..  Presenting the first indication that there was a severe traumatic brain injury.

She instantly ordered a CT of the head and neck.  Before the x-ray department could whisk him away for the scan, Berta was on the phone to the Life Line dispatch operator ordering a helicopter transport.

#3 Was nurse John, a long time ER nurse who has seen every type of injury possible.

Andrew was having some short term memory issues and his cognitive ability was less than engaged. 

He asked repeatedly where he was and what had happened.  And when things were explained he couldn’t understand.. 

For example he punched the CT machine several time because he thought it was an MRI, and that his pen ink tattoos were going to explode.  Even though it was explain to him that it was not going to be much more than a normal x-ray, and he didn’t need to worry about his tattoos.

He just didn’t understand what was being said.

So when he heard the word helicopter, he lost his mind.. Tried to pull his IV out, verbally attacked anyone in earshot and said he would walk to Carle Hospital and meet the helo there.

The pilots pulled me aside and said they were not able to take someone so combative in the air.

The doctors said he was not stable enough to travel by car or even ambulance..  And he could not be sedated until he was seen by the neurologist.

While several of us were brainstorming on ways to get him loaded a quiet nurse that had gone unnoticed until the point, strolled over and leaned down into my sons face.

He only said these words “lay here and die, or get in the chopper”.   

A calm washed over Andrews’s body and he said “what time is take off”.

These two people and so many others played such a huge part in his survival.

But the first, the #1 life saver/changer was an EMT that was one of the first responders on site.

A familiar face that I quickly recognized at one of Andrew’s ice hockey team mates.

Andrew laid in the road for several minutes while I called 911.. When he finally stood his equilibrium was compromised.  He walked in a circle like a puppy chasing his tail until he finally stumbled toward the house.. I followed him half trying to keep him from falling and half keeping an eye out for the ambulance.

By the time it arrived Drew was in the house lying down and convinced if he would just take a nap, he would be fine..  I couldn’t convince him that he needed to go the hospital.

A line of 6 or 7 EMT’s and firefighters filed through my front door.. In the midst of them I saw the face that I knew would make it okay..  Small in stature but mighty in spirit, Caleb Melton walked into my house and without a word walked straight to Andrew.  Drew relaxed at the familiar face of a hockey teammate. 

As he started to speak, I walked away.

Within minutes Andrew agreed to go to the emergency room but only if he was allowed to ride in the car, not the ambulance.

I don’t know what Caleb said to Drew that day.. What I know is, if Caleb hadn’t been here, I’m not sure Berta or John would have had their chances at saving Drew’s life.

This week Caleb lost is father Kirk, in a tragic accident.. My heart bleeds for him..   

I only hope that the EMT’s and first responders were half the person Caleb was for us.

The loss of a parent is nothing less than devastating.

Prayers for Caleb and his family.

Soap Box Derby

Dear Obama Care..  I have a question.

Where can I get me some of that???

Five days a week, I catch three seconds of about ten different songs that sneak into my fabulous state of REM sleep, as the crushing blows become increasingly violent against the snooze button on my alarm clock. 

My alarm clock that is set 27 minutes fast in a hollow effort to trick my mind into thinking it is later than it is..

And even with my inept math skills, and my slumberous state, my mind is still able to calculate the 27 minute advance on the clock. Times or multiplied by the seven minute abyss between smacks of the devils button.

Until finally I surrender, and with my eyes still closed, head for the shower..  Wash, dry, make up, dress, brush teeth and pour coffee in a styrofoam cup.. Fighting road construction, school buses, train traffic and an endless stream of moony (not mooning) drivers, making that chronic trip what could easily be programmed into auto pilot.

And why do I put myself through so much abuse before 8:00am every day..

To go to the place where I WORK doing the JOB I was hired to do..  And when I’m finished WORKING at my JOB, I get PAID for the WORK that I DID.. And the WORK that I DO after hours as I am on call 24/7.

And on my 20 minute lunch break, at my JOB, I don’t eat lunch.. Instead I try to squeeze in errands to the places I need to go that are closed or that I am unable to go to, when I get off WORK at 5:30 or 6:00pm..  And at those places, I am generally elbowing my way through retirees and/or NON-workers.

When it’s all said and done, I get PAID for my WORK.. But BEFORE they hand me a pay check they take out taxes that I PAY for having an income.  Some of those tax dollars are used to pay for non-worker expenses. Medicaid, Financial aid, subsidized housing, Link cards.. 

They also take out a hunk of money for HEALTH INSURANCE for my family, that I BUY through the company that I WORK for.   HEALTH INSURANCE that if I decline to BUY, I am asked to sign a waiver and provide proof of alternative coverage because Obama Care says everyone has to have health coverage.

What do I get with the HEALTH INSURANCE that I PAY for?

1.       I get to pay a $500.00 out of pocket, up front deductible for each family member insured.

2.       I get to PAY a co-payment for all services rendered.

3.       I get to be told what doctors I am allowed to see based on which medical group is covered in my HEALTH INSURANCE plan.

4.       And if by chance I find, let’s say, a lump in my breast, I get to:

·         Call one of the doctors in my covered medical group to schedule an appointment for some time next week.

·         Go to the doctor’s appointment to discuss my concerns, and hopefully be examined.

·         Have the doctor refer me for a mammogram, sometime next week.

·         Go to the mammogram and then go home (or usually back to WORK).

·         Wait until my follow up appointment with my doctor, sometime next week.

·         Have the doctor refer me to an oncologist.

·         Schedule an appointment with the oncologist, sometime next week.

·         Go to the appointment with the oncologist and be told I need more extensive tests. Likely some blood work that with be sent to a lab in a different town with results available, sometime next week.

·         Go back to the oncologist to hear the results of the blood work and be told a breast biopsy is in order.

·         Schedule a breast biopsy, for some time next week.

·         Use a sick day or vacation time to have the procedure and wait for the results that will be ready sometime next week.

·         Go back to the doctor for the biopsy results and for the sake of tedium, we’ll just say it was nothing to worry about.

But you get the point..

Now let’s replay this game under the premise that when I got pregnant for Andrew at the age of 19, I decided it would be easier to just hang out at home instead of working a full time job and putting myself through nursing school with a toddler in tow.

In that interpretation if I had found a lump in my breast I could:

1.       Bee Bop my way into the emergency room which has now become nothing more than a doctor’s office.

2.       Tell them I was having pain in my chest/breast area.

3.       Have and x-ray and/or mammogram.

4.       Have blood drawn and sent to a lab on site.

5.       Wait awhile laying on a bed with a TV. remote in my hand and button attached to my bed. A button that if I push, I can have a nurse bring me a diet Pepsi or an extra blanket.

6.       Have a doctor come in and read me the results of all the test performed in the last couple of hours.

7.       Have said doctor either tells me I have the all clear or tell me that I need to see and oncologist.

8.       If the latter, the E.R. staff will call around to see what oncologists will see me with my medical card, and schedule me an appointment.

I will have spent only the afternoon lying around, and made no phone calls for myself to receive further treatment.  All at no cost to me..

Or..  As a hard WORKING employee PAYING for my own HEALTH INSURANCE, I can wait 7 weeks, deal with the ramifications of taking time off work, pay a $500.00 deductible and 20% of all fees, assuming every medical provider is in my covered medical group and stand in line at CVS behind the dude buying Twinkies and Mountain Dew with is link card, to get an ice pack for my sore mammogrammed breasts.

Now before I start getting a bunch of nasty grams, I have a disclaimer.

I am in no way opposed to Medicaid, Financial aid, WIC, or any other government assistance offered to deserving people.   Which in my mind would be a displaced employee, a person in school or any other program that could make them marketable in the work force and/or someone recovering from an injury or illness..

As a matter of fact, I applied for Financial Aid during my last semester of Nursing School.     I was awarded a medical card for my 4 year old son, and $32.00 A WEEK, that was taken from his father’s pay check as child support..  No WIC, no food stamps, no subsidized housing, no child care assistance.

Disclaimer over.

A couple of points.

1.       You can get an associates in 2 years..  6 months after completion of an associates, you should have a JOB and be PAYING for your own HEALTH INSURANCE.  If you flunk, cash flow stops.

2.       Look around.

·         The streets are full of litter.

·         There are elderly people sitting in filth because they cannot do for themselves and do not have family that can or will help them.

·         There are kids that are virtually raising themselves.  Parent’s work too many hours, strung out, disinterested in their children.  Become a mentor.. Big Brothers/Big Sisters is always looking for matches for kids that might not otherwise have an adult role model.

·         There are beautification programs throughout every town.. Go help plant some trees.

3.       There should be two separate Link cards.

·         The first one with 90% of the total gift.  This card would deny junk food.  Only accepted would be meat, milk, veggies, cereal even frozen pizza.

·         And because I don’t think anyone should go without a HoHo and a soda, the second card would have the remaining 10% for snack food.

·         Link card should be attached to your driver’s license or state ID. All merchants would be required to scan the Link card and the driver’s license to verify a match.

·         No more selling a $60.00 Link card for $30.00 because the Escalade is out of gas.

4.       Anyone receiving any kind of government assistance should be able to pass a drug screen at established intervals.

Would you not have more pride if you were actually earning that money?

Had it not been for supportive parents, I would be just another statistic.

In retrospect…   How do I get me some of that..  I’m tired of fighting with my snooze button.