I hurt my back and I have no idea how, I just woke up one morning and could barely walk. This means I have missed a few days of work and spent my days shifting one eighth of an inch one way or the other trying to find an ounce of relief from the unrelenting pain.
This is not the first time this has happened although the other times there was a definite cause. The first time it happened I thought I was dieing so I splurged on an emergency room trip. They looked at my spine to see if everything was lined up properly, gave me an x-ray, then told me I had some torn muscles and sent me home with some painkillers. The first painkiller knocked me out for eight hours straight and made me weird and groggy for a long time after that so I never took them again. All I can do is bear with the pain and wait for it to pass. Gradually it is getting better.
This is not an enjoyable break from work. Times like these remind me of the precarious spot I perch on as a part time worker with no health insurance. If something actually were to go wrong, what could I do? There are no sick days, not much of vacation time, and no affordable health care.
To tell the truth if I were to become seriously ill, I would have no options. My personal catastrophic health care plan is a copy of "Final Exit" by Derek Humphry. If my health were to decline to the point that I could no longer find any joy in daily details then I would like to leave on my own terms. This would only be if there were no other way. It really isn't to be taken lightly.
The reason this comes to my mind, is the health care topic. There are millions of workers with no health care. Many people live in poverty, or slightly above. There are no checkups, and family doctors for these people. They try to get by as best as they can. If it hurts take some aspirin and slap a bandage on it. You can't miss work, they're having a sale on egg biscuits, or that convention group will be checking in, or you'll be replaced. Without health care there are no regular checkups so when something is found it is often too late.
The current model is not working. It's time for new ideas, new ways of looking at the world. Let's rework the entire system to find something new and beautiful where no group is excluded.
Showing posts with label health care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health care. Show all posts
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Just Another Day in the Life of the Uninsured
I went to bed one day last week quite worried. I was having terrible chest pains that shot through my shoulder as well. I tossed and turned worried about possibly losing my battle with debt or even my life if I waited too long for medical attention.
I woke the next morning still in pain, but got ready for work anyway as usual. I did ask my husband not to have a drink while he watched his football game just in case I needed to go to the hospital. He wanted me to call in but it was too late for that.
It's funny, after three days of underlying worry each day I remembered what probably caused this pain. An elderly neighbor had dropped by to borrow my phone. I didn't want my daughters dog to try to jump all over her so I picked up the wiggling 65 pound dog and put her in the bedroom. It was that night that the pain started so I most likely pulled a shoulder muscle.
The pain lessens day by day. Funny how it's possible to get hurt and just not realize it at the time. I'm glad I remembered the dog incident, it eased my mind.
I woke the next morning still in pain, but got ready for work anyway as usual. I did ask my husband not to have a drink while he watched his football game just in case I needed to go to the hospital. He wanted me to call in but it was too late for that.
It's funny, after three days of underlying worry each day I remembered what probably caused this pain. An elderly neighbor had dropped by to borrow my phone. I didn't want my daughters dog to try to jump all over her so I picked up the wiggling 65 pound dog and put her in the bedroom. It was that night that the pain started so I most likely pulled a shoulder muscle.
The pain lessens day by day. Funny how it's possible to get hurt and just not realize it at the time. I'm glad I remembered the dog incident, it eased my mind.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Sick Day
Going to work sick is a normal part of my life as it is for many of the working poor. When there is no health insurance or sick pay, you just keep going. Last week I kept going but it got too bad when I caught the flu or a cold or whatever it was. I had to call out one day.
This week I received a check for $199.00 and I needed to deposit $196.00 in the bank so I would have the $575.00 needed for rent. Now I'm paying for having that one sick day. I'm not asking for pity, I do have some savings I can turn to in an emergency, and all my other bills are paid for now. It's just a huge nuisance to have three dollars til payday.
My optimism has gone out the window here lately. There was a restaurant hiring and I was sure my husband would be hired with his experience. We weren't expecting one awkward interview over the phone and a negative response. So it looks as if we are sticking with these part time jobs for now, and just scraping by.
Every time I am feeling under the weather and think of calling out I add up the hours of the day in question and multiply them by my hourly wage. I imagine I am picking up my check and it is forty or sixty dollars short. I then figure up how many bills will be due to see if I can afford to be sick. This time I felt horrible. There was no figuring involved.
This week I received a check for $199.00 and I needed to deposit $196.00 in the bank so I would have the $575.00 needed for rent. Now I'm paying for having that one sick day. I'm not asking for pity, I do have some savings I can turn to in an emergency, and all my other bills are paid for now. It's just a huge nuisance to have three dollars til payday.
My optimism has gone out the window here lately. There was a restaurant hiring and I was sure my husband would be hired with his experience. We weren't expecting one awkward interview over the phone and a negative response. So it looks as if we are sticking with these part time jobs for now, and just scraping by.
Every time I am feeling under the weather and think of calling out I add up the hours of the day in question and multiply them by my hourly wage. I imagine I am picking up my check and it is forty or sixty dollars short. I then figure up how many bills will be due to see if I can afford to be sick. This time I felt horrible. There was no figuring involved.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
A Glimmer of Better Times?
My husband has been discouraged every week when he looks in the paper to find less than five jobs. Even the fast food jobs that people say are always available are not there. They have a staff already, and believe it or not, they rarely hire in our area. You see the same faces for a long time. People are not able to job hop as they once could.
He drove two counties away to apply for what was advertised as warehouse and sales positions. It ended up being a small building with a few freezers for those people that sell meat out of a truck. They wanted to hire everyone that showed up. We have no idea what these guys are paid, but it just seemed to risky. Who buys meat off the back of a truck anyway?
Yesterday, he applied at a job not too far from home, and with his telemarketing experience he was hired immediately. It may work and it may not, so without quitting the other job he's going to try it out. The job is as an appointment setter for an air conditioning company and it is commission only. I figure, it's Florida where air conditioning is a necessity and he is good at phone sales so.....We are hoping to at the least bring in a little extra income. We need it so badly right now.
Bills are paid but there is no breathing room. We've also managed to keep Chloe in food and insulin without dragging out the credit card. However, this morning she is worrying me. She always eats, and has been as healthy as possible for quite a while now. This morning she refused breakfast. She was able to go on her walk although she moaned a lot. I gave her some apple in case her blood sugar had dropped, something that regularly happens in the morning. She usually eats right away after her treat. She didn't. We will take her to the vet if she hasn't improved by tomorrow morning. She's eating lunch now and that's a good sign.
We are employed when many are not. We have a place to live and food to eat when many go without. Our survival skills are strong and life will improve. Perhaps we'll even have healthcare one day. Here's wishing everyone out there health, happiness, and future prosperity.
He drove two counties away to apply for what was advertised as warehouse and sales positions. It ended up being a small building with a few freezers for those people that sell meat out of a truck. They wanted to hire everyone that showed up. We have no idea what these guys are paid, but it just seemed to risky. Who buys meat off the back of a truck anyway?
Yesterday, he applied at a job not too far from home, and with his telemarketing experience he was hired immediately. It may work and it may not, so without quitting the other job he's going to try it out. The job is as an appointment setter for an air conditioning company and it is commission only. I figure, it's Florida where air conditioning is a necessity and he is good at phone sales so.....We are hoping to at the least bring in a little extra income. We need it so badly right now.
Bills are paid but there is no breathing room. We've also managed to keep Chloe in food and insulin without dragging out the credit card. However, this morning she is worrying me. She always eats, and has been as healthy as possible for quite a while now. This morning she refused breakfast. She was able to go on her walk although she moaned a lot. I gave her some apple in case her blood sugar had dropped, something that regularly happens in the morning. She usually eats right away after her treat. She didn't. We will take her to the vet if she hasn't improved by tomorrow morning. She's eating lunch now and that's a good sign.
We are employed when many are not. We have a place to live and food to eat when many go without. Our survival skills are strong and life will improve. Perhaps we'll even have healthcare one day. Here's wishing everyone out there health, happiness, and future prosperity.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Recovery of an Old Friend
Came back from our weekly (yes, weekly) trip to the vet today. She is on a new insulin and doing very well. In fact, I never thought I would see her in such fine shape again. She's has more energy and is putting on weight. Instead of sleeping in the backseat on the way there she hung her face out the window and let her ears flap in the breeze. She is almost healthy enough to have the surgery she needs. I didn't know recovery was possible. For a while every time she had an appointment I worried that it would be her last visit.
I just hope that no-one else needs health care any time soon. All spare money goes to the vet for special food, insulin, needles, and glucose checks. Soon a big chunk of savings will go toward surgery. It has been so worth it for extra moments of holding paws, well timed snorts in the middle of someones conversation, ears flapping in the breeze, and those magic smiles. I love you Chloe.
I just hope that no-one else needs health care any time soon. All spare money goes to the vet for special food, insulin, needles, and glucose checks. Soon a big chunk of savings will go toward surgery. It has been so worth it for extra moments of holding paws, well timed snorts in the middle of someones conversation, ears flapping in the breeze, and those magic smiles. I love you Chloe.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
A Dose of True Reality
Let me start by saying I hate most reality shows. Give me actors and scripts and a plot any day. I don't want to watch people dividing into groups and plotting against each other to win a case of bananas, nor do I want to see twenty women dating one man at the same time, or people doing humiliating things to win the approval of a celebrity. Some shows may be entertaining but once the concept took off, you gotta admit they went too far. Now it is reality show after reality show on television.
I would like to see a follow up to the "Extreme Home Makeover Home Edition" show. You know the one where they take the rundown average home of the modest income family and bulldoze it to replace it with a mansion with a refrigerator the size of a walk in closet and a big screen TV in every room. After that first year when everything is paid for I want to see what the family does when faced with their first $800 electric bill. Does the family huddle in three rooms to save energy or do they start charging the neighborhood kids admission to use the go-cart track in the backyard?
There is another series of shows where they dress fat people in spandex and sports bras and yell at them. I watched one the other day. While oddly fascinating I could only handle about ten minutes of it. It's a very strange concept.
It was while pondering this show that I came up with an idea for a new show that may be helpful to us as a nation. They had a show where they picked people who may not have been able to afford cosmetic surgery and gave them nose jobs and new breasts and fixed their teeth. Let's get away from the vanity and just allow some people basic health care.
The show opens and you see a day in the life of a waitress, a taxi driver, a part-time bank teller, a temporary factory worker, and a cashier. You see the job they do and then catch a glimpse of their paycheck. They talk about their life at work and their aches and pains and what it is like to live their life, and then the interviewer surprises them with a trip to the hospital and complete health care. They get problems corrected, and learn what pains they have been ignoring out of necessity are symptoms of. Treatment is given to those on the show and America gets a glimpse of their neighbors lives and possibly gains a better understanding of how others get by.
We need a better understanding of the health care situation. We need more compassion, and perhaps a dose of reality.
I would like to see a follow up to the "Extreme Home Makeover Home Edition" show. You know the one where they take the rundown average home of the modest income family and bulldoze it to replace it with a mansion with a refrigerator the size of a walk in closet and a big screen TV in every room. After that first year when everything is paid for I want to see what the family does when faced with their first $800 electric bill. Does the family huddle in three rooms to save energy or do they start charging the neighborhood kids admission to use the go-cart track in the backyard?
There is another series of shows where they dress fat people in spandex and sports bras and yell at them. I watched one the other day. While oddly fascinating I could only handle about ten minutes of it. It's a very strange concept.
It was while pondering this show that I came up with an idea for a new show that may be helpful to us as a nation. They had a show where they picked people who may not have been able to afford cosmetic surgery and gave them nose jobs and new breasts and fixed their teeth. Let's get away from the vanity and just allow some people basic health care.
The show opens and you see a day in the life of a waitress, a taxi driver, a part-time bank teller, a temporary factory worker, and a cashier. You see the job they do and then catch a glimpse of their paycheck. They talk about their life at work and their aches and pains and what it is like to live their life, and then the interviewer surprises them with a trip to the hospital and complete health care. They get problems corrected, and learn what pains they have been ignoring out of necessity are symptoms of. Treatment is given to those on the show and America gets a glimpse of their neighbors lives and possibly gains a better understanding of how others get by.
We need a better understanding of the health care situation. We need more compassion, and perhaps a dose of reality.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Hard Decisions
This is one of those days where it really hurts to be a member of the working poor. This morning my brother called to let me know our father is in the hospital. He left his apartment to get the mail and collapsed in the hall. A neighbor found him and drove him to the hospital. The doctor said he has acute leukemia now and he has no more than two months.
I have no sick days and my small amount of vacation hasn't kicked in yet for the year. My brother is leaving in the morning and I can ride up with him "IF" I can afford to take a week off of work. I'm working today and going over my bills tonight to see if I can afford to be gone for that amount of time. I have no idea at this point whether I am going or not.
I have no sick days and my small amount of vacation hasn't kicked in yet for the year. My brother is leaving in the morning and I can ride up with him "IF" I can afford to take a week off of work. I'm working today and going over my bills tonight to see if I can afford to be gone for that amount of time. I have no idea at this point whether I am going or not.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Blah
This is one of those days where I feel kind of yucky but I have to spend a few hours convincing myself that I feel fine and go to work anyway. There are no full time jobs available. Part time employees get no sick days. The trick is to multiply your hours by your wage and imagine you are picking up next weeks check and it is short by that amount. Will you be able to make your bills? Do you really need those groceries?
This is why the gas station attendant keeps sneezing, and the Walmart cashier looks like she's going to pass out. All part time employees must plan illnesses to coincide with their scheduled days off or they are out of luck. Oh well, I would rather be ill at work and feel better on my day off.
This is why the gas station attendant keeps sneezing, and the Walmart cashier looks like she's going to pass out. All part time employees must plan illnesses to coincide with their scheduled days off or they are out of luck. Oh well, I would rather be ill at work and feel better on my day off.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Reality Bites
A year or so ago there was a news story about those poor Brits and their awful health care system. Perhaps this was a story started just to make us as a nation feel better about how we have it. Didn't work for me. The whole thing angered me. The premise was they had medical coverage and sure that was great but the poor dears had no dental coverage so many who couldn't afford it or had to wait too long resorted to pulling their own teeth.
What do we have in America? I've heard of one dentist who accepted payments and he was an elderly gentleman in North Carolina. Who knows if his practice is still run the same way. What do we do in America where many have the choice between rent and groceries or health care. Well, hello! We do the same thing. Haven't these health reporters or raging anti-health care people ever gassed up at a 7-11, bought milk at Walmart, or grabbed a bag of diapers at a CVS. Have they ever really looked at their waitress or cashier and noticed the blackened rotting teeth, or the limp. The media paints a pretty picture but seldom show all sides.
Hey, anti-health care people, take a look around you. Open your eyes and see. Watch the sixty five year old clothing store merchandiser limp across the parking lot and hobble to her car. She does that because she needs everything she makes for rent and food and she can't afford that new knee the doctor said she needed six years ago. Look at me handing you your purchases and smiling. I don't have disgusting teeth because I'm too lazy to get up and go to the dentist. I just don't have the few thousand dollars it would take for the dental surgery. I'm not choosing to go on luxury cruises instead. I live simply and pay rent, buy groceries, and pay the simple bills required to live. I just don't have enough left over for splurges like health care for myself.
When the molar starts hurting if you tear off the offending bit that hurts the pain will stop almost immediately and you never have to miss work. I know it's disgusting but it's another day in the life of the working poor. Someone had to tell the ugly truth.
What do we have in America? I've heard of one dentist who accepted payments and he was an elderly gentleman in North Carolina. Who knows if his practice is still run the same way. What do we do in America where many have the choice between rent and groceries or health care. Well, hello! We do the same thing. Haven't these health reporters or raging anti-health care people ever gassed up at a 7-11, bought milk at Walmart, or grabbed a bag of diapers at a CVS. Have they ever really looked at their waitress or cashier and noticed the blackened rotting teeth, or the limp. The media paints a pretty picture but seldom show all sides.
Hey, anti-health care people, take a look around you. Open your eyes and see. Watch the sixty five year old clothing store merchandiser limp across the parking lot and hobble to her car. She does that because she needs everything she makes for rent and food and she can't afford that new knee the doctor said she needed six years ago. Look at me handing you your purchases and smiling. I don't have disgusting teeth because I'm too lazy to get up and go to the dentist. I just don't have the few thousand dollars it would take for the dental surgery. I'm not choosing to go on luxury cruises instead. I live simply and pay rent, buy groceries, and pay the simple bills required to live. I just don't have enough left over for splurges like health care for myself.
When the molar starts hurting if you tear off the offending bit that hurts the pain will stop almost immediately and you never have to miss work. I know it's disgusting but it's another day in the life of the working poor. Someone had to tell the ugly truth.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Holiday Exhaustion
I've picked up extra shifts at work so the hours were good this week. I worked yesterday, then baked cookies til midnight, then went back to work this morning. After work was a whirlwind of visiting relatives and delivering cookies. I'm so exhausted, yet a full day of housework awaits tomorrow.
While at work this afternoon a man came in read the headlines on the newspaper by my counter and started yelling at me about the current administration and how we didn't need this health care plan and how he's looking forward to when we get rid of "him." First of all, I'm there to work. I'm a quiet person who remains professional at all times so I just back up, ask them what they need, or do something to diffuse the situation. If I were a bolder person I would have said, "So you don't believe I deserve health care too?" At work in the service industry you have to remain polite and bite your tongue sometimes.
While at work this afternoon a man came in read the headlines on the newspaper by my counter and started yelling at me about the current administration and how we didn't need this health care plan and how he's looking forward to when we get rid of "him." First of all, I'm there to work. I'm a quiet person who remains professional at all times so I just back up, ask them what they need, or do something to diffuse the situation. If I were a bolder person I would have said, "So you don't believe I deserve health care too?" At work in the service industry you have to remain polite and bite your tongue sometimes.
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