Unfortunately my blogging presence lately has been lacking. Time for an update:
As a young child I experienced excruciating stomach aches. These stomach aches always seemed to occur in the left part of my abdomen. Initially doctors were baffled; however, during a physical exam Dr. Behm noticed that the left part of my lower back was swollen. These stomach aches were actually a result of urine failing to exit my kidney in a timely manner, so, at the age of seven, I had major surgery performed on the left ureter. The ureter is the tube that transports urine from the kidney to the bladder, and my left ureter had developed a kink, which obstructed urine flow, thereby leading to significant and irreversible kidney damage. The kidneys are vital to body homeostasis, and because the kidney was still functional (well, somewhat functional – functionality of the kidney is about 15%) the kidney was not removed. My left kidney's state leaves me vulnerable to kidney infection, which is something that flares up every two or three years. So, when I developed a slight ache in my lower left back nearly four weeks ago I hit the cranberry juice. It didn't help. On Monday I went to the doctor only to discover that the ache was not a kidney infection. I was given an antibiotic anyway and four days later nothing has improved, so I called my urologist and will see him Monday. Normally none of this would be cause for alarm, because ten years ago I experienced a similar situation and underwent a procedure, which involved sending a scope up my urethra to the ureter, to clean up the scar tissue. I sense that that is indeed what I'm dealing with now.
But I lost my health insurance last July. And my kidney condition qualifies as a "pre-existing condition," which means no health-insurance company will offer me coverage. And that Monday trip to the doctor cost me over $200. And $200 is a chuck of change when you are a part-time college student and part-time worker. And that $200 looms even larger when you realize that more doctor visits are coming, along with expensive tests and a possible surgery/procedure.
And these circumstances led me to produce two handwritten letters addressed to Indiana's respective senators, Republican Richard Lugar and Democrat Evan Bayh, in an effort to convince them that aggressive health-care reform must happen now. I chose to manually write the letters because such documents are not as easy to disregard, like a phone call or e-mail. Also, my political hero Chris Matthews, who worked on the Hill during the '70s and '80s, always says that, even in this day and age, a handwritten letter to your senator still means something. Additionally, Senator Bayh is one of the Blue Dog Democrats who doesn't quite but just might support a public option. Senator Lugar is a lost cause, but I wanted him to know that those who suffer from "pre-existing conditions" are real people with real stories. And very expensive problems.
I'm sounding my voice.
I hope someone will hear me.
Because sometimes we don't choose to fight for a cause until we are personally affected by the spark that spurred the cause.
More update stuff coming soon… stay tuned.
xx
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