I will link to you my blog for those of you who wish to bookmark it.
http://kansanforsanity.wordpress.com/2010/03/Forgive me for it not being dolled up or for looking to plain. I hope to have it looking a little bit different later on this week, when I manage to get a free moment.
And without further wait, here is my blog post about my thoughts on health insurance reform, my surgery tomorrow morning, and the mid-term election. Forgive me for it being a little long- but I figure the best way to walk in is to do it with a bang!
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This is my first blog post- and I find it most fitting to blog about health care reform on the eve of my surgical ablation.
I have a heart condition called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. Essentially, I have an extra pathway in my heart known as the bundle of Kent. This pathway is obviously not suppose to be there, and in your average person it isn’t- in fact this syndrome effects somewhere between .3% and 3% of the population. What this pathway can do that is so dangerous is to try and conduct itself like all the other normal pathways around it- which can blow your heart into a rapid pace and potentially cause sudden death. Typically once every day at least, sometimes multiple times in one day or night, or perhaps a few days apart I have what I call a flutter in my heart. This light feeling in my chest and this rapid increase in my heartbeat for about a second.
And I’m only 22 years old. Terrific, right? Craptastic is the way I’d like to describe it.
So tomorrow a terrific physician is going to cut into my neck, put catheters down my body and into my heart, try and find this bundle of Kent and then burn it to descrution- thus curing me of my WPW. Oh, and this is the second time I’ll have done this. Terrific again, correct? Depends on the way you look at it. The first time the doctor went through my thighs, couldn’t find the bundle of Kent for a very long time, and when he did the thing was so small and faint that it was 1) negligent in regards to risk of sudden death and 2) disappeared upon being touched by the catheter- they then couldn’t find it forever, and once they did it was near a specific dreaded area.
It’s in close proximity to my AV node. Now, the AV node as it was laid before me by the doctors is the equivalent of our biological pacemaker. Imagine if that thing gets burnt up? Congratulations, you’re 20 years old and you just won a pacemaker!! Hold the applause!
So, those of you who were paying attention above will note that the doctor this time is going through my neck. This is important because it quite literally changes the angle. It may not have been possible to burn and destroy the bundle of Kent the first time, but now we could maneuver in through such an angle that there is no risk of destroying the AV node- unless of course the man sneezes while playing pilot.
Oh, and how did I pay for this $30,000+ procedure the first time? And how am I paying for it the second time? Well I have health insurance, it’s called Tricare.
And what’s Tricare you ask? You haven’t heard of it before, doesn’t sound familiar? That’s because its health insurance for military service members, retiree’s, and their families. My father retired from the Army and I am on his insurance- so long as I am a full time student. It cuts off when I’m 23. Oh, and did I mention it was completely operated by the government?
That’s right, you heard it here! We have government health insurance in this country and it goes to our military. It is fast, effective, pays for essentially everything! I will say this in all sincerity; I am really blessed to have what is fantastic health insurance.
Now, keep in mind that if I did not have Tricare I probably couldn’t do this procedure. In fact, I have a pre-existing condition. 22 years old and a knock against me in the health insurance industry- but hey, as conservatives believe that is just a part of the private industry! When I’m 23 years old I will lose my health insurance. But not if reform is passed. If health care reform is passed the laws change, and until I am 25 so long as I am a full time student I can keep my health care coverage. Tricare, I will take a moment to point out, will be incredibly cheaper than any private insurance I, or my family, could purchase- especially considering my WPW being such a knock against me.
See, although a lot of these changes in the bill before Congress will take years to take place the insurance reforms take place immediately. And this is where Democrats in Congress are wrong about being hesitant to support this bill. If the Republicans want to run on a “Let’s repeal pre-existing condition bans, let’s remove you’re 23 year old college students insurance!” campaign then I say let them, go for it! That’ll be a terrific election to run in. The Democrats will frame it with little effort, and the conservatives will be forced to choke on a disproven rhetoric that the private industry is the best avenue to trust when it comes towards your health and finances.
I am very bitter in my reactions to the people who do not support this bill and who do not support health care reform. Do you support seeing 30 million more people insured? Do you support letting families paying off student loans keep their child on their insurance, thus saving them money from having to purchase a separate plan? Do you support helping to subsidize the cost of premiums for middle and lower income Americans? I will spell it out for you- you either do or you don’t. You either believe an irrelevant philosophy that the private sector will work to meet the needs of the people- and in doing so ignore the financial collapse that just graced us. That, which, I might add was conservative economic policy at its best- no regulation, no oversight, just trust in corporations.
I am praying to the gods that health care reform passes. Not just so this 22 year old kid with a heart condition has insurance while he is in school- but so that people who are not as fortunate as me can maybe go the doctor and have their much more severe WPW- which can lead to death- ablated and fixed. I am praying that Congress passes health care reform so that families can be able to put food on the table, pay the bills, the mortgage, and even afford what has now become a luxury- getting your child a flu shot and a doctors visit.
Now, If that makes me a socialist, a crazed bleeding heart liberal then get me a bumper sticker saying as much and I’ll slap it on my car with pride.
It’s about 11:00 pm now and I am going to get ready for bed, wake up tomorrow early, be at the admitting office at 7:00 a.m., and maybe get my heart fixed so I can avoid a pacemaker when I’m in my 40’s.
Forgive me for having such a long post. I’ll give you all an update as soon as I am out of the hospital. Peace out friends.
- KansanForSanity (Cecilfirefox)
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