Politics and Medicine

This has certainly been a colorful year for anyone who participates in the voting process, from those young enough to be observing & forming opinions to those who have been voting for decades.  Each candidate has made recommendations on how to improve the current healthcare system.  It is not my intent to use this forum to push one candidate over another, but to open discussion to the views of the three candidates running at the time of this writing.  Let’s start a sumary of plans from the Republican candidate, since that candidacy is finalized. . . Visit each candidate’s website (the hyperlink will send you directly to their page regarding their plan for any changes they would make as President regarding healthcare).  Offer your thoughts.  We vote on a candidate for many of their views generally.  What are your thoughts on each candidate’s plans specifically regarding healthcare? *** (See note at end of page)

Per John McCain’s website, he supports the following:

• Reform The Tax Code To Offer More Choices Beyond Employer-Based Health Insurance
• Make Insurance More Portable
• Encourage And Expand The Benefits Of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) For Families

Plans to Ensure Care for Higher Risk Patients:

• John McCain’s Plan Cares For The Traditionally Uninsurable-You may visit the website for further details, but it offers sketchy details on how he wants to accomplish this.
• Work With States To Establish A Guaranteed Access Plan
• Work With States To Establish A Guaranteed Access Plan

Lowering Healthcare Costs

• CHEAPER DRUGS: Lowering Drug Prices
• CHRONIC DISEASE: Providing Quality, Cheaper Care For Chronic Disease
• COORDINATED CARE: Promoting Coordinated Care
• GREATER ACCESS AND CONVENIENCE: Expanding Access To Health Care
• There is far more. . . I encourage you to visit his website for the complete plan he has laid out and his views on how to reform healthcare

Barak Obama’s Plan for Healthcare:

• Plan to Cover Uninsured Americans
• National Health Insurance Exchange
• Reducing Costs of Catastrophic Illnesses for Employers and Their Employees
• Helping Patients
• Ensuring Providers Deliver Quality Care
• Lowering Costs Through Investment in Electronic Health Information Technology Systems
• Lowering Costs by Increasing Competition in the Insurance and Drug Markets
• Advance the Biomedical Research Field
• Fight AIDS Worldwide
• Support Americans with Disabilities
• Again, the website continues in far greater detail than space makes reasonable to put here.

Hillary Clinton’s Plan for Healthcare:

American Health Choices Plan (PDF)

Health Care Costs Agenda

Health Care Quality Agenda

Long-Term Care Agenda

Long-Term Care Insurance Market

Plan to Fight Cancer

Plan to Fight Autism

HIV/AIDS

Agenda for Reproductive Health Care

Standing for Seniors (PDF)

Hillary’s Plan to Find a Cure for Breast Cancer

 

 

 

 *** (Each candidate’s page was laid out differently.  My goal was to bring out their major points & give you the resources to review each candidate more thoroughly.  It would be a book, not a page, to mention each candidate’s complete views on this topic.  The layout is not in any way intended to endorse any of the candidates.)

Definition of a Chronic Condition

I got rather curious.  Who came up with that term, and what does it mean in general?  I know what ‘chronic condition’ means in my life, but what does the average reader think of when they see or hear this phrase.  I give credit to Wikipedia for the following information:

“The term Invisible Disabilities[1] refers to a person’s symptoms such as extreme fatigue, dizziness, pain, weakness, cognitive impairments, etc. that are sometimes or always debilitating. These symptoms can occur due to chronic illness, chronic pain, injury, birth disorders, etc. and are not always obvious to the onlooker. A person can have an invisible disability whether or not they have a ‘visible’ impairment or use an assistive device such as a wheelchair, walker or cane. For example, whether or not a person utilizes an assistive device, if they are restricted or limited by debilitating pain, fatigue, cognitive dysfunctions, dizziness, blurred vision, weakness, etc. these symptoms are their invisible disabilities.”[2] The Invisible Disabilities Advocate.

Some people with visual or auditory impairments who do not wear glasses or hearing aids may not be obviously impaired. (Some may wear contacts or have a cochlear implant instead.) A sitting disability is another category of invisible impairments. Sitting problems are usually caused by chronic back pain. Those with joint problems or chronic pain may not use mobility aids on good days, or at all. Other examples include Asperger syndrome, attention disorders (ADD/ADHD), brain injuries, chronic pain, chronic fatigue syndrome, chemical sensitivities, fibromyalgia, epilepsy, and repetitive stress injuries.

Invisible disabilities can also include chronic illnesses such as renal failure and diabetes if those diseases significantly impair normal activities of daily living.

The article continues on, listing types of disabilities:  autoimmune, chronic pain, dietary, neurological, psychiatric, and multiple chemical sensitivity.  That was pretty eye-opening to me, to read some of the conditions listed under these different disabilities.  Let me leave you with just a bit more of their statistics cited from this article. . .

About 10% of Americans have a condition which could be considered an invisible disability.

• Nearly one in two Americans (133 million) has a chronic condition of one kind or another.^[1] According to this report, the most common chronic conditions are high blood pressure, arthritis, respiratory diseases like emphysema, and high cholesterol.

• That number is projected to increase by more than one percent per year by 2030, resulting in an estimated chronically ill population of 171 million.^[2]

• 96% of them live with an illness that is invisible. These people do not use a cane or any assistive device and may look, act, and feel perfectly healthy.^[3]

• 25% of people in the U.S. with a chronic condition have some type of activity limitation; the remaining 75% are not disabled by their chronic conditions.[4]

• 60% are between the ages of 18 and 64.^[4]

• 90% of seniors have at least one chronic disease and 77% have two or more chronic diseases.^[5]

 

I’m not really that sick, I promise

As I am still on LOA and my future employment is very much in the hands of everyone else, I am at this point not mentioning dates & specific facts lest my employer use this somehow against me.  As they say, it isn’t paranoia if it’s real!

We were having a typical weekend, preparing for our social function, when IT happened.  IT being the knowing that I am getting sick.  Now, sometimes I have to wait a few days & find out I am just a little tired.  I had been living for the weekend for months, but could no longer put my body back in order by Monday at this point.  Six months of mania had passed, and I had personally had several minor infections.  With me, however, no infection is minor & I had acted on the matter post haste.

Now it was a lovely weekend, and I knew.  Not only did I know, I knew it was a Big One.  Not only did I know it was a Big One, I already knew I would be calling in sick the following week.  This is from someone who thinks that calling in sick is a generally wimpy thing to do.  I had come in many days with more symptoms than anyone could care to imagine, and I found my coping skills to be nothing short of miraculous.  I also survived listening to The Whiner talk endlessly about her allergies.  Now, I believe very honestly that God will not give you more than you can handle, so apparently this individual who is in her 50’s can’t handle very much.  Give it a rest, already!  I’m over here typing with one hand & waiting all day to use the bathroom because I can’t walk that far to the bathroom more than once in a day.  But I digress. . .

I even contacted my physician to let him know that I was having a setback, but it was not a big deal.  I can’t remember how I figured out that if I was going to be gone more than a certain # of days it would turn into LOA.  Thankfully I learned that quckly, a case manager was assigned, and I was told to make an appointment with my physician asap. Darn it!  I thought I had gotten out of that visit quite nicely, thank you very much.

My Last Day at Work

I am writing this after a considerable amount of time off.  I recall commenting to a coworker the day prior about some weekend plans, which is very rare for me.  I have some hints of my personal life that indicate my life is uber-swell.  It is.  Painfully too swell for some around me, and to discuss how well life goes for me sometimes would be a tad annoying for those who had to endure listening to it. . . as long as that was the only side they ever heard.  That particular weekend we had some big plans, and the coworker & I had engaged in a conversation that revealed part of my personality and general financial condition that I generally choose not to let others see.  Lift others up, don’t make them feel defeated. 

I was surrounded by people who had either made poor choices in life or felt they had been dealt a raw deal in life.  I believe that life is what you make of it.  I’ve watched family members squander away money that others could only dream of having one day, and I’ve seen other family members rejoice that someone came to visit them.  I call it an Attitude of Gratitude.

Needless to say, no one at my office had a hint that I had a chronic illness except for a few individuals that it was necessary to inform.  I was doing well physically, thankful for a job that I truly loved, and expected to retire there.  I was looking forward to the weekend, as the months upon months of overtime were wearing me out.  Many people had had all kinds of illnesses, as one would expect.  I found symptoms building slowing over time, felt I was managing them within the confines necessary to maintain my employment, but the demands kept building each month.

Nevertheless, I left on a Friday with who knows what at my desk.  We aren’t a company that gets worked up over personal security, although there is a place to lock items up.  I would do that if I knew I weren’t returning for many months.  As it was, I don’t remember anything about the last time I left work.

Hello world!

So why did I start writing this blog?  Do I have something to contribute that someone else in the universe hasn’t already written?  I hope so!  The title of my blog should be an indicator. . .

I was diagnosed with a chronic illness many years ago (which I think I will disclose at a later date) that has always been manageable.  Manageable meaning I could drive, care for my family, I either worked or volunteered (should have been working to earn SS income credits, but that is for another post), but always keeping busy.

I had taken a position with a major employer.  Little did I know.  Within a few months of my arrival, one of their chief officers made national news.  He continues to do so, and it’s been a long time.  Can you say ‘featured on 20/20′ and the likes?  I thought it had nothing to do with me.  We had a transition of leadership; every company does.  It rolled right off my back.

I’ve always been the curious type, so I thought one day as the news about our company was mounting daily that perhaps I would add a post, per Google, to be notified every time they made the news. hmmm. . . Enlightening.  At the same time, you could feel the pressure mounting in our little office, far away from headquarters, like a boiling pot.  Long-time employees demoted far beneath their level of experience or relieved of duties because their position was no longer needed.  One month of mandatory overtime for other employees turned into. . . I don’t know.  That is where my story began.

I loved my job.  Everyone, I mean everyone, around me told me how much they dislike their job.  Openly, in front of managers.  Supervisors said it regularly.  Any cheerleaders we had had all had long left the football field to head to the coffee pot to commisserate together.  The oldtimers (those who had stuck it out for 3 yrs or more) would say it had always been bad, but this was the worst.  Me?  I felt like it was the job designed for me since the day I was born.  Coworkers would call me a brown-noser, and I didn’t care.  I wanted to work there forever.  My boss didn’t exactly love me, but MB (to rename the individual) didn’t seem to like a lot of people.  MB’s personal life was a complete mess, so i never took it personally.

Then the day came. . .