This has been cross-posted at Associated Content.
I receive Social Security Disability, and therefore I have subsidized Medicare. This diary is about how this fact saved my life.
In the summer of 2007 I had been suffering for some time from fatigue, which I thought came from my depression. But in August I developed painful lumps on my legs. When they had not gone away after a week, I went to my doctor. He suspected valley fever, which is caused by spores that live in the sand and get stirred up during construction or heavy winds. Valley fever usually affects the lungs, so my doctor ordered a chest x-ray. The radiologist who read the x-ray found nodules on my lung and wanted a CT scan done. After some discussion with my doctor, I decided to have this test done.
This seems fairly straightforward so far. However, it was not so simple. If I had no insurance, I might have waited longer to see the doctor; since the lumps began to go away after another week or two, I might not have seen a doctor at all. If I had gone, I probably would not have had the CT scan. This is an expensive test, and if I had to pay the full amount, or even a substantial co-payment, I could not afford to have it done. The blood test could diagnose the valley fever, and my doctor and I might have decided to watch the lung to see if the nodules grew or not before choosing to check them further. These would have been prudent decisions.
But I had the scan. Late that afternoon I got a call from the doctor's nurse. The scan had showed a fairly large growth on my kidney, and they had scheduled an abdominal CT scan for me. This happened on a Friday, so I had to wait until Monday. Needless to say, the week-end seemed very long. After this second scan, they scheduled an appointment with a urologist.
This doctor showed me the pictures from the scan and explained that I was seeing a kidney with almost no healthy tissue. He could not believe that I was having no symptoms. Most people with such tumors usually had intense back pain, and blood in their urine. The tumor looked like it was
still encapsulated, and luckily a bone scan showed no metastases. From the first CT scan to the surgery took less than six weeks, though it certainly felt much longer. I was in the hospital for twelve days; I was not getting enough oxygen because my lungs were compromised.
I was lucky. The tumor was completely encapsulated, and was therefore completely removed. I needed no radiation or chemotherapy. So far, my follow-up scans have been clear. I will be having scans every six months for five years, and every year after that.
This is a story with no ending, but so far the outcome has been happy. Government paid health insurance works. A healthy lifestyle and prevention are well and good, but the proof of any insurance is what happens when you are sick. I did not have to fight to have my insurance company pay for my care. I could make all my decisions with the doctors based on what was needed rather than what I could afford. Let me repeat that: all these decisions were made by the doctors and me rather than by an insurance bureaucrat. I would like every person in this country be able to get this kind of care when they need it. Wouldn't you?