A nice guy just came in to the office; chronic back pain, probable opioid dependence by his own account, on Medicare disability. He mentioned that his back pain was due to multiple back fractures that he sustained while in the Marines as a helicopter crew chief. “We had some hard landings”.
He’s been out of work for years due to his bad back. His neurological exam was consistent with an old spinal cord injury due to his back fractures. He still gets around without a cane but he walks like a man in his late 80’s.
I wanted to tell him that Medicare is on the Republican chopping block. It is tricky talking policy and politics in the office as so many fellow citizens are so misinformed that they bristle at the thought that “their” Republican party would even consider taking away the only healthcare option they have. I am open to a discussion with any patient but if they don’t have the facts, if they only have what talk radio and conservative TV tells them, then a reasoned exchange is not possible.
I don’t know this gentleman’s party affiliation, if any. But I do know a little of his history. He looked like he was in his early 60’s. I mentioned that he must have seen some action in Vietnam.
“Yeah, at the very tail end. I was young and lied about my age to get in. I was the crew chief on the last helicopter that took folks off the roof in Saigon. We didn’t know our flight was the last flight. I don’t know how I could have looked some of those folks in the eye who were waiting on the stairs if I knew that we were leaving them behind.”
I was stunned. I remember reading about the chaos of those last days of the war. He went on to give details of the day that only one who had been there would know.
His sense of responsibility toward those in need represents the best of America.
If Republicans are successful in their plan to gut Medicaid and severely cut back Medicare, Americans like this patient will not be able to afford healthcare.
That is not right. That is un-American.