I just have to get this off my chest

[maxpower]

I don't post often but....I have spent three weeks in the hospital the past 6 months (I am not looking for sympathy nor do I expect any) with lower gi problems, ending up with a colon resection in November. I am recovering, slowly (again not looking for sympathy)I am lucky, I got it taken care of before I start my student teaching at 39 years old (I am starting a new career as an elementary school teacher, I love it and highly recommend it if you have the chance). My point is, because my wife has great insurance, she is a nurse at the hospital I was in this year,our medical bills were not that bad considering I have had almost $100,000 charged for my treatment. I think it is a crime that everyone does not have this same right ( I believe health care is a right for every person on this spinning rock)to quality health care regardless of their situation in life. If we can spend over a billion dollars a day for defense that kills and destroys, I think we can make sure everybody can have the access to health care. I am tired of hearing the republicans bitch and moan about "universal health care" at the same time complaining how f'd up medicare is. The irony is lost on them, they don't want a government sponsored health care system, yet expect it when they retire. Also, they complain about their social security payments. Both of these being the antithesis of the republican mindset. They want it all, but don't want to pay for it. We on the other side are willing to pay for this instead of killing and destroying. And they say we are the party that hates America. I worked as hard as I could the past 8 years to get people to open their eyes as to what is going on in this country. I converted at least a dozen people, and I continue to work at it. I just hope Obama can make headway on these issues. I am positive the republicans will do everything they can to destroy him . I live in Illinois and the gop here are scrambling to tie Obama to Blago, just like the national gop. Ain't gonna happen Point is, I can't wait for January 20th. Sorry if this is somewhat of a ramble, but like I said, I had to get things off my chest. Thanks for letting me do so. Rant off.

Peace

[uppityperson]

1. k&r and may you heal fully.

[maxpower]

2. Thanks

I appreciate it

[DebJ]

3. I just finished student teaching, and I turned 53 Friday. Wish I

had been 39! Good luck with finding a position. I'm certified for social studies 7-12.

[maxpower]

5. Happy belated birthday.

Better late than never. I can't wait to get started. Best of luck to you.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

4. if you lived in the UK you would have healthcare free at the point of use.

[maxpower]

7. I'd love to live in the UK

Are you hiring American teachers?

[Rosa Luxemburg]

19. unfortunately

I am not there. They do hire American teachers but I think you have to take the PGCE?

[baby_mouse]

37. Beware, however, take it from this brit...

...we're going seriously down the shitter over here.

[IndyOp]

43. In what respect(s)? Are there any distinguishing diffs between your shitter and ours? (n/t)

:hi:

[maxpower]

47. You can thank the Bush economic miracle Part II

His father did such a great job with the economy. Chimpy not to be outdone has left us a worse mess than Reagan/Bush. Mission Accomplished.

[Omaha Steve]

6. Get well soon

Single payer universal for ALL!

Stop by anytime.

K&R!

[maxpower]

8. Thanks Steve

I couldn't agree more. Obviously you got the point of my rant.

[texastoast]

9. Glad you are doing better

Funny how in the most "primitive" of societies, everyone in the tribe had access to the shaman. Everyone supported the shaman. Why has it become okay in this country to consider the Hippocratic Oath just window dressing, far second to profit? My own mother talked of rural doctors taking chickens for payment when a patient's family had nothing else. I guess denying patients health care is progress???

And, on a side note, since you will be teaching children, please learn to use paragraphing. It was hard to get through your read. You write like a victim of Whole Language.

[maxpower]

11. Point well taken it was a rant after all

My grandfather was a small town doctor like your mother described. I had the utmost respect for him, he never turned a patient away. He was my idol.

[texastoast]

51. Yeah, but it was a darned good rant

And may you have a speedy, complete recovery. :hi:

[maxpower]

10. Thanks everyone

This is my first post to make it to the greatest page, I am humbled.

[peace13]

12. Thanks for this.

Best wishes to you. Be sure to go out to the Obama web site and post this as 'your story'. They want to hear what Americans are going through out here. Peace, kim

[maxpower]

13. Great Idea

Will do post haste.

[navarth]

14. K & R get well soon, bro

[maxpower]

15. Thanks nav

Peace

[Jane Austin]

16. Great post, Max!

Thanks for all you've done - and get well soon!

[maxpower]

18. Thanks

Peace

[SharonAnn]

17. My husband had a resection in July, about the same price and now the shocker!

Chemotherapy for 12 treatments at over $11,000 per treatment!

Thank God he's on Medicare and has good additional coverage (Part B?).

Just think of people who have this happen (it can happen long before Medicare age) and don't have insurance. They have no chance, they'll die without the treatment.

[maxpower]

22. Good luck

My thoughts are with you. I hope he gets well.

[bertman]

20. Thanks for the rant. I loved it.

[Rhiannon12866]

21. K&R. Well said.

And so glad to hear you're on the mend... :hi:

[maxpower]

23. Thanks

I appreciate it.

[Rhiannon12866]

24. You're more than welcome!

Here's to a better year for all of us...:toast: :hi:

[me b zola]

25. Thank you

Your needs were met but you are a good person who understands that many are not so fortunate. Thank you and healing thoughts to you.

[Enthusiast]

26. I share your concern

about our screwed up health care system. Best wishes for a full recovery and excellent future health.

[nashville_brook]

27. a few years ago i contracted a MRSA infection in my spine when i went to an ER for back pain

it's a very long story that i won't retell here -- but just some tidbits. with my first stint in the hospital, even tho i had Blue Cross PPO insurance i was treated like a criminal, and was so sick i couldn't understand and react to what was going on. with a temperature of 102 and pain so intense i couldn't stand up, i was nearly forced out of the hospital by my "doctor." i was in FL and my husband was home in TN, so i was totally alone. a nurse took pity on my and gave me a shot of morphine which made it illegal to for me to leave for another 6 hours (at least that's what she said). This was to give the husband enough time to catch a plane down to FL to see to what was going on.

this is only the tip of the iceburg of my very bad experiences with being seriously sick. my point is this -- i think that the entire system is broken. i've been told that my "mistake" was going to the ER with "pain." it seems to me that every doctor in this hospital took an adversarial position with me -- as if "pain" was not a valid reason to seek medical help. the pain was so bad, i couldn't believe it was simply a herniated disc -- i thought i had a kidney infection and asked that they test for that. the ER doc said that "the only thing" he could do was give me an epidural and admit me for an MRI -- which, i thought made sense; treat the pain and figure out the cause. That's when everything went funky. he put me in the special chair for the epidural and then got in front of me with the needle, waving it, saying "are you sure you want this? it's going to hurt real baaaaad." i'm sure this is how i got the infection -- from his waving the needle around. he probably licked it, the sonofabitch.

during the nearly 6 months i was in and out of the hospital with complications to this i encountered varying levels of the same kind of bad attitude. it's like doctors (not nurses, ALL my nurses were great) have a big chip on their shoulder about providing care and especially pain therapy. i think this comes from operating in a system that turns doctors into money-making machines rather than care-givers and healers. in Michael Moore's Sicko, there's a scene with a doc in the UK who says he couldn't work in the US where treatment is meted out according to insurance companies -- that that isn't what he went to med school for. he was a doctor who still had his soul intact. i believe that the system has sucked the soul out of many otherwise good people to the point where access to insurance isn't the only problem. for the people who have insurance, the system they encounter is a sick one where healing is often lowest on the list of priorities. what i encountered repeatedly was contempt. and, i don't think doctors come into the system with this attitude. i think they are made this way in a fascist system. when only those with $$ can get care, the entire system rots from the head.

as i laid in the hospital for months, all i could think was "thank god i have insurance." as bad as it was, i might have died without it. something has to change. this is not human behavior.

[maxpower]

30. Great post

I hope you are well. I agree with you about the pain thing. I was referred to a pain management doctor who treated me like a junkie. I've never asked my doctors for any pain meds unless they suggested it. I had my Obama hat on, and immediately he starts to tell me how naive and wrong I am about things. I don't mean this in a derogatory way, but this Dr. was Russian, again I have no problem with that. I have a problem with him injecting his beliefs into my care. I have a degree in American history, and I let him have it, what America was founded on and what Obama stands for etc. And then I told him if he was make assumptions about me then I would make one about him. I told him he obviously was in medicine for the money and to make his patients feel like junkies is immoral. I told him I would deal with the pain, rather than deal with him. I never went back.

[nashville_brook]

35. when i was in high school, i saw my first gyno wearing a mondale button and got the same treatment.

i am much better now -- and try to stay as far away from doctors as possible. i have zero faith in (most of) them. i have a primary care physician who i travel 70 miles to see and she's worth every mile there and back.

[GreenPartyVoter]

28. Be healthy and good luck with student teaching. :^)

[maxpower]

32. Thanks

[KittyWampus]

29. }}}}}}}}} Healing Vibes {{{{{{{{{{

[maxpower]

31. Much appreciated

I need all the help I can get

[maxpower]

33. And one more thing

The medication I am taking would be in the hundreds of dollars a month if I didn't have coverage. This is another sin. No access to health care for all and RX costs that are unconscionable. Something needs to be done, and fast. My friend has no insurance and has been sick for months. He can't afford to go to the doctor, so he suffers. Breaks my heart.

[Toucano]

34. The current system is an indictment on America's "values". n-t

[yellerpup]

36. Thanks for speaking up.

I'm so glad you came through your surgery okay and that you have a great new beginning as a teacher awaiting you. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and welcome back to the fight. :hug: :hug: :hug:

[fizzgig]

38. excellent rant

i have been uninsured since the end of march and am scared that something is going to happen. i got tonsillitis in april and put off going to the doctor until the pain was unbearable because i couldn't afford it. when i finally went in, it cost me $100 for the visit and the antibiotics would have been $150. luckily, my doc had gave me a prescription for the same antibiotic before i lost my coverage in case i needed it.

it's a sad and maddening state of affairs when the government, as you said, can spend so much money on defense but not make sure that everyone has easy access to medical care.

i am glad that you are recovering well and good luck in your new career

eta: i am lucky, though, that my county offers low cost health care and rx assistance. i'm bipolar and take three different medications, which requires me to see my psychiatrist every couple of months, but each visit costs me only $16 and i get one of the medications free and the others i get at a reduced rate.

[Maestro]

39. Great rant!

Glad you are on the mend! You will love being an elementary school teacher. I was one for ten years. Now I am one of those nasty administrators. :)

[rhett o rick]

40. May I wish you well w/o steping on your "no sympathy" request? nm

[rhett o rick]

41. I have always supported universal health care, but I use to think that there would have to be

a monetary limit for benefits. I mean I figured that the system wouldn't be able to pay for a heart transplant for everyone. Was I wrong. bush/Paulson proved me wrong. Apparently there are untapped trillions somewhere just waiting for the asking.

[maxpower]

42. Well said

I didn't even think of that. Money over people is unfathomable to me. A very sad state of affairs.

[sandnsea]

44. Money is power

They don't care about spending the public's tax dollars, that's obvious. They only want to spend it in ways that will give them power.

[rhett o rick]

49. Agree, It's not "the money" it's the power. Money is only a means. nm

[LWolf]

45. As a long, and strong, supporter of HR 676, I hear you.

I'm glad you've made it through your health issues, and hope you will enjoy your teaching career. I was in my mid-30s when I did my student teaching; it took me all those years, working full time, going to school part time, and raising my kids, to finish the degree and get my teaching license.

I have to say that, while I've always loved teaching, I have not loved the politics and the constant demands for time and energy outside my classroom. I hope that the pendulum swings and that our profession gets better support than it has for the last decade as you begin your career.

All that said, I have to tell you that, when I read your thread title, it reminded me of getting home from work at night, where the first thing I do is "get it off my chest," lol. Probably not something you would relate to, but a common thing for some of us.

[maxpower]

46. Bravo

Well said. I have the same hopes that you have. I understand that teaching is not glorified baby sitting, as those who don't want to support public education would have us believe.

[salguine]

48. Go ahead and flame me, but even if Obama serves two full terms,

we will be no closer to national, single-payer health care in 2016 than we are now. I guarantee it.

Don't you get it? Our "healthcare" system is nothing of the kind. "Healthcare system" implies that the function of this entity is to provide health care. It is not. Its purpose is to make money. Providing healthcare actually cuts into profits, and is therefore actually the antithesis of the system. It's a little-or-no-healthcare system. And it's killing us.

The insurance companies and HMOs and pharmaceutical companies that actually run this system are never going to provide us with this inalienable right maxpower mentions. Our Senators and Congressmen are wholly owned subsidiaries of the insurance companies and HMOs and pharmaceutical companies and are concerned only with doing their bidding.

The only thing—ONLY thing—that will ever result in a proper, government sponsored single-payer healthcare system in this country will be for the people of this country to rise up in anger and remove about 95% of our Senators and Congressmen from office in a massive sweep, and make it clear that it was because of their failure to provide us with the healthcare system that is our right. Nothing short of that will work.

[maxpower]

50. Unfortunately I think you are right

The apathy of the voters assures that this will never happen. The powers that be will ensure that their interests are preserved and to hell with the rest of us.

[sandnsea]

52. yes we will, and I'll tell you why

We'll have tried the half-measure, seen that it won't work either, and finally go all the way to single payer.

[salguine]

53. I'll take that bet. I'd love nothing more than to be wrong, but I'll still take that bet.

[rhett o rick]

56. Bless you, you still are hanging on to the belief that we live in a free democracy.

Until people get it thru their heads that we aren't, we will not be able to fix the situation.

There is an American Aristocracy that owns and controls everything. The middle class still has a lot of money collectively but one good bout of hyper inflation will fix that. Obama can't do it alone and he isn't going to get any help from Congress. And you must recognize that you have no control of Congress. You can't replace an incumbent Democrat unless you vote republican. How is it going to change????

[rhett o rick]

57. I agree. But there is no mechanism for replacing our Congress-critters. The party

controls who the candidates are and you can't replace an incumbent Democrat unless you vote republican.

[salguine]

58. There is recall or removal. I'm not saying that flippantly. If you can't replace them

except with a Republican, then why not remove them? Most states have provisions for such circumstances.

Bear in mind, I'm not holding up recall itself as an end or a solution, because in the inevitable electoral free-for-all that would invariably follow, Lord knows what the replacement would end up being. Some Hollywood action hero, probably. But it might be the one thing that would actually get the attention of most politicians. They don't fear being ousted at the ballot box, not in a political system with a 98% return rate for incumbents. But if they thought the voters might actually bypass the election altogether and actually pry their worthless asses out of their seats—legally—who knows what wonders it might do?

I think the recalls should start with Reid and Pelosi, myself.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

54. good luck for

a speedy recovery. Best wishes for your new career.

I agree with your sentiments. I have been without insurance and it sucks. My best girlfriend has none and she needs it. I have medical insurance and do not take it for granted.

We need to stop war and take care of our own people.

[orleans]

55. get well soon. and i know what you're saying--i agree. n/t