medicalworld

in one day i got a deposit and a withdrawal for my blood account. i had radioactive glucose added for a pet scan and gave up some blood from the other arm for various diagnostic stuff. didn't faint. didn't even blink. i think i received in my right arm and gave from my left. this was prep for meeting with the oncologist to wrap up this chapter of healthcare.

also.... SUNSHINE!!!!

in sickness and in health

thank you all who left such encouraging comments on the previous post about our blogname uncertainty. we are not worthy. (that's a "wayne's world" reference, google it)
our garden here in sunny (so far) capitola. that's a mix of various lettuces planted about 4 weeks ago.

i've been trying to compose a grand epic narrative of my recent health challenge. feh, as they say on the internet. or is it meh? other people we know have much worse health problems than i had, and still others have no insurance for even minor problems. i am well now. i got excellent care at santa cruz medical clinic and sutter hospital. robin and i marveled at the poise and equanimity of the the receptionists, nurses, physician's assistants, and doctors who deal with people in my condition or worse all day, or shift, long. waiting rooms full of pain and infection.

i did pass out from pain (a story for another post) and i did have an abscess that would have been much more serious if untreated, but i got proper diagnosis, including a ct scan, and treatment, on short notice. i took heavy duty antibiotics, cipro and flagyl, for 10 days. my malady was, in the scale of maladies, a simple infection, even if in a secluded place--the wall of my lower colon. this care was paid for (mostly, we haven't gotten bills yet) by medicare and some sort of supplemental from robin's retirement insurance package. we did not have to hesitate to consider money. too many others are not so fortunate. robin reminds me that i remarked, somewhere in the middle of a painful day, that i felt guilty that i was so well taken care of while i knew that so many were not.

somewhere in the past i read of the notion that the strength of a nation, especially a democracy, depended on a healthy and well-educated populace. there was probably mention of fiscal responsibility too. am i un-american to notice and point out that our country isn't doing very well in all three of those areas?

Tidbits of the First Days of Summer

The sun finally came out. Three days of it. Every bud, leaf, blade, and flower relaxed and drank it in. We've been out weeding, whacking, mowing, and clipping. Almost nothing is safe from our wild ministrations to tame the place.
All day long the swallow chicks chirp and cheep from inside the nest boxes. That, more than anything else, is the sound we hear when we are outside, and even inside when the windows are open. They are alternately demanding and satisfied, over and over they tell us their story. Their parents fly in and out, in and out feeding them on the hapless insects that have been enticed out by the sun.
We did get to take a long minus-tide walk on Tuesday. A four-mile loop around and through Fort Worden. It was the kind of day with a double halo around the sun and ospreys flying straight out over the water looking for food. We know in many ways it doesn't get any better than this.
But we also know it gets much worse. We watched Michael Moore's Sicko. It is such a profoundly good documentary that it takes my breath away. It makes me more ashamed of our country than I was before, and I was already pretty damned ashamed. It is a stunning look at our health care system and shows indisputably that the insurance industry exists to take our premiums and work tirelessly to give the very least in return. The entire system is geared toward denying benefits, with a shitload of employees who spend their time poring over records to find a single thread to thwart a claim. How can this possibly be a definition of health care? That we live in fear of illness, not because of its toll on our bodies, but because of the expense?
Moore goes to Canada, England, and France to talk to people about their experience with health care. Everyone he speaks with seems quite content with their national systems. No matter what, they don't really ever have to worry. Imagine that--No worries, and for less money than we spend.

Isn't it time for a revolution in this country? What will it take to get us off of our butts and out into the streets? What?

IT'S GOOD PLANETS WEEKEND!!

Hey, don't forget to send your Good Planets photos to susannah AT dccnet DOT com. The theme for this weekend is fragility and durability. Please send your beautiful photos by Friday.

Thanks everyone, and have a great weekend.