The joys of having health care

[elionwyr]

I started working full time, when I was maybe 19, at a company that had great benefits. I didn't take advantage of many of them in the 18 years or so I stayed there, and when I found myself jobless, benefitless, and going through a divorce..well, there were a whole bunch of things I suddenly realized I absolutely should have acted on when times were better.

That foot I broke at a haunt? Never actually got x-rayed, and now I've started feeling evidence of arthritis. Beauregard the Benign Tumour? Let's try really hard to not think about him, ok? And teeth? Well..the last time I thought I had a cavity, it was an ear ache, so maybe all the little bits of almost-augh-pain is the same sort of thing, yes?

Like too many other people, I just dealt with health crap on my own. Swine flu? Walking pneumonia? Who needs a damn doctor? Shake it off, man.

It is, of course, ridiculous that I have a job with benefits and have only now started taking advantage of them. Much of that us because of fear. Beauregard went for over ten years without being checked. I was friggin' terrified over the maybe-time bomb ticking away in my kidney. At 43, I might be peri menopausal. I needed a mammogram (or so I was told). I'm fair skinned, so heeeey I need a skin cancer scan. And I sure as hell need bifocals.

And my honey kept poking me about stuff..mostly the dentist.

The biggest reason I finally went through these five months of tests and exams and scans was..I should say its because I'm something like an adult. If I'm paying for insurance, I should damn well use it. I confess that each exam has been terrifying. (The only one I panicked my way mostly out of was the skin check. I'm simply too modest. I couldn't let a set of three doctors look at me so closely.)

But I really wanted to know if there was a reason for the terror. I want to have as many years as possible with Bones. I don't know if there will be a pause before I can't insurance for me - for us - and if Beauregard needed a car scan (and he did) I needed to do it now when the cost was $25 and not thousands more.

Knowing that, at the end, there was really nothing to worry about except taking better care of my teeth because my goodness, tartar sucks..I praise my peasant ancestors, I do I do. (Not that I really know they were, but I'm assuming a lot.)

Now if I could tame my waterpik so it'll stop shooting me in the eye, that would be great. Because I promise you, Gentle Reader...that shit hurts .

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Comments

[perseph12.livejournal.com]

I am sending so much sympathy across the miles, honey. First of all, on-going dental issues are, to put it mildly, the worst. Even with benefits, shit gets real (expensive) real fast. Plus, it's an uncomfortable experience every time.

Second of all, I hope you have as much time on this plane and with Bones as you can get. You deserve that much...*Hugs*