The Hidden Costs of Our Health Care System

I first became sick almost 2 years ago. I had fluid in my lungs, and a constant earache. I was dizzy and disoriented, too much so to continue working. I experienced periods of severe hearing loss. I was treated as for pneumonia, with antibiotics. I was put through three courses of different antibiotics with no relief.

Because I had no insurance, and was paying my own expenses, no testing was done. My symptoms lasted over 4 months. No clear diagnosis was given. No follow-up appointments were scheduled. Each time I returned to the doctor seeking treatment, I was billed for an office visit, even though they did nothing to relieve my pain and dizziness, so that I might return to work. I was forced to sell or give away everything I owned that would not fit into two carry-on bags, and move in with my younger sister in another state.

During a period of remission, I was able to work, and save some money. When my symptoms returned, all that money dwindled away to nothing. Again, I was sick and disabled for about 3 months. Still having no insurance, I was forced to ride it out at home in bed. If I stayed on my feet for more than 30 minutes, I became sick to my stomach, and experienced chest pains. The dizziness and disorientation, and the piercing earaches increased in intensity, until I had to lie down again.

Again, in another period of remission, I found work with a company who provided health insurance through an HMO. I thought maybe a solution was at hand. I was very wrong.

When my symptoms returned, I was again treated with the same antibiotics that didn’t work before, in spite of me telling the doctor that they did not work. No follow-up appointment was scheduled to see if I was getting better. I had to call and harass them in order to be seen by a doctor, who still has not given me a diagnosis. They scheduled a CT scan of my brain, which revealed my brain was fine. The never bothered to let me know this. I had to harass them again to get an appointment. When I got there, they had me see a neurologist. He asked me why I was there. I said, “I was told I would be given the results of my CT scan”. He said, “Oh, that was clear, so what is the problem?”. It was another dead end. He said that I should see an ear nose and throat specialist, so I went to the desk to schedule an appointment. They said they would let me know when to be in.

Three days later, I sent him an email asking about the appointment. I was sent an email saying it would be another week. Did I mention that I was disabled from working, and in constant pain? It turned out that the appointment was not to see a doctor, but for a hearing test. The soonest I can see an ENT specialist is five weeks from now.

I’m sure that by then, my employer will have had to replace me, and my insurance will end. I am broke, and will have to move into a homeless shelter if I can find a bed available. My sister cannot afford to keep her home without a roommate to help with expenses. She would try, but I will not take her down with me.

I am one more American that went from being a productive citizen, to being devastated because of a lack of affordable quality health care. I am driving a car to my appointments with bad brakes I have no money to fix, in a state of dizziness and disorientation, praying that I don’t cause an accident. I have tried to return to work, and push past the pain. I can only last an hour or two. Even with my earphones on, the sound of the machines is like an ice pick in my ears. One day I spilled a load from the forklift. Another day, I set a project on the spinning blade of a table saw, simply because I was too distracted to remember it was there. I’m risking killing or maiming myself, or others, because I have no other options.

How many like myself are working in your workplace, or driving down your streets?

Nobody knows.