Waiting

When last I wrote, exactly eleven months ago, I was just beginning on my journey through the public health system, since I no longer have insurance.

Let's just say that it takes time, a whole lot of time to get anything accomplished.

From the time I first saw the orthopedic specialist last January, it took another three months to get an MRI and an actual diagnosis. Turns out that I have severe degenerative arthritis, and I actually qualify for a knee replacement, but I decided that I would rather try having artheroscopic surgery to clean out the debris, and wait until I get a little older to get the knee replacement.

That was probably a huge mistake.

"I'll put a star by your name, and put you on the list," said the doctor, "not that that's going to help much, because the list is very long."

So, supposedly, I was placed on the very, very long waiting list way back in April. I haven't heard a word about it since. I tried calling the number they gave me to check on my status, but the phone just rings and rrings and rrrrings and rrrrrings, and... well...you get the idea. And even when you think someone has finally answered, they immediately drop the phone back in the cradle, probably hoping that you will give up and stop annoying them with that pesky phone. And they would be right.

There are few other options to check my status, as there are no public phone numbers available to the clients/patients. I finally checked with my regular clinic health care provider, and she is trying to find out what’s up, but so far she has not been successful either.

Although I see a nurse practitioner, she is as good as any doctor I ever saw, and about 10 times more caring. I am very, very grateful for the clinic I go to. I guess one needs to be a nurturing person to work in a public health environment. In fact, every health care provider and almost all the staff I have dealt with both at the clinic and at the County Hospital have been great. On the whole I am quite impressed...except for the waiting.

I have to remind myself not to complain too much, because it's all there is for those of us who are uninsured. As our numbers increase every day, the system is becoming seriously overloaded. Which leads to waiting and more waiting...

So in between my bouts of anger that a country as wealthy as ours cannot care enough to provide a decent public health plan option for those who cannot afford insurance, I continue to be very grateful that there is at least something available out there. Meanwhile I'm hoping and waiting.

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