NPR: Your Stories Of Being Sick Inside The U.S. Health Care System

[Elad]

To get a feeling for what being sick in America is really like, and to help us understand the findings of our poll with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health, NPR did a call-out on Facebook. We asked people to share their experiences of the health care system, and within 24 hours, we were flooded with close to 1,000 responses.

The stories, often lengthy and detailed, echoed what our poll found: Americans with recent firsthand experience of the U.S. medical system are more likely than the general public to say there are serious problems with the cost and quality of care.

From Oregon to Florida and Maine to Mississippi, Facebook respondents told wrenching tales of bankruptcies, missed diagnoses, medical errors, miscommunication and treatment that was delayed or foregone because of its cost.

.....

More at:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/05/21/153028362/your-stories-of-being-sick-inside-the-u-s-health-care-system

[emilyg]

1. Cancer surgery twice - the

care was excellent, the cost way too high.

[FSogol]

2. K & R. n/t

[freshwest]

3. Add to that the loss of employment, insurance coverage, health, family and home. And then learning..

What it means to be impoverished, stigmatized and reduced socially to the point of becoming a pariah.

And what of the fabled advantage of being born an American citizen?

Meh.

[renate]

7. is that what happened to you?

I certainly hope not--but even if it didn't, it certainly shouldn't happen to anybody, and it does.

If this is your story, I hope you're physically well now and are on your way back to financial recovery. It is just so WRONG that anybody should be hit with a financial catastrophe on top of a medical one... it is just so wrong....

[SammyWinstonJack]

10. Uniquely American...well that, and having to work multiple jobs, just to get by.

The one-percent worried about neither.

[JPZenger]

4. Recommended

[Johnny Rico]

5. I've been flying back and forth from the Cleveland Clinic for the last two months for treatement of

kidney cancer. I can't say enough good things about them so far. No complaints whatsoever, and that includes my insurance (Blue Cross/Blue Shield).

I'll be flying there in 2 weeks for a partial nephrectomy (kidney removal)...so here's hoping!

[renate]

6. I'm so glad your treatments are going so well!

It's refreshing to hear a positive review of the health-care system and I'm really happy that it's working so well for you! Good luck in two weeks!

[Bennyboy]

8. No insurance, two carcinomas.....

one, according to the free medical clinic doctor, might have metastatized into melanoma. Also carpal tunnel so bad that I haven't been able to type much (Painful right now like you would not believe) lately. Serious pain, 24 hours a day. My shoulders, from working as a tile setter are constant pain. So bad at times, I wish I didn't even have arms.

I am an IHHS worker. For My Mom who, in the past four years, has had a hip replaced, two knee surgeries and a broken femur. My hours have been cut from 60 a month to 24. [plus the inevitable 7% cut in the CA budget for 2013) In that time My Mom has required more care, not less, yet my hours are halved.

I don't work enough to qualify for the union Med program (HUGE waiting list) but too much for food stamps.

So, alarmed by my diagnosis, I applied to the CMSP program to see if they can do something about my problem. No problem treating me, BUT, I have to pay back, at a dollar for dollar amount to the county. So realistically, if this is some type of cancer, I could owe hundreds of thousands of dollars. And now in my financial situation even 20 busk is outside of my range. In fact, out of the pittance i do make the county already takes 156 dollars a month out of my pay for other things.

Last year, when the free clinic came by Sacramento, I went. Got some glasses, and was diagnosed with diabetes. Got a script but it was so short term that I only took for a little while. (Dollars are very important to day to day living right now). So I stopped talking it. This year when i went I told the doctor about the previous script, and got a years supply for cheap on two scripts but even that 20 dollars is too much for me. Also thinking about all the attendant stuff that goes along with diabetes (testing strips, the machine) is out of my range too.

So, this is what is going to happen to me. I am not going to do the CMSP thing. I don't have shit and probably wont have shit, but I am not gonna go into the debt like that. Nor am I willing to live with the county of Sacramento hounding me constantly, suspending my license, warrants etc.

So, if I make it to 65 I make it. 57 and can barely walk now so not likely.

Try to manage my diabetes as best I can. I've lost weight, cut down to no sugar by my financial situation does not allow healthy food choices really, I stopped fast food, haven't had a pizza in over a year (And MAN I AM FREAKING CRAVING ONE NOW!) haven't had any type of soda for over a year.

Mot of my friends are in different boats. Some are on SSI and have healthcare (I applied but was turned down, most due to no recent records of problems) are State Workers, cops or military all of whom have taxpayer paid healthcare.

[kas125]

9. I have to go take my dad to his oncologist in fifteen minutes. He's

saying that he is planning to tell the doctor he doesn't want treatment anymore. He's already been told that without it, his organs will shut down within two or three months and he'll die. But he is more sick of the doctor bills than the cancer and he says he just can't afford it anymore. I am hoping they can talk him into continuing, but this is the second time he's wanted to stop and I kind of doubt that they'll convince him to keep doing chemo again.

[Atman]

11. Can I chime in, too?

I had some serious foot surgery last November. Torn tendon, plus a bone chip in my ankle which needed to be shaved down, then holes drilled in my ankle bone to cause bleeding which would supposedly stimulate stem cells to rebuild cartilage (that was the GOOD option, instead of embedding screws in my ankle). Here it almost June...I'm walking with a serious limp, in pain virtually all the time. The pain is worse than before my surgery (which they said had an 85% success rate).

My surgeon's response? "Well, it looks like it didn't work. The only question now is for you to decide how much pain you're willing to put up with. I can try again, but it might not work the next time either. You have to decide whether or not living with the constant pain, and probably wearing a brace all the time, outweighs the risk of a second surgery."

I'm out THOUSANDS of dollars. The insurance company TENS OF THOUSANDS. I'm not fixed. I've essentially wasted 7 months of my life using crutches, braces, tapes, more braces, and not being able to do any of the activities I love...only to be told "shucks, sorry, it didn't work."

Could I still be made better so that I can at least WALK again, never mind ever playing volleyball or snowboarding? I have a huge deductible, like most people. I pissed away the first $5,000 for NOTHING. Now I can gamble an even larger deductible (new plan! I got laid off!) in the hopes that this time it works. In the meantime, the surgeon and the Physical Therapists and everyone else got paid...but I only got worse.

But remember what the GOP tells you...we have the BEST HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IN THE WORLD!

.

[nashville_brook]

13. omg, that's horrible...

can you see someone else and maybe try another approach. i don't know if i'd trust the first doc to get it right the second time.

i just want to encourage you to keep trying until you've got a solution that stops the pain, and allows you to get back to doing the activities you love. i've had a lot of serious pain trouble, and i know how easy it is to lose hope. you deserve to not be in pain!

[Atman]

14. I'm seeing a new PT specialist.

Everyone I've consulted says to avoid a second surgery and work PT for another year. YEAR.

Meanwhile, I can't do shit. Although I did golf last weekend...as long as I can use a cart and not walk much. It ain't snowboarding or volleyball, but at least I'm outside and moving!

.

[marions ghost]

12. People are buying penicillin for animals

at the feed store rather than going to a doctor.

This is what we've come to. So many people suffering. Nobody in government really cares.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

15. Horrible wait for radiation treatment

told that you are not covered.