Doctor, doctor, read all about it.

[jackshoegazer]

Hey everybody, I'm radioactive!

I had a CAT scan done today, so not only was I bombarded by somewhere between 1,000 to 10,000 millirems of radiation (At the end of WWII, Japanese people who were 1 mile from ground zero received only 3,000 millirems of radiation, on average), but I was also injected with a lovely contract agent which makes one feel all warm and tingly, like you've just broken out into a fever.  What they don't tell you is a lot of that warmth centers around your anus, so it feels like you just shit yourself.  Good times.

I have an ultrasound of my chest next Wednesday and my vascular doctor and I will sit down, look at the results of both scans and see what we can do about my odd bloodflow issues.  God, having insurance is great.  The only thing better?  Free nationalized health care.  Yeah, I said it.

You know what, it's not free.  It's paid for with taxpayer money.  Yeah.  So when people want to jump on Hillary's shit for talking about mandates for people to have health care, yeah, it's a start and it's the only way to make sure everyone is covered.  Until we can get the damned insurance companies out of the way.  Until then, holy shit do I love insurance.  Do you know how much a CAT scan costs?  About $500.

Comments

[mlfoley.livejournal.com]

But can you glow in the dark?

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

I think under blacklight my pee will blind you like a magnesium flash.

[zm-dawg.livejournal.com]

Free nationalized health care.

Waiting lists are such a bitch though that most people go private and there ends up being a two-tier system of healthcare with the less-well off people getting a second-rate service.

I love the NHS and would hate to have an entirely privatised service but it's not as perfect as Michael Moore says.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

I assumed that nothing is perfect and never will be, but it is seriously a LOT better than what's going on over here.

[antarcticlust.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but we still have waiting lists AND many people don't get health care, or those with insurance can't get coverage because the insurance companies find ways of weaseling out.

[ladytinkerbelle.livejournal.com]

it's interesting that you're talking about health insurance here. i just participated in a focus group on health insurance and the first thing someone said was "socialized health care" in response to "how do we fix the health care issues in America?" you're lucky you can afford good insurance. right now i'm fighting with shitty insurance because i missed open enrollment for the better one. *sigh* someday.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

I get my insurance through my job as a taxi driver (one of the only cab companies (a worker-owned co-op)in the world to offer insurance) and it's pretty decent. My insurance is also a not-for-profit co-op, so in general the costs are low comparatively. I pay a $10 co-pay for office visits and $6 for prescriptions. Of course, I have to keep my job and work at least 27 hours per week and even then, it's something like $150 a month out of my wages. I still can't afford to add my son to my insurance and that reminds me, I need to apply to the new socialized kid's health insurance program that just started here in Wisconsin.

[blackdreams.livejournal.com]

You needed the Cat Scan to figure out the bloodflow issues? Wow.
Did something happen? (If you don't mind my asking)

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Nothing happened. Well it did back in 2001 when I found out I have a little nickel-sized ball of scar tissue pressing on my superior vena cava, so I have to get the occasional CT to see how things are developing.

[blackdreams.livejournal.com]

Oh, no I knew about that. I didn't knew you had to do that as a regular thing to check up on it. That can't be fun.

[katachthonios.livejournal.com]

I will concede that Hillary's plan is more widely covering, but that doesn't make me like her any more. Knowing her ties to BigHealthCo, I'm hesitant to trust that she's planning to tear them down any time soon.

[Not that the health care plans of the candidates really dictate anything; in theory, Congress could put the Edwards plan through to President Clibama, the genetically-engineered hybrid candidate.]

And what? No barium enema?

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

It's sort of sad because during the first Clinton term, she really did push for true nationalized health care, but was crushed by Republicans and the insurance companies.

No enema. They are looking at veins and arteries, so no need to see my bowels, thank god.