TGIF

I am feeling very fortunate today to be of native American ancestry as it may be what saves me in today's health care crisis. I spent the morning yesterday at the Pottawatomie Health Clinic taking my first class in diabetes management. I had every test done from blood work to pedicure (this is important to diabetics) as I learned yesterday. Our group met for an hour with a dietitian followed by an hour with the RN in charge of the diabetes education program. The clinic is as modern as any health facility I have ever gone to and next door is a complete wellness center. The wellness center has state-of-the-art equipment including fitness equipment, indoor track and swimming pool, plus aerobics classrooms...it is great! I get all my blood testing equipment and testing strips for free and all of this without having to worry about cost. What a relief. I am also fortunate to have health insurance provided by the state as I am a state employee but with the rising cost of co-pays it will soon be too expensive to go to the doctor even with insurance. Our co-pays are going to double in January and our prescription co-pays are increasing as well. For lower paid employees it will really impact their decision to go to the doctor as a routine visit with a prescription will be a minimum of $90.00 to $100.00. So much for preventive medicine! Even though it is a 45 minute to an hour drive to the Pottawatomie Clinic it is worth the drive. Everything is free to me even my prescriptions. I just wish everyone had access to such fine care.

Ron had his 2 week follow-up visit yesterday as well. He will have a PET scan in 6 months. The doctor told him he has a 50/50 chance of the cancer returning and if it does it will most likely be in the liver since that is the direction in which the tumor was growing. The only other recommendation was for Ron to lose some weight. Ron has such an optimistic attitude I know that will help him cope with everything.

When I was at the clinic yesterday my doctor also recommended I get counseling (also offered for free) and she wanted me to consider medication as well. I told her I wanted to wait and see if getting my diet worked out and blood sugar under control would all make me feel better and cope better. I think I feel guilty that I'm having such a hard time with Ron's cancer. Much harder time than he seems to be having. Some how that feels selfish on my part. I can't bare the thought I losing him and when I think about the possibility I just have a melt down. Here he is the one who has lost a kidney and must deal with this every day and I'm thinking about my own possibility of loss. Doesn't seem right! Maybe I do need a little therapy....we'll see! I do know that getting healthy will help as well.