By Jerry Waxman
Aug. 27, 6:49 AM. Random thoughts while in the hospital waiting room as my wife is undergoing the final phase of reconstruction.
Yesterday several people I know went to Tampa to take part in a planned protest of the GOP, its candidates and its policy positions. It might have made 10 seconds on the TV news and a couple of small columns in the papers. So, what? The GOP doesn’t care. No amount of protest will have any impact on them and they are not going to change as long as they have access to big money.
What will make a difference is if the same people who spent significant time and money to get to Tampa actually went into their own local neighborhoods and started registering people to vote in positive reaction to voter suppression laws, and then getting the vote out for progressive candidates. Actions like that will have a much bigger and lasting impact on the GOP than any mere protest.
7:30 AM. She’s just been wheeled into the OR. There’s plenty of time for me to grab something to eat in the cafeteria, and then try and be busy doing something or other.
The last eighteen months have been like a nightmare. In January of 2011 her primary care physician of seventeen years informed her that he would not accept her as a patient anymore over one disputed bill which she had paid. Her Gynecologist, a year earlier told her he would accept cash but not Medicare. What I should have done is publish both SOB’s names all over the internet and I might yet do that. In early February she was rushed to the hospital and treated for five days for pneumonia and other complications. As a result of this we got another primary care physician who does accept Medicare and has a much better bedside manner. In March she was diagnosed with cancer in both breasts and her surgeon tried a lumpectomy that was mostly successful yet there was enough doubt in all of our minds as to what would happen later. She decided to schedule another surgery for a double mastectomy. It was the right choice and she has been cancer free for over a year. In April she started reconstruction and so far so good. Everything has gone off like clockwork. Today’s surgery is the final step. Hey! Did I mention that we’re on Medicare (with a good supplemental plan)? You know, Medicare, the health care plan for seniors that we’ve been paying into since its inception. Guess what? It didn’t cost us an arm and a leg; no, we didn’t have to mortgage the farm to pay any of the resulting bills (yawn). I (yawn) really ought to……zzz…snkxx..zzzzzz…..
9.15 AM. I felt the doctor robustly tapping me on the shoulder awakening me from my nap. He assured me that everything went well and that she’s going to be OK. I would be able to see her in about a half an hour.
(Big yawn) Oh, yes….where was I? Well, considering that we were paying $1400.00 per month prior to going on Medicare it certainly doesn’t make sense to go with a private insurer. We’re also both on Social Security, which is also under the gun from the GOP. This Republican caused ( and maintained) economy we’re in has reduced our business to 30% of what it was, so we’re grateful for the help; of course we both have been paying in since the late 1950s, so it’s not exactly an entitlement.
Five hospitalizations and four surgeries in eighteen months is nothing to sneeze (sic) at. Without the safety net in place I shudder to think what would have happened to us. Worse yet, what’s going to happen to our children and grandchildren in the future? That alone is reason for me to never trust a Republican. Even thinking about vouchers or privatization nauseates me. We’re supposed to provide a better life for our kids, something the current system is not allowing for.
No, the RNC Convention, platform and candidates are not anything I want to watch. The thought of Grand Nagus Mitt and Grand Inquisitor Ryan taking center stage is too much to bear. Protest if you want but it’ll get you nowhere. Go out and do something about it.
Register non voters, or canvass for campaigns. If you act you’re part of the solution: If you don’t act you’re part of the problem.
10:15 AM. “Mr. Waxman, you may see your wife now” said the nurse. She was in good spirits and ready to go home. She was discharged at 11:15 and we were home by noon.
