September 2,2013 I leave to trek the Camino de Santiago in Spain. It actually begins in St Jean Pied de Port , France. Well, for me it Starts at Corpus Christi Texas, USA. Preparations began some time ago and there the troubling scenarios began.
The first thing was the company I retired from informed me that I could no-longer receive fully paid medical benefits as I had been promised for taking early retirement. Recent legislation (Obamacare) makes that unfair. Thank God I am on Medicare. Supplemental insurance is expensive, especially when you plan to travel out of country.
I am thinking before I go further with this, you need to know that I am a registered Democrat and that in 2008 I voted for the sitting president. I thought he was the best choice. He sure was a great talker. I just couldn’t see the puppet strings.
Puppet Master
Okay move on. Part of my Pilgrimage preparations was a thorough physical. A tiny spot on my neck turned out to be cancer (Basal Cell Carcinoma) . Five spots actually. Treatment starts and then I am informed that my Dermatologist now accepts CASH or Credit cards only. Sorry, no longer accepting insurance. I said I would have to change Doctors and she said, “Good Luck”. Hmmm, Found only one doctor that would take insurance, but they said, “Sorry, not accepting any new patients”. Fun !
The next problem, Blood tests are in. Everything is great except for my PSA was elevated. My GP says my Prostate is enlarged. Off to a Urologist. No fun there. “We need to do a Biopsy” . Oh boy, So there I am lying in this contraption that I need not describe when my Doctor says, “It’s a good thing you are having this done now”. I thought I was about to hear the early detection spiel. He says that effective 1/1/2014, he will have to submit paper work to a board to approve or disapprove a biopsy for me. So? He tells me that he sees ~50 patients a day. 80% will need some sort of procedure. Paperwork submitted for each patient.. Hire more help? He said there are 100+ doctors in his complex all submitting requests. He says, the “board” will be overwhelmed the first week. How long will it take fo get approvals? He thinks it will be a “Rubber stamp” decision.
So my biopsys come back negative , all 6. Diagnosis, BPH. The treatment? Meds the rest of my life or a procedure called Prostiva RF that reduces the Prostate size. Doc says it is a certainty that this treatment will be difficult or impossible to be approved. I have completed the treatment and it was quite painless, so no meds needed.
I asked what he thought about the Obamacare package? he said there are 15,000 pages of legislation that apply. He said, (as close as I can remember) “Who do you think wrote this stuff? I would like to know myself. It surely was not our President” Then he told me he is considering closing his shop. Nice.
Last night I am watching the president proclaim his new thing, the war on coal burning. Maybe a good idea if the other 99% of the countries in the world would participate. Not going to happen. We are the laughing stock of the world. Think I am kidding? In prep for travel, I have started watching Euro-News. A whole new perspective about our country. and I can’t find where to argue with them. So the prez continues “The Special interest groups will tell you this is a bad thing”. This is much different from the “Special Interests” that think medical reform is a GOOD thing.
I remember the promises made in 2008 that were so exciting , even to me. Thanks to places like YOUTUBE, Denials are impossible.
Remember the National debt promises? Trillions and Trillions of Dollars in debt. My poor grandkids are going to see a depression that will make the “Great Depession’ pale by comparisson. Instead of our leaders saying , Holy %$^ we have to stop the spending! We hear the #1 priority is to stop burning coal…………….Go figure…
Well, I am certain I have lost some of my followers, but that’s how I feel. Go ahead blast away…………..It’s a free country,,,, well, sort of……….
That reminds me, my cousin that lives in Michigan , Is such a believer in the Democratic party, that everything from them is the truth anything else is blasphemy. Lord help you if you should dare listen to the FOX news channel. It is so bad, he even said someone should shoot George W, Bush. I guess Homeland security wasn’t reading my mail then. Well that was okay, the first Ammendment protects him. However, the first time I questioned my voting skills, This when Nancy Pelosi said we would learn what was in the law AFTER it became law. I told him Obama, Pelosi and Reid were “3 Blind Mice”. he informed me that I am a RACIST ! No 1st ammendment rights for me…
Oh well, freedom of the Press !!!!!! I feel better. With luck and Faith, after my Pilgrimage , I will be more tolerant of dumb things in our world and just turn the other cheek. Then again, by definition, that is the Silent Majority !! So Speak up, give it to me.
God’s Blessings and
Buen Camino
trekker2013's Blog 