Shout Outs

In what is probably my last blog post for five or six days, let me start with a shout out to my friend Bruce for taking my 1978 Porsche 911SC out yesterday for a nice work out. With Terry busy running errands in our SAAB and walking the dog, our (mostly my) buggy has been neglected, and cars need to be driven from time to time.

I have to give myself a pat on the back for thinking of Bruce, a sports car owner and former professional driver (okay - cab, not race car, but still). So it was a win-win situation. He had a good time throwing my baby around some corners up in the hills, and bringing it up to some high speeds on the freeway.

He’ll be available again, though Terry, who can enjoy driving and drives well, seems fired up now herself after hearing Bruce’s description and my reaction to the outing.

Next, I want to give an even larger shout out (sorry, Bruce) to the late Lyndon Baines Johnson and the 89th Congress for creating Medicare. I could pontificate quite a bit about this topic, but let me give one example. 

When Terry was diagnosed with uterine cancer four years ago, we were under 65 and still with her office’s health plan. It was a good plan, but was organized like others - i.e. you had to keep everything within your group.

Now in the last few decades more and more surgeons are using scopes to do operations. Instead of slicing you open they cut various small holes in you, stick in an LED light and specially made skinny little instruments on skinny little arms. Then, with their eyes glued to a high-def t.v. screen rather than looking down at the patient, they do their thing. To remove items larger than the holes (e.g. a uterus), they just slice em up and suck em out.

Unfortunately, no surgeon in Terry’s group plan could do this type of laparoscopic surgery. The plan would pay for a traditional operation, but wouldn't pay the laparoscopic surgeon we tracked down because she wasn't in the group. We ended up paying out of pocket for the operation. Our plan did pay for Terry's one night hospital stay (as opposed to five nights required after traditional surgery). This wouldn’t have been an issue with Medicare, so thanks y'all. 

So I'm ready to check in tomorrow, fantasizing about an i.v. with a steady supply of fluids, anti-nausea meds, and pain killers, and avoiding thinking about the bigger picture (i.e. what are my chances). Terry will be emailing with updates and I hope and expect to be online here again before too long.