Health Scare

I am slightly irritated when people say in response to bad news, "Well, at least you have your health." It's true, though. Not much else matters if that fails.

J and I are hypochondriacs with addictions to Mayo Clinic's website and webmd. Terribly unhealthy, because their symptom checker makes a runny nose out to be cancer, but it's our hobby. This is also an undesirable trait that we will undoubtedly pass onto our children, but I'm hoping that one of them will become a doctor just so I have someone who will take my many calls about my sniffles in my old age. My hypochonria comes from my experience with my dad who died of lung cancer when I was 20. When I was 16, his eye started turning inward, he went to every doctor available and had a myriad of treatments before a tumor was found on his optic nerve. He had radiation and went into remission. I went to college. When I was at the end of my sophomore year, he relapsed into lung cancer, which killed him in about 7 months. This was a great tragedy for many reasons, but particularly so in our family's case, mostly because mi madre is, to say the least, an unconventional parent, and we didn't realize how weird our situation was until he died. We were lucky to have him as long as we did. J's hypochondria is a family tradition, from what I can tell, though both his parents are cancer survivors and it likely stems from those experiences.

On Friday, J woke up achy and had some swelling in some extremities. He saw a friend of the family who is a doctor on Saturday, who prescribed CIPRO, which is a heavy duty antibiotic. On Sunday, his limb pain became worse and by Monday morning, he was having a hard time gripping the toothpaste tube and couldn't pick up the babies. We stupidly and arrogantly, did not have a primary care physician. It took me a solid hour and 1/2 to find a doctor who would see us and run some tests. Yes, we thought about the ER, but given our experiences there (it's like the sick room at Ellis Island) I really wanted to at least have a doc refer us for testing. So, I finally found a reputable doctor who would see us, though she is a partner of a physician whose sister happens to be our neighbor who called ahead for us (FINDING A DOCTOR SHOULD NOT REQUIRE A PERSONAL CONNECTION FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. WHAT KIND OF WORLD ARE WE LIVING IN? I don't know what the solution to health care and providing it as a right and not a privilege is. It is VERY expensive and I do think that it is very difficult to tell people when and if they should continue treatment for chronic conditions, etc., among many, many other issues, but we should really think about this issue. Requiring hospitals to take in all indigent and underinsured patients for sinus infections in their emergency rooms does not make any sense. I know nothing about this issue other that what I read. I'm sure that I am unaware of the many problems with providing health care on a different basis other than tying it to one's job, but I do think that it is a subject that I would like to turn my advocacy talents toward. I don't know how exactly, but perhaps that's my new career. Giving that some thought.) I digress. Anyway, yesterday afternoon, with J unable to open a car door, we finally get to the doctor. She spends a good deal of time with us (Susu came to sit with the kiddos) and took blood and urine tests. To make a very long story short, he's fine and is suffering from a difficult and weird virus. Some of his tests indicated a higher enzyme than preferred in his liver, but the doctor thought that might be related to his virus. He's going back next week to be retested and to make sure that all is well.

I tell this story to update everyone but also to say that life without J would not be worth living. He made me believe in love again and gave me a family, for which I will be forever grateful. My utmost wish is that we both live a very long time and see these kiddos grow up and bounce our grandchildren on our knees. J has stayed home for 2 days with this illness, which is unheard of in his world. I don't think he's taken a sick day in the whole time we've been together. In the picture, J in his resting phase, playing his video game (Yes, he's a gamer. Sony Playstation is his current fave, I think he's into college football now. But, he only plays it after the kiddos go to bed. He calls it his alone time.)At least we have our health.