HOPE AND CARE

I know it's controversial, but I've believed in the possibility of health care for all for a while now. Here is an essay I wrote that aired in San Francisco in 2008. I'm so glad such daring progress was made this weekend - and that we're taking the leap.

SWINE FLU AND OTHER BUGS THAT NEED A CURE

That poor little boy in Texas. Two years old, from Mexico. I feel awful for his grieving parents, for his grieving and frightened community. What a tragedy.

With Swine Flu possibly sweeping the globe, his fate - and the fates of everyone else potentially infected - is in the forefronts of our minds. The spread of Swine Flu not only brings up the vulnerability we have as human beings who can catch disease from each other, it also brings up a glitch in our current health care system.

A couple springs ago I wrote an essay that aired on the radio, about a life-threatening experience we had with Aubrey in the hospital. With her health and welfare hanging in the balance, and no money in the bank to afford medical bills, we were able to get free emergency and hospital care, thanks to our government.

That experience taught me that I believe all children - and really, all people - deserve access to health care, without the fear that they'll be sent into financial ruin.

That experience helped me personally understand these significant glitches in our current system:

*Studies show that when people wait to see if they can get by without paying a doctor, waiting and hoping the health condition will blow over, they actually end up spending more of their money - or the public's - by using the Emergency Room when the condition worsens. All people need to be able to see a doctor without fearing financial ruin.

*50% of all employed Americans don't have sick days. That means a lot of people are going to work while they're sick, and spreading infections. All people need "sick days" so this sad and ridiculous practice can end.

I just found out that insurance companies are backing a conservative push to avoid nationalized health care. I think this is a huge mistake. I'm not picking on conservatives here, I'm actually furious that insurance companies are pulling the strings -- I'm asking that conservatives look at how our current health care system still leaves poor people poor and without access to a basic human right to seek and obtain health care for the ailing; it also leaves the middle class in a bind, paying out of pocket or going into debt beyond their means.

I know for a fact that most dental student families while we were at UoP utilized California's health care benefits for their children and for pregnant mothers -- where would they have been without this?

Our government is seeking solutions to a crazy problem in America, and to let insurance companies set the tone seems ridiculous to me. We need to take care of each other. We need to care. We need to make sure everyone gets a fair shake - at least in the area of health care, a basic human need.

And, if that's not self-focused enough, people should at least look at it in terms of self-interest: do we really want co-workers coming to work with a fever, or food-handlers serving meals with a cold, or cashiers handing out change if they're at work because they can't take a sick day?

The current national health care dilemma hasn't been adequately resolved. Why don't we give this administration a chance to put the brightest minds, the most experienced people on it? Why kowtow to insurance companies? Why not try a solution that gives everyone access to the health care they deserve - regardless of economic or other status?

SISTER STAIRWELL

A rustling sound
Sunday night at 10:30, Mick was asleep and I was using the computer in our bedroom, when I heard a rustling in the hallway. I wasn't sure which kid it was, so I called out something like, "Hey... Dane? Aubs? Who's out there?"

The next thing I hear is Aubrey FALLING DOWN OUR STAIRS.

I leaped out of bed -- Mick did, too, even in his grogginess -- and bolted down the stairs to find Aubrey standing, crying, disoriented, with a quickly swelling nose.

She wrapped herself around me, nose bleeding, just sobbing. I think she was still half-asleep, too.

Trip to the E.R.
I took her to the Ashland Hospital E.R. where they checked her over for broken bones, a concussion, and possible kidney damage (the chance of that looked really slim, but she had a small abrasion/bruise on her back in that region, so they just covered that base). I have to say, it was unnerving to discuss whether or not to do a CT scan to test for a concussion - with Natasha Richardson on the cover of PEOPLE magazine hanging in the magazine rack right next to us.

Aubs was pretty unsettled that whole time, crying unless she was asleep. But I had to mostly keep her awake until 1 a.m. when we were finally cleared to leave. After that, she slept next to me at home and I had to wake her for a response every hour to make sure she didn't have a concussion.

What exactly happened?
Aubrey tried to remember the event, but mostly she says she remembers just that the hall was poorly lit (yes, we're leaving MUCH more light on now IN the bathroom) and that she thought she was turning into the bathroom doorway - but basically went an extra step and turned down the stairwell (yes, we're getting a gate from a friend tomorrow). She doesn't remember falling, and doesn't really remember me carrying her upstairs to get a good look at her. She DID seem really groggy and sleepy.

Sleepwalkers
She and I are hard sleepers. My college roommates used to get a kick out of talking to me when I'd randomly wander out into the living room holding two different shoes in my hands and asking where everyone from the party was. I used to wake up COMPLETELY disoriented in that moment, with a a couple of creepy roomies howling at me. Mick likes to raz me, too, when I sleep walk and talk to him, asking him questions that have no basis in reality.

Oh, yeah, the stairs...
At least 12 stairs, hard wood with a not-so-soft secured runner, and a stone tile landing at the bottom. You can actually see now on Aubrey's nose where a line/bruise crosses her bridge -- probably where she actually contacted a stair. Poor girl...

It could've been so much worse.

FIRST INTERVIEW

One of my new friends here in Ashland, Jennifer Margulis, is an accomplished writer. And I mean accomplished: she's published a couple books, was a Fulbright scholar, and has written articles for the likes of The New York Times and The Smithsonian.

Imagine my surprise then when she wanted to interview me for her website. I didn't think about it too long, though, and decided to just jump right on board. You can read the interview here. She says you should feel free to comment.

Testify

Last Spring when Aubrey was in the hospital for a brutal kidney infection, I wrote about the experience from the standpoint of a parent grateful for state medical coverage. Many of you have seen this -- I posted it here as a long blog, on the Writing Mamas blogsite, and at MomsRising.org. Later, I shortened it, and submitted it to San Francisco's NPR affiliate, KQED, and it aired on Monday, February 11th.

MomsRising.org forwarded the story to the Children's Defense Fund (CDF), and, since then, I've been working with them as an advocate for insuring all children.

Earlier this week the CDF asked me to testify at a State Senate Budget Hearing on Monday April 7th at the capitol (that's Sacramento, for you out-of-staters).

Schwarzenegger's proposal would require poor families to apply for Medi-Cal every three months. Right now, it's once a year. Every three months is preposterous. Think of the bureaucracy, how this will inundate poor families with extra paperwork, and how this will inundate government workers with the same. This seems like a cruel way to whittle down the number of children receiving medical coverage .

You can read about it more extensively at this website The 100% Campaign, where the goal is to get every child in California -- and ultimately in the nation -- medically insured.

I'm pretty nervous to testify -- there'll be a lot of people there, and, dare I say, a lot of movers and shakers. However, when I take a deep breath and think about it, I know this issue matters. I know I can take a stand on this significant public issue. I can also have a voice in our democracy.

I have a conference call this afternoon with the CDF and some other organizations to prepare myself. I'll keep you posted.

ANOTHER KQED PERSPECTIVES PIECE TO AIR

If you're in the Bay Area, turn your dial to 88.5 fm on Monday the 11th!

My 2-minute essay, "Emergency," will air at 6:07 am, 7:37 am, and 11:33 pm; there will also be a weekend repeat on Saturday at 8:37 am.

If you are not in the Bay Area, but want to listen, go to KQED's archives page and listen to it any time after Monday morning via the web.

This is a refined version of what I wrote about Aubrey's hospitalization last spring. It turns out to be a timely piece, considering current state and national efforts to find a way to provide health insurance for all children.

I sent momsrising.org (an organization started by the founders of moveon.org) a copy of this and they've got my/our story on their site; they also sent my essay on to the Children's Defense Fund and they're using this story to present cases to legislators as they work toward attaining health insurance for all children.

Just at the bottom of this post are some "Labels." Click on the blue links "hospital" and "Joan Blades" to find out more about Aubrey's hospital ordeal last year and to see Joan Blades and learn about her activism. These are posts from March '07. You just have to scroll down past this post after you click on them.


*Soon I'll post Christmas, January, Soapstone, Birthday, etc., pictures and updates. Have to get that dialed in though with the camera...