Again? Yes, again. Since I find this subject so horrendous, and I know a lot of other people are in the same boat, I thought I'd share.
I was doing some online research over the weekend, and I've decided
not to get health insurance. I don't know much about it, and I didn't want to believe what I was reading. My thoughts were,
How can this be legal?Here's what I found at the Artists' Health Insurance Resource Center, on
How to Get Affordable Health Care in Florida:
"If you buy insurance as an individual (i.e., not through your employer, union, small business plan or another type of group)
you are not guaranteed the right to health insurance in Florida. Private insurers can refuse to sell you insurance because of your health status, or exclude a pre-existing condition from coverage, or charge you a higher premium based on your age, gender, or pre-existing medical condition."
I think I read that paragraph about a hundred times. Then I thought, "If I try to get health insurance, and I have to tell them my reasoning-- that I need to find out what's wrong with my sinuses --might they be inclined to deny me because it's a pre-existing medical condition?"
And what sense does that make? I thought health insurance was for people who need medical help? Which means everyone, really, because at some point in our lives, we all need medical help.
Now, I could be wrong, but what I'm seeing is companies that favor healthy people, because they know they won't have to pay as much. The healthy person who has insurance is less likely to get sick, so they pay less. Meanwhile, the sick person, who is older, and not as physically adept, has to pay much more money, while they're already paying for everything else. And to top it off, their health insurance could decide to drop them at any time, and it could be right before a very important surgery. If I'm about to get surgery, I don't want to have to worry that my health insurance provider might suddenly get cold feet!
That being said,
I now have a theory about what might be causing my severe sinus problems. I mentioned them in my last post; many of my friends and family know about my problem. My sinus headaches are excruciatingly painful, and can last anywhere between an hour to five hours. The longer the duration, the more likely the sinus headache will return the following day, or hours later. The more painful it is, the more likely I am to lose my lunch, as it were; the pain makes me feel severely sick to the stomach.
Today, I was in bed all day, in
extreme pain, and trying to wait it out. I've often despaired at the fact that I can't afford health insurance, because although my sinus headaches are the only health problem I've ever faced, they are the worst, and I wouldn't wish this kind of pain on anyone.
Then I started reading about
nasal septum deviation.
"It is most frequently caused by impact trauma, such as by a blow to the face. It can also be a congenital disorder, caused by compression of the nose during childbirth."
Here's a photo of a septum deviation, from
Wikipedia:
I read that up to 80% of the population may have a septum deviation without even knowing it. Apparently, it's quite common. This makes me think. This could have happened to me in birth, but it also could have happened when I was two years old.
My dad didn't put a railing on the stairway right away; he was in the process of building the house. When I was little, I fell down those stairs and slammed the left side of my face on the corner of an oak step. I still have a dent in my face that is visible when I smile. After I figured out that the pain was in my sinuses-- which wasn't until high school --I realized that I had been getting sinus pain since elementary school, or earlier. I gave up on ever fixing it, and reluctantly decided that I might be "sick forever." I barely remember a time when I didn't blow my nose constantly, when I could still breathe well, and that was a very long time ago. Now I have trouble breathing, and my sense of smell is dulled. People are always asking me if I have a cold. My continuous reply: "I have bad sinuses."
If this is my problem, which I strongly believe it is, the surgery is roughly two-thousand dollars. Recovery is supposed to be very uncomfortable and painful, because the bones in the nose have to set.
Would I do it? Yes. Two weeks of recovery, pain, and discomfort is well worth it if I can go the rest of my life without these debilitating sinus headaches. I cannot take it anymore. Health insurance be darned! I'll gladly go up to my ears in debt if it means getting rid of these sinus headaches. Even as I sit here typing, I can feel the pressure. It takes hours, entire days, of my life away from me. I can't handle it anymore. Time to visit the health clinic!
Comments (2)