From Steve Wilmarth, China Mojo’s fearless leader.
Since returning from China, I’ve discovered that I may have the Swine Flu.
Haven’t had it confirmed. All the symptoms… a serious flu, more serious than anything I’ve had in years. But it makes for a pretty comical story.
I have a clinic just down the street from the house. On Sunday, I took a quick ride over to the clinic to “turn myself in,” figuring it was my civic duty. After all, I’ve got 2 high school kids living with me. If it’s H1N1 and they show up at school with symtpms like I have, that’s sufficient to close down the town’s school system.
The clinic refused to “test” me for H1N1. They were willing to check me into the emergency room for $300 (I’ve got a high deductible on my health insurance), but I wasn’t there for “emergency” treatment. I just figured someone in the health care system ought to know, given that the WHO has declared a global pandemic.
No dice. Nurse Ratched says I have to go see my doctor, and “No, the clinic doesn’t give a rat’s %#&@ if I’ve contracted H1N1. The Clinic isn’t in the charity business, you know.” So, I called my Primary Care Physician under my HMO, and he can fit me in on Thursday, and oh by the way, his office is half way across the state.
Now, the school sent home a general notice with the kids saying that if anyone has the flu, they should “stay indoors, rest, drink lots of fluids, wash their hands, and generally avoid sneezing on people for a week.” (There’s one confirmed case of H1N1 in the middle school.) If that’s the prescription my GP is going to give me – stay home, get some rest, drink lots of fluids, wash my hands, and don’t sneeze on people, I’ll skip it. I’m camped out on the couch, waiting for the thing to pass or get so bad they need to send an ambulance.
I find this all very ironic… comically ironic, compared to the “heightened state of awareness” we encountered in China and the “mobilization of resources” to try to limit the spread of the disease and it’s possible mutation into something more serious.. What do you suppose the response would have been if Yajuan had discovered my temperature was over 99 degrees?
Currently, there’s a health care debate going on in the halls of Congress and at our CT State Capital. (CT is the “Insurance Capital” of the world! Woohoo!) We like to think we’re a highly evolved society here in the good old USA, but I think this situation is nuts. Even Ken Kesey’s twisted mind would have had trouble wrapping around this one. I may or may not have H1N1, but damned if anyone in this system really wants to know.
I’m going back to the couch with my hot, sweet fruit tea and read the Tweets out of Iran.
-Steve
