Health care is a super complicated system if you have anything beyond the flu.

You go to your primary care doctor and he has to run you through the basic tests. Have you changed medicine? Does your family have a history of this? Have you been out of the country?

Then they test every fluid that comes out of you, but if that all comes back negative you have to go to a specialist who may or may not be available and may or may not refer you to another specialist.

Joplin is on its way to becoming a medical hub in the Midwest, but it’s definitely limited. If the condition is lasting, there can be weeks where it continues to get worse while you wait for someone to be available to look at you before passing you along to the next specialist.

The human body is an immensely complicated engine. Comprehensive knowledge is needed to actually affect it positively. If the ailment doesn’t fit a medical norm, it can feel like doctors are playing keep-away with your treatment.

That’s assuming insurance covers everything too.

A friend of mine got cancer in her twenties. Sucks, right? She was college educated. She worked at Starbucks to get through college and then moved into a career job. 

To her great dismay, however, Starbucks offered medical benefits the new office job did not.

My friend had to quit her job and sling espresso just to stay alive. That’s not right.

Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama both passed health care laws. The first attempted to set ground rules for insurance companies and the second tried to close loopholes, like companies refusing to cover pre-existing conditions. Both plans came with side effects like being punched in the face.

It’s going to take time to get a system that works even okay, but as an American, keep lobbying for reform. The system is sickly. It needs the best treatment possible, just like we do.