The C Word (part 2)

02 Sep 2011 3 Comments

by Mandie in Daily Thoughts Tags: adequate health care, lacking health insurance

Last month I had blogged about the discovery of a precancerous lesion in my breast. Because of my sudden lack of health insurance my doctor directed me to a place in Pasadena called Community Health Alliance of Pasadena (also known as CHAP), which is a free clinic that was created by members of the community who realized there were a lot of adults and children who found themselves suddenly uninsured and weren’t getting adequate health care/services for their illness, pregnancy, dental problems, etc., because there weren’t enough facilities that offered said services. I would recommend it to anyone who is lacking health insurance as it’s serving its purpose and doing it well.

The registration process to receive care from CHAP required me to bring in a picture ID, proof of address and, in my case, medical records and my pathology and ultrasound report. I needed to fill out some paperwork and after they looked everything over they accepted me into the program. The benefit of having somewhere to go if I need antibiotics, have a toothache, or if I just don’t feel good far outweigh my initial reaction to turn up my nose to a free clinic. Honestly, I am grateful to have somewhere to go, but knowing I have something more serious than a cold and I am putting my life in the hands of physician assistants makes me a little nervous as well as my experience of free clinics have left little to be desired, have been mostly over crowded, dirty, and the wait to be seen can reach 3 hours, so when I walked into CHAP and noticed none of those things, and I got efficient and extremely awesome care from everyone I made contact with, I was beyond relieved. I like to think God has his hands in every aspect of my life, including reminding me that a closed mind is not a good thing to have. In this instance He did just that as well as reestablishing my faith in the human race. Hey, I’m a Christian, not God, and I have many MANY issues that need to be dealt with.

Getting back to the issue at hand, I was accepted and I saw a physician’s assistant who listened patiently while I told her about my diagnoses. She looked over the records I provided and, without batting an eye, she told me she was going to help me get my surgery. Her only concern was the location that would be providing the surgery, which happens to be County USC Medical Center Hospital, a place riddled with mess-ups, malpractice, and unexplained deaths. Now, it was not me giving her the look of well deserved fear when she mentioned the location, it was her giving me an apologetic look, along with her apologies. It’s the only place she can send me, she says, unless another place she knows of takes heart of my situation and offers to help me with a better known facility. Right now I wait word from the other place, which reminds me I need to call her as she wanted me to do a 2 week followup appointment and it’s now going on 3 weeks. Argh, my brain!

So that is where everything sits at the moment. I have faith it will all work out, and I will continue to keep y’all informed as I go through this journey. Thanks for reading.

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