Two sides of the health care coin | Rocketminer | wyomingnews.com – Wyoming Tribune

Talk about a stark contrast ...

Couple weeks ago, I got down on the floor to play with my granddaughter.

For years Ive been wearing knee pads whenever a task involved getting down on my hands and knees. Some prior surgery, and 60 years of wear and tear made it necessary. Going without felt like kneeling on a Lego block.

When I asked my doctor about it years ago, he said he couldnt recommend ever getting down on your hands and knees. Physical therapists smile when I tell them what the doc said.

How about the guys who install carpets for a living, I thought.

But this was something new. It was a really sharp pain in my right knee, like someone heating up an ice pick and stabbing it in right below the kneecap.

Just what I need, I thought as I struggled to get back up from the floor from playing with my granddaughter, another trip to the orthopedic surgeon.

But I figured a guy cant go through life without getting down on the floor with grandkids and Labrador retrievers. So I called the clinic where that orthopedic surgeon works. And this is what I posted on Facebook (because, like, we put everything on Facebook these days):

A sharp pain in my right knee flared up last weekend. On Tuesday I called (the clinic one town over) for an appointment with the doc who fixed my other knee and both shoulders. Hes in (my town) today, the scheduler said. Can you be there at 1:40?

You betcha.

So I had my appointment within four hours, my post continued. X-rays were taken, and I had my diagnosis of bursitis by mid afternoon. Then I was able to get right in to see the physical therapist Ive gone to in the past. Its now three days later, Ive had two physical therapy sessions, and Im well on my way to recovery.

This is not a health care system I want to fundamentally change.

The surgeon I saw who is also the team physician for our university football team fixed my left knee when I tore my quadriceps tendon 11 years ago. Then he fixed rotator cuffs on both my port and starboard shoulders. Great guy.

I wasnt on Medicare for those surgeries, but I am today. So Im not the most attractive patient with a bum knee. Nevertheless, I got great care.

So I put all that on Facebook. And I soon got a response from a young mom overseas, who I have known all of her life, who was born in the United States but now has two sons and a daughter in a country that has nationalized health care. This is what she wrote:

Dave in (my countrys) health care. Pain in knee. Call Dr., appointment in two weeks. Goes to appointment, told to take Paracet. Gets sick leave. Dave calls Dr. again a month later, gets another appointment in two weeks. Goes back in. Gets told to try some rub-on pain killer prescription. Longer sick leave. Dave calls back still in pain. Another two weeks waiting for appointment. Dave insists on X-ray. Dr. agrees just to get him to quiet down. X-ray is scheduled in three months down the road. X-ray Dr. looks and says there is nothing wrong with it. Dave gets sick leave for extended period. Dave is pissed he cant get decent healthcare and is willing to pay more for diagnosis. Dave goes home to Wyoming where he should have never left.

She added that when her son was 18 months old, he needed to see a dermatologist.

I called in January to find out his appointment was for November, she wrote.

I know our health care in the United States isnt perfect. I know how fortunate I am to have such great care available so quickly.

I just think the folks who are determined to turn our health care over to the government should talk to folks, like this young friend of mine, who are living with it every day.

Lets not screw up what, at least in my experience, is some pretty wonderful care.

Dave Simpson has been a newsman for four decades, working as a reporter, editor, publisher and columnist. He lives in Cheyenne. He can be reached at davesimpson145@hotmail.com.

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Two sides of the health care coin | Rocketminer | wyomingnews.com - Wyoming Tribune