One year ago today I was battling an ear infection that turned bad enough to put me in the hospital for a week.

What I went through then was among the worst experiences of my life. Yet looking back on the experience, I realize how lucky I was.

I was diagnosed early enough to avoid life-threatening complications.

Before I was sick enough to require hospitalization, I had multiple x-rays, a doppler scan and an MRI. Shortly after I was admitted, I had more x-rays and a CT-scan. If I had delayed seeking medical care for another day or two, my systemic strep infection might have spread to joints or internal organs, which would have required many weeks of intravenous antibiotics. The infection might even have become life-threatening.

More and more Americans hold off on seeing a doctor in order to save money. The problem isn't limited to the uninsured either. Even laboratory testing companies are feeling a pinch because of this trend.

My doctor referred me to the top infectious disease specialist in my area.

Since my hospitalization, I've told my story to many doctors. Quite a few have remarked that they are glad I was under the care of that particular infectious disease doctor. Never having had a serious infection before, I could not have known whom to request. Without the medical insurance that pays for my routine annual physicals, I would not have had a relationship with the doctor who looked out for me and got me on the caseload of the best specialist.

The bacteria that made me sick responded to antibiotics.

The ID doc put me on three "heavy-hitter" IV antibiotics at first, but two days later when my ear culture came back as strep A, she switched me to "good old-fashioned penicillin," which did the trick. I also didn't pick up any secondary infections in the hospital. It helped that I only had one IV port. Again, if I had delayed seeking medical care until the situation was more critical, I might have ended up in the intensive care unit with more tubes going into my body and more opportunities for infection.

Drug-resistant bacteria are a growing problem on hospital wards, thanks to the overuse of antibiotics in humans and livestock. I know someone who acquired a drug-resistant staph infection after giving birth, and it almost killed her.

Veering off-topic for a moment, one of my pet peeves is when people claim not to believe in evolution. I always want to ask them, "Do you believe bacteria can sometimes become resistant to antibiotics? Because if you do, you believe in natural selection."

Getting back to my good fortune a year ago, my period of intense pain was limited.

I'll never forget how painful cellulitis was, but by the time I was discharged from the hospital, extra-strength ibuprofen was sufficient to manage the pain. Within six weeks the pain in my leg was gone, and I was able to go back to my usual exercise routine. Some people live with chronic, severe pain indefinitely, lacking insurance coverage or the means to pay out of pocket for pain-killers. If they are very lucky, a friend might help them pay for the prescription they need.

I suffered no lasting damage to my health.

The ear, nose and throat doc had warned me that I could have permanent hearing loss in the affected ear, but the ruptured eardrum healed up just fine. He also told me that on the rare occasions when he or his colleagues had seen an ear infection go really bad, it usually caused meningitis or facial paralysis. I'll take cellulitis of the leg any day.

My illness didn't leave me in financial ruin.

When I first blogged about my illness last year, some commenters warned me that I should be prepared for gargantuan bills or a huge battle with my insurer. As it turned out, my insurer covered almost all of the expenses. I never did figure out exactly how much the illness cost, because bills and statements were still arriving months later (almost never itemized). We were so relieved the day we got the biggest bill, for $18,000, and our portion was only $600. I recognize that paying $600 would be a hardship for many families, but we were fortunate to be able to settle that bill that without cutting back on any essentials.

Medical problems are a leading cause of bankruptcies in the U.S. and create incalculable stress and hardship even for families who do not go bankrupt. Last year the uncovered expenses from AdmiralNaismith's wife's embolism totaled more than he earns in three months.

Although I have long supported health care reform, my experience last year gave me a new sense of urgency about this issue. I benefited from "the best health care in the world," but so many of my neighbors would have fared worse had they suffered the same kind of infection.

My greatest wish for President Barack Obama and his Secretary of Health and Human Services, whoever that turns out to be, is that they will not "pre-compromise" and start negotiations with a health care package they think Congress will accept.

It may be too much to hope that Obama would get behind the best fix for our broken system, but he should aim very high.

Republicans' pride in their near-unanimous opposition to the stimulus bill should dissuade the president from moving even a millimeter in their direction when the debate begins on health care. They want to build a comeback on Obama's failure and will do nothing to help him succeed.

As for the Congressional Democrats who stand in the way of the change we need, I hope Obama will use the bully pulpit to shame them into action. Recent opinion polls on health care have shown huge dissatisfaction with the status quo and growing support for government-run, guaranteed health care. Lyndon Johnson pushed members of Congress further than they were initially willing to go on some issues, notably civil rights. Obama's approval ratings are high, and what better way to spend his political capital than to deliver on universal health care?

This thread is for any insight about the substance of health care reform or the best political strategy for doing it right.

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The National Nurses Movement marched for healthcare yesterday, kicking off our election season of action for Obama, guaranteed healthcare, and nurse power

Obama: Bailout won't delay health reform

Ramon Castellblanch says we need a public health insurance system.

Healthcare is also destroying the agricultural sector.

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Today, May 14th, is the 119th anniversary of the passing away of Mary Seacole, the Mother of Social Justice nursing.

RNs now celebrate Mary Seacole Day as part of National Nurses Week--and as the day we honor the social justice aspect of the work of nurses.   Mary Seacole remains an important inspiration for the national nurses movement being built by CNA/NNOC (California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee), which focuses on improving patient care and safety in hospitals and on bringing this country the guaranteed, single-payer health care that our patients deserve.  

...cross-posted at the Guaranteed Healthcare blog...

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Health Care for America is not single payer--a vision that, for both political and budgetary reasons, is unlikely to be achieved in the near future. Health Care for America

It's so depressing to watch progressive activists accept a bad status quo.  Progressives are supposed to change the status quo, not just work within it.  And in reading over this post from Roger Hickey about their new health care plan, I'm struck by the total timidity in actually dealing with the problem and the unwillingness to accept the job of social change agent.  

The problem with health care is not the policy details but the insurance industry, which is a business model dedicated to denying care to people and keeping the money, or what's sometimes known as negligent homicide.  The quote above is from our progressive group, not our Democratic groups that want to compromise.  We're negotiating with ourselves, in other words, before we even get to the table.  

More than that, the idea that health care reform negotiations are possible with the murderous health care industry is laughable.  Here's what makes this plan a political loser, from Goozenews.

My point is that opposition to this plan will come from the people who make their daily living from collecting that 16 percent of GDP. And that opposition will be intense. The insurance companies led the last war on health care reform. The drug companies, the device and equipment manufacturers and organized medicine will lead the assault on this or any other plan that is serious about controlling costs.

Opposition to single-payer health care and muddled plans like this one or the Wyden one will be the same in intensity.  And this one is weird and complicated, like every other plan that isn't single-payer.  This is an issue for the voters.  We will have to go to the voters and basically ask them to vote to end the health insurance industry.  Barring that, and you're just not serious about universal health care.

I see this kind of 'half a loaf' strategy popping up everywhere among progressives, from the ethics fight to energy to media reform.  We seem to be ignoring what Clinton learned in 1993 - these people don't compromise on issues fundamental to their control over the economy, ever.  They will fight as hard your smarty pants complicated plan that takes 'their concerns' into account as hard as they will fight your liberal plan that actually works and can be easily explained.

There is no implementation of policy this cycle.  We have to set up a series of debates over fundamental values, and then ask for voters to decide in 2008.  Fortunately, it's very unlikely that these industries are going to let anything go through this cycle, so we have time.

Let's get real.  At this moment in history, the public is on our side, not the side of the corporate elites.  Asking for half a loaf isn't a compromise, it means that nothing will be enacted, and it also means that progressives are failing at representing a public that just asked us to fundamentally reshape how the economy works to reduce economic risk.

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One thing Republican rule has done is help a lot of people sort out their thinking.  People have had enough.  People are fed up with business-as-usual, and dysfunctional systems that allow wingnuts to gain power.  People are ready for transformational change. Half-assed namby-pamby measures aren't going to satisfy anymore.

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