SiCK OH!

I went to see Michael Moore's latest film, SiCKO, mostly because I thought I ought to.......I ought to at least be able to have a conversation about it, I reasoned, as I forked over my $9.75.

I've steered clear of Moore's films in the past because I don't understand or appreciate his way of muck-raking a problem without offering any real suggestion of a solution.  It seems immature and unproductive to bring attention to a problem the way Moore does, without any noticeable attention given to a fix ~ sort of like picking the scab off of a festering lesion without having a bandaid, or at least a tissue handy to help clean up the ensuing mess so that some real healing might take place.  Even if the scab needed to come off (which, in the case of our "healthcare system," it plainly does), I think that the one who picked it should shoulder at least a little of the responsibility of being ready with a few answers, or suggestions, or ideas about the mess they've exposed.

Moore clearly spent a lot of time and energy getting his version of ironic comedy and his sing-song sarcastic narration just right in SiCKO, but it all wraps up without any redeeming "what-ifs" to balance out the snideness of it all.  He can't really be proposing that we adopt the real, everyday Cuban way of practicing medicine, can he?...Or that we start handing over upwards of 50% of our income to the government so that it can provide us with "free" births, and "free" nannies, and "free" extra time off to recover from illness?...Can he?  Do some research, follow the money, don't be naive.

My #1 fear about any form of universal healthcare coming to this country is that "the powers that be" will almost surely take the path of least resistance and adopt a wider version of the system that already exists here.......that's right ~ Medicaid & Medicare (M&M).  Any healthcare system that begins with M&M as its model is unacceptable as far as I'm concerned.  Just imagine a government monopoly on decisions about your health.  It's a recipe for disaster.

The one bright spot that has stayed with me over the week or so since I saw SiCKO is the image of a young doctor who revealed that everytime he helps a patient stop smoking his government gives him a raise.  Talk about walking the talk of preventative wellness care!!  I am entranced by this concept.  Whether or not it is actually happening somewhere at this moment ~ shouldn't it be?  What if the government actually gave your doctors a bonus for helping you change your lifestyle for the better?  What if your doctor's more attractive choice was to interest you in an exercise schedule or better quality food rather than a cholesterol-lowering drug... what if the rewards that she received from the government for practicing true wellness care were greater than the rewards she's currently getting from her pharmaceutical rep for getting you hooked on another medication?  Wow.

I think that the most effective way to cause real change in our current medical model is to stop participating in it as much as possible, thereby rendering it better able to do what it does best ~ caring for the true traumas and the true emergencies and the truly needy.

What if:

You spend more time at the offices of the practitioners who help you/coach you/guide you to safeguard and support your own, inborn health, rather than the ones who cash in on you when you're sick.  It's a lot more fun and cost-effective to stay well than it is to get well.  But go ahead and get well anyway!  Spending time, money, and energy with your preventative and wellness practitioners will pay big, BIG dividends throughout your life.  Be aware, though:  Getting well and being well is a process, not an event.......and it is up to you ~ not your doctor, or your massage therapist, or your acupuncturist, or your spouse.  Your body, your habits, your lifestyle, your health.

Obviously, this idea won't go over very well with your insurance company, which would rather pay $20,000.00 for a spinal surgery once you're crippled with pain than approve $5,000.00 worth of chiropractic adjustments to help you keep your spine (and therefore your nervous system, and therefore your entire being...) healthy.  Nevermind that the spinal surgery is most likely just the beginning of a lifetime of dependence on orthopedic specialists and pain medications, as well as a marked decline in your ability to be active and proactive in your own health.  Welcome to the Medical Merry-Go-Round.

Oh yeah, and it's OK for a healthy person to get sick now and then.......good and darned sick!  Running a fever, vomiting, getting congested, aching & fatigue ~ all of these (and others) are signs of a healthy immune system fighting a foreign invader.  No formal medical intervention is needed in most cases.  Watching & waiting, resting & recouperating have become a lost art.

In fact, I think a pretty compelling argument can be made that the current epidemic of chronic and autoimmune diseases we are experiencing as a society (fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, some forms of cancer, and on and on and on), is due in large part to the meddling of medical doctors, clinics, and hospitals with too much technology and pharmaceutical companies with too much political influence who would rather send us home with a new handful of pills than try to encourage us to modify our lifestyle or habits.  Heck, the pharmaceutical geniuses have even started selling their drugs directly to us, haven't they?  Their television and magazine ads tell us what we need, then we go in and badger our medical doctors until they finally relent and give us a diagnosis, followed shortly by a page ripped from their prescription pad.  I remember reading an article several years ago in which 45% of medical doctors interviewed anonymously admitted to writing prescriptions for patients simply to get them to stop complaining and leave the office.  Amazing.

While he fairly adeptly obscures it with 2 hours of shenanigans, I have to say that I have no argument with Michael Moore's fundamental point that healthcare in this country is truly astonishing in its ghastliness.  More than ever, I think that if you're not outraged about the status quo of healthcare here, it's only because neither you nor anyone you care about has ever been caught in the system ~ needing and expecting help, but receiving only BS and COA from their doctors and hospitals (that's "bullshit" and "cover our ass" for those of you are more delicate than me).

While Mr. Moore stops rolling tape just at the time when he could become a true activist for change, I'll step up and say that I happen to think the solution is up to us, you & me, as individuals.  There is not a satisfactory government fix out there.  I think we should stop waiting for it.