On the mend now

Well THAT certainly wasn't expected. Another trip to the ER. I have somehow ended up with perichondritis. And because I left it so long being afraid of getting help it got out of control. On the weekend my right earlobe started to get itchy. No big deal. I took my earrings out (I have two piercings on each side) and cleaned them and left the earings out. But over the weekend the itch didn't go away. And by Monday my earlobe had swollen to 3 times it's size and had become red. Normally,... if I had a doctor, I would have just made an appointment to get it checked out. But you know,... NO DOCTOR. So being afraid of calling 911 I left it to see how it would get. By Wednesday afternoon my earlobe was on fire. The lobe itself had gotten all hard and lumpy. It had turned into a mess.

THIS is where it sucks being so alone. Noone to call for help. I texted Becky (my one and only friend I have left) but she didn't answer as I found out later she too is under the weather. I was not calling 911 again. I already have over $500 in ambulance bills and I didn't need another one. By ten o'clock I knew I had to get it looked at. It was on fire. So I broke down and called a taxi and went to the ER.

Now this would be a normal trip for anyone else, but for me I was terrified things would take a turn and somehow I would end up in Homewood. Sometimes their line of questioning for symptons ends up going to the high blood pressure thing and why dont' you take meds? and then they think I am crazy because I refuse to take high blood pressure meds and want to throw me in Homewood. It has happened before. So when I went in it was "I'm here for my EAR" and I didn't even mention anything else. The doctor was very busy anyway so he just looked at my ear and moved on,... *** phew ***

But it was quite infected so instead of just sending me home with antibiotics I had to have an IV hooked up to get it into me fast. Once I had that done they let me go with a prescription. Living in a small town I knew that the taxi's dont run during the night and they didn't start up again until 5:30am. Perfect timing - it was 5:30. 

THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WITH NO DOCTOR or easy health care!!!!! I let it go until it was so infected. Now I'm having to deal with something that could have been prevented with just a quick doctors visit. 

So now I'm home. My ear still throbs with pain but the prescription has been put into the pharmacy and they will deliver it to me later on today. So in the end,... all is well. But it meant a long night in the ER which noone wants to do. Even in our little town it is always busy. I waited about 3 hours out in the chairs in the waiting room and then about 4 hours back in the ER. I'm guessing this is standard now.

But when I walked out of that hospital, I did not have to pay anyone a dime! And I am well aware of, and very grateful for, our free health care. If I had lived in the States, that visit would have taken every penny I had and more. If I lived in the States I could GET a doctor,... I just wouldn't be able to pay for it. So like many other Canadians, I really do appreciate our OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) because I dont' know how much my visit would have cost but because I am Canadian and not American - I didn't even have to take out my wallet. 

So take that TRUMP! I do not want to become your 51st State because if we were ~ I would have been screwed getting health care yesterday. But today I am getting better and it all happened for FREE (to me anyway). When I think of the cost of health care, I have thought of when my twins Shawn and Ian were born. Way back in 1989. (They ended up passing away later) My water broke at 7 months and I had to have an emergency ceasarian in Brampton. Because the twins were so tiny and poorly, they had to be air lifted to Toronto Sick Kids Hospital. They had one helicopter with 8 staff to fly these little babies in incubators to sick kids. 8 doctors,... a pilot and co-pilot and lots of their experitse to get these little boys to a better hospital. It wasn't until years later that I thought about this and wondered,... how much did all of that cost? A life flight helicoptor with 8 neonatal experts on board. It must have run into the THOUSANDS. But because I am CANADIAN - I did not see a bill for any of it. It was FREE to me. So as angry as I am at my country for the poverty I live in,... I AM grateful for the free health care when I can finally get it.

*** Canadian national Anthem starts to play *** because despite Doug Ford and Justin Trudeau and how they are running us into the ground, I do love my country. Globally we are still one of the better countries to live in. And I am grateful for that. There but for the grace of God go I,.... I could have been born into a third world country and lived a very different life. But I wasn't,... I was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and I am a proud Canadian.