Yesterday was a pretty frustrating day all around. I don’t normally talk about my personal health issues here, but this is such a biggie that I thought others could benefit.
Over the past few months, I have felt blood pressure problems, which was kind of scary because I never had any issues with BP at any time in my life. However, genetics does have a way of catching up with you. Neither the sedentary life of a writer, nor the ignore yourself mentality when you are the parent of three teenagers help when it comes to your health.
Between fighting off a sinus infection, a nasty head cold, and the inability to avoid sodium that is pervasive in nearly every food you can buy, the issue came to a crisis on Monday, when I read a BP of 160/90. Yikes! My priority for yesterday, then, was to get it under control for the long term. (Amazingly, I somehow managed to write nearly 2000 words on Monday!)
The fact that I am not on any insurance at the moment greatly complicated matters, but I did manage to see a physician as a new patient, and things seem to be getting under control now (121/78 this morning).
The point of sharing this is that freelancers will tend to skimp on medical care when uninsured. I know that happens because it eats into the bottom line. It hits rent or mortgage money and food money. However, there are certain things that are not worth skimping on, and blood pressure is one of them.
Paying several hundred, or even several thousand dollars out of pocket is nothing compared to the loss of income, physical and cognitive ability, and possibly of life that would result from a stroke caused by continuously high blood pressure.
Last year, we lost SF writer Colin Harvey to a stroke at far too young an age. He was British, where he had full access to healthcare. I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often in the US, where healthcare is in reality a privilege and not a right.
Bottom line, if something doesn’t feel right, then something probably isn’t right. Don’t wait until it’s too late. We don’t want to lose you.
