How to Sew

Written Saturday November 29th
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I feel extremely lucky.
Today I realized what it means to be without health insurance.
Yin and I did a little doctor shopping.
Take a guess.
Question: How much does it cost for 10-15 stitches on a Saturday night in Durham?
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While the skin on my leg was still one, I waited for a phone call.
The ring came while I was mountain biking down Suburbia Street.
We got the apartment.
Translation: passed the credit/background/criminal/employment/rental history checks (standard these days)... we had the apartment.
The most perfect, tiny, walk to work, sun-baked writing room, fireplace apartment.
All I needed was dough for the down payment, and maybe a little something for ramen.
But life was good, I had a week of solid work ahead of me.
Cakeride.
Time to work on my bunny-hop... ride good fortune's wave all the way home.
If I could jump half as high as I was, I'd clear the vinyl-sided burb-box beside our wood-planked hurdle.
Mountain bikes have spiky pegs on the pedals.
Purposed to help your feet lift your back tire over the crocodile pit, or whatever you aim to clear.
This is called a bunny-hop.

My feet didn't stay on the pedals.
Instead of staying on my feet,
the pedals carved a canyon in my shin.

Pretty deep. Wanna See?
(Not for the hemophobiacs)















Time to shop for medical attention.
Yin spent an hour on the phone describing my laceration to walk-in-clinic and emergency room receptionists.
We got a decent number of quotes for extremity sutures before saying screw it.
Answer: Stitches by a doctor cost anywhere from 400 to 750 bucks.
Now there may have been a tinsy $130 first time visit fee, but you also got a special!
Pay up front, get 30% off.
Goody Gumdrops.
Incidentally, if you can't pay upfront... shouldn't that indicate you need the discount more than someone who can pay? Ahhh the smell of capitalism in the morning.
And, god bless em, emergency rooms won't turn your distressed ass away. But they will at some point during your happy stay with them, introduce you to their financial "advisor" to set up a payment plan.
I know what that is, I'm still working on a couple payment plans for the diploma.

Basically my first month's rent (and therefore any future rent) was on the line.

Now, many Americans don't have health insurance. I'm guessing less have a friend willing to sew up an un-anesthised gashed and grinning Nate.
Strangely, I feel lucky saying that.
But hey, people have done this type of thing before,
in times of war on battlegrounds I'm sure.
I prepared myself by drawing a booze drenched curtain over dancing nerve endings.

Fortunately, via a connection, we were able to pick up supplies from a medical supply store.
I now keep surgical strips and tegaderm readily available. The tape worked, and the wound stayed closed.
I was drunk for nothing now, but felt genuinely pissed anyway.

Now, what happens if you don't have someone who can buy medical supplies for you?
This health system is bullshit.
Americans, the first step to fixing a problem is admitting we have one.
A-greed?
Yeah, there's nothing wrong with privatized, free-market run health care...
as long as you're cool with shopping for docs while you bleed all over the place like you shop for auto mechanics.
Or maybe you prefer paying every month for insurance and still paying for an injury because of a legal free-market-backed loophole in your coverage.
I chose neither, but I was lucky.

We are so afraid of the big bad socialist under the bed that we let capitalists get opportunistic on very important things:
Homes, Health, Education.
In this get-now-pay-later cosmos only one outcome remains.
Debt.
I'm not asking for all out Red, just a little Pink regulation maybe.
Draw the line somewhere. Behind that line no person can be exploited in present or future.
Let's start with the children.

Enough preaching, I'm going to go heal.

By the way, I only ended up spending $40.