Lynne

Lynne was first a patient here about 10 years ago. She had lost a son in a tragic accident, and came to the clinic with seasonal allergies and depression. We saw her for several months, providing her with the medication that she needed and some simple support.

Soon she was working at a local business, and as I saw her from time to time, she was flourishing. She had a beautiful smile and seemed to be doing well. She had insurance with her job, so we no longer saw her at the clinic.

She came back here several months ago with chronic Irritable Bowel Syndrome. She had lost her job and is now divorced. The sadness is back in her face, the beautiful smile long gone.

Over the past couple of months she has been in incredible pain with kidney and bladder stones. Fortunately, we have been able to get her into see a nephrologist, but without insurance it is difficult to receive the care she needs. She is applying for Charity Care at the local hospital and if she qualifies will then be able to have the stones removed.

Last week I received a note from her, thanking us for all that we had done.  Really – shouldn’t she be able to get the care she needs when she needs it? Why do some people have access to care at any time and others only when someone else decides that they can? For those of us with health insurance, we would have access to the necessary care when the symptoms first appeared.