Case One: Northern
Indiana and a deer tick
Madame Rouquine is an avid gardener, an occupation which
serves her twin passion for food quite well, since she grows her herbs just
feet away from her table on her deck and her Professional Grade grill. On a lovely summer’s day, unbeknownst to her,
Madame Rouquine’s private space was invaded by the tiniest of blood thirsty
raiders. A tick, the size of one of her
sesame seeds, decided to have lunch on Madame Rouquine’s porch, finding her
soft sun-warmed shoulder to be the perfect picnic ground.
A few days later, Madame Rouquine, beset with various
ailments, drives to her doctor who reveals that the bulls eye rash on her
shapely shoulder is the calling card of a Lyme disease infection. A two-part test is sent to a lab and a
diagnosis of Lyme disease is made, setting off a round of state-of-the-art
antibiotic treatments. In due time,
Madame Rouquine makes a lovely recovery and learns that Medicare and a shirt
with sleeves are important coverage for gardening under her trees.
Case Two: Just
outside Paris, butterflies
Madame Clamartoise is dressing for work one warm summer day
and suddenly has her vision disturbed by “papillons
devant les yeux”. She is seeing
butterflies everywhere she looks. She
makes a phone call and drives to her local physician who immediately does a
glucose test. Madame Clamartoise’
suspicion that she has experienced an attack of hypoglycemia, or low blood
sugar, is confirmed. Her doctor’s office
gives her some cookies to raise her blood sugar, warns her about her sugar
intake. Madame Clamartoise might have
abused the dose of her confiture on
her toast that morning. Feeling better,
she gets back into her car and drives to work.
She will have follow-up exams.
Case Three: Chicago suburbs and mosquitos
Madame Traductrice went to a house party on the
weekend. Cake and coffee were served
after dusk and Madame Traductrice, enjoying the cool evening air and the
pleasant company, lost track of the time during a long conversation in the
garden with a woman who was a devoted Francophile. Once back at home, Madame Traductrice noticed
several large itchy lumps on her legs.
Mosquito bites! Having dressed in
a lovely black lace skirt for the party, and not expecting to be outdoors,
Madame Traductrice had unexpectedly exposed herself to a mosquito attack,
despite electric bug killers on the patio.
Three days later, she suddenly developed a fever, joint aches, nausea,
vomiting, headache, fatigue. Le total. When the symptoms continued into a third day,
she had someone drive her to the doctor.
At the front desk, the receptionist charged her a $50 Co-Pay for the
visit. This, on top of the hefty premium
that she pays out of pocket for insurance as a self-employed person. The doctor
agreed that all the symptoms of West Nile virus were present. “However, the blood test is very
expensive. We don’t do a blood test
unless you’re hospitalized.” Sick but
not sick enough, Madame Traductrice was recommended some probiotics for the
nausea and told she would probably feel better soon.
Moral of the story:
When you encounter a nasty bug, you will receive better treatment if you
are insured by the State.
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