Friday, January 27, 2023
(click here to listen to or read today’s scriptures)
The high cost of kidneys
Sure, I’ve been spoiled. I’m 73 and never spent significant money on medicine before today. If you count $424.83 as significant, and that’s for three months. But as Dr. Deem told me, “If my doc told me I could spend $100/month to keep my kidneys, I’d do it.”
Well, when you put it like that.
And after I met the $300 deductible today, maybe that’s what the medicine will cost. Or less. But still, so much more than $12, or $3, or zero. I met with my friend John at his house in Champaign this morning, and we talked about the idea of “natural” death (which I wrote about a few days ago), where we skip medicines and treatments that prolong life too long. How long is too long? Does this “Jardiance” count? It’s preventive, but most things are. I could tell myself I won’t prolong life, but it kind of creeps up on you, I think. I could stop going to the doctor every six months. I could ignore the heaviness inside me that feels like pneumonia or something more horrible (turns out it’s a touch of bronchitis). I guess I’ll just take it one appointment at a time.
The salvation of the just comes from the Lord. Trust in the Lord. Do good, that you may dwell in the land and be fed in security.
Dr. Deem does his own family books and is quite a handyman around the house. His wife and kids are at the doctor all the time, and he says his own insurance isn’t that great, so he’s always writing checks for a doctor visit or some medicine. That surprised me, but why should a doctor and his family be less vulnerable to sickness? We haven’t talked about it much, but I know he “trusts in the Lord, and does good.”
Dwell in the land be fed in security.
He has called me a few times in the evening after our appointments, when he should be home with his family. He has energy that comes from deep inside him, and it doesn’t seem to fade. Where does that depth begin?
By the Lord are the steps of a man made firm, and He approves his way.
One thing I noticed when I first met him is that after our appointment he put my compression socks back on for me. He also pulls the wax out of my ears each time I come, even when that requires special tools. He remembers a lot from our past visits, things that aren’t on the computer screen or in the lab results.
On Dr. Deem’s information sheet, here’s what he wrote:
I have always and will always strive to make my patients feel that they are important and that they have complete attention during our visits. When they leave I want them to feel that I have listened to their concerns and have taken them seriously.
So. I feel safe with this guy. He has lots of patients, and he lives out his words. He listens to me and insists that I listen to him. That’s a tough balancing act sometimes. He won’t let me die “naturally,” perhaps, but I can make that decision on my own.
When you’ve developed a rapport with your boss, you can look forward to going to work. When I have a doctor I trust, I can look forward to our visits, especially when I remember how stable and secure both our lives are in the hands of God.
We are not among those who draw back and perish, but among those who have faith and will possess life.
(Hebrews 10, Psalm 37, Matthew 11, Mark 4)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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