The early bird catches the worm, or in my case the diagnostic mammogram. My annual mammogram returned abnormal results, thus requiring a follow up diagnostic mammogram. To stay this frightened me would be an understatement.
I then found out that I could not get another appointment for about a month. Waiting a month obviously has the impact of potentially allowing time for cancer to spread in my body. It also has the ongoing stress of worrying that something is wrong. I am worried that something is indeed wrong because I am so incredibly tired all of the time. Additionally, I still have the ongoing, unexplained swollen lymph nodes. Breast cancer would explain both, and this terrifies me.
I logged into the Methodist website to look at the available appointment times. I was not expecting to find an open time in the month of January. There were NONE last week when I tried to book one. I cried last week. I actually logged in this morning because I wanted to write a blog post about the health impacts Covid has that extend way beyond the virus itself. I wanted to see exactly when the next available appointment was in ALL of the Houston area, so I could accurately articulate this in my blog post.
To my surprise, I found an open appointment for Wednesday! I did not realize that the ability to book a doctor’s appointment is something I should be praying for. I took this for granted.
Covid has put a serious strain on our health care system. Healthcare professionals have left their jobs because of the overwhelming demands the virus has thrust upon them and in some cases for their own safety from the virus. Resources have shifted from other areas of healthcare to provide for all of the healthcare resources needed to address the virus. Then Methodist mandated all employees to be vaccinated, which resulted in a huge additional loss of staff. I cannot tell you how emotionally draining it was last week to sit on hold for HOURS trying to book an appointment, all the while listening to a repeating message on hold talking about how great Methodist is and the fact that their staff is 100% vaccinated.
I am 100% pro-vaccine. I am 100% anti-mandate. Why wouldn’t immunity from exposure be considered? I believe that people will die from other health issues because of a lack of available care brought to us by this vaccine mandates. I feel there are things way beyond our control amidst the pandemic. I also feel like there are self-inflicted hardships that our society could have avoided.
I am EXTREMELY grateful to have found an appointment for next Wednesday, and I pray that everything is okay.