ANOTHER STAGE

Last Monday I set a new record for walking.

I bested my previous record of 185 feet by walking 345 feet.   I did this without any rest breaks.  My legs felt unusually limber – so I just kept going.  I felt like the energizer bunny.

The next day I was discharged from out-patient therapy.  No, the two events were not correlated.  I had been scheduled for discharge since Thanksgiving.   Ostensibly, I met all the goals for my first session.  I can’t help but note, however, a number of other factors.

First, I have just past the ‘magical’ one year mark (November 24) which research has shown to be a major plateau time.  Insurance is very reluctant to cover plateau times, thus they would have pushed to discharge me about now.  I wonder if this practice helps create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Second, it’s been 6 months since I started out-patient therapy.   A therapist told me that even though I have ‘medical necessity’ insurance, insurance itself says 6 months is the limit of ‘medical necessity’.   This is still much better than most insurance that limits you to a total of 20 sessions per year – or even per injury.  By contrast, I have received over 150 sessions.

Third, I have been hearing other patients all around me being discharged of late.   The gym is suddenly full of new faces.  I only recognize one from before.   It appears TIRR out-patient may be in the habit of rotating patients.  They certainly have a large enough waiting list to justify it.

This is not to say that I can’t get more rehab.  I will simply have to be reevaluated at some later date and ‘prove’ that I am ‘worthy’ of more insurance converge by having made substantial recovery with out the benefit of rehab.  This is the same basic procedure I have been through my entire experience with this injury.  I am used to it now, but at first it was frustrating and scary to learn that even the best insurance available (outside of congress) held total control over my recovery.  Talk about death panels – that’s the system we have TODAY.  Yet most people don’t know that (I didn’t) and even more would refuse to believe it.  After all, Fox News tells them we have the best medical system in the world.  That might be true if you are speaking only of the congressional plan.

I expect to go back for another round of rehab – because I have Lupita and a good support system that can facilitate continued, substantial improvement.   In fact, I have every advantage in this game.  But most do not.  Assuming they have made it this far, this could be the end of the line in their recovery simply because they lack the support structure required to jump through the next insurance hurtle, or didn’t have enough insurance to begin with.  Then there are the record 42 million Americans whose jobs do not provide insurance at all.

It would be nice if I could do something for the less fortunate injured people I see all around me.  Oh wait, I already do – I vote democrat.

I’m through writing now…