Today I live in America, arguably
the richest and most sophisticated country, perhaps the most advanced country
in medicine yet when I go with an earache to a hospital; I have to come back
with a chest pain. I go to the doctor because over the weekend I had such a
terrible, strange earache that I never before. The doctor looked at it couple
of time with a machine, and performs a “hearing test”. I had to repeat after
her: hotdogs, airplane, boy, germs, tennis. Neither she found any wax, nor
infection or anything wrong at all, sent me with - "Come back if the pain
does not disappear."
Outside, the nurse was waiting for
my credit card. “Your insurance does not cover hearing test. I need to collect
$150 for hearing test and another $50 for co-pay and may be $500 will come by,
in mail, in a week.” My heart started to hurt more than my ear. I thought- what
a pity, what a shame for such system of treatment in this country? what a
poorer guy will do? Die of ear ache? Mess up his credit so he can live in
poverty all his life? Die of shame because he could not take care of his
children? Go live under a bridge? I am tired of people, in hospitals,
considering and treating a sick person as a source of money. They see human
body like Humphrey Bogart thinks of gold in “Treasure of Sierra Madre”. They
make those sick people fill unlimited insurance questions, paperwork, not to
mention their form was computerized, PDA style, fancy electronic, and had a
survey at the end. A poor dying person, irritated already, angered by rude
nurses, frustrated by not so courteous fellow patients, why would care about
the quality of their information collecting system? It was adding insult to the
already boiling irritation caused by their stupidity. I thought of Munna Bhai
for a little bit, a good message in a sense, of love not just medicine. I
thought about little Jenson and his parents, I thought about Subash my cousin
brother, who died of brain tumor and my aunt who I could not face because every
time I went to see her, in me, she would see her own son and weep. The agony,
burden of such things, before which my silly complain seems stupid, is very
hard to explain in religious terms. Nothing better can be said other than “God
had better plans for you”
I was angry with my parents for a while
because they did not tell me how wicked, crooked and materialistic this world
is. I have found this world is full of con men, cheaters, robbers, liars, thieves,
killers, rappers and many more opportunistic jackals. It is a place of
arrogant, stupid animals trying to become richer, prestigable, and stronger
than others, so that they are glorified of their qualities, richness, speeches,
money and what not. They lied to me saying, this world is good, full of honest,
humble, spiritual people and God intervenes, time and again to help them, in his
divine forms, one way or another.
Even Rana’s in Nepal established Bir Hospital. It has served
many middle class families. Although it was slow and closed at ‘political times,’
it was better than private hospitals and clinics in Nepal where I would take
my grandmother, who would in the end
complain and argue with the doctor when he asked for Rs200, in her own words-
“just to touch a wrist twice”. Health care in America is worse than most, if
not the worst. I repeat- worse than many third world countries. It is sad and
ironic. If you ask me today I will tell you--not HIV, not Hepatitis nor Leprosy
but poverty is the greatest disease of all, before ignorance. Health mostly is
just luck, and No, I won't lie to myself, God intervening days are gone, I wish
of it, of course, but alas it the bitter truth- Only a sufferer knows the pain,
as they say --only Khukuri will feel resistance of Karda and Karda will feel
the blow of Khukuri.
