Dear Mr. Elfers,
I consistently read your column in the Courier-Herald and always value your perspective. I appreciated so much of the article by Amanda Marcotte identified in the Aug. 2, 2017 column. One of the issues with any health care in the U.S. is the fact that many of us want “the best” of care without being willing to personally invest what is required to take care of our own health.
Aside from various genetic propensities we are given when born, often we actually choose to eat whatever tastes good to us, often overeating, subsequently not exercising, we often overindulge in a variety of ways and make choices to smoke or drink (to excess) which impact the overall quality of our health especially as we age.
Most often the major investment of money occurs in the last year or two of our lives. Physicians are educated to keep us from dying, not necessarily living. I can’t imagine any one of us choosing to spend the last few years of our lives confined to a bed or wheelchair. Yet, so often we make choices along the way that more often than not guarantee that to happen.
Often we don’t talk of dying, yet for most of us, that is what will occur, hopefully after we have lived a long, satisfying, rewarding life. Often I hear contemporaries of mine speak of living close to hospitals and doctors. Not for me! After a very rewarding 30-some year nursing career, I walk slowly in consulting medical resources. I have been blessed with incredible genetics with siblings 96 and 92 years old who have chosen the “medical” route and whose present quality of life is of no interest to me. I am still able to walk two-plus miles a day, drive my aging vehicle and live in my own home, counting my blessings every day.
I believe one of the crucial answers to our national health care dilemma is personal responsibility, in which too few of us are willing to invest. My health care insurance has tripled in the last year or so and I seldom use it…I consider it insurance…just in case of some major catastrophic event.
Victoria Bolander
Buckley
