Health

It's hard to believe, given my antipathy toward health insurance companies, but yesterday I actually felt warm and fuzzy toward one -- for a few moments.I've been arguing with Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon about its denial of my application to change from an individual Plus plan to the Premier plan. I fell into the dreaded pre-existing condition black hole, even though I'm an unusually healthy 60-year-old guy.After sending the Regence underwriting department records of my last two physical exams, I got a phone call from a manager. She told me that the denial was being reversed, as the two…

Here's a personal story -- a single vignette out of countless others -- that shows why the United States needs to reform our screwed-up health care system, pronto. Earlier I wrote about how we labored to fill out a lengthy on-line Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon application: a request to change our individual coverage from Plus to Premier, since that seemed to fit our needs better.Yesterday my wife and I got individual letters from Regence. Bottom line: denied. Here's how my letter started out.Thank you for your application requesting a change to your current coverage.After carefully reviewing your health application…

Imposing title for a blog post. It may sound kind of boring, but before we die each of us -- more than likely -- is going to face the bioethical question, "What kind of life is worth living, and at what cost?"Back in the 1980s I lived and breathed health policy issues. That was my job. Also, my passion. Recently I got to reminiscing about the days when I worked with Portland psychiatrist Ralph Crawshaw and Senate president John Kitzhaber (who later became Oregon's governor) on a project that laid the foundation for the Oregon Health Plan. Getting into spring…

I'm trying to decide how concerned I should be about the potential swine flu (officially called H1N1) pandemic. There's so many things to panic about -- the economy, global climate change, whether Jack Bauer is going to survive his exposure to a lethal bio agent and come back for another season of "24."I've got to prioritize my anxieties. So where should swine flu reasonably place on a holy shit! list of potential freakouts? I'd say, about halfway. Nearer the bottom at the moment; could rise considerably higher this fall and winter if H1N1 returns in a more virulent form.Back in…

Recently I wrote about my aggravation when staff at Salem Gastroenterology Associates (SGA) , the only place in town that does colonoscopies, brushed off my questions about their two day clear liquid diet preparation for the procedure.I'd emailed a mention of the post to the SGA nursing staff, saying that I hoped they'd reconsider both their colonoscopy prep protocol and how they respond to patient concerns. Yesterday I got a phone call from Zoe Wendolowski, who I believe is the nursing head honcho (probably her real job title is more formal). We had a thoroughly enjoyable lengthy conversation that likely…

First off, note that I said think twice. Your first thought -- "I should get a colonoscopy"-- is absolutely correct. The procedure saves lots of lives through early detection and prevention of colon cancer, though recent research shows it isn't as effective as previously thought. Now it looks like colonoscopies prevent 60-70% of cancers rather than 90%. Still darn good. Which is why I had a virtual (CT) colonoscopy in 2006. Naturally I blogged about it.Last fall an occult (hidden) blood test done as part of my annual physical exam was positive. I asked for a re-test, since I had…

A couple of days ago I learned how to be happy -- in less than ninety minutes. Plus, I got to eat a terrific dinner and drink some excellent Oregon Pinot Noir during the lesson.Sweet!This was the first time Laurel and I had been to Woodburn's Wellspring Center for Extraordinary Living. Yes, Woodburn, a city between Portland and Salem that few people associate with hip, cutting edge, philosophically profound integrative medicine.When we entered the Wellspring building (a remodeled K-Mart reportedly), I thought "Wow!" The place looked like something you'd find in trendy southern California. Curving corridors, tile everywhere, Zen-like design…

Here's another in what I hope won't be a lengthy series of "don't worry" blog posts about scary sounding health procedures. (See "Root Canal is nothing to fear.") I had a gum graft this morning. The worst thing about it was facing the fact that I'm old enough to need one, though I realize that people of all ages get gum grafts. My dentist referred me to a Salem periodontist because he was worried that the beautiful bridge work he'd just redone, which had cost me more than a VW bug went for new back in the '60s, could be…

There comes a time in a blogger's posting life when he says to himself, "How much do visitors to my blog want to know about my digestive system?" This is a question that separates the self-absorbed blogger who believes that the world is interested in the most intimate and mundane details of his body, mind, and soul (namely, the true blogger) from the faux variety. I've made my choice: to lead the reader deeper into the bowels of me. Though my digestive story isn't all that interesting. I've simply noted that my late-50s body doesn't handle food with quite the…

OK, I don't actually worship the supplements that I consume every day. So it's arguable whether they're sacred to me. But I sure spend a lot of time genuflecting in their health-giving direction. I've decided that it's time to share my supplement list with a not particularly interested world. However, likely there are some supplement geeks in the blogosphere who share my fascination with finding just the right combination of concoctions for optimum well-being. Which sort of is like the quixotic medieval search by alchemists to turn base metal into gold, because no supplement can hold back the inexorable tide…

I just had a root canal, my second. It was almost pain-free. In an hour I was out of the endodontist's chair, standing at the reception desk, where I experienced my only real discomfort of the morning. An $1,115 charge to my VISA card. Ouch! Dr. O'Neill and I talked some about root canals' undeserved bad reputation. "The Endodontist's Association has talked about a PR campaign to change public opinion," she said, "but it's hard to fight all those stand-up comics and their 'worse than a root canal' jokes." Well, I'm happy to contribute this blog post to the Association's…

Here’s one of the crucial questions facing a blogger: “Does anyone besides me care about how often I pee?” Well, how will I know unless I blog about it? And, if you don’t care, stop reading. I suspect, though, that quite a few men of a certain age will find my subject fascinating. For 50% of men over the age of 50 are said to have an enlarged prostate (90% over 80). In my “Female doctors do it better” post I noted that a prostate exam is the only time you don’t want to hear from a female who is…

Being a vegetarian can be complicated. Fish oil is the best source of Omega-3 fatty acids, which confer important benefits to the heart, brain, eyes, and other body parts/functions. But I don’t like the idea of eating a once swimming life form (though my wife points out that I take a joint supplement, Celadrin, which contains an ingredient that once was part of a cow). So I’ve been searching for a karma-lite way to get my Omega 3’s. Several years ago I started taking a couple of flax oil capsules every day. I’ve also tried frozen waffles with hemp seed,…

Nobody other than a masochist says, “Oh joy, I’m going to have a colonoscopy today!” So I’ve resisted having an endoscope snaked up my butt, even while sedated. I’d heard horror stories about people who suffered a lot of pain during a colonoscopy but were too zonked out to effectively communicate what was going on. Then I learned about virtual (or CT) colonoscopy. It’s non-invasive (yes!) and doesn’t require sedation. Like most things medical there’s debate over whether conventional or virtual colonoscopy is better. A 2003 study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine concluded: “CT colonoscopy with the…

Ah, excellent news today: smoking pot may prevent the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. I’m hoping the effect is long-lasting, since I inhaled enough THC in the 60’s to keep me Alzheimer’s-free for a thousand years (more or less; anyway, the whole universe could just be a speck in the eye of a Cosmic Dude who is just a speck in the eye…time’s got to be an illusion). What a trip. All these years I’ve heard, “If you can remember the 60’s, you probably weren’t there.” Now it turns out that those cannabis-happy hippie days were good for the memory. Far…