Haves and have nots, part the zillionth
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Remember how I was all braggy about how I have no food intolerances? Yeah, well...my heart was broken by some carnitas the other night. I'm thinking roast pork is something I will have to stay away from because after eating some I ended up spending the 15 minute drive home from the Zoo alternating between hanging my head out the window for fresh air and having my husband pull over so I could heave on the side of the road. But hey, at least I finally know what the hell "foamies" are!

Onward.

I've been looking back over the checking account statements and noticing how much money I've been spending on supplements and vitamins and wow. It really adds up after awhile. I'm lucky enough to live in a world where I have an FSA that can help cover the vitamin costs, but the protein mixes are just going to have to be added to the food budget, I guess. And of course I really only like the Nectar protein mixes, which are $30 for the big container. I couldn't possibly have gotten hooked on the generic vanilla protein shake instead. Add that to the $125 I'll be spending every quarter on vitamins for the rest of my life, and I begin to realize why there is such a large number of post-ops who end up not having optimal success with this surgery.

It's a basic fact that it's easier and cheaper to eat crappy food; take a look at the diet of any broke college student and you'll see what I'm talking about. But you cannot afford to eat crappy food if you are a WLS patient and you want to be both successful and healthy; you have to suck it up and pay for the good cuts of meat, for the high protein/low carb foods, for the stacks and stacks of vitamins. Medicare and Medicaid pay for this surgery now, and here's the thing: to qualify for either of those medical plans, you have to be living below the (ridiculously low) poverty line. And that means that those patients are not leaving the hospital and going home to a situation where they will be able to afford high quality, fresh foods on a regular basis. They will be more likely to have to choose between vitamins for the month and paying the rent, and guess what's going to win? And what kind of aftercare are these patients being given? Something tells me not as much or as good of care as privately insured patients are getting, if my mother's stories about Medi-Cal are any indication (she's the Medi-Cal coordinator for a hosptial here in town so she knows of which she speaks).

I've always been irritated over the fact that having access to good healthcare, healthy food and even active lifestyles is pretty much only available to the middle and upper classes. Yeah, yeah, you can buy cheap fruits and veggies at farmer's markets...but there are no farmer's markets in the ghetto. And yeah, you can go walking or jogging and not need a gym to exercise...but you do need a decent pair of shoes, and some free time not taken up by your totally necessary second job.

And now I'm getting irritated because it seems like even WLS is something that will work better for the middle and upper classes simply because they have more money to afford the vitamins and protein and healthy food that are absolutely essential to being successful afterwards. It makes me want to rail against the unfairness of it all, but I feel like I'm simply shaking my fist in a hurricane.

Who knew I would eventually feel like one of the lucky ones when I was swallowing my 14th vitamin of the day? I certainly didn't.


2 Comments:

Blogger Dagny said...

Hey! I've found the best deal on the Nectar protein mixes is to get the GNC card on drugstore.com. You'll get a discount on the Nectars if you buy the first week of the month. I buy enough to get free shipping and they come out to $21.50 each. That's the cheapest I can find 'em!

I use the Centrum Chewable Vitamins, Feosol Carbonyl Iron, and Citracal Calcium Citrate. Plus some other supplements from Puritan's Pride. Use whatever your doctor says to use but my bloodwork has been great! Except for the iron/calcium issue which I've fixed!
Dagny

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey why don't you try the plain old Vanilla Protein with sugar free torani syrups - yummers. They sell them super cheap at Ross and Marshals (I know... weird but they do) My WLS Mom made these for me when I was preggo with Mogo and could not keep anything down and they are a dream if you do it in you magic bullet with ice!

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