Day 4

Today I am thankful for medical care.  Sometimes I take it for granted how easily I can obtain medical care for myself and my family  And not just basic medical care--luxuries like immunizations, dental care, speech services, well-child checkups, medicine and surgical procedures.

Caleb has had a cold off and on for the past two weeks.  In the last 24 hours, I was pretty certain that he had an ear infection.  It took one three minute phone call and a quick trip to the doctor's office to confirm it.  Now we have prescription medicine and our little guy will be feeling better in no time.  This is not the case for everyone in our country and most certainly not for everyone in the world.  

I don't spend my nights awake worrying about how I will get my children to the doctor when they are sick.  I don't have to make tough decisions on which child I will give medicine to, I am able to give it to all of them as needed.  I have access to doctors, hospitals, and medicine basically at the drop of a hat.

In fact, all four of my children were born via c-section.  I only recently learned about obstructed births and the subsequent fistulas that are often caused by it in the developing world.  If not for medical care, my children or I might not be here today.  So far, three of our children have had to have tubes surgically placed in their ears.  Here in suburbia this is routine.  Its a simple outpatient procedure.  The tubes not only kept them from getting repeat ear infections and being in pain each time, it also improved their ability to hear and their language skills. 

Sometimes I am tempted to complain about the copays for medical services then I remember what a privilege it is to even have insurance and the ability to access medical care.  I am not saying that it isn't sometimes a financial sacrifice to pay for medical things (we are three years into private therapy services for our twins).  What I am saying is that I am thankful that it is almost always a decision of when and where to get the medical treatment for us, not if.  That is a huge difference and for that I am thankful.