A bargain

I don't take particularly good care of myself -- I smoke, and I hate exercise. Somehow, in spite of those failures and of the fact that I'm nearly 70 now (you don't know how little sense that number makes to me) I've never been a hospital patient overnight except when I had my two babies. I do eat a pretty healthy diet, because (as faithful readers will know) I prefer the "Mediterranean" style of dining, with particular emphasis on the grand foodstuffs of Italy. But using olive oil in cooking instead of butter and eating salads instead of Big Macs can only take you so far. Luck and genes, I suspect, are more responsible than anything I do or don't do. Thanks, Mom. Thanks, Daddy. And all the begats.

There is, however, one pesky problem that I've had for years -- with my back. A muscle on the lower left side gets knotted, and then I can't sit or stand straight, which means that all the rest of me gets progressively twisted and tortured. I can usually fix things up with a couple of days of bedrest, a heating pad and Advil. When those remedies don't work -- and in the last week they hadn't -- there is a chiropractor in town who offers deliverance.

Dr. Adams is one terrific lady. She doesn't seem to have aged a day since I first met her, nearly twenty years ago. She and her husband, who are in practice together, have raised five children. They both are -- there's no other word for it -- merry. They have a positive attitude about life that they convey, simply, with their own body language. It's a delight to know them. Best of all, they are completely non-judgmental, even with people like me who cavalierly break all the rules of a holistically healthful lifestyle that they themselves cherish. 

What a relief it was yesterday to receive Maria's tender ministrations. When she was finished, I fairly hopped off the table, filled with the bliss of being pain-free. I then had another pleasurable moment. Instead of the usual $50 fee, I needed to fork over only $6.42. 

Now...I pay something over $3,000 in annual premiums for Medicare and the Part J supplement -- the latter is known as "Medigap," for you young 'uns out there who aren't yet ripe for the program, and covers a significant portion of the fees that basic Medicare doesn't. In light of the hefty premiums, $6.42 may not seem like that much of a bargain. But I think it is, if only to remind me of how fortunate I have been, of how a government program can soften what otherwise would be a hard financial landing if indeed something more catastrophic than a sore back strikes. And to remind me, in a visceral way, of what a rocky road this life is for so many people who have inadequate health insurance or none at all.