A Eulogy for Dr F, the Person That I Never Got to Be
Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here to day to mourn Dr Freysdottir, the person that I never got to be, because I became disabled instead.
Dr F was a doctor of speech language pathology, with a great passion for linguistic acquisition in developmentally disabled children. Dr F wanted to do great things for the children in their local community, but instead has had to deal with chronic illness instead.
Why did Dr F get so sick?
Well gentle readers, it’s called capitalism, and more specifically, for-profit insurance. Dr F didn’t have any insurance when they got bronchitis, which turned into pneumonia, which turned into their lungs never being right afterward.
They treated Dr F for years with steroids, which made their immune deficiency worse. They were also told that the immune deficiency was because of the steroids. (spoilers: haven’t taken any in years. Guess who’s still immunosuppressed? *jazz hands*) They were treated for the wrong illness for literally 12 years, because for-profit insurance discourages more thorough testing, particularly when the subject can’t pay.
And the thing is that Dr F isn’t even unusual or an outlier.
Public policy has direct effects y’all.
Do you honestly think that the children in my community are somehow better off because they have one less SLP? Do you think the patients that I would have treated are somehow better off with viewer treatment choices?? Or the students that I wanted to teach???
Do you think that my life was somehow improved by dealing with a debilitating illness?
Does asking these questions make you angry?
BECAUSE IT SHOULD
I’m not an outlier. I’m common. How many lives have been wasted on needless suffering like this?
How has it made our communities better places to live?
I mourn Dr F. After all, it’s who I wanted to be.
But y’all probably should mourn Dr F too, and all the others we’ve lost because we couldn’t get over our own greed and apathy.