No Money, No Study

I had a...I'm not sure what you call it? Intake review? Case review? Chat? Anyway, I talked to one study. They'd like to have me, but everything is out of pocket with multiple trips each year. Since it's out-of-state, my insurance would mark it as out-of-network and only cover a portion and I'm not pay-retail-for-my-healthcare rich so...

You'd think there'd be a federal law that health insurance has to cover medical study care as if it's in network, but no. 

You'd think it would be more important to try and stop/cure pancreatic cancer, but no.

This clinical study stuff is horribly dysfunctional and we're probably missing out on a hell of a lot of innovation due to bureaucratic roadblocks like this. It's crazy.

And then you get into the patients mostly being limited to certain socioeconomic classes and how that might skew the data, not to mention the horrible inequity of it all.

Why are we not more aggressively crowdfunding science? I know it happens, but not nearly enough.

At least I don't need the study. I'm not in dire straits. I just had hoped to be useful in some way. I would like all this medical bullshit to serve some purpose, but I can't afford what that would cost apparently.

In anthropology they talk about ideal vs. actual culture. The ideal of medicine, of health, vs. what's actually true is one hell of a bad mind trip, man. 

PS: The dog is fine. Thank goodness. Oy. I still can't believe that he got a chicken bone. Super super glad he didn't need surgery. He'd already hoovered his way into one obstruction back when we first got him and didn't know this was an issue...not looking for a repeat!

PPS: Knee is still pissed. But my swollen gland has gone down. Maybe my knee is next?