a burst of light

Audre Lorde’s attempts of exercising every option she has in detecting new cancerous cells and liver tumors before having to go through another strenuous and potentially dangerous procedure seems to me to be the most logic and safe thing to do. However, even when it comes to a person’s health, or more importantly, their life, money by all means have priority. It is sad to think of how many people have to live with painful and chronic illnesses without getting help because they aren’t covered or insured. It is even more painful to think of all those who have died just because they have not paid a monthly bill to a company who will probably receive more money from paying customers than they [the insurance company] will probably dish out to cover certain procedures and etc. I commend Lorde on her initiative to seek all of the facts pertaining to her health. How can one put their life in the hands of a person, who supposedly attended years of rigorous schooling, who only cares to see that he or she is making a profit instead of meeting the individual needs of each and every individual patient?
I often find myself begging and pleading with my grandmother to actively and patiently seek a whole new slew of doctors because I honestly believe that she is her doctors “money making machine”. She told me recently that she’s going to start showing only one of her medical cards because every time she pull out ALL of her medical insurance cards her doctors quickly find something else “wrong” with her and want to “poke” her someone else, give her this treatment/surgery and dope her up on more medication. I believe she takes at least ten pills a day and has two extra large zip-loc bags full of medicine and has to take them everywhere she goes (and I PROMISE I am NOT exaggerating). She is equivalent to any other drug addict because at this point in her life, after years and years of being on these drugs, her body is totally dependent on them. She has also gone through two “spells” within the last year where she literally goes psycho on everyone around her causing us to worry about the mental affects these drugs have on her. I tell her all the time that her doctors are taking advantage of her but she gets angry and does not want to listen. I also tried to get her to take a “natural” approach to her ailments but she chooses to give up and not fight “those battles” Lorde talks about. Knowing what I know now and what my grandmother is going through, I now know that I have a responsibility to my body and my health and have dedicated myself to stay active in exercising and educating myself about…myself.