What Are The Odds? by Protyus A. Gendher
These ideas are so much better Shared!!
Let’s talk about something upbeat right?
You have a 1 in 3 chance of having cancer in this life.
Out of 334 million American lives
111 million will fight this fight.
Your chance of being diabetic is more like 1 in 9
We have a 10% chance of losing our minds
To Alzheimer's if we make it past our primes
So, it’s no wonder that doctors are trained
To focus on the obvious. This isn’t about blame.
According to the research that exists
The chances of being born with EDS
1 in 5000
A needle in a haystack
Of horsey hoofbeats making their paycheck.
So why would anyone take the time
To find
A zebra in a horse-stack?
We see what we want in the Rorschach.
Medical tests interpreted like constellations
Everything is just a sprain, or constipation
They tell us “Just breathe”
“Take some Aleve”
“Get back to work”
“You don't deserve”
Relief
From what we feel that they can't see
Must be drug seeking
So many things,
Socially
Mentally
Medically speaking
Preventing the seeking
The research, the reasoning
If you’re not a horse, then they can’t help
In the 15 minutes they spend peeking in our hell
Hey- it's all insurance will pay for
So, it’s all they sell
What are the odds of being diagnosed
If you're not a horse?
You're not even close?
What are the odds of being seen
When your joints are falling apart at the seams?
In a world that demands 40+ hours per week
No time to slow down, rest or sleep.
Get back on your feet
If we’re 1 in 5000 then in this country alone
That makes 66,800 people on their own
This kind of pain
Is socially isolating
Personality penetrating
And it makes resources harder to acquire
And it makes everything hard when your body’s on fire
So few spoons, and everybody taking.
Having to be more while breaking.
So, what are the odds of being treated or diagnosed?
The American Healthcare system is broke,
Needs woke,
Because we can’t do this on our own.
In order to be tested and diagnosed
I’m on a waitlist that was 18-months long
To have my genetics assessed
By the ONLY person in the state that can do this
Until then, I still can’t work
I’m still in tears trying to manage the hurt
I’m applying for disability
Because my body refuses to give me
Any relief
Jumping through hoops on shoddy knees
And my initial diagnosis is still 6 months away?
This isn’t a fucking game!
What are the odds I keep housing through that?
Bending over backwards every month is quite an act.
What are the odds that their odds are right?
What does 1 in 5000 mean when they’re willing
To let us die while they keep billing?
Taylor Swift pulls in 72,000 fans
All filling the stands
In stadium after stadium
In any given Swifty crowd there would be 14 of us
If we could leave the house
During the course of the Colorado State Fair
About a half million people are there
Representing about 100 of us who need and can’t get care
How many of us do there need to be
Before our wealthcare system chooses to see?
And what do these numbers even mean?
They say 1 in 5000
But who are they testing?
Because it sure as fuck isn’t me
At the age of 43.
The people they test
Are the people with access
Imagine what the number might be if they screened and tested the rest.
Choosing not to see me
Doesn't stop me from being
What are the odds of dying before being seen
In a system that screens against me
That would rather us fall through the cracks
So their answers line up in neat little stacks?
And I would have continued to think
That my pain was just a me thing
That my sprains were a repeat thing
That my brain should be retreating
Because there’s never anything wrong
So, “stop bugging us and go home”
I would have continued to suffer alone
If not for the Facebook algorithm
Putting our hoofbeats into a rhythm
This social sorter
Grouping like minds for support
When I feel seen I tap like and share
And discovered I wasn’t the only one out here.
The system is built to silence us.
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