Illness and Poverty Suck

Hubby and I did laundry in a laundromat today as we are still thousands of miles from home. We had D5 in tow (that's fun to say-D5-yeah!) and met a couple of lovely new people. One was a 42 year old woman we learned had Multiple Sclerosis. She had been having symptoms for a couple of years but was just diagnosed last year. Some of her symptoms are similar to Hubby's late wife's symptoms--and of course, this woman is near the same age.

When this woman told us she had M.S., it explained her difficulty in getting around. She went on to talk about several of her symptoms before Hubby mentioned that his first wife had had the disease. I flinched a little inside when he said it--because we had already told her enough about our life that I was worried she would make the connection and sure enough--she did--and quickly. She nearly jumped. It startled her so much she nearly jumped. She said, "Oh No--and she--she died from it!" I stammered out really fast--as fast as I could--"But hers was really, really bad." I didn't know what else to say. Hubby backtracked a little, too.

Many of this lady's symptoms were similar to Hubby's first wife's symptoms, too but I didn't want for us to be the ones to tell her that her prognosis may be serious if she didn't know that already. The worst part was she was not on any of the medications available for M.S. or any of its symptoms. She said there was no way they could afford them--it would be $1,500.00 per month. Staggering. It didn't sound like they had insurance at all. She didn't seem to even know much indepth information about the disease she has. I know the only way Hubby and his wife afforded them was he worked for the company that made many of them and had good insurance. Still some of the costs were beyond reach.

This sweet woman has already had to stop driving because she can't feel the pedals under her feet anymore, something that happened to Hubby's first wife much later in the progression of the disease. And yet, this woman still has children at home so she has to be dropped off at a laundromat to once a week to do laundry for the family even when she feels so sick. I wish she could at least get the medication she needs. It made me sad to see a situation like this. My heart and prayers go out to her.