How Our Current Healthcare System is Working Against Us
A friend shared with me that her teenage son is dealing with some very serious health challenges. I could tell in her voice that this has taken a real toll on her family. I began to share some ideas that I thought might really help her child’s health. She thanked me and informed me that she would like to take a more natural approach to health, but that her family decided to go the pharmaceutical route because they just couldn’t afford to do both.
Her family’s monthly medical bills are like a second mortgage. In addition to their monthly medical prescriptions and routine doctor visits, she now visits her dermatologist several times a year to have cancerous lesions removed.
This conversation made me stop and question, “How did we get to this place as a society?” Today many people feel trapped. They feel that their only option for healthcare is the current “standard of care” healthcare model. This model is often promoted and subsidised by both the government and extended healthcare plans. Our medical model is wonderful at crisis intervention but when it comes to treating chronic disease, it falls short. It does not support health and wellness but rather manages sickness with expensive, toxic drugs.
I see this scenario often with people who suffer from chronic disease. Their condition is brutal, but so are the side effects and costs of the maintenance pharmaceuticals they must take each month for the rest of their lives. They are forced to live with their disease and with the serious adverse effects of these drugs. They want to try a more natural approach but their income is limited and many are on disability. Sometimes it is difficult to even pay their phone bills.
It is really ironic that extremely toxic and expensive drugs that merely treat (not cure) disease are made available to people while safer, effective, more natural, and much cheaper therapies must be paid out of pocket.
The side effects of these drugs are often worse than the disease itself, and their effectiveness is questionable. They do not cure disease but “hopefully” slow down the progress to disability.
About 20 years ago, I had just finished university and was left with a hefty student loan. We were a family of 5 on one modest income. I had two options: go the medical/pharmaceutical route and have all treatments paid for but become disabled in time, or take a chance – follow an integrative, more natural approach and pay for this out of my own pocket.
I knew that if I became disabled, I would not be able to work or care for my family. So I decided to take a chance and go for option #2.
I took that gamble and I am so thankful that I did. It wasn’t an easy journey, but definitely much better than if I hadn’t. Yes I spent thousands of dollars over the years, but that cost is far less than if I would have become disabled. That cost would have been much higher financially and would have been at the expense of my quality of life.
There are so many factors that brought us to this place. In order to change this sad state, we must first adopt a new approach to healthcare … an approach of prevention and taking charge of our health before we get sick.
Show the government that you want change by sending letters in support of a more preventative approach to healthcare to your Member of Parliament, the Minister of Health, the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister.
Our health is our greatest asset. We must educate ourselves on what it truly takes to be healthy … this is our responsibility.
Clinically diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of 28, Pam chose an alternative approach to recovery. Now decades later and still symptom free, she coaches others on how to treat the root cause of chronic disease, using a holistic approach. She can teach you how, too.
Pam is the author of Become a Wellness Champion and founder of Live Disease Free. She is a wellness expert, coach and speaker.
The Live Disease Free Academy has helped hundreds of Wellness Champions in over 15 countries take charge of their health and experience profound improvements in their life.
