Melody Pond (they/them)
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thread 1/8
Here’s a fun, pre-ACA healthcare story. One day, I woke up feeling like my insides were being dissolved in acid. On the plus side, there was also vomiting. Lots of vomiting. I deluded myself into thinking “maybe it’s just a stomach bug,” & writhed on the floor next to toilet (bc vomiting) for
08:34 PM - Nov 27, 2023
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Melody Pond (they/them)
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nine hours, until I finally got in touch with my sibling to take me to the hospital.

“Why not an ambulance?,” you ask. Well, I did say this was pre-ACA, & being that I’m already poor, this was a no go.

So, I go for the longest most uncomfortable 20 min ride to the hospital, & they put me
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Melody Pond (they/them)
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back in a bed, & give me morphine that does absolutely nothing. I spent about four more hours vomiting bile & writhing in agony, after they did some tests I absolutely don’t remember, when they finally admit me to the ICU. Turns out, I had gallstones. One them was blocking my
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Melody Pond (they/them)
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pancreatic duct. I had severe acute pancreatitis, & it was lucky I wasn’t dead.

Four days later, doc comes in, tells me I need surgery, but rather than do it while I was there already, they would discharge me & send me to their outpatient office.

I get to the scheduled appointment & they say
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Melody Pond (they/them)
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“You need surgery, or this could kill you. It’ll be a $1000 down payment, upfront, or we can’t see you.” Y’all. I didn’t have two nickels to rub together, & they knew that at the hospital.

Six months later, a whole new city, & two ER visits later, I met a surgeon who was very upset I still had a
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Melody Pond (they/them)
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gallbladder. He told me to make an appointment with his office. Once there he was very angry at the other surgeon. Said “you need surgery now, or this could kill you. Looking at your records it’s lucky you aren’t dead already. I’ll do the surgery, just sign something saying you’ll pay. If you don’t
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Melody Pond (they/them)
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it’ll be sent to creditors.” Honestly, so thankful to him.

Anyways, this was life pre-ACA. As soon as expanded Medicaid went live here, I was on it. It helped me build enough records to use in my SSI case, & now I have traditional Medicaid. Now I don’t have to almost die bc I can’t call an
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Melody Pond (they/them)
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ambulance, or pay $1000 down on a lifesaving surgery I can’t afford. $50, that’s the most I’ve had to pay a surgeon since. That’s what the ACA did for me.

Republican states that refused to expand Medicaid, that’s what they’re keeping from you.

Vote GOP & we’ll be back to that in no time flat.
08:34 PM - Nov 27, 2023
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Melody Pond (they/them)
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Yeah, it takes a little getting used to, but much better off for it
In response to Peyton.
11:24 PM - Nov 27, 2023
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