Melody Pond (they/them)
A
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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thread 2/8
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
08:34 PM - Nov 27, 2023
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Melody Pond (they/them)
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thread 3/8
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
08:34 PM - Nov 27, 2023
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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
08:34 PM - Nov 27, 2023
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Melody Pond (they/them)
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thread 5/8
“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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thread 6/8
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
08:34 PM - Nov 27, 2023
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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
08:34 PM - Nov 27, 2023
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Melody Pond (they/them)
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thread 8/8
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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Carol Glynn
B
MO is so corrupt. Blue dot in MO here. They seem to think we don't have a memory, smfh. AG Bailey, Gov. Parsons & the GOP led legislature Have violated the MO, not to mention the US, Constitutions a lot. I'm concerned about the court here, too.
In response to Bren.
05:49 AM - Nov 28, 2023
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Bren
A
In response to Carol Glynn.
Me too. They are vile with their boy party. If we don't start paying attention when it's time to vote it's going to get worse. The AG and the Senator ran a campaign on guns. They tossed in abortion but they ran on guns. My view of course. BTW, Hello to you blue cousin in Mo.
05:56 AM - Nov 28, 2023
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Carol Glynn
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In response to Bren.
Hi! I've been fighting then for some time, but we can't stop now. Glad to know you are there! I appreciate you.
07:16 AM - Nov 28, 2023
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