Tag Archive for clinic

Planned Parenthood/Targeted Death

This whole attack on Planned Parenthood has me in a quandary.  Personally, I don’t like abortions.  I would very much like, in this imperfect world, to see abortions a thing of the past.  However, I question the logic of the actions of some people who share my feelings.

How can you claim to want to save lives, then take lives (physically and/or emotionally) by bombing, shooting up, or setting fire to Planned Parenthood clinics?  How can you destroy the lives of medical staff who have nothing to do with abortions as they serve poorer women’s basic health needs (e.g., exams and mammograms)?  Without health care, these women are in danger of sickness and death.  For that matter, how can you endanger the lives of the very unborn babies you’re trying to save?  You never know for sure if a pregnant woman is present, not for an abortion but for prenatal care that she couldn’t afford to get elsewhere?  How much control do you have over the bomb fragments and debris or the bullets you shoot off–enough to be sure a person just walking past the facility or police officer  doing his or her job isn’t maimed or killed?

I just don’t get how those lives are any less innocent or worthwhile than the unborn life you want to save by violently attacking an entire clinic.  Isn’t all life sacred?  It should be.

 

 

Another Side to the V.A.

You’ve been hearing horror stories about how veterans have been treated by the V.A.  Let me describe our (my husband, who’s the vet, and me) experience yesterday at our local V.A. clinic.  It’s typical of the horrible treatment he has received there.

After he did his 3:00 check-in, we began our wait.  By 3:05 someone was coming around to see how long everyone had been waiting, to push things along if necessary.  A few minutes later we were in the exam room, talking to the nurse, who took his info. and vitals while we chatted amiably.  A few minutes after that the doctor arrived.

He clearly explained a couple of concerning blood test results, took my husband for a walk to determine oxygen levels, then sat him down in the room for more of a physical and a discussion that helped us understand what’s going on inside my husband’s lungs.  He ordered an antibiotic to have on hand so we wouldn’t have to wait for an Rx to be filled at first sign of an infection, which can be deadly to my husband.  We talked about my husband’s weight loss and why it’s important to get it back up and keep it up, then the doctor excused himself to consult with the dietitian.  The doctor acted like we were the only people in the world he needed or wanted to work with at that time, staying with us for about an hour.

Then the dietitian–the doc had asked her to see us now rather sometime in the future–came into the room and advised us and arranged for food supplements. She, too, seemed to be in no hurry.  Finally, at 4:45 we were headed home.

Throughout, both of us were treated with respect, concern, some levity to soften the situation, and warmth.  This has been the case for the five years we’ve gone to this V.A. clinic.

I realize that others haven’t been as fortunate as us with treatment through the V.A.  I just wanted you to know that humanity thrives at least at the San Jose V.A. clinic.