Health or Life

 Greetings,

Yet another medication has fallen under the hammer of the government, removed from the Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme. In this case it is Deptran its generic form being Doxepin. It is nominally an antidepressant. In my case it is used to assist with the cluster headaches which happen as a result of the issues with my neck. So the result is that I will be going along to the doctor with my wife to find a replacement, some other drug that will have the same effects, that won't upset the balance with all my other medications...

Why is this article here and not on my fibromyalgia blog? The reason is that I am going to get a little philosophical and likely a little political with my post. 

Our government changed from a Liberal (conservative) government to a Labor (less-conservative) government last election. Some haled it as a change for the better, things would be better for lower-income earners and pensioners, like me. Yeah, better, I think there has been a $40 increase in my pension... wow. So thrilled... not. Prescriptions have increased again. Prices and inflation are still going up and as previously stated things are just being made more difficult for people on lower incomes.

If a person were of a conspiratorial mind one could almost think that it was a project of eugenics. You simply make life so expensive that the poor cannot afford to live and they die off. The problem is that then the rich people would have no one to do all their menial labour, and they will feel the bite, if they ever "fall." Then again, I have already spoken about "the rich" and perspectives on who is rich and who isn't.

I have multiple conditions which is the reason that I am on a disability pension. I am on a low income due to the disability pension. To afford all of the things that would assist me to become as healthy as I could be would result in me not having a life... and likely result in me losing the house that I have bought. So, in effect I have the choice of being "healthy" or having a life. In an expression that one of my friends likes or liked to use, "I'm here for a good time, not a long time." I prefer quality of life over quantity of life. The result is that I will have a life rather than health, or at least just enough health to survive and do what I like to do. I will make the best of my situation.

"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!"
- Hunter S. Thompson

I like the quote from Thompson above. I tend to go through "boom and bust" situations. I go as hard as I can and then happily pay for the consequences of my actions later on. This may not be the healthiest way to approach things, but I sure get my enjoyment out of things. I probably should put money away and save to go to the physiotherapist and other allied health, but I would rather spend it on having a life, living life to my best capacity. I will find ways and means with what I have, this is what I have so this is what I will work with. In the choice between health or life, give me life.

Cheers,

Henry.