Parkinson's afflicts nearly half a million Americans and costs us at least 6 million a year. Another half million Americans suffer strokes each year, costing more than 30 million in medical treatment, rehabilitation, and long-term care. Diabetes afflicts nearly 16 million people. This makes it all the more difficult to understand why both the government and the private sector are not doing more to relieve the human suffering that can afflict anyone in an instant. In my own case, I was denied a backup ventilator, even though I am vent-dependent 24 hours a day.
All machines fail at some point.
Without a second vent, I would be facing a life-threatening situation. If I stayed out longer, the insurance company's position was that it would prove I no longer needed to be in rehab and they could stop paying for my treatment. Sitting in a chair for more than 4 years now has given me plenty of time to think about many of the distorted and irrational values in our society. For example, all the researchers now agree that the damaged spinal cord can and will be repaired. But, they caution, recovery will only benefit the fittest.