After spending a literal down payment on a house on medical care, fighting with billing departments, collection agencies, hospitals, and specialists, and then g

After spending a literal down payment on a house on medical care, fighting with billing departments, collection agencies, hospitals, and specialists, and then getting dropped from my insurance, I rationalized that I was a young, fit, healthy person and didn't need that kind of bullshit in my life. Five years on, I was blaming myself for feeling exhausted, having fluid retention, perpetual nausea, and headaches, and generally not feeling up to life. I wasn't exercising enough, I just need to focus, I'd been forcing myself to work too much, I wasn't eating as well as I should, etc. When I finally went to the doctor a few years later, my BP was 220/110. My kidney disease had progressed to CRF 3/4, and the pulsatile tinnitus I experienced 24/7 was the result of prolonged venous reconfiguration, never to fully dissipate. The "oh shit" moment was at that first appointment when the nurse gave a startled "u-um!" after taking my bp and ran out of the room. The doctor came in and explained I needed immediate care for renal hypertension or I'd probably stroke out before I was in my 30s. Now I've got permanent vision damage, a lot of atrophy and inflexibility that lead to PT from some really unnecessary injuries, and I'm on a permanently high dose of ACE inhibitors that cause problems if I don't manage my fluids, temperature, and electrolytes. It's been a slow road to discovering my new limits and rebuilding, but on the plus side, I'm now two years in remission and feel like I'm getting better every year. I credit joining Kaiser HMO for their excellent job managing my recovery.