Urgent Care Visit

The only blue pills I'm taking

When I arrived in Hawaii a week ago, a cyst that had been stable became inflamed. Expanding to the size of a silver dollar, the cyst had turned purple with a flat bubble of white cells on top. (Out of kindness to you, dear reader, I will not post a picture.)

In pain but not wishing to risk absence from the past week's birthdays, I went to Urgent Care yesterday. The doctor injected the area with painkiller, sliced open the cyst, squeezed out 20cc's of liquid, and packed the wound with gauze strips.

He prescribed the antibiotic Clindamycin to be taken over the next 10 days. I'll have to follow up every 2-3 days with a doctor in Hawaii or California to re-dress the cyst until it heals. Medicare and Medicare supplemental insurance covered the cost completely, while the Part D plan reduced the Clindamycin cost to $12.83. In retrospect I could have seen the doctor sooner, but it worked out well in the end.

Note: some politicians are touting "Medicare for all" as a solution to national health care woes, but the coverage is not "free" and requires monthly payments to 3 separate parties. Mine are: CMS--Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services $135.50 + Medicare supplemental--Blue Cross Blue Shield $171 + Part D--Silverscript $34.80 = $341.30. Sure, many new subscribers will buy in, but many won't or can't pay. Medicare-for-all is a solution that will foster more problems requiring $billions more, but I suspect that the advocates know that.