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You are here: Home / Archives for medical costs

Scared of my Shadow

March 1, 2023 by Scott "Q" Marcus

I have spent the last couple of months engaged in the most creative, expansive, complicated project this near-70-year-old body has ever experienced.

With the support, guidance, and loyalty of a couple of dozen actors and technicians, I was at the helm of a world-premiere fairy-tale, fantasy, live experience that debuted here in my hometown, written by – and co-directed with – my sister. From the birth of the concept until the final standing ovation and triumphant critical reviews, it has been an intensive, immersive, magnificent memory that I will take to my grave. I wish you a long enough life so that you can share the joy of an event like that before your time comes to an end.

This brings me to my point.

While swirling and spinning with arms outstretched among the fairy dust, magic wands, and magical characters of Never After Happily, the real world oozed through. Like a gelatinous, ominous, malevolent, sticky goo rising through the floorboards in a horror movie, I received the shocking news of the results of a medical test I recently took. It is indeed the dark, oppressive yin to my starry, colorful, brightly-lit, fantasy-miracle world of yang.

I thought about whether or not this was appropriate fodder for my column. Of course, after one has written a regular piece like this for almost 20 years, everything that happens has the potential to be the basis of one of my missives.  Yet, I hesitated because, well, is it a case of TMI to share my medical news with several thousand strangers? Is it anyone’s business aside from my family’s? Will they look at me differently? Does it matter?

Yet, the reality is that although we might never have met in person; you and I have not shared a cup of coffee or talked on the phone, or even exchanged text messages. We have not breathed deep the warmth of a shared hug or even smiled face to face as we passed each other on the street. Nonetheless, in my mind, you are family. I know not how you look. I have never heard the timbre of your voice, nor shaken your hand. However, when I write these words each week, I see you as clearly as the orange, blue, acrylic; star, planet, and comet mobile that hangs in my office. You are always with me.

With family, one shares.

So, to that end, my doctor wanted me to take a Cologuard test. At this age, that’s S.O.P. There was no advanced concern; I am not showing symptoms of colorectal distress. It’s just what one does at this age, realizing that there are fewer days in front than behind, and wanting to maximize the time we have left.

In my view, the only proper result for a medical test, is a bright red, circled “A+” emblazoned across the top of the page, the words, “Great Job!” handwritten nearby. It is certainly not to see the harsh declaration, “Positive – Abnormal,” in black and white on a computer screen.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Baby Boomers, Gratitude, Health, Newspaper Column Tagged With: aging, cancer, emotions, health, health care, medical costs

Obesity and Fat Wars: Us Versus Them

May 9, 2012 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

A recent study presented to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Weight of the Nation conference projects that if Americans keep getting heavier at the current rate, 42 percent of us will be obese by 2030. That means, in less than 20 years, we will be sharing our country with an additional 32 million obese Americans, causing us to pony up a whopping $549.5 billion — over half a trillion dollars — in medical expenditures between now and then.

For comparison, the obesity rate has been hovering at an already-alarming 36 percent, or about 78 million adults, for the last decade. The projected increase will swell the ranks of the obese (no pun intended) to north of 100 million. In addition, the severely obese — about 100 pounds over healthy weight — will more than double from its current five percent to 11 percent.

We know obese folks are at greater risk for a multitude of weight-related diseases such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, sleep apnea and even cancer. Obviously, they therefore will account for a greater proportion of medical costs. “They also have a much shorter life expectancy and generate greater lifetime medical costs, suggesting that future health care costs may continue to increase even if obesity prevalence levels off,” the study’s authors say.

There is a minor bright spot, albeit more a dim bulb than a spotlight. Researchers discovered that although obesity is increasing, it’s increasing at a decreasing rate. (You take your good news where you find it.) Unhappily, the data did not include children, so, on the other hand, these estimates might be low, as obese kids typically become obese grown-ups.

Forty-two percent is (obviously) almost half the population.

Therefore, moving it from macro to micro, if you’re in a room with only one other person; either you or he will be — or is currently — obese. If not you, it’s your sister, your husband, your child, your best friend, your parent, or most likely, several people you care about. Obesity affects not only the afflicted, but also every soul who loves, or interacts with, someone who’s obese — and, for better or worse, that’s every solitary, single one of us.

I am not writing this to make us aware of a problem of which we previously were ignorant.

Rather, I am concerned about the “fat wars” appearing to be more prevalent as this problem continues. Sadly, there is a “we” versus “them” mentality in the battle against obesity.

I [Read more…]

Filed Under: Baby Boomers, Current Events, Diet, Habits, Health, Newspaper Column, Weight Loss Tagged With: bad habits, cdc, centers for disease control, centers for disease control and prevention, diet, disease control and prevention, health care costs, heart disease, life expectancy, medical costs, medical expenditures, obese americans, obesity, obesity prevalence, type 2 diabetes, weight of the nation

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