Fragile in the Flesh

I used to be invincible. My body was once immune to petty colds, infections, or any small discomforts of the flesh. I felt that if something did happen to me, I would be able to take care of it myself, just eat an orange or add a few extra cloves of garlic to whatever I was cooking. Trips to the doctor were rare and usually for routine procedures like tooth cleaning. But that was back when I had health insurance.

As the last day of health insurance approached, my systems began to fall apart. My left eye turned red, and I was given steroid antibiotic eye drops which healed the eye but caused a series of many other types of physical distress (thanks, UHS). Soon after my eye healed, a speck of carrot was caught in my branchiopharengial shelf, which somehow gave me tonsillitis, a lingering cough, and copious amounts of snot. Again, UHS came through with a bag full of pills, a steroid gargling solution and all kinds of chemicals that intimidated me. I spent all of my pocket money on these drugs, which I ended up not taking due to fear of the side effects.

And then graduation happened. The very ceremony that cuts me off of my parent’s health insurance has left me fumbling and itching and limping. It started in the Big House. For some reason, the sun is very strong in there. I wore no sunscreen that day, and despite my efforts to shade myself with my cap, I ended up with a burnt face. I have suffered many a burnt face in my lifetime, but this one was different. I had no insurance, which my immune system must have sensed. Because it flipped out and gave me sun poisoning. My face, stomach, arms, and scalp were soon covered in mosquito-bite-sized bumps. I slept off the bumps, only to wake up with in internal itch in my hands and feet. My hands are swollen so that it is hard to make a fist, and my feet are so itchy that I shuffle along on the ground in a feeble attempt to sate the insatiable itch.

Are all of my ailments psychological? Is my body angry at me for failing to keep it insure d? Or is this just what happens as you age? Whatever the reason, I no longer take my health for granted.