Roman Travers: An example of why we need a great healthcare system

Wasn’t it sad yesterday to hear the news about Sir Dave Dobbyn and his recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease?

I admire his honesty and the way he let people know through a Facebook post, saying he’d been feeling shaky for a while, and was diagnosed with the disease back in July.

He now has a tremor in his right hand, and it’s giving his guitar playing "a new kind of twang".

Sir Dave also says that the diagnosis has given him a wider appreciation of life, and he will still be performing.

Generally speaking, we are all living longer with conditions that once upon a time ended lives. Now with modern medical intervention, we’re able to keep living well and truly beyond the expectations of years ago.

It would almost be without exception that everybody seems to know somebody afflicted by a life changing diagnosis: Parkinson’s, dementia or some other form of neurological disease.

Although we seem to have made such advances in many other disease states, the demise in the neurological aspects of life largely remain a complete mystery and one that many scientists are working hard to better understand.

Wouldn’t it be fantastic to see all aspects of dementia and Parkinson’s relegated to historical medical journals? Wouldn’t it be amazing to know that upon diagnosis, the prognosis was bright and promising or even preventable?

The reality for so many people with these conditions is that life slowly but steadily declines into full-time care. The prospect of us having the kind of care that we’d love to get is largely dependent on the savings we’ve made throughout life.

Like you no doubt, I don’t want to be a burden upon my family but I sure as hell expect the state provided healthcare system to do better than what it currently does.

Stripping away people’s assets and means testing sufferers for something that’s completely outside of their control remains a cruel mystery to me. 

As though having the disease isn’t punishment enough without having to lose everything you’ve worked so hard for through life.

What’s becoming frighteningly obvious is that without comprehensive health insurance, most of us are destined to rely upon our very shaky third world health care system.

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