This opens up a can of worms for me big time. When I met my husband and agreed to marry him he already had 13 years active duty in the Army. I had a good job in the export business and am a college graduate. Of course I wanted a husband and a family. We met at a University. Little did I know, that down the road, I would be made to feel like a second class citizen because I had to use the system of healthcare within the Armed Services. By then I had been with and supported my husband through multiple deployments and two commands. I worked my arse off for three solid years as if I had an outside job organizing, learning, meeting, arranging, communicating, decorating, cooking for large groups of people, distributing information, etc. For the most part I did this with a helpful spirit. Then, because I got sick (but not outwardly yet), I experienced a reality check - that I really was not appreciated.
Here is the clincher - that Doctor who retired right after he oversaw my surgery - actually said these words to me, "What do you want for FREE medical care." I was so stunned I said nothing to him but it has been burning me up inside for years. Why do they allow family members in the system then if that's how they really feel about it? And I had NOT been a freeloader. The way I look at it I serviced my country along with my husband for fifteen years at that point and that's how they talked to me. We moved so frequently because of his varied positions that it was impossible for me to dig my heels in somewhere in order to establish my own benefits like the ones I had that I left behind when I married him. What, he is never to have a family, a wife? He waited a lot longer than some do which is neither here nor there.
By now you can tell that as much as I cherish some of my experiences as an Army Wife, I was hurt deeply (and almost killed) by the treatment I have received and have not received. I hope this is not what socialist medicine is like. I could go on and on because I have so many other stories that involve friends of mine, some with very bad outcomes.
One more, I finally got an appointment with a Surgeon (because a test I had was inconclusive and he was supposed to interpret it for me as this is not something you want to hear when you have had cancer). When I walked into his office, after driving an hour to get there, he said the normal greeting of, "Who are you? Why are you here?" They never seem to review their appointments - like brief themselves about their day. After that he can't seem to find my information in the computer. Doesn't have my chart open for review - nothing. He begins to tell me that he is upset because he thinks he might have to deploy soon and (lucky me) that was the day he was waiting to find out his verdict. I wound up comforting him, telling him I know how that is - the waiting, wondering, wishing him luck, etc. - I left there not knowing one iota more about my cancer status or why my test had been inconclusive than I did when I arrived. That is last time I set foot into a Military Hospital. I drove toward the lake and when I got there, I parked my car and cried my eyes out for over an hour. I felt so helpless.