John Harney, PhD

My friend has cancer.

 

He’s a special person. He’s an inspiring person. He made me think again about writing, about expressing myself. He helped me take another look at what being creative means. Pro tip: it means having fun using your imagination.

He had been in pain for a while but we all just shrugged it off. He was in pain but he didn’t have health insurance. So he didn’t see anyone about it. That’s the America we live in. When the pain finally became too much he saw a professional. Now there’s a cancer trying to eat him from the inside.

I’m numb. I’m angry, but I’m numb. I’m upset, but I’m numb. I want to cry from now until I’m out of tears but I’m numb. I believe he’s going to be ok. I know he’s going to be ok.

But it’s going to be a tough road, for him and for people who care about him. This is the price we are paying for a pathetically sub-par healthcare system, a system based on profit and not on people. I don’t care if you’re conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, you need to think about health care and what it means.

My friend wasn’t lazy. He wasn’t careless. He couldn’t get a job that would provide insurance, and he couldn’t afford to pay for medical care without insurance. Now he’s very sick. This isn’t right. It has to change.