Go And Smoke No More

After my recent surgery, I was rolled into a hospital room that was an overnighter. This is a room for patients who get surgery and will be out the next day. Unfortuntately, because of complications with my appendix surgery--it was ruptured--I had to be wheeled at something like 3 in the morning to a longer stay room on a different floor. Not exactly a joyride, especially since my bed had an errant wheel and the hospital staff kept crashing into stuff. The former room assignment had not caught up to my present condition.

The patients in the new wing and floor were more seriously sick. The man in my room had pneumonia and was hacking all through the night. Not a good thing for a man like me whose immune system was seriously compromised.

It sounded like he was taking his last breath at times and then he would cough up a huge hocker and spit it into something. Not quite soothing sounds after surgery. I think I got two hours sleep that night and once 7:30 or so rolled he cranked on the television loudly and watched mostly inane daytime TV all day-long like the "Price is Right" and other stupid shows. Seriously, daytime television is a wasteland. Not necessary morally. It is just dumb. Then again, nighttime television is not exactly for Mensa members either. Thankfully dude did not watch Jerry or Maury. I think I would have screamed. I just wanted to sleep. Blessed sleep. And could not.

Since I was not getting out the day after surgery as originally planned, I had the opportunity to see the multitude of specialists who came to visit the man. I had one specialist, the surgeon. This guy had a veritable team. One of the Doctor's came in to explain to the man the seriousness of his condition and the man acted somewhat in the dark about how he came to be so sick. The Dr. was professional and analytical and kept asking questions so that he could answer the man's concerns. After much talk, the Dr. finally asked the guy what would precipitate the coughing spasms for the last six month and the dude mentioned, "In the morning, after my first cigarette."

I had alread supposed the man was a smoker. In fact, it was killing me on the other side of the curtain to hear the Doctor not just cut to the chase. I felt like shouting  "So, do you smoke?" to short-circuit the painfully slow interview. I just could not take the obvious any longer. The man did not reflect on his own bad habit prolonging or perhaps even creating the pneumonia...he kept calling in ammonia which was amusing. The Dr. also did not take a moral stance on the smoking. Instead, it was more a clinical explanation, matter-of-fact, with no admonition that smoking was highly related to his present illness.

Despite health care patient confidentiality, I heard a lot of the man's story, through the curtain (as he did mine). He also seemed to be a heavy drinker, being that he mentioned that he liked to drink beer. There is a big difference between being a social drinker and a problem-drinker/alcoholic. When he walked by me to go to the bathroom, he looked 80. In fact, he was my age (49). I had almost assumed that he was an old man when I heard him speak and only was corrected when I heard  him tell an orderly his birthdate.

Here is the kicker of all of this. The man was on Medicaire and most of his medical bills were going to be picked up by the government. Who know the total cost. 50K?

In our health care debate over rising costs, we have somehow lost the courage to admit that some peoples' behaviors are highly negative to their health. From gang-bangers in the inner city, to obese individuals, to smokers, to those who sleep around, contract diseases, and get pregnant, weighing in on peoples'  moral choices is a no-no and verboten. Even if the public is forced to pick-up the tab. With the money should come accountability. Instead, politicians play the victim card without being even with their hand. I do think our society should provide universal health care through some means, with an emphasis on prevention. I also think we cannot avoid any longer the hard conversations about why our health costs are so high. People are sometimes sick by their own hand.  

When Jesus told the woman in adultery to "Go and sin no more" there is a beautiful balance between the reality of both guilt and the promise of forgiveness. Too much of one side or the other create non-resolution. We are supposed to face our sin nature squarely, ask for forgiveness, and leave better people. I am afraid that we have forgotten this prescription for soul and bodily health.