This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

I have spent far too much time lately in the health care system in the California desert.

Too much time, but, insofar as I know, quality care.

Which is saying something.

Two issues lately:

• A couple weeks ago I came down with what appeared to be — and was — vertigo, an imbalance that, at one time or another, affects about 40 per cent of the U.S. population.

• Then, as vertigo symptoms stabilized, I got hit with a golf ball for the first time in my golfing life.  And the hit was on the head.

Here is far more detail on these two issues than anyone wants to know – but, along the way of this recitation, I will insert a few public policy points about health care.  Perhaps the latter justifies another blog post about me.

VERTIGO

When it first struck late one night, I had no idea what it was.  Reviewing quality on-line health care information the next day suggested it was vertigo.  And medical professionals confirmed the diagnosis.

It was interesting to learn that the suggested treatment for vertigo – at least a form of the ailment that stems from ear canal problems – is physical therapy.  Treatments are designed to send what are called “crystals” in the ears back to their appointed spot rather than staying in the dislodged spot.

Incredible!

In their proper spot, the crystals deliver information to the brain to maintain balance.  Out of their proper spot, dizziness results.

I feel compelled to add this question, which stems from my Christianity:  Who but God could have designed such a system?

A GOLF BALL INJURY

While still undergoing treatment for vertigo, the golf ball struck. 

It could have far worse.  Only a few inches of difference in a landing spot on my head could have meant disaster.

As it was, doctors in an urgent care center and an emergency room (both part of the Eisenhower Health Care System named after the former president) treated me, including with steri-strips and a CAT Scan.  The latter was important:  It showed that there was no internal damage.

A few impressions about this foray through the urgent and emergent health care systems in the California desert:

• Doctors and medical staffs were friendly and well-organized.

• In the emergency room, it appeared they had to deal with a range of issues, some of them perhaps not emergent, but still important.

• In a large waiting room, there were about 50 patients waiting for treatment.  If they were like me, they were put through what I would label a “non-emergent triage system,” with the following stops:  In the emergency room itself where vital signs were taken; into another smaller room where a physician talked with the patients; then into another room for more vital sign tests and conversations with a physician assistant; then, for me, a trip to the CAT Scan room; then back to the waiting room; and, then, finally, a visit with the physician assistant who said the scan was clear.

• It also was interesting to note the range of persons in the large waiting room.  Many were in wheelchairs.  Several had blankets over themselves because the air conditioning system was on to offset outside temperatures which exceeded 90 degrees.

• Without knowing anything about those in the waiting room, it struck me that it might be more appropriate for some of them to seek care from a primary care physician, given that dire emergencies did not appear to exist.  Of course, these individuals might not have access to primary care, so turned to the ER – and that is a typical situation in many cities around the country as emergency rooms can be the first choice for general care.

• Persons accompanying patients were not allowed to stay in the waiting room, though it was large enough to accommodate all.  This could have been, I suppose, a nod to continuing to control Covid exposure, but it meant that family members had to stand outside in the hot temperatures or wait in their cars.

In the end, the foray took me most of the day.  But, the final result was good. 

So, onward and upward, both to controlling vertigo and getting back on the golf course.