October fourth is usually a day where I try my best to look on the bright side. Where I try to convince myself that the universe has given me the challenges it has for a reason. To teach me independence, to make me a more empathetic person, because it knew I was one of a small few who could handle it. But this year, I don't have any of that.
One way I've been working on bettering myself and my mental state is by allowing myself to feel negative thoughts. By acknowledging them and letting them pass through my brain, I can let them go, rather than ignoring them and letting them fester until I reach my breaking point. Part of being a human being is recognizing the negative parts of our lives and feeling all the emotions associated with them. Now, eventually we must pull ourselves out of these holes of sadness and self-pity, but that doesn't mean we can never sit in that hole for awhile when we need to.
So I guess that's what I'm trying to do this year. But then again, whether I choose a happy or a sad spin on yesterday, I guess I've just kind of run out of things to say. Most people who know me know that I have Type One Diabetes, and that I've had it for quite awhile. Those who are very close to me know that I've had Type One Diabetes for exactly fifteen years and one day. And I guess, after watching October fourth go by for fourteen years, the memory of that day in 2005 growing dimmer and foggier with each passing year, I don't have any thoughts on it left. I guess it's just a day now. I've had Diabetes for so long that I can't for the life of me remember what it's like to live a day without it. Granted, it's gotten much easier as the industrialized world does its thing and develops better technology so I have to do much less work, and I can vaguely remember times without such incredible devices, but even still. I don't remember what it's like to be a kid without Diabetes. And I've never known what it's like to be a teenager or a young adult without Diabetes. My OmniPod is as much a part of me as my freckles are. So yesterday just feels like another day. One with finger sticks and carb counting and choking down the same blue Welch's gummies I've been eating in the middle of the night for years. (It used to be apple Juicy Juice, now I can't even look at that awful green box.)
But just because this is my normal, and as far as I can remember it always has been, that doesn't mean that it is normal or that it should be treated as such. So since I have nothing left to say about my poor little life as a kid with T1D (but really.. I'm fine. Please. Do not pity me. There are few things I hate more than being pitied.), I'll talk about what I will never grow tired of.. Politics.
I can see you on the other side of the screen. *Groan* *Sigh* "Don't you care about anything else?" Unfortunately, not really. I am not one of the lucky few whose lives are not up for grabs every time a Congressional seat is. I kind of have to think about this stuff, because if I don't spend my time fighting, my rights will be stolen from me. (And if you don't feel that way... That, my friends, is privilege.) But the big topic of today is insulin prices and the Affordable Care Act.
Let's talk big pharma. Because for some reason, America is a place where healthcare is a business and if you're poor you're out of luck. Healthcare should not be a capitalist system, in my humble opinion, but that is a bigger conversation for another day. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas that essentially breaks down the glucose from the food we eat so we can use it for energy (or at least this was how it was explained to me when I was five and we're still rolling with it). My body (along with the bodies of everyone else with T1D) does not produce insulin. My pancreas was targeted and partially destroyed by my immune system when I was five and has been unable to produce insulin ever since. So, I need to take synthetic insulin multiple times per day so that I can remain a living, breathing member of this earth. (In other words, synthetic insulin is not a luxury for me and others like me. It is a necessity. Like clean water and breathable air... Then again it depends on who you ask whether we are guaranteed rights to those things either.)
As far as production goes, it costs around $2.85 to produce one vial of insulin (Gotham et al, 2018) but one vial of Novolog sells for $351 without insurance (Lee, 2019). I take Novolog insulin (roughly 67 units per day) which puts me at about two vials per month. Paying retail price, I would spend $8,424 on insulin per year.
Now, let's see some social math here. My pal in the Oval Office says that insulin is "so cheap... It's like water." (Quote: Trump, 2020; Source: Florko, 2020). If water cost the same as insulin, an 8 oz. glass of water (volume equivalent to ~23.5 vials of Novolog) would cost roughly $8,248. An Olympic sized swimming pool would cost over $87 billion. Needless to say, insulin is not at all cheap like water, Mr. President.
And then on top of all that, the Trump administration has been trying for four years to get the Affordable Care Act repealed, which, at this point, would have me booted off my parents' insurance six years earlier than I had planned and stripped many Americans of the only healthcare they have available to them.
Again, please do not feel bad for me. But what I do want you to do... Is vote. Vote with compassion and empathy. Vote blue. Fifteen years is a long time with this illness, but I would really like to continue living with it for a very long time; without politicians trying to take my access to my necessary medication away from me.
Keep fighting the good fight.
Works Cited:
@NicholasFlorko, N., Florko, N., About the Author Reprints Nicholas Florko Washington correspondent Nicholas Florko is a Washington correspondent for STAT, Nicholas Florko Washington correspondent Nicholas Florko is a Washington correspondent for STAT, Says:, B., Says:, C., . . . Says:, K. (2020, September 30). Trump claims insulin is 'cheap .. like water.' But it still costs just as much. Retrieved October 05, 2020, from https://www.statnews.com/2020/09/29/trump-insulin-fact-check/
Gotham, D., Barber, M. J., & Hill, A. (2018). Production costs and potential prices for biosimilars of human insulin and insulin analogues. BMJ Global Health, 3(5). doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2018-000850
Lee, B. (2020, August 13). How Much Does Insulin Cost? Here's How 23 Brands Compare - GoodRx. Retrieved October 05, 2020, from https://www.goodrx.com/blog/how-much-does-insulin-cost-compare-brands/