Enjoy the ride
I don't know how it is in Venezuela, a brotherly country, as I've said, from which we certainly still draw government experience, and we even buy second-hand voting machines, but when a person gets cancer in Bulgaria... they simply die.
I didn't feel like writing about this exact topic today, but I keep reading about brutal hospital cases, as well as many sad personal stories that ended in an extremely painful, fatal way, in this suffering territory. Also, my imminent trip to the capital for tests and hospitalization makes me shudder even more with fear against the backdrop of these terrible stories about the suffering of people admitted to the hospital (entered into a system that has long been devoid of a human face and human feelings of help and empathy, in a country where human feelings have also long since died out.)
As I recently read in a comment: "I wish you never have to be hospitalized!" This is a wish that everyone should make to everyone now, along with health, happiness, luck, you know - things that people wish for on certain occasions...
But now I will continue with the topic I started above. People who get cancer simply die.
Yes, my mother got sick last year and after surgery and all the procedures, chemotherapy and so on, she is still alive. I would not say - healthy, because in my opinion, everyone who has ever had cancer is like a walking bomb that can explode again at any moment. At least here.
She is alive because she is lucky that my brother is a famous doctor in the capital, he has the connections and knows where to send her, who to turn to.
Doctors also maintain a kind of mafia relationship among themselves, because they never know when they will need each other.
It is said that there is not a single case won against a doctor, because all the doctors who appear as witnesses are in the defense. It is said that no patient has ever won a case seeking their rights, no matter how much they have been harmed by a doctor, whether through negligence or ignorance.
My mother is also alive because she was forced to undergo tests that she, like almost every Bulgarian, would not have done otherwise. And from next year, with the increase in fees for general practitioners and all doctors, these tests and examinations will decrease even more. And even more people will die for this reason alone.
In order for a person to be alive after being sick with cancer, a person not only needs to have the connections to be sent to a good and qualified doctor in a hospital, where they will be treated humanely. Because this is exactly what has been talked about and reported for a long time - inhuman treatment, mainly in the capital, where it is otherwise known that it is possible to find good (professional) doctors, which is debatable to say about other parts of the country.
But as a politician once said on television: When I have to call hospitals, at the request of acquaintances, to ensure they receive appropriate and humane service, this is a sure sign of a dysfunctional healthcare system.
But that's not all. Along with connections, you need money too.
I was quite surprised when I recently read that charity campaigns are being organized to raise funds for the cancer treatment of a famous wedding photographer.
Wedding photography is generally a lucrative profession. But as the saying goes: You can have many problems in life, but when you are sick, suddenly it turns out that you have only one problem.
And your funds quickly evaporate, if you have managed to set aside any savings at all, when you start treatment, the treatment takes a very long time and there is simply no result.
Lastly, they were collecting just some 7,000 leva, or about 3,500 euros, for some procedure. A pretty ridiculous amount, in my opinion, to require a whole campaign to be organized for it - by friends, relatives and colleagues.
I didn't find out if the money was collected, if he had undergone the procedure, because he passed away. A middle-aged man, in the prime of his life, struggling with the disease for several years... in Bulgaria.
Things didn't go that way for another man, the husband of a photographer, for whom funds were also being raised to treat a specific cancer in Germany. Today, the man is alive and well.
Two examples, two completely different worlds.
When I lived for a while in West Germany, and then in Belgium, I had the feeling that every second person around me, whom I met or got to know, was a cancer survivor.
I don't think there are such statistics in Bulgaria. I don't know that many cancer patients, taking as an example people I have met or known in my life. But all these people there were alive and well.
One would think that this is part of this endless inhumane state machine for earning or transferring money - we make them sick and then treat them. Because I don't know how much in Germany the state covers the treatment of a cancer patient. I can assume that in Bulgaria it covers exactly 0%.
But in Germany it's: we cure them.
While in Bulgaria it's just: we don't give a fuck about these people. Let them die, especially if they don't have money...
So, to come to the original reason for writing this post - if my exact diagnosis is finally established and such actions are necessary - charity campaigns, hospitalization, let alone surgical actions, I will most likely refuse treatment.
Yes, the prospect of getting treatment in Germany is tempting, but I'm sure not all charity campaigns succeed, it takes a lot of effort, will, hope, marketing skills, etc. So... I'm trying these last few days to just come to terms with it, to accept everything.
I found a parody meme page on FB, I really like it and I'm dying of laughter at how life is presented there.
Usually, Death with a scythe has you riding, dragging you to the grave, and underneath it says: "Enjoy the ride", 😂parodying everything positive that people like to make up about life.
| Thank you for your time! Copyright: | @soulsdetour |
|---|---|
 | Soul's Detour is a project started by me years ago when I had a blog about historical and not so popular tourist destinations in Eastern Belgium, West Germany and Luxembourg. Nowadays, this blog no longer exists, but I'm still here - passionate about architecture, art and mysteries and eager to share my discoveries and point of view with you. |
Personally, I am a sensitive soul with a strong sense of justice.
Traveling and photography are my greatest passions.
Sounds trivial to you?
No, it's not trivial. Because I still love to travel to not so famous destinations.🗺️
Of course, the current situation does not allow me to do this, but I still find a way to satisfy my hunger for knowledge, new places, beauty and art.
Sometimes you can find the most amazing things even in the backyard of your house.😊🧐🧭|
I tend to agree with your observations.
Farma business is a huge business everywhere but in the former communist European countries it seems it is the wild-wild-west and many people are kept on a leash between life and death so they pay as much as possible for as long as possible.
I hope you are well!
I wonder how much they can pay. Because if they have to raise 3500 euros for a life-saving operation through a charity campaign, then people can't pay much, or at least not for long.
I think the concept of the pharma/medical mafia is very wrong in this country. Or is it somehow more humane, at the same time: the prices here are high, for everything, especially for medicines, and everything has to be paid for by the patient. When a person has no money, he simply dies. When there is some money, or some money is raised through a campaign, the agony is simply prolonged for a few years, but the end is still fatal. Therefore, it is better when a person has no money than if he has some 😂
How vile, it looks like there are still so many places where humane medical care needs to be put forward. I really do wish you luck in finding the answers, and hope it's not what you think. But if it goes down that route can your brother not help just like he did with your mother?
I don't really think about anything. I've had so many diagnoses, each one more "wonderful" than the last. I keep thinking about what a friend of mine told me about her mother: she went to doctors all over the country and everyone said they didn't know what was wrong with her. When they found her cancer, it was too late and she died a few weeks later. In my case, at least for the moment, it's not really about cancer, but about autoimmune diseases, which is even scarier because it's clear that there's no cure. But nothing is clear, of course.
I was expecting this logical question. But the thing is, I don't want to tell anyone about it, least of all my relatives. Only my partner (and you, who read my posts) know about my condition. It's just that my relationship with my relatives is too complicated to share such personal things with them.😁
I know the feeling a autoimmune disease might be what I'm dealing with, I'm no doctor but it seems for either there might be a bit of hope, likely depends how serious and type, however any help on such things are always said to be 25 years away. And I think that's mostly down to the terrible systems in place supposedly to protect us.
That's also the answer I expected "relationship with my relatives is too complicated". For the other part of the answer it seems these days people enjoy too much going around telling everybody, especially true with telling family what is effecting them health wise. But it seems we are both mostly keeping and trying to deal with it ourselves for the reason you mentioned.
Talking about it is desirable, of course, and sometimes one forgets oneself in one's grief and talks and talks, and of course this makes things worse. It has been said that one should not talk about one's problems, because it makes them worse. But God, how can one not talk? How can one keep all this inside oneself, and just suffer?
Luckily, I don't have people around me I can trust 😁 to not make things worse. I've chosen to write on Steemit. Because God, this has to come out.
And yes, of course there is some hope, especially when the diagnosis is not clear. I wish hope and good luck to both of us.🙏
I think that's the main distinction I wanted to make when I said that, there are a lot of reasons why talking about such things can be beneficial to oneself or others. However like you pointed out some of us have people around who cannot be trusted which in turn can make things worse, or like also in my case those who simply don't have the capacity to understand. To us both 🙏
That's awful to read... I don't know if you're aware of recent studies that show that in many cases of degenerative diseases, including cancer and autoimmune disorders, treatment is not necessary. I find the perspective that illness could simply be a part of who we are to be somewhat logical...
You don't seem anxious to me, so tell your illness that you accept it, but that you will determine the path you take together. You can do it! All the best!
This is strange to read from someone from a country where cancer is actually cured in most cases. 😃 But I understand what you mean. In the case of autoimmune diseases, it's your own cells turning against you. This has a very deep meaning, reason and message. Maybe if a person hasn't felt supported their whole life, they end up doing that to themselves. In the order of things. So that they can subsequently accept all this and start supporting themselves. Themselves, because no other support is needed...
It's only now because I've been looking for a way to distract myself from my worries for a long time and I found them in this or that. There was a long period when I went to doctors and got diagnoses, but I was emotionally preoccupied (distracted) with other things and didn't care. I was happy, then unhappy, but all of this was distracting and absolutely necessary.
I will certainly talk to the disease about this soon. I just want to finally understand what it is. For it to have a name so I can address it. We will have a serious talk 😂Or a loving one. But if we want to continue living, we have to stick together somehow. Otherwise it won't happen.
Thank you!
The treatment doesn't cure but delays the deterioration. At some point, the delaying effect also slows down. I don't know if it happens in all such diseases but I have seen it in Parkinson's patient. I think it's wise to maintain the better living standard as long as one can by getting the treatment.
My dear, I'm so sorry to hear this.
Stay strong. It's the best thing we can do for ourselves in times like this.
Thank you! 🌞 The only way for me to be strong is to simply not think about it - to find other, distracting objects to concentrate on. Whether it will be work, whether it will be something else - pleasant or unpleasant, it doesn't matter at all. The important thing is to simply not be related to this. So that's what I wish for right now - other things to focus on. I can't wish for myself to be well, because so many people, young people, die every day. How am I any different from them? What right do I have to want to live? It is what it is. It's just some kind of fate, that's it.🤷♀️
There is so much we must do for our own wellbeing, often just to provide a distraction from the fear. If I let myself dwell only on the fact that I’m not getting well, a deep dread starts to take over, so I keep myself busy. It isn't easy, but we have every right to live fully. Fate is one thing, but spirit is another. I once saw a patient who looked genuinely happy and even healthy, despite what her hair loss told us. She must have been incredibly strong. I don't know how she managed it, and I didn't even know how to ask.
It really takes a lot of strength and wisdom for this thing. A lot of life experience, or just wisdom that doesn't come with life experience.
I think that when a person manages to distance themselves, from themselves and from everything, they can see how funny the scary things seem, and how everything is a game, a predetermined path, and even when you don't have the free will to make decisions about your life (and I claim that people don't), life can and should be accepted as it is. Because it just is, and nothing more.
It’s a heavy thing to realize how much of our lives are shaped by things we didn't choose. Losing that sense of free will is a hard truth to swallow. Sometimes it leaves me 'crippled' for days with anger and resentment. I fight to keep these issues from becoming the center of my world by distracting myself with small things. Even something as simple as putting on body lotion helps—it’s a tiny act of self-care that chips away at the negativity. I feel like I’m rambling, I don’t know if this makes sense to anyone else.
What's your hobby or anything you feel interested in?