I have arrived (belatedly)

Hello!  Miriam here - finally! 
 DAY 3…. FIRST! blog…. technology problems…. and fully into the challenge.  This is truly an eye-opener experience.
I’ll  start with one ‘awareness' story.

Three days before this Poverty Challenge started, I developed a nasty shooting pain in my shoulder, similar to an injury I had from last year, which involved a lot of physiotherapy. I still worked the next few days as a substitute teacher but I was able to control most of the pain with Advil and Tylenol……  but then I realized something.  On this limited budget over 5 days, I wouldn’t be able to buy pain relief meds!

Fortunately, as Sunday rolled around, the pain reduced but I knew I had to get a physio appt. There would be no way that a person on this budget could afford what many of us take for granted, such as over-the-counter meds AND how would one ever pay for a physio session?  They are expensive.     So when I went for my appointment today, I asked and wondered…..

How complicated could it be for someone in poverty to handle this situation.

I went to the private clinic here as I could get in quickly.  If I couldn’t have paid up front,  I would have had to get a Dr’s appointment and get a referral to see one at the hospital.  Then I thought,  what if I didn’t have a car?  Or money for a bus? Would I have had enough money to get a taxi? Not this week.    How would I pay for my medications?  i couldn’t this week.  What if I had a young child at home, no money for a taxi but in pain and needed physio. I might have had to walk.

 Would I have been able to see a Dr quickly and how would I get there?  Would it take a long time to get a physio appointment? again, how would I get there?   What does a person do?  Well, I’m learning, they would do without OR have to jump through a lot of hoops to deal with a medical situation.