Health Care

This story is featured in our election coverage.
While on a family vacation to Disney World in the summer of ‘09, my older sister Elizabeth, then 21, started experiencing joint pain and discomfort, whether we were on rides or just walking around the park. That’s never a good sign, but I guess I personally assumed it was due to muscle fatigue or dehydration in the hot Florida sun. On Sept. 10, 2009, Elizabeth’s 22nd birthday, she was diagnosed with a mild case of Lupus.

According to the Lupus Foundation of America (LFA), Lupus is a chronic, inflammatory disease that can affect any part of the body (skin, joints, or organs.) The LFA also clarifies that Lupus is not a disease that one can “catch,” but it is one that can develop at any point in life.

The fact that makes this relevant is that our father was in the Navy – therefore we have received medical benefits from the military our whole lives. After Elizabeth graduated from Virginia Tech in the spring of ‘09, her health care was no longer in effect because she was not a student. This is why health care benefits are so important to Elizabeth and my family. She is now on regular medications and is a patient with the Center for Disease Control. However, there are still days when Elizabeth feels joint pain, and then there are days where she feels perfectly fine. But without a guaranteed medical benefit from the military, I was worried about the state of her condition.

This is why it is important to vote, whether it’s the Presidential election or the midterm election, because the important issues, such as health care, will inevitably fall to whoever is in office – and as an American citizen of voting age, that’s your call.

Whether you believe the health care bill is much needed, like I do, vote. Whether you believe it’s considered massive unnecessary government spending, vote. Most of all, stay informed about relevant topics and know who is running for office, stay registered in your respective area or submit for an absentee ballot, and vote. Because there are some people out there, like my older sister, who need it.