“Is This Really Healthcare?” – A Personal Reflection on a Broken System

Lately, I’ve been struggling with something that too many people in this country can relate to: the feeling that no one is listening, no one is available, and no one is equipped to help—especially when it comes to healthcare.

I’m currently trying to get my son in to see a psychologist. He needs help. We need help. But it’s been nearly impossible. Not because we don’t have insurance—we do. But it doesn’t seem to matter. Every provider either doesn’t take our plan, or they have waitlists that stretch out for six months or more. How are families supposed to cope with that? What happens in the meantime, when a child is struggling and support is urgently needed?

But it’s not just about my son. I live with Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF)—a rare genetic condition that causes painful, recurring fevers and inflammation. Right now, I’m facing elevated AST and ALT liver enzymes, which could point to something serious. But even with that hanging over me, trying to see a doctor is like navigating a maze with no exit. No one specializes in my condition. No one has time. And when I finally do get in, I’m usually referred elsewhere—passed around from one office to the next, as if my health is just another item being shuffled through a system that’s lost its ability to care.

I don’t think this is what healthcare is supposed to feel like. This isn’t just a frustrating experience—it’s demoralizing. It’s frightening. And most of all, it’s unacceptable.

How can this be the norm in a country like the United States? We lead the world in medical innovation, yet we can’t manage to get people in the door to see a doctor when they need one. We talk about mental health being a priority, but where is the real access to care? We talk about early intervention, yet we’re told to wait half a year just to begin a conversation.

What happens to people who don’t have the time, the resources, or the energy to keep advocating for themselves? What about the people who fall through the cracks—because let’s be honest, our system is made of them?

I’m tired. Tired of begging for appointments, tired of repeating my medical history to doctors who haven’t read my chart, tired of pretending that this is okay.

I don’t have all the answers. But I know this: we deserve better. My son deserves better. Your family deserves better. And no one should have to suffer just because the system is too broken to care.

XOXO FRUSTRATED!!!