Zebra Files 40) What Are The Odds?

What Are The Odds? by Protyus A. Gendher

These ideas are so much better Shared!!

Let’s talk about something upbeat right? 
You have a 1 in 3 chance of having cancer in this life. 

Out of 334 million American lives 
111 million will fight this fight.
Your chance of being diabetic is more like 1 in 9 
We have a 10% chance of losing our minds  
To Alzheimer's if we make it past our primes 

So, it’s no wonder that doctors are trained 
To focus on the obvious.  This isn’t about blame. 

According to the research that exists 
The chances of being born with EDS 
1 in 5000 
A needle in a haystack  
Of horsey hoofbeats making their paycheck. 
So why would anyone take the time 
To find 
A zebra in a horse-stack? 
We see what we want in the Rorschach. 

Medical tests interpreted like constellations 
Everything is just a sprain, or constipation 
They tell us “Just breathe” 
“Take some Aleve” 
“Get back to work”  
“You don't deserve” 
Relief 
From what we feel that they can't see 
Must be drug seeking 
So many things, 
Socially 
Mentally 
Medically speaking 
Preventing the seeking 
The research, the reasoning 

If you’re not a horse, then they can’t help 
In the 15 minutes they spend peeking in our hell 
Hey- it's all insurance will pay for 
So, it’s all they sell 

What are the odds of being diagnosed 
If you're not a horse? 
You're not even close? 
What are the odds of being seen 
When your joints are falling apart at the seams? 
In a world that demands 40+ hours per week 
No time to slow down, rest or sleep. 
Get back on your feet 
If we’re 1 in 5000 then in this country alone  
That makes 66,800 people on their own 
This kind of pain 
Is socially isolating 
Personality penetrating 
And it makes resources harder to acquire 
And it makes everything hard when your body’s on fire 
So few spoons, and everybody taking. 
Having to be more while breaking. 

So, what are the odds of being treated or diagnosed? 
The American Healthcare system is broke, 
Needs woke, 
Because we can’t do this on our own. 
In order to be tested and diagnosed 
I’m on a waitlist that was 18-months long 
To have my genetics assessed 
By the ONLY person in the state that can do this 

Until then, I still can’t work 
I’m still in tears trying to manage the hurt 
I’m applying for disability 
Because my body refuses to give me 
Any relief 

Jumping through hoops on shoddy knees 
And my initial diagnosis is still 6 months away? 
This isn’t a fucking game! 

What are the odds I keep housing through that? 
Bending over backwards every month is quite an act. 
What are the odds that their odds are right? 
What does 1 in 5000 mean when they’re willing  
To let us die while they keep billing? 

 Taylor Swift pulls in 72,000 fans 
All filling the stands 
In stadium after stadium 
In any given Swifty crowd there would be 14 of us 
If we could leave the house 

During the course of the Colorado State Fair 
About a half million people are there 
Representing about 100 of us who need and can’t get care 

How many of us do there need to be  
Before our wealthcare system chooses to see? 
And what do these numbers even mean? 

They say 1 in 5000 
But who are they testing? 
Because it sure as fuck isn’t me 
At the age of 43. 

The people they test 
Are the people with access 
Imagine what the number might be if they screened and tested the rest. 

Choosing not to see me 
Doesn't stop me from being 

What are the odds of dying before being seen 
In a system that screens against me 
That would rather us fall through the cracks 
So their answers line up in neat little stacks? 

And I would have continued to think 
That my pain was just a me thing 
That my sprains were a repeat thing 
That my brain should be retreating 
Because there’s never anything wrong 
So, “stop bugging us and go home” 

I would have continued to suffer alone 
If not for the Facebook algorithm 
Putting our hoofbeats into a rhythm 

This social sorter 
Grouping like minds for support 
When I feel seen I tap like and share 
And discovered I wasn’t the only one out here.