Not poor, but not insured

Read this article: "Not in poverty, but not insured" Then read my story below:

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My Related Story

Monday, last week

One of my students, (I'll call her Trinh - not her real name), had a bruised toe. She wanted to know how long bruises are supposed to last. She says she has had a large bruise on her toe for about three weeks. I said, "let me look at it." She refused -- saying she wasn't going to take her shoe off in front of me.
I said, "well how am I going to be able to look at it and tell you what I think?"
Then she, "I'll take a picture of it with my digital camera and send it to you on AIM later on... will you be on AIM tonight??"

Now, I am no doctor, but I have the same general education that doctors have. I also have a fairly keen ability to look at symptoms and make a general diagnosis. I am pretty good at it as I have had many correct diagnoses--- after a physician's visit has backed it up.
There is no way she could know this, however...

I have been to Trinh's house before. It is a brick, two-story home, with a prolific and profuse do-it-yourself landscape that is commonly seen at Vietnamese homes. She and her brother have their own computer and their family car is a late-model Honda. They are not poor.... not even close.

Trinh is a very animated teenager. She flaps her arms around a lot when she talks and uses a lot of drama to emphasize her main points.

I told her, "You should go see a doctor and have the doctor tell you if it is even a bruise."
She snapped back, "Doctors are too expensive! We don't have insurance!!" (she said this as though I were stupid to even suggest such an option.)
I said, "Really? Do you EVER go to the doctor?" She answered, "I'm Asian! No Asians have health insurance, it's too expensive! That is why we never get to go anywhere!! Something night happen, so we just stay home!"

I asked her what her parents think about her toe. Trinh said, "I HAVEN'T SHOWN MY PARENTS!!!! If I did, my dad would put some sort of stinky oil or cream on it. We are ASIAN!!! Asians always use something gross to cure EVERYTHING!!"

At this point, I was laughing.

So I started the inquisition:

Me: "Does it hurt?"
Trinh: "no"
Me: "Not even when you wiggle it?"
Trinh: "no"
Me: "Did something fall on it? or did you kick something?"
Trinh: "no, not that I can remember."
Me: "so how do you think you got this bruise?"
Trinh: "I don't remember"
Me: "What color is it?"
Trinh: "Uhm, black??"
Me: "show me how big it is, is it like a quarter, a dime, a saucer?"
Trinh: "About this big" (making a size with her hand)
Me: what's your diet like, do you eat a lot of meat?" I was wondering if it was gangrene...
Trinh: "oh, no! I eat everything"
(I figured that it probably wasn't diet-- Asians do eat EVERYTHING)
Me: "do you wear anything really tight? shoes? socks? do you have anything tied around you foot?"
Trinh: "no, no, no, no"
Me: "do you have feeling beyond your bruise"
Trinh: "uhm, I don't feel anything when I push on it."
Me: "nothing??"
Trinh: "not really."
Me: "Okay, take off your shoe!"
Trinh: "NO!!!"
Me: "get your parents to take you to the doctor-- you might have broken something ages ago and maybe the bone is growing back all weird and you don't even notice it anymore!"
Trinh: "NO! He won't take me! He'll put something gross on it and I will have to walk around like that for WEEKS!!! NO! It will be gross! YOU don't want anything gross in your classroom??? Do you want me to be the stinky student???"

LOL.....

I still haven't gotten that picture on AIM.....