News of my latest health scare

Capitalism means that when you acquire one serious health problem, every other illness known to modern medicine seems to set in as well.

Due to abuse at school and the resulting fear and shame, I've lived with PTSD for 24 years. I endured further humiliation at the hands of talk radio blowhards who kept bumping their gums about how I can simply bring myself up by my bootstraps, and if I fail, it's my fault. Great use of our public airwaves!

Almost inevitably, PTSD leads to other medical issues, and I don't owe anyone any further explanation of why my health worsened prematurely. Last week, I had a blood test, and on Friday, I got the results: hypocobalaminemia. The phone call was brief but somber.

Hypocobalaminemia - a type of severe vitamin B12 deficiency - is serious. I have severe and irreversible central nervous system damage from it. That much was clear even before the diagnosis. The burning in my feet, the constant feeling of being crushed, and the growing inability to perform basic tasks was a sign of certain damage.

All of that is a done deal. The damage is done, and the symptoms aren't going away. Ever. That's just how the doo-doo glides. I can't fix it. The only thing I can do is try to prevent it from getting any worse. That's going to be tough to do, since I can't find any food packaging that tells you how much vitamin B12 the product has.

Since Friday, I've been pondering about whether I'm even physically able to keep doing everything I've been doing. Fact is, I'm not able to. If you think it's so easy, why don't you contract a vitamin deficiency and then try it? One thing is for sure: The more things change, the more the Far Right stays the same, and their response to my condition will be the same catatonic harangue that it's been for decades.

My current situation has a cause that can be directly traced to what happened 30 years ago. The perpetrators still haven't been punished for their past crimes. Do you expect them to now, knowing the silly clowns who are allowed to clutter up local elected offices? The punishment phase is long overdue, and justice delayed is justice denied.

As if this wasn't enough, the doctor's office called again today and said I have a serious vitamin D deficiency too. This is caused by lack of sunlight. I hope the climate change deniers are happy that their inaction has yielded the dividends I'm sure they were hoping for.