Welcome to my blog about the journey as well as the destination, which might come with gluten free donuts.

The True Cost of Health

The True Cost of Health



Talking about money is uncomfortable, especially in the Bay Area.  A strong divide between the have and the have nots puts financial strain at the forefront of our lives.  Money either propels us or holds us back--do we have control of our money, or does it control us?

In a society where money dictates our livelihood, does it also dictate our health? 

Sure.  We can either afford the doctor, the therapy, the magic little pill we pop like Tic-Tacs, or we can't.  Wait a minute.  Either we choose to prioritize the cost of our health or we do not. 

So, what is the monetary value of health?

Here is what it costs to be the healtiest sick person I know.

  • PICC Line: The quick installation of a tube from my arm to my heart for IV therapy costs the same as a MacBook Pro.  Weekly dressing changes to prevent infection run $125.
  • IV Silver:  A program of elemental silver, one of nature's most potent antibiotics, runs about $6,000.  Let’s file that under January 2017.
  • Weekly IV Therapy:  A range of IV’s—detox drips, ozone gas and UV light to kill anything bad in my body, and homeopathics to heal, run anywhere between $650-$1300 a week.  By now I could have a whole fleet of Mac computers.
  • Lymphatic Massage:  It’s hard for a body to detox alone, so my therapist gives it a helping hand for $80 a month.
  • Colonics:  Again, detoxing alone is hard and gut health is the key to whole body health at $300 a month.
  • Supplements:  I take supplements for everything.  Sleep.  Digestion.  Stress.  Low Iron.  Low Magnesium.  Detox.  Killing Candida.  Rebuilding my gut.  This number ranges between $100-$400 depending on the month. 
  • Apheresis: The oil change of medical treatments, for $4,000 your blood is removed, filtered, and replaced into your body to reduce inflammation, damaged blood cells, and microbes.  At that price tag, I’ve only done it twice.  
  • Blood Draws:  It’s important to check progress for anywhere between $100 and $400 dollars and a few stabs of a needle.
  • Glutathione:  $900 allows me a couple month of almost daily injections of this powerful antioxidant.
  • Prescription Drugs:  Antimalarials and antifungals, thyroid and diabetes meds, at a measly $300/month.

In six months, my healing cost the price of 30 MacBook Air laptops.



 If only it came with the extra memory and hard drive space. 

What happens when this cost doesn't align with my lifestyle?

 Working for a non-profit has always aligned with my values, but my health costs don't align with my paycheck.  It's a catch-22.  Work more, to afford my health, sleep less and degrade my health.  

Either way, my checkbook and my body remain unbalanced.

I am far from alone in this vortex of health woes--our society has its priorities all wrong.  We eat on the go, valuing convenience over nutrition.  We skip out on check-ups, valuing the extra cash over a clean bill of health.  We opt for the quick fix, the band-aid of prescriptions that treat the symptoms because the cost of finding the root cause may be out of our budget.


catch 22

How do you determine the value of your health?  At what price is the cost of optimal wellbeing too high?  

When it comes down to it, we have no idea the monetary value of health until the bills arrive.






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