The pain to go

I want to share details about my recent trip to Washington, D.C. Before stepping on the plane in Milwaukee, I had to prepare myself for the long days of traveling and walking around our nation’s capitol.

I have told you before about my knee injury that happened with a fall in April and was further damaged with another fall in June. While I was given pain and anti-inflammatory medications, I was still feeling a lot of pain.

Any time we farmers are in enough pain to reach out to a doctor should be a signal that the reason we are reaching out is serious. However, the doctor’s office isn’t looking at our professions when we call to make an appointment, and we are shuffled through just as every other patient.

In June, I had a video call with my provider and chose 7 a.m. That required me to be on at 6:45 a.m. to make sure the connection worked. I waited until 7:15 a.m. without anyone jumping on the call, so closed my computer. Five minutes later, I got a phone call from the doctor  apologizing for his lateness.

While explaining to him what happened, I said, “I slipped while feeding calves in the barn.” 

He replied, “Oh, how many cats do you have?” 

I explained that I was a dairy farmer and that all the calves needed to be fed milk at least twice a day.

In the end, he prescribed anti-inflammatory and pain medicines. If my knee was still bothering me after the swelling went down, he would put in an order for an MRI.

I have had many MRIs with previous health issues and realize they are very expensive, and since Duane and I have not reached our deductible in our insurance plan, he did some research to find a place to get a reasonably-priced MRI.

A new start-up business in Middleton, MH Imaging, was said to be very affordable. I had the order sent there. To the confusion of the office gal, she could not understand why I wanted the order to go out of their hospital network. Once I explained about my deductible, she checked on the cost of the MRI there versus the hospital. She confirmed that MH Imaging was $650 while it was $5,000 at the hospital. The doctor’s order was sent, and I was thrilled to get an appointment within the week at MH Imaging.

Duane took me to the MH Imaging office. I got in and out within 30 minutes and the image was sent over to my primary doctor’s office. I still wanted to see if I could get an appointment to see the doctor before I booked my flight. 

So, I called the gal in the office again to make the appointment and was told he was scheduling three weeks out. Somehow, she found me an appointment just two weeks out, the day before I was scheduled to fly. So, I booked my flight with the anticipation of a pain-free trip.

On appointment day, I checked in at the office and waited. It seemed to take a while for my doctor to show up and when he finally appeared, he asked me what caused my injury. I told him the story again about my two falls and that I am a dairy farmer. 

To which he replies, “ I know about dairy farmers. I am watching one on TV.”  

This was not what I was expecting. I told him I was not a “TV farmer, just a dairy farmer in Cambridge, and was injured with a slip and fall.” 

He shared with me that he was born in Poland and grew up in Canada, and he knows some “pepper farmers in Canada.” 

I told him I am not a pepper farmer; I don’t even have a garden. I was not impressed with the comparisons and wanted him to get on with what he saw on my MRI image.

As I am explaining again the reason why I am getting an MRI at his office, I am getting the feeling he isn’t listening to me. Come to find out, he didn’t even bring the MRI report into the room to read it to me. I don’t even think he even looked at it.

When he finally returned, he reported the results: a radial tear through the posterior meniscal root and a large baker’s cyst that extends inferiorly into the calf. He acted surprised. 

“Well, you will need more pain medication when you are protesting in Washington, D.C,” he said.

I was ready to scream, but I kept my temper down and replied, “I am not protesting, I am talking to our lawmakers about the farm bill with other farmers.”

I finally got on the plane and made the 5-day trip to Washington, D.C. to talk to lawmakers and their staff about the farm bill. I was part of a group from the National Farmers Union representing Wisconsin. Many of us also belong to the Wisconsin Farm Bureau. Our stories are best told by us, real farmers, with real families that rely on the provisions of the farm bill.

We were all wearing our “farmer hats” when we spoke about our concerns. For the next farm bill, we want Congress to tackle agriculture’s monopoly crisis with policies to include NFU’s Fairness for Farmers campaign. We would like to see our policymakers update the safety net established in the 2018 farm bill. This bill should also maintain support for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s voluntary, incentive-based approach to conservation and renewable energy programs while finding new ways to incentivize farmers to increase the resilience of their farming operations.

I did hear the farm bill has another extension for another three months. Perhaps we can gather again to speak to lawmakers about the need for a new farm bill. If you are invited to join a group heading to Washington, D.C., consider the offer. 

You can make a difference.

Tina Hinchley, her husband Duane and daughter Anna milk 240 registered Holsteins with robots. They also farm 2,300 acres near Cambridge, Wisconsin. The Hinchleys have been hosting farm tours for over 25 years.