Dear Mr. President

I am mailing this letter to President Obama in hopes it will help him keep a clear head during this health care fiasco.


Dear Mr. President,

My name is Antonette Gum, and I want to tell you about my experience having major surgery in Japan.
My husband, Marlow, and I moved to Japan to become English teachers only months after graduating from the University of South Florida, and only a week after getting married. We came to Japan with pretty much everything we owned: 5 suitcases and $5500. We started working in Japan in September 2008 and immediately enrolled ourselves into the Japanese national health insurance program, which is available to anyone who works in the country. Around April 2009 I noticed a bump on my lower abdomen, and being like most 24-year olds, shrugged it off as nothing important—after all, I was only 24 and I ate well and exercised—I was far too young to worry about health problems. Weeks later, the bump had not gone away, as I had hoped it would. I sought out an English speaking gynecologist, and it was then I found out I had a fibroid tumor on my uterus—one that had gotten to be quite large. My doctor recommended I have it removed. I went for a second opinion, where I was given the same recommendation: surgery.
At that time, I had never had surgery, nor seen the inside of a hospital with the eyes of a patient. I was terrified. My terror was mixed with anger at the time, because I had gone to a gynecologist yearly since the age of 19, yet this tumor (now giant) had never been detected. Because of its size, my doctor predicted that this tumor had been growing for years. I found out that this kind of tumor is fairly common among women during their reproductive years; however, a tumor so large for someone so young seems to be rather uncommon. At the time of surgery I had just turned 25 years old, and the doctors removed a tumor that was about 2 lbs in weight, and about the size of a pineapple. Smaller tumors can be removed using a less-invasive procedure consisting of 3 small incisions around the naval area. But because mine was so large, there was no choice but to cut open my abdomen—I now have a 5-inch incision on my lower abdomen.
To say the least, I was shocked at the size of this thing. One should ask, how a tumor so big went unnoticed for so long. Fibroid tumors can grow in different places. Mine, thankfully so, was on top of my uterus. I’m guessing its position, and gradual growth over time allowed it to remain unnoticeable for so long. From talking to other women, it seems as though having a tumor inside the uterus yields more pain before and after surgery. Months before surgery I had terrible cramping in my abdomen—like intensified menstrual cramps—but while I wasn’t menstruating. On a couple of occasions, they were so severe I couldn’t walk. I later found out this was the tumor, attached to my uterus by a stem of tissue, twisting around inside me and causing me so much pain.
On June 29th I checked into the hospital where everything about the coming days was explained to me and I was prepared for surgery the next day. On June 8th, 8 days after surgery, I was released from the hospital. I was in the hospital for a total of 10 days. In Japan, this type of surgery requires 10-14 days in the hospital, depending on how well the patient does after surgery. By the time I was released, my 13 staples had been removed, and I was completely able to walk around and take care of myself. I understand this surgery requires about 2-3 days in a hospital in the US. Three days after surgery I still had staples, and was barely able to walk. To be sent home in this condition would be horrible.
Upon arriving at the hospital, I was instructed to bring about $3000 with me to cover the costs of surgery. For the surgery and 10 days in a private hospital room I paid a total of about $2200, and was reimbursed the remaining $800. But, the Japanese health insurance program has placed a limit on the maximum amount of money someone should pay for any one procedure. Because we were new to the country, language and the healthcare system, we didn’t realize that had we gone to our local ward office and informed them of my surgery beforehand, we would have been given paperwork to lower the initial price. But, because we didn’t go before surgery, we will be reimbursed afterwards. This October we will be getting about $500 back from the government, and I believe we might get even more money back after the first reimbursement is completed. But, the $500 reimbursement brings our total costs down to about $1700.
My total costs actually could have been less had I not gotten a private room, yet all of the cheaper, shared rooms were full, and the cost of about $40 a day was so reasonable we had no problem taking the private room.
Within a year of finishing school, getting married and moving to the other side of the world, my husband and I were taken by surprise by this serious, and potentially expensive situation, yet we were able to pay for it. The costs were so reasonable that, though we did have to scrounge a bit, we were able to afford it! Upon first discovering this tumor, my first thought was: how will we be able to pay for this? I contemplated going home for surgery, but the ticket cost alone would significantly lighten our wallets. At the time, I had no choice but to have the surgery here, but now, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. My doctors and nurses took excellent care of me, and were very caring. Finding this tumor was a horrible thing to happen, but I will be forever thankful that I found it after coming to Japan. Because of the Japanese health care system, we were able to afford the surgery, and move on with our lives. I am now 3 months post-op and I feel great. I wanted you to know about my experience because I can tell you first hand: a national health care system that provides affordable care, and really works for the people is possible. I know many people are opposing you, and trying to distort and pick apart the plans you’ve proposed for health care to make them look as bad as possible, but please don’t give up. I am the daughter of immigrant parents who have worked jobs they hated just to provide adequate health care for our family. They, and everyone like them, deserve better, and if anyone can give them better, I hope it’s you.

Thank you for your time,

Antonette Gum