SICK AND INSPIRED

Last summer, I was diagnosed with Valley Fever, a fungal infection that can attack a person’s vital organs and nervous system, causing cerebral meningitis and even (rarely) death. Don’t worry — I’m fine! Direct your compassion to people like the young mother of a toddler who reached out to our online support group for help following her lung transplant, or the 13 percent of nonelderly Nevadans who are uninsured, or non-white people, who tend to get get subpar care.

So, if I’m okay, then why share such personal information? Because it’s brought home the healthcare system shortcomings I’ve reported on for years. I saw first-hand what it’s like to spend months visiting multiple physicians just to get a diagnosis … only to learn there’s no local specialist in it. Felt the anxiety of missing work due to an illness with no cure (and, potentially, no end). Confronted the possibility of paying thousands of dollars out of pocket for treatment at a California specialty center that my insurance won’t cover. Gave my history over and over, emailing records between providers, because they don’t talk to each other.

When I related this experience to Dylan Wint, director of Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, he said it was a great illustration of what’s wrong with Nevada’s (and the U.S.’s) healthcare system: We do illness care, not healthcare. We’re reactive rather than proactive, narrowly focused rather than taking a broad view.

I talked to Wint for our feature, “Healthy Imagination” (p. 55). We asked him and other longtimers in healthcare to give us their no-holds-barred opinions on how to fix what’s broken. I expected sweeping visions like “a single-payer system.” What we got were surprisingly basic suggestions: make preventive care more affordable, increase funding to attract more nurses, integrate mental health into primary care. Far from disappointing, their answers suggest that the solution to the problem is within reach — if only the political will to change is there, too.

Okay, that’s a big ask. But while we’re waiting for Carson City miracles, there are other things we can do to feel better. Try a weird fitness routine (p. 18), take a hike (p. 64), or volunteer to steward a wilderness rock writing site (p. 46). It’s only February. We’ve got plenty of time to make 2023 the year we (finally) get well.

To your health!

Heidi

Sarah Bun is a cookbook author; lifestyle, health, and wellness writer; and functional medicine certified health coach. Her writing has appeared in both national and local magazines across traditional and digital media. One time, she drove solo across half of America, interviewing influencers who have defined their road in life for Roadtrip Nation. She is working on her second book.

Clement Gelly is a writer and artist currently based in Las Vegas, where he is an MFA candidate in creative nonfiction at UNLV. His writing has been featured in Hazlitt and VQR, and he has curated and exhibited artwork in Las Vegas, New York, and Hull, U.K.

Veronica Klash loves living in Las Vegas and writing in her living room. Her fiction has appeared in the Wigleaf Top 50 and has been nominated for multiple Pushcart Prizes. She also serves as the associate editor of OKD Magazine. If your definition of a pita does not include the word fluffy, you can’t be her friend.

PRESIDENT & CEO Mark Vogelzang

COO Favian Perez

EDITOR Heidi Kyser

ART DIRECTOR Scott Lien

ASSISTANT EDITOR Anne Davis

DESIGN INTERNS Alyssa Noji, Ryan Vellinga

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WEB COORDINATOR Stanley Kan

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Nicholas Barnette, Meg Bernhard, Soni Brown, Sarah Bun, Yvette Fernandez, Clement Gelly, Jason Harris, Brent Holmes, Veronica Klash, Jana Marquez, Alec Pridgeon, Oona Robertson, Ryan Slattery, Jen Avison Smith, Kelly Stith, Lourdes Trimidal, Mike Weatherford

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Gregg Cairnes, Ronda Churchill, Mike Hill, Brent Holmes, Bronson Loftin, Delphine Lee, Jeff Scheid

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