Weldon - "A Good Place"

Story brought to you in partnership with our friends at Mercy’s MSU Care Clinic

Photo by Randy Bacon

I had a job, I was working and I was doing okay. Then I lost my job, so I lost my insurance. I knew about this clinic that offered assistance so I signed up for it and luckily it went well. I didn’t have any income or insurance so this place was a godsend. I don’t know what I would have done if it hadn't been here. I’m on quite a bit of medication. Most of it's all daily stuff. I have to take blood pressure and diabetes stuff. That was what I was worried about the most was the diabetes stuff because it isn’t cheap.

I’ve been helped tremendously and everyone at the clinic is so nice. I’ve also been learning how to deal with diabetes. My attitude was that I hated it and wanted it to go away and that is not going to happen. That’s a dream. It'd be nice but it's not going to. I’ve been learning how to carb count and prepare the right meals and things. And I started doing it. I began to see some good results, and I realized I can take care of it. I can control it and not let it control me. That’s given me a lot of insight and confidence to deal with it. I still hate it and I always will, but I am doing much better now. Continuing to work on my attitude change? Well, I don’t want to die soon, “chuckles”. I’ve heard of people who didn’t take care and who refused to take care of it and they’re not here anymore. One guy I know of died pretty quick because he was not doing anything and I don’t want that to be me. Taking care of other parts of life? I realized I can do it now. I’m much more conscious of what I eat, of carb intake. And I'm more conscious of my physical well being. I am trying to stay in shape. I am not doing a whole lot, but I am doing some yoga. When I first started yoga, I made fun of it because I thought it was a wimpy exercise, but I began to see results from that (emphasis and tone of surprise), and now I think, wow this isn’t bad! My neighbors and I were all getting together and doing yoga and I was complaining because I used to do taekwondo all the time. Now I have to admit it is helping me.

My biggest problem right now is that I’ve had three deaths in my family in nine months. One was a suicide, and that's been depressing. I have been going to group and individual counseling which has been good. I just recently started a group counseling for victims of suicide. I have only been to one meeting but that has really helped me a lot because we all have that one thing in common. I'm in a good place in my life, I have a nice home, it's landscaped to the hilt, it's at the end of lane so it's very private. I don’t see many of the neighbors. The house is paid for, my truck is paid for. So, I am at a really good place where I can enjoy my life.

“For many in our community, routine doctor visits and prescription medications are far too expensive to access. Every day, people are forced to choose between food and medication or delay treatment for health issues until they are life threatening due to an inability to pay. MSU and Mercy partnered together to break the cycle of poor health and offer hope for the uninsured in our community. The only clinic of its kind in Missouri, the MSU Care Clinic offers uninsured patients top-quality primary care and prescription medications completely free of charge. We know every story—every person—has tremendous value. That is why at MSU Care, we are proud to give compassionate care and exceptional service at no charge to those in the greatest need.”

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