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Ask HN: I Have Cancer. What Should I Do?

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Re: Ask HN: I Have Cancer. What Should I Do?

#141

Post by claudenm »

smoyer wrote: post #133
mistermann wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What it ignores though is the interesting part, if the hiring manager knows of his illness. I'm quite right wing, but that's why imho medical costs should be socialized. But of course, there are many problems that come along with that.

I'm generally conservative too but this won't happen until we have tort reform (which won't happen so long as politics is governed by lawyers). I heard someone say that health care is completely provided in Australia for about 2% of your gross pay because the leeches have been removed from the process ... is this true? P.S. Leeches = anyone that inserts themselves into the process without adding meaningfully to the q…

Malpractice litigation increases health care spending by 2.4% [0]. Many states have already passed tort reform that limits how and when a patient can sue and recover. There are lots of factors that increase health costs in this country, but litigation barely registers. Getting insurance companies out of the game (the BIG Leeches, in your example, who take 20% of the dollars in the system) would go a much longer way.

[0]http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/29/9/1569.abstract

Re: Ask HN: I Have Cancer. What Should I Do?

#142

Post by bane »

Sorry you've gotten cancer. Cancer sucks.

Get it treated aggressively using science and medicine. A great many cancers can have good outcomes. Worry about yourself first and foremost.

But start the job. You may be surprised at how little time good treatment will take. If your employer is set up correctly, you'll have good insurance, good vacation policy you can use and long-term disability in case you need to be away for an extended period while you take care of yourself -- don't worry about their premiums or any of that other stuff tptacek has it right, it won't be a huge problem for them.

Also, being sick sucks, having some place to go where you are needed and having things to take your mind off of being sick can help. But remember, and this is hard to do with startups, put yourself and your health first, then the company second. Nobody can reasonably blame you for that.

Now go kick cancer in the ass!

Re: Ask HN: I Have Cancer. What Should I Do?

#143

Post by kleinsch »

x0x0 wrote: post #109
calcsam wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

7) As an aside, it will be difficult to enroll on your fiance's health insurance. You are not dependents of each other & not married. If you guys did tie the knot, you would have two qualifying events (marriage & you losing your coverage from old job), either of which on its own would let you sign up for coverage under her plan.

7 is not necessarily true in CA. You generally will be able to get your opposite-sex unmarried partner on your health insurance. You will have to prove pseudo-domestic partnership status. Typical proof would be joint leases, joint car ownership or loans, joint bank accounts, having each other as life insurance beneficiaries and next of kin, etc. If your fiance's health insurance is better, or if you are worried about…

This is true in most states, have done this in both Virginia and California. I was surprised at how easy it was, just a matter of sending in some information. The things I had to supply in both cases were:

1. Proof that we'd been living together for 1 year

2. Proof that we owned joint property (in our case a car)

Re: Ask HN: I Have Cancer. What Should I Do?

#145

Post by hartator »

kika wrote: post #124
flying_monkey80 wrote: post #114

Don't worry. There is a cure. This might sound awkward at first. But you can completely cure yourself of cancer(and any other ailments), by drinking your urine. Urine therapy is an age old practice dating back thousands of years. Note: I am a urine therapy practitioner, and have had wonderful results. My wife was cured of Thyroid in just 2 months. Several friends and family have benefited as well. So, am spreading th…

Oh, I thought I'd never encounter this on HN. But since I did, here's the story: Somewhere in late 80s my mother started to have pain in the abdomen. She went here, then there, then she finally did something like CAT scan or whatever, I don't remember, I just remember is was difficult to get this scan because there was just so few such devices in my home country (friendly advice for those who dream about state-provid…

May I ask which country?

Re: Ask HN: I Have Cancer. What Should I Do?

#146

Post by baumbart »

Hi, I am gladful that I stumbled across this question. I am not going to tell you a sorry.

The essence of my answer first: You can heal yourself. The body follows the mind. First there is reality in your head, and then in the physical world.

Second, read the book by Dr. Joe Dispenza, called "You are the placebo". If you have a bit of patience, read the two earlier books mentioned there ("Evolve your brain" and "Breaking the habit of being yourself").

I have read a lot of books, covering spiritualist topics, healing, taoism, traditional chinese medicine, ritualist magic and psychology as an overall topic. The essence is, that what we call the rules of physics and medicine today are short-sighted and often plain damaging. One example for this is the belief that you can't change certain things.

Denying your own possibilities when they exist is a self-fulfilling prophecy, you cannot disprove it if you don't really believe in it. Doctors telling you that you have a serious illness (or just in the risk of becoming ill) are doing serious damage to you if you believe them, because your mind is making it real.

Illnesses are an expression of something going wrong, which means you have to fix it by changing how you live, what you do, and essentially, who you are. I have had some minor illnesses such as cavities and hay fever, both of which I fixed using meditation and visualization.

The books I mentioned show a practical way for us people today who essentially believe science to be "true". It builds upon that belief, and I can really recommend it if you don't have time wrapping your mind around ancient chinese belief systems.

The reason I was not going to tell you a sorry is that I don't feel sorry for you, I feel hope and I feel gratitude - there is a reality (which implies it is real and exists right now) in which you are 100% healthy, and giving your experiences of becoming healthy out to the rest of the world. It is possible, and it is your choice. I am not wishing you luck, because luck is not what you'll need. I wish you will be able to grow yourself from being a victim, to having your live in your own hands. I wish you'll be able to take action, and make decisions, and for the entire time, enjoy your process wherever it leads you.

One last word, you will be free of injuries or problems if you find yourself being free of them, it is the moment when it makes "click" in your brain, and that is the moment when reality changes. For me it was the moment when I discovered that I had no cavities, and that they are healing, and that my doctor was wrong. And in the same moment, my doctor became wrong because reality had changed. That is how it works.

Re: Ask HN: I Have Cancer. What Should I Do?

#149

Post by jjawssd »

ot wrote: post #42

The fact that this thread exists makes me want to move back to Europe. It's really hard, for someone who grew up with state-provided healthcare, to understand how dealing with an illness involves decisions about employment. To the OP: the system is deeply unfair, and you shouldn't feel bad for obtaining what in the rest of the civilized world is an unalienable right.

Doctors in the Netherlands WILL NOT treat you unless you come in kicking and screaming whereas in the capital of Poland you will die in the waiting room waiting 12 hours to be seen by the ONE ER doctor on staff. You WILL DIE waiting for an ambulance because there are so few available and the onboard crew doesn't have any real sense of urgency. There are not even enough seats in the emergency hall for incoming patients so I had an IV drip while sitting on the floor next to the OR where a guy died inside while I was there. I ended up paying 80 dollars for the whole ordeal including a chest X-ray and I have no insurance over there. So yes it was cheap as hell but the treatment is extremely ghetto.

Free healthcare SEEMS good on paper. It is GARBAGE in reality. For example most sensible people in Poland pay an annual retainer fee for a private doctor network just for the PRIVILEGE of being able to see a doctor in that network if they need to. I am utterly terrified of going back to any hospital in Poland. God help the poor souls in all of the poorer countries. Those guys will make sure your heart keeps beating and lungs inflating but that's about it.

Stay in America and pay the price or go to Europe and die.

Re: Ask HN: I Have Cancer. What Should I Do?

#150

Post by Frondo »

tptacek wrote: post #33
dammit_lump wrote: post #31

Update: thanks for all the encouragement. Looks like this was caught early so I am fairly optimistic about the outlook, just wish it didn't need to affect others around me as I face it. I should note that I haven't actually signed up for insurance at my new employer yet, as that's typically done after the first day. And my old employers' coverage ends on the 31st. I'm going to check out Cobra to tide me over. Does an…

No, do not do the COBRA thing. Opt in to your employer's group coverage. COBRA expires. You are not responsible for optimizing your employer's health insurance premiums and will probably have far less of an impact on them than you're worrying about.

Don't get on COBRA with a plan to stay on it, I think you're saying, and I agree.

If your new employer doesn't offer health care, go buy some: switching jobs is a "qualifying life event" and lets you buy outside the yearly sign-up window.

If they do offer health care, then you're set. Wait for that. This one-week gap isn't going to mean anything or change anything.

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