11–20 of 37 posts
The treatment she got from the government doctors was horrible. This bit gives me chills: "We were told that we would wait at least four months for an NHS appointmen" Uggh. I'm glad that we still have free market doctors here in the US. Well, at least for the next four years.
The treatment she got from the government doctors was horrible. This bit gives me chills: "We were told that we would wait at least four months for an NHS appointmen" Uggh. I'm glad that we still have free market doctors here in the US. Well, at least for the next four years.
It took months for him to even get the first appointment, an x-ray which did little for diagnosis. Months later, he got an MRI, which supported the diagnosis of calcification of the shunt, but wasn't completely conclusive. More months later, a biopsy was taken, and again, that wasn't entirely conclusive, but at this point the doctors were suggesting that it be surgically removed.
So, he goes in for surgery -- nearly 6 months after the last round of tests. The surgeon begins removing sections of it, but it's slow going because the shunt keeps breaking apart and falling back into the body.
The surgeon actually runs out of time to finish the job and sews him up, having only removed around 6 of the 18 inches of shunt.
Then, only a couple of hours after the surgery, my tech was asked to leave the hospital, because they were out of recovery rooms and couldn't put him up any longer. They also couldn't spare a gurney or, apparently, a wheelchair; he was walked out of the hospital while still groggy.
Now he'll have to go back in for more surgery, all at further public expense, to finish the job that should have been finished last year.
...Oh, except for one thing: this is in the U.S.
He's a young kid by the way, and the only reason that he isn't completely bankrupted by all of this is that he's covered under a public care option specifically for children that had hydroencephaly.
--
I've done my best to respond calmly and civilly here; I know that it's easier to win opinions that way. At least, that's what I want to believe. However, this "free market health care" nonsense absolutely infuriates me. Its proponents will point to any weakness they can find in socialized health systems, while simultaneously wearing rose-colored goggles for our own ailing health system. They're lying to themselves, and they're lying to other people, and it's absolutely embarrassing that a modern, first-world country doesn't consider health care to to be an import aspect of an advanced society -- one that, like education, should be provided to the greatest number of its citizens possible.
I've had an aunt die of stomach cancer, and my grandfather slowly dehydrated away in a hospital because that, apparently, is how congestive heart failure is handled in the U.S. I keep in mind that most doctors do the best they can, and most hospitals are understaffed and overbooked. But, to ignore the ills of our system here and be "glad" for it is preposterous.
The treatment she got from the government doctors was horrible. This bit gives me chills: "We were told that we would wait at least four months for an NHS appointmen" Uggh. I'm glad that we still have free market doctors here in the US. Well, at least for the next four years.
The treatment she got from the government doctors was horrible. This bit gives me chills: "We were told that we would wait at least four months for an NHS appointmen" Uggh. I'm glad that we still have free market doctors here in the US. Well, at least for the next four years.
This does not seem unusually high for me. I live in the U.S, in a city with some of the best hospitals in the country, and it looks about median.
Later, we lived in Puerto Rico, also cursed with a public healthcare system that had us in a specialist's office in two weeks.
We're in the US proper now (the real estate is just so damned cheap here and the school system is good for both our kids at the moment) but the lack of working health care will probably drive us out again in a couple of years.
The only people who think US health care is good are people who have never experienced any other system.
Taking a bigger picture: Muscle atrophy is one of the biggest causes of reduced quality of life in the elderly (and also the not so elderly). Women in particular are susceptible to this due to their smaller amount of muscle mass to begin with and the general cultural aversion to women undertaking resistance exercise. My own experience (as a man and admitted gym rat) is that resistance training sorts out my back probl…
I used to see a chiropractor for back pain, and honestly it did help a bit.
But I started exercising for other reasons, and that marked the real change. I felt better, even without going to the chiro.
I can still feel the difference today. If I go on vacation, say, and skip exercise for more than a few days, I can feel soreness and stiffness returning. But once I pick back up the exercising (and stretching, too, I suppose), the discomfort dissipates.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This does not seem unusually high for me. I live in the U.S, in a city with some of the best hospitals in the country, and it looks about median.
Back when my son had some kidney problems, the wait in the States would have been 72 days to see a specialist. In the lousy Hungarian public system, he saw a specialist the week we arrived. (Dual citizenship hath its privileges.) Later, we lived in Puerto Rico, also cursed with a public healthcare system that had us in a specialist's office in two weeks. We're in the US proper now (the real estate is just so damned c…
Taking a bigger picture: Muscle atrophy is one of the biggest causes of reduced quality of life in the elderly (and also the not so elderly). Women in particular are susceptible to this due to their smaller amount of muscle mass to begin with and the general cultural aversion to women undertaking resistance exercise. My own experience (as a man and admitted gym rat) is that resistance training sorts out my back probl…
I've (male) been going to they gym almost a year, after 30 years of sloth, it's made a huge difference. I've heard some concern from women who don't want to work out too hard because they don't want to bulk up. I'm no expert, the responses I've heard have generally been something like most women aren't genetically prone to bulking, you're just going to get more fit, stronger and toned. In case there are any women her…
This is probably just an excuse for not exercising. I have never seen a woman in real life who would become more attractive by losing muscle, except professional sportswomen (and there's a reasonable chance that those women are using some kind of drug to get more muscles). Actually unless you're fat free you will probably bulk down rather than bulk up.
The treatment she got from the government doctors was horrible. This bit gives me chills: "We were told that we would wait at least four months for an NHS appointmen" Uggh. I'm glad that we still have free market doctors here in the US. Well, at least for the next four years.
Yeah. My former technician, who I still keep in touch with, needed surgery to remove a long shunt that had been surgically implanted when he was a child, due to hydroencephaly. It took months for him to even get the first appointment, an x-ray which did little for diagnosis. Months later, he got an MRI, which supported the diagnosis of calcification of the shunt, but wasn't completely conclusive. More months later, a…
It's sad that whenever the topic comes up, half of all people seem to think the blame lies with the "free market", while the other half seem to think "at least we're not socialist".
We can do so much better. We can make sure that more of our citizens have access to health care. We can improve its quality. We can reduce wait times. And we can reduce costs. Some of those things can be accomplished by taking a more socialist approach to certain parts of health care, and others can be accomplished by taking a more free market stance to other parts. Use socialism where it works; use free market principles where they work; don't get so caught up over the "evils" of either system to dismiss it when it's actually good.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've (male) been going to they gym almost a year, after 30 years of sloth, it's made a huge difference. I've heard some concern from women who don't want to work out too hard because they don't want to bulk up. I'm no expert, the responses I've heard have generally been something like most women aren't genetically prone to bulking, you're just going to get more fit, stronger and toned. In case there are any women her…
> they don't want to bulk up This is probably just an excuse for not exercising. I have never seen a woman in real life who would become more attractive by losing muscle, except professional sportswomen (and there's a reasonable chance that those women are using some kind of drug to get more muscles). Actually unless you're fat free you will probably bulk down rather than bulk up.
Jessica Biel with muscles = hot.
I for one welcome our new amazon overlords (overladies?) and think there are worse ways to go than death by snu snu.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've (male) been going to they gym almost a year, after 30 years of sloth, it's made a huge difference. I've heard some concern from women who don't want to work out too hard because they don't want to bulk up. I'm no expert, the responses I've heard have generally been something like most women aren't genetically prone to bulking, you're just going to get more fit, stronger and toned. In case there are any women her…
> they don't want to bulk up This is probably just an excuse for not exercising. I have never seen a woman in real life who would become more attractive by losing muscle, except professional sportswomen (and there's a reasonable chance that those women are using some kind of drug to get more muscles). Actually unless you're fat free you will probably bulk down rather than bulk up.