I'm not up-to-date on these bacteria. It's shocking to me that at this day and age we still don't have good treatments.
Would bacteriophage have helped?
My Sudden Trip to Hell
71–80 of 162 posts
Re: My Sudden Trip to Hell
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
He's Canadian I believe; so while I'm not sure how his care in NYC would be billed, I think it would be still covered by OHIP (the public health insurance in Ontario Canada) or maybe travel insurance. Certainly all the care he received in Toronto would have been covered, assuming he's Canadian.
Don't want to spark a healthcare debate, but want to mention that I bet NONE of the non-US readers on HN would have given a single thought about the costs involved if this was happening in their countries. It's wild to me that the potential financial impact of this was part of the picture for many of the US people reading it (especially the startup founders who are probably without insurance right now, and this would…
Before the ACA, I contracted, and only carried catastrophic coverage on myself. I had no coverage until my yearly bills reached $5k, but that was also my max out of pocket. My insurance ran $63/month - which was ridiculously cheap and the worst I could ever be "ruined" was $5k.
Keep in mind I live in the backwoods of a small state in the US and could have a catscan in an hour, an MRI tomorrow, would likely only wait 15-45 minutes at an ER, had access to proton cancer treatment years before a single person in Europe had it, and was covered by MD Anderson, the top rated cancer treatment center in the world.
The extra money the US pays into healthcare isn't all for naught.
Re: My Sudden Trip to Hell
#73Stoics would encourage all of us to internalize our own mortality, not for morbidity’s sake, but because it helps live in the moment. The wake up call stories like this should be simulated by everyone. Imagine if this were you? Live with a fraction of that pain in your heart and try to internalize it. How does it impact our choices? Things like fingers and walking become amazing. I am always happy people share their…
Part of me thinks this person's job is complete.
He started an idea, developed, and has a team to continue it.
He did his role.
What is next for him? Hopefully he has enough money to live without working. Then he can put his efforts into himself.
Re: My Sudden Trip to Hell
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
Don't want to spark a healthcare debate, but want to mention that I bet NONE of the non-US readers on HN would have given a single thought about the costs involved if this was happening in their countries. It's wild to me that the potential financial impact of this was part of the picture for many of the US people reading it (especially the startup founders who are probably without insurance right now, and this would…
Universal Healthcare is generally only a thing in Canada and the EU. It's great if you need to wait a few months to see a doctor, but I know plenty of Canadians and Europeans who come to the US for medical care so they don't have to wait.
not really, in most EU countries you don't wait for emergency problems
Re: My Sudden Trip to Hell
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes. You have one life, and it’s worth living with or without money.
Spoken like somebody who has money. Do you have any idea how much pain and suffering a person can endure due to having no money? I don't think it's your place to say that person's life is worth living.
Spoken like someone who's never lost someone they love. Do you have any idea how much pain and suffering a person can endure due to having lost someone? I don't think it's your place to say that a person's life isn't worth the money.
Re: My Sudden Trip to Hell
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can anyone make a good guess on how much this would have cost here in the US and if it had happened in Canada ?
In the US the cost must have been in the millions. I know people who ran up several million dollar bills during cancer treatment.
do they deny you treatment if you don't have that kind of money?
Re: My Sudden Trip to Hell
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes. You have one life, and it’s worth living with or without money.
Spoken like somebody who has money. Do you have any idea how much pain and suffering a person can endure due to having no money? I don't think it's your place to say that person's life is worth living.
Growing up in total poverty, raised by a single mother who fought cancers and died twice on operating tables let me tell you one thing.
Money is nothing. Poverty won't make you unhappy.
Humans are good at finding new baselines. Poverty will simply become your new normal and the little things of life will still bring you joy. Seeing a loved one will still make you a smile. Life is worth living even without any ressources.
Re: My Sudden Trip to Hell
#78It's a sign of what it's like to be an American that the following stood out to me: The timing of his illness is rather unfortunate, as it caught him in New York, rather than Toronto, which probably cost him a lot of money.
If I'm an American visiting Canada then I would also be charged for any medical services I get in Canada as I do not pay taxes there nor have insurance in Canada.
edit: And the fees aren't trivial. https://www.qch.on.ca/uploads/Finance/Fees%20for%20Cdns%20wi...
Re: My Sudden Trip to Hell
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
You really don't want people to have ready to use antibiotics at home. It's already very difficult to contain bacteria resistance to antibiotics. Very soon people would not only die from rare bacteria related decease but any kind of random bacteria infection.
Your points are valid, people are irresponsible with antibiotics, however consider that e.g. 1 hour drive to emergency would cost you an arm, literally, whereas quickly eating 5 pills of wide-spectrum antibiotics would keep the infection at bay and give you time to drive to ER without any adversarial effects on your future life. What would be your choice?
My choice would be to take the antibiotics. And that's all the problem. Because maybe I wouldn't need them, because well, you don't lose an arm from infection everyday. And I'd like to say that all the people who would have access to antibiotics would be better than me at knowing when to take or not to take them, but I guess not.
Re: My Sudden Trip to Hell
#80Stoics would encourage all of us to internalize our own mortality, not for morbidity’s sake, but because it helps live in the moment. The wake up call stories like this should be simulated by everyone. Imagine if this were you? Live with a fraction of that pain in your heart and try to internalize it. How does it impact our choices? Things like fingers and walking become amazing. I am always happy people share their…
> I am always happy people share their stories, it helps us all remember our mortality and make good choices every day. Not for me. When confronted to death or intense pain, everything else becomes insignificant and futile. And when things go back to normal, I tend to forget. I suppose that to be fully functional human beings, we need to ignore the harsh reality of life! Is it really possible to "internalize mortalit…
Me too.
After every near miss, it takes me a while to trick myself into rejoining the world of the living, where paying rent and doing laundry matters.
Being a geek has been an asset. I can lose myself in solving problems. Focusing on those thoughts to push aside the other thoughts.
This current cycle, I got a puppy. Total pain in the ass. But he still needs to be walked, so I get up and we walk. Rinse, lather, repeat.