Comments for The Convalescing Orphan

Comment on Medicare for many by That’s what I said « The Convalescing Orphan

That’s what I said « The Convalescing Orphan — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:33:51 +0000

[...] 1, 2009 by orphanus I should totally be wise old Grandma [...]

Comment on All you can eat by Pick Any Two « The Convalescing Orphan

Pick Any Two « The Convalescing Orphan — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 05:55:06 +0000

[...] a worthwhile read, and highlights better than I managed the dangers of making health care too [...]

Comment on Why should I pay? by orphanus

orphanus — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:58:48 +0000

I absolutely agree. In fact, I wrote this post a few weeks ago exploring just this issue. Of the many reasons I support universal coverage, the fact that we spend more is one of the main reasons. Yet the cautionary tale we can take from the financial struggles the Canadian and British systems are experiencing is we can not make it cheap to be a heavy health care consumer. It has to cost people enough so they think about whether they really want to spend that co-pay, but not so much that they just go because it's free. You're right, that is exactly what happens with our current safety net, and it will bankrupt us if there isn't adequate cost sharing built in.

Comment on Why should I pay? by Mama Fuss

Mama Fuss — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:55:52 +0000

Here via Julia @ Hippogriffs. I’m all for national healthcare, but want it to be reasonable. I’m the type who is educated enough to know when I have a cold, I can get some Tylenol cold to help w/ my symptoms and nothing the Dr gives me is going to get me through it faster than 7-10 days. I don’t go to the doc for every bump or bruise or sniffle. But I know tons of people on government healthcare who do – because they can, because it doesn’t cost them anything. Or they go to the ER since they can’t be turned away, which costs loads more, but they’re not going to pay for it, so why not?

My nephews have cystic fibrosis. There is NO ONE in the family history who had CF, so it was a pretty surprising diagnosis, since it’s a genetic disease. Their early lives were spent in Sweden where they have national health care (socialist country) so my sister & BIL were not forced to pay for their treatments and medicines beyond a family “deductible” of $500 per year (one months supply of CF meds covered that). I’m not about socialism, but it would be awfully nice if we could get that level of care here, wouldn’t it? I know it won’t happen for a myriad of reasons, but it would sure be nice.

Comment on “….You don’t have that kind of pain!” by orphanus

orphanus — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:24:17 +0000

These are the stories that curdle my stomach.

I understand the position doctors are in, I really do. They’re facing jail time, and when you have a family depending on you, you’re $200,000 (or more) in student loans in the hole, the prospect of losing your career, and your freedom seems positively heart-stopping.

So we patients are at the mercy of a system we had no part of creating, and no power to remedy.

I’m so sorry. I’m glad you two have the option of getting him to his prior doctor.

I plan to be making a stink in the future about the witch hunt for doctors who treat pain…. Once health insurance reform is dealt with, for better or worse, that issue is next on my agenda.

Stay tuned: I might need voices like yours.

Comment on “….You don’t have that kind of pain!” by bumpfairy

bumpfairy — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:44:34 +0000

Your every word resonated with me. My husband suffers from frequent, horrifying migraines. Migraines that leave him weeping on the floor of the bathroom for days on end, dry heaving. We found ONE doctor in Washington that was willing to experement with drugs, and we came up with a combination that helps.. he couldn’t always go to work, but he was only curled up in the loo once or twice a year, rather then two to three times a month. It’s a big pile of narcotics, a fancy combination that left our new doctor, after moving to Oregon, speechless. And stuttering. We’ve lived here for 4 years now and are yet to find a doctor, after bouncing around from practice to practice, who is willing to prescribe him the combination of meds that we KNOW works for him. We have, however, spent thousands and thousands of dollars on “trying this newest thingie for a while”. They are all certain that he doesn’t have the kind of pain that combination of drugs would knock out. I’m pretty sure they all think he’s an addict and they all share their notes together. We gave up. He has traveled back to Washington twice or three times a year to re-visit that doctor who still has him on the roster as a patient to re-fill his prescriptions. He gets a good 2 or so months out of them if he only takes them when his other, more painless option seems like a face-down nap in the bathtub. But that must not be true, He can’t have *that* kind of pain….

Comment on Why should I pay? by orphanus

orphanus — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:54:27 +0000

Bravo, carosgram!

Another statistic I’ve seen floating around lately where we fail miserably is preventable deaths. That and infant mortality are… particularly sobering.

Thanks for the comment/compliment. Much obliged.

Comment on Why should I pay? by carosgram

carosgram — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:07:49 +0000

Hi! I am here from Here be Hippogriffs. I am very impressed with the quality of your arguments. So often people forget we are already paying a high price for other people’s health care. So financially it is a better deal to have a plan rather than letting everyone else pad your bill. The other thing that few people seem to admit but infant mortality rates are lower and longevity rates higher in countries with national health care plans. But for me the moral argument is the strongest. While you quote the Bible there is also “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. We all need a helping hand sometime. Let’s extend our hands now to those who need health care.

Comment on I said there’s no swelling…. by “….You don’t have that kind of pain!” « The Convalescing Orphan

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:44:14 +0000

[...] he is flatly insulting, and I’m trying to keep my husband (there for moral support, since I no longer go to Kaiser alone) from knocking his block off (figuratively [...]

Comment on I said there’s no swelling…. by orphanus

orphanus — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 06:37:47 +0000

I had the records (though OHSU lost them). I had to laugh at the irony, the paltry notes from the doctor said something to the effect of “no evidence of swelling. Pt. needs eval. for anxiety”.

Looking at the picture, that’s one MOTHER of a case of anxiety.

Statute of limitations in CA for malpractice is 2 years. We spent those 2 years fighting Harrington Benefit Services and Kaiser Foundation for surgery to repair the damage from the aforementioned “anxiety”, leaving me disabled that entire time.

But that’s another blog post for another day. With MORE pictures! Wheeeeee!!!!

I’m glad you’re still here. Let me not meet your ex-doctor in a dark alley. I might have to…. bite him. Or just glare at him, REALLY HARD.

Thanks for the support.