Thursday - June 20, 2013

here we go again, round and round

Oh Boy.
Round and round we go. Again.

It’s been awhile since I saw a copy hard or net, of my once much read IBD.  Investors Business Daily. Been a long time.

So I found myself looking for something to do with MSFT (Microsoft) and heaven only knows what button I clicked, but I got this.  No relation to MSFT at all unless they take over health care.

I have been under the (mistaken?) impression that O’s health care scheme was shot down or being altered and delayed. I guess not though.

It won’t have a bearing on us until we can return for good, and that doesn’t look to be the case soon, but if I understand everything Drew and others have said, when and if we return, we could be forced into a health care program. 
Is that correct?  Of course, with doctors and hospitals and the gouging we all should have health ins.  The problem will be affordability. And you can’t afford to not have it.  But I don’t see where O’s health reform, reforms anything. Do you?  Did I miss anything?

Anyway, here’s what I found in the IBD.

Audit Finds ObamaCare Train Wreck Ahead

Health Care: After months of reassurances that the ObamaCare exchanges would be running by Oct. 1, it turns out they’re well behind schedule. Truth becomes an even rarer commodity in the Obama administration.

‘Yes, we will be ready,” said Gary Cohen, who is spearheading ObamaCare implementation at the Department of Health and Human Services. That was in January.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has since repeatedly insisted that “we will launch the health insurance exchanges on time.” She was so confident, she said, there was no need for a contingency plan.

But the HHS put up a stone wall whenever Sen. Max Baucus pushed for details on progress made against specific deadlines. “You’ve never given me any data, you just give me concepts,” Baucus complained in April, before issuing his now-famous warning of an ObamaCare “train wreck” come October.

Turns out Baucus was right to be concerned.

Two Government Accountability Office reports released on Wednesday show that the administration and the states are well behind schedule on several fronts, leading the GAO to warn that they might not actually be ready in time.

As the report noted: “Much remains to be accomplished within a relative short period of time.”

Since at least last December, for example, HHS officials have been claiming that the massive federal data hub — needed to determine eligibility for coverage and the amount of premium subsidies in the exchanges — was already in the testing phase. To the untrained ear, that would suggest the hub had been completely built.

But the GAO found that HHS has barely begun testing the hub with the eight federal agencies from which it needs to pull data, and is behind on just getting data-sharing arrangements set up with those agencies.

HHS has also missed its deadlines on setting up the so-called Navigators program to guide customers through the ObamaCare sign-up maze.

And states trying to set up their own exchanges aren’t faring any better. Despite $4 billion in HHS grants, the 17 states undertaking this task on their own are behind schedule on 44% of key pieces of their exchanges that were supposed to be finished in March.

If these bureaucrats can’t even get the exchanges built — despite having 3-1/2 years to do so — why should anyone believe they are qualified to run the entire health care system?

IBD SOURCE

Posted by peiper     on 06/20/2013 at 01:22 PM   
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   Saturday - June 15, 2013

No Gunz Fer Yew Crazy Peeple

My goodness, what an amazing syzygy.  In reaction to any number of recent mass shootings, while most efforts for stricter gun control have failed, the argument that better screening for mental wellness has gained plenty of traction.

Problem is that it’s government, and their wholly owned minions, who get to decide what    bughouse nuts    "unwellness" means. And it was just a couple of weeks ago we all had a little chortle over the “caffeine addiction is a mental illness” story.  That comes on top of things I’ve heard from people in the medical profession that say that no psychiatrist ("in his right mind”, pardon the pun) is going to sign off on anyone ever as being mentally fit enough to own a firearm.

And now? Forget those lowered bars that now say that 1 boy in 10 has autism, or 1 kid in 5 has ADHD or some other mental problem, or that the list of established syndromes gets bigger by the day.

Forget all that. Because now the CDC is saying 1 in 4 adult Americans are ALREADY crazy, and nearly half of us will loosen our screws at some point.

[ I’m using common terms to generalize on the whole mental illness topic. There are plenty of people with real, significant mental conditions, and I’m compassionate towards them. And I’m sure they and their families prefer some sort of specific medical terminology, and they deserve it. But I’ve had my fill of PC blunting reality until it becomes meaningless, so I’m going old school on terms to make my point: if you lower the bar down into the mud then we all qualify, and that’s pure crap. I humbly beg your pardon if this offends your sensitivity. On the other hand, lipstick on a pig and all that.]

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention says that at any given moment about a quarter of American adults are mentally ill and that over the course of their lifetimes about half of all Americans will develop at least one mental illness.

A CDC mental-health fact sheet--Mental Illness Surveillance Among U.S. Adults--says that “published studies report that about 25% of all U.S. adults have a mental illness and that nearly 50% of U.S. adults will develop at least one mental illness during their lifetime.”

The fact sheet also notes that the authors of a 2011 CDC mental health surveillance report pointed out that “currently, no surveillance efforts at the national or state level are directed toward documenting anxiety disorders.” The authors thus call for “initiating national-level anxiety disorder surveillance activities.”

You read that right. Now we need a whole new army of government workers, to watch us all at all times. “surveillance activities”.  And who better for that than experienced government trouble spotters, like Child Services and social workers?

In addition, says the agency, “mental illness is associated with increased occurrence of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, asthma, epilepsy, and cancer.”

The CDC said: “Mental illness also is associated with use of tobacco products and alcohol abuse.”

Hey you! Yes you, the fatty at the bar lighting up a Marlboro! You’re a triple nutcase, turn in your guns!


Up until now, the process has been unidirectional: you can’t have a gun if you’re already known to have a history of mental illness. But the next step, the “common sense” step that ought to prevent all those mass shootings done by whackos, is to turn the process around: prove yourself right in the head first, and then you can be armed. And with this opus from the government gods of medicine, such a scheme would disarm nearly the whole nation. Because you’re already nuts, or probably soon will be.

On the other hand, if we’re all crazy, doesn’t that make us all sane, since the majority by definition has to be normal?

Huh. Will you look at that? I saw the link to this article at a news feeder sight, and realized immediately that this was another branch of government in the Obama Regime playing politics. And that gun control was the likely result. I went and read the comments, and damned if just about everybody didn’t figure that out instantly as well. So let’s scratch the CDC off the short list of government agencies we can faith in for being above politics, just like we gave up on the FBI, CIA, DEA, EPA, DOJ, IRS, BATFE, ICE, SCOTUS ... they’re all sold out.

Posted by Drew458     on 06/15/2013 at 09:35 AM   
Filed Under: • Guns and Gun Control • Health-Medicine •  
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   Friday - April 26, 2013

Why Do You Think We Called Them Limeys Anyway?

Kiddies won’t eat their veg? Neither will some rough, tough sailors. Scurvy dogs!

KINGS BAY, GA — A sailor on shore duty has contracted scurvy, military health officials said Sunday. It marks the Navy’s first recorded case of the disease since the Civil War.

Last week, Electronics Technician 1st Class Kevin Jurgensen reported to King’s Bay Branch Health Clinic complaining of lethargy, bleeding from his gums, and spots on his skin.

“We initially diagnosed [Jurgensen] with a sexually transmitted disease,” said Captain Jack Gutierrez, the attending physician. “99 times out of a hundred, when a sailor has lesions, unexplained bleeding from mucous membranes, fever—well, you know.”

The actual cause of Jurgensen’s condition turned out to be scurvy, a disease caused by a lack of Vitamin C in the diet.

Jurgensen said the diagnosis was as surprising to him as to the doctors.

“Ever since I moved off base, I stopped eating at the galley,” he said. “Vegetables fucking suck so I don’t eat them. I thought I was drinking enough coffee to make up for it.”

Ooh, wouldn’t Popeye be impressed by a hard core attitude like that, sailor-man.

Scurvy was once common in the world’s navies, especially between the 14th and 16th centuries, when ships’ crews were fed only non-perishable foods lacking vitamins and nutrients. The disease became significantly less common after foods rich in vitamin C, such as citrus juice, were added to sailors’ diets.

Kings Bay physicians said they were initially startled to discover Jurgensen had the rare disease, until they began asking him about his diet.

“His eating was very similar to how sea voyagers ate in the age of sail,” Gutierrez said. “He told us he ate salted meats, like Slim Jims and shoppette hot dogs, and preserved starches, like cheese crackers and Combos, along with a lot of beer and cheap wine. It’s a diet Blackbeard himself would be proud of.”

Doctors instructed Jurgensen to drink a full can of Monster Energy Drink daily.

“One can of Monster contains 200 percent of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C,” Gutierrez said. “I first told him simply to eat an orange every day, but he turned his face up and pouted. The energy drink seems to be suitable to him.”

Wow, our modern Navy. Manly Men. He pouted. Probably said “yucky poo-poo” as well, and threw his Tommee Tippee cup across the room.

The Navy has already taken steps to prevent the disease from spreading. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has ordered that all sailors be issued limes as mandatory personal protective equipment.

Additionally, since doctors speculate that Jurgensen would have avoided the disease had he drank even one rum- or tequila-based drink with lime in it, the Navy has started a $38 million advertising campaign encouraging sailors to drink more tropical alcoholic mixed drinks.

“We just want sailors to make healthier choices when they go out drinking, like choosing a margarita over a vodka tonic,” Gutierrez explained, “or a Corona with a lime in it instead of a Sam Adams.”

Gee, now there’s a smart plan.

Posted by Drew458     on 04/26/2013 at 03:14 PM   
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   Thursday - April 04, 2013

Think I’m in trouble…

Been arguing on Facebook. I’m not a supporter of homosexual ‘marriage’. The amazing thing is that supporters of homosexual marrige won’t argue with me. I’m fairly certain they have no facts to back up their positions. But every one refuses to argue. They just write me off as a bigot. One even said ‘we should agree to disagree.’ My reply was not gonna happen. Homosexuals are trying to force me to recognize their immoral lifestyle. We could agree to disagree if I wasn’t going to be forced to provide things like healthcare, pay taxes for homosexual spouses, etc.

Posted by Christopher     on 04/04/2013 at 07:06 PM   
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   Saturday - March 30, 2013

One Up, One Down

Brazilian Bikini Waxes Make Crab Lice Endangered Species

Pubic lice, the crab-shaped insects that have dwelled in human groins since the beginning of history, are disappearing. Doctors say bikini waxing may be the reason.
...

“It used to be extremely common; it’s now rarely seen,” said Basil Donovan, head of sexual health at the University of New South Wales’s Kirby Institute and a physician at the Sydney Sexual Health Centre. “Without doubt, it’s better grooming.”

The trend suggests an alternative way of stemming one of the globe’s most contagious sexually transmitted infections. Pubic lice are usually treated with topical insecticides, which once included toxic ones developed before and during World War 2. While they aren’t known to spread disease, itchy skin reactions and subsequent infections make pubic lice a hazardous pest.

And yet, on the other hand ...

Bikini waxes and Brazilians ‘behind rise in STI warts’

Shaving the pubic region causes ‘micro-trauma’ of the skin, boosting the chance of a pox virus called Molluscum contagiosum, say the French experts.

The virus causes water warts, small pink bubbles which can break out over the body. These warts are relatively common in children as the virus can be spread by normal skin-on-skin contact.

However, it is also passed on during sexual activity, and over the last decade the incidence of this type of infection has been on the rise.

French doctors wanted to know if this rise was linked to the growing fashion for ‘Brazilians’ and other forms of pubic hair removal.

They looked through records of visits to a private skin clinic in Nice from January 2011 to March 2012, and identified 30 cases of water warts infection. All but two of the 30 patients had undergone pubic hair removal. Twenty of the 28 had been shaved, five clipped and three waxed.

In four cases the warts had spread to the abdomen and in one they had spread to the thighs.

Writing in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, they warned: “Hair removal (especially shaving) could favour its acquisition, propagation and transmission by micro-traumatisms.”

They said the reason for opting for pubic hair removal remained “unclear”, “but may be linked with internet-based pornography”.

“Another reason cited is an increased sexual sensation. There may also be psychological reasons, as an unconscious desire to simulate an infantile look or a desire to distance ourselves from our animal nature.”

...

The trend, they noted, was “also growing among men”. In fact, 24 of the 30 cases were in men.

On the third hand, it could be because French men have discovered manscaping but have not yet discovered soap.
On the fourth hand, it’s generally the under 35 set doing all this trimming and waxing, and they’re the ones having all the sex anyway. And if smooth is the style, Harry Balszac won’t be getting much, so he won’t be impacting the stats too much.
On the fifth hand, basing a medical opinion on a survey of less than 3 dozen Nice smoothies isn’t too smart.
6th hand says: 2/3 of the infected had shaved? Hey Jacques, clean your damn razor!

Posted by Drew458     on 03/30/2013 at 09:10 AM   
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   Wednesday - March 27, 2013

Nothing to CLAP about

We’re so screwed now ...

Nation Creating New STIs Faster Than New Jobs or College Grads

According to new data released by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 19.7 million new venereal infections in the United States in 2008, bringing the total number of existing sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the U.S. at that time to 110,197,000.

The 19.7 million new STIs in 2008 vastly outpaced the new jobs and college graduates created in the United States that year or any other year on record, according to government data. The competition was not close.

The STI study referenced by the CDC estimated that 50 percent of the new infections in 2008 occurred among people in the 15-to-24 age bracket. In fact, of the 19,738,800 total new STIs in the United States in 2008, 9,782,650 were among Americans in the 15-to-24 age bracket.

The study focused on estimating the incidences of sexual transmission of particular diseases as opposed to other forms of transmission. For example, it did not include HIV infections that were not sexually transmitted. It also counted the number of infections rather than the number of people infected.

“When calculating the number of prevalent and incident infections, only those infections that were sexually transmitted were counted,” said the CDC fact sheet. “In general, CDC estimated the total number of infections in the calendar year, rather than the number of individuals with infection, since one person can have more than one STI at a given time (e.g., HPV and chlamydia) or more than one episode of a single STI (e.g., repeat chlamydia infection).”

The most common sexually transmitted infection in the United States in 2008 was human papillomavirus (HPV) [genital warts], which caused 14,100,000 estimated infections that year.

After HPV, in order of magnitude, according to the study, new STIs in the U.S. in 2008 included 2,860,000 new Chlamydia infections; 1,090,000 new Trichomoniasis infections; 820,000 new Gonorrhea infections; 776,000 new Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV-2) infections; 55,400 new syphilis infections; 41,400 new HIV infections; and 19,000 new Hepatitis B infections.

Trichomoniasis? Crivens, I’d never even heard of that one; had to look it up. Hootchie bugs!

And I’m thinking, hey isn’t it STDs not STIs? No, because this study counted instances. How many times you had the whatever. Which could be lots if you keep getting reinfected somehow. Yeah, somehow.

Damn, people. Use those condoms.

Posted by Drew458     on 03/27/2013 at 03:00 PM   
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   Wednesday - March 13, 2013

having somehow survived torture …

Last Thursday I had what usually passes for a routine exam. An Angiogram.

When they brought me into the room where the abuse takes place, I should have suspected something by the evidence of the blood spots I saw on the floor. Evidence being quickly cleaned away but alas not in time for my eagle eye to focus on.

Coronary angiography is performed with the use of local anesthesia and intravenous sedation, and is generally not significantly uncomfortable.

Yeah well let me tell you something.  Not this time.  I’ve been through it before with little if any problems.  Not comfortable of course and you have all these nurses (not male) doing stuff but you aren’t interested perhaps for the first time in your life. 

In performing a coronary angiogram, a doctor inserts a small catheter (a thin hollow tube with a diameter of 2-3 mm) through the skin into an artery in either the groin or the arm.
Guided with the assistance of a fluoroscope (a special x-ray viewing instrument), the catheter is then advanced to the opening of the coronary arteries (the blood vessels supplying blood to the heart).
Next, a small amount of radiographic contrast (a solution containing iodine, which is easily visualized with X-ray images) is injected into each coronary artery. The images that are produced are called the angiogram.
The procedure takes approximately 20-30 minutes.

Mine took considerably longer as torture was involved and oh btw, that needle is inserted where the leg and groin meet. Or thereabouts.
I ended up needing sedation. The first time I’ve ever required that for this procedure.
My groin and leg aren’t white these days but have taken on the appearance of technicolor with all shades of pretty (ugly) purple, pink,red and violet and a few colors I can’t identify.

I haven’t the linguistic ability to describe how much that hurt.  So OUCH will have to suffice.  But there’s something worse. Oh, you thought that was all?
What more could there be?  Well it still aches but ...

Try humiliation for starters.  You’re a male and there’s all these women like maybe as many as six or seven, all witness to your weakness.  And you’re an American so now national pride enters this ugly picture as all these foreigners see you and have to sedate you. That’s worse than the pain you felt because the guy (a technician, NOT the Cardiologist) didn’t wait long enough or administer enough of the medication that is intended to numb the area of injection.

A few of those nurses were really cute by the way. 

Oh, one more and final thing.

They are calling me back sometime in the next month because they couldn’t get a full picture of one side. So they’re going to do a different test.
Oh yeah?

Not if it involves needles and good looking nurses.

-30-

Posted by peiper     on 03/13/2013 at 05:11 AM   
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   Tuesday - March 12, 2013

lets just treat those who are healthy or try to be

Saw something on page two of morning paper and knew yet again, no matter what I really wanted to do this morning, like bury myself under the covers and stay there until I fully recovered or lost weight, whichever comes first, I knew I had to boot, ignore the ache and share a very brief blurb. 

After booting and coming here, I first read Drew’s post and went to the link he provided on ruining an economy.

Well talk about some things coming together.

Government

The state can never be too big. Ensure that it is unaccountable and intrusive, in constant need of more money and more targets to regulate.

I will of course go back and read the entire thing but that line stuck out because of this from one of our papers.
True, it is not at this time a done deal.  But it shows how some ppl think. 

Healthy patients who exercise regularly and avoid fatty foods ‘should be fast-tracked for surgery’

Patients who exercise regularly and avoid fatty foods should go to the front of the queue for NHS operations, a think tank urges today.

People should be able to use supermarket bills and gym membership forms to prove they lead healthy lives and access priority non-emergency treatment, according to the centre-Left think-tank Demos. It also suggests that welfare claimants who exercise regularly should be given larger payments in recognition that they are behaving responsibly.

BIG Brother is out there.

Posted by peiper     on 03/12/2013 at 03:51 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine • Miscellaneous • UK •  
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   Monday - March 11, 2013

Drink Up, The Water’s Fine!

Hey, you want some free bacon with that pork fried rice?

At least 2,800 dead pigs have been fished from a Shanghai river since Friday, but authorities insist that tap water in the city is still safe to drink.

State news agency Xinhua said labels tagged to the pigs’ ears indicated they came from the upper waters of the Huangpu River, which flows through the center of Shanghai and is a source of the city’s drinking water.

It’s not clear why the pigs had been dumped in the river, though local media reported earlier this month that a disease had killed thousands of pigs in a village south of Shanghai.

“We will continue to trace the source, investigate the cause, co-operate with neighboring areas and take measures to stop the dumping of pigs into rivers,” the Shanghai Municipal Agricultural Commission said in a statement posted on their website on Monday.

As of Sunday, water quality on the Songjiang section of the river, where most of the pigs were found, remained normal and the incident has had “no significant effect on tap water supply,” the commission added.

However, local residents and users of of the popular Twitter-like microblog service Sina Weibo have expressed concern that the dead pigs would make the city’s tap water unsafe to drink.

“Huangpu river is the source of drinking water for more than 20 million Shanghai residents. And this horrific incident was only made public when residents started posting pictures on Weibo,” business investor Xue Manzi said in a post on his account.

The agricultural commission said it had tested organ samples from the pig carcasses and the results suggested the animals had contracted a type of porcine circovirus.

According to Professor Fred Leung, who specialises in animal diseases at Hong Kong University, this is a fairly common disease in pigs and not usually fatal on its own.

Pictures showed sanitation workers with sticks retrieving the bloated bodies of small pigs caught up in reeds and debris at the side of the river.

A local newspaper in Jiaxing, a city in Zhejiang province south of Shanghai, reported on March 6 that tens of thousands of pigs had died of an animal disease in a major pig farming village in the past two months.

“According to our records, 10,078 pigs died in January, another 8,325 died in February. More than 300 pigs die everyday in our village, and we barely have any space left to dispose of the dead pigs,” a local villager was quoted by the paper as saying.

Huh, and it was just about this time last year that I was writing about another bunch of dead pigs in China.

And rampant pig disease in China is nothing new either.
November 2011
Hoof and Mouth Disease in January 2012
Streptococcus suis bacteria kills pigs and people in 2005

Not to forget about SARS, or avian flu,
or the flu epidemic EVERY YEAR that gets its start in livestock in China
Every year, BMEWSers, every year

Posted by Drew458     on 03/11/2013 at 01:06 PM   
Filed Under: • Animals • CHINA in the news • Health-Medicine •  
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   Thursday - January 31, 2013

Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms and ……. Other?

I have an appointment tomorrow morning with a consultant at the Cardiology dept. at the hosp. in Winchester.

So they sent me a form to fill in which I received today, and I had to laugh at this because I don’t think I’ve ever seen this (circled in red) before.
Have You?
Like, what else is there?  Do Not Know? 
A Bizarro world indeed.

And guys, take a look at the ethnic roll call here.  And that’s only the legals.

It only just dawned on me. Other could be, General, or Admiral or Sir or Dame etc.  ??  I just never noticed that before today.

Posted by peiper     on 01/31/2013 at 11:54 AM   
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   Wednesday - January 16, 2013

health and gun care

Boot and check mail, and find a newsy letter from a friend of many, many years.  Soon as I read it, I knew I had to post a part of it.  Her mom is old and infirm. Been quite ill for awhile.

Mom had an appointment at the doctor tomorrow.

She is on Medicaid, so they send a transportation wheelchair van to pick her up at the nursing home free.  I go with them to Hattiesburg, about 30 miles away, and have to wait for them to decide to pick us up.  Then we are usually stuffed in there with others not of our color.  But it is free, and the only way I can get her to the dr since she can’t stand, and weighs too much to pick her up and put her in a car.

Get this.  We went to the doctor last Wednesday.  They usually do 2 tests, doppler listening to blood flow in her legs, and then her neck veins.

Well, since the new Obamacare that will SAVE so much money and allow EVERYONE to have free care, we can only get one test at a time done in a day.  NOW, we have to go THIS Wednesday so they can put a stethoscope to her neck and listen to veins and blood flow.  Then NEXT Wednesday, go back for the doctor to tell us to come back in 6 months.  More dr money from medicaid, more transportation costs, more aggravation of just having to move Mom in the cold and rain, and the day is shot waiting for doctors and transportation.

I believe we are in for a rude awakening with this new freebie Obamacare.

Oh, did I tell you (I think I did) that husband and I got Concealed Carry Permits.  We are going back to take a class to get Enhanced Carry where we can carry guns in places we couldn’t before.  Gotta get ready for all this to be stripped away from us by the gun haters! 

Posted by peiper     on 01/16/2013 at 10:54 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine • Obama, The One •  
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   Thursday - December 20, 2012

Let’s Ban Foreign Vaccinations!

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - Another victim from attacks on U.N.-backed anti-polio teams in Pakistan died on Thursday, bringing the three-day death toll in the wave of assaults on volunteers vaccinating children across the country to nine, officials said.

Hilal Khan, 20, died a day after he was shot in the head in the northwestern city of Peshawar, said health official Janbaz Afridi

Since Monday, gunmen had launched attacks across Pakistan on teams vaccinating children against polio. Six women were among the nine anti-polio workers killed in the campaign, jointly conducted with the Pakistani government.

The U.N. World Health Organization suspended the drive until a government investigation was completed.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the killings “cruel, senseless and inexcusable.” Speaking at his year-end news conference Wednesday, Ban said the victims were among thousands across Pakistan “working selflessly to achieve the historic goal of polio eradication.”

The suspension of the vaccinations was a grave blow to efforts to bring an end to the scourge of polio in Pakistan, one of only three countries where the crippling disease is endemic.

[the other two countries with endemic polio are also AQ controlled muslime shitholes: Afghanistan and Nigeria. Coincidence? Not hardly.]

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but some Islamic militants accuse health workers of acting as spies for the United States and claim that the vaccine makes children sterile.

Posted by Drew458     on 12/20/2012 at 02:36 PM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine • RoPMA •  
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   Saturday - December 08, 2012

a trip to the hosp. clinic to see a consultant

This is very much a personal post. I do this to show the state of what passes for healthcare has become.

I want to be very clear about one thing however.  Overall, on a person-to-person basis generally, and having been in a hosp. here some time ago, the people I have come into contact with have been first rate.  But the system itself is somewhat screwy in that it does not allow for some things being different. For example, at home in the USA due to my age and due to the fact that my mom died of colon cancer, I was encouraged to have a Colonoscopy on some sort of regular basis. Now in the states, at least where we lived, the docs doing the procedure put you under.  You woke up a couple of hours later and got the results.  Well, things work a bit differently here.

Based on height and weight I guess, you are given a certain amount of painkiller but not put to sleep. One size fits all seems to be the rule and if it HURTS!!!!! Well, tough.  Which to my American eyes seem unreasonable.  I saw the report after the exam, which stated that “The patient experienced some discomfort.” Discomfort?

At the age of 70 plus, having had back surgery and bladder surgery for a tumor removal, I believe I know the different between “Pain and Discomfort.” Trust me, pain is the correct word to use. A lot of it.

I will not go again into the silly method used to refill an Rx.  That was once an entire post all by itself.

Now then, this has to do with my wife.  As anyone who has been around someone close who has a medical problem, Wardmom is a good example as she had to deal with far more than I could ever imagine, you may often feel somewhat helpless to take away the hurt a loved one is feeling.  So, you must rely on medical professionals.
You have to also hope that someone will listen and pay attention and then hope for the best.

After a six-month wait to see a “consultant” at the pain management clinic, we finally got a call last week letting us know an opening was available at 9am on Friday. Yesterday.

To give you some background, for those new to this site or just passing thru.
What was thought to be a scratched eye, specifically the pupil, turned out to be instead, the opening salvo of Shingles. But she was treated for a scratched eye for the first 24 hours or so. By the time a doc saw here again it was clear that she had a bad case of Shingles, caught too late and so the attack was very severe and lasted for quite some time.  Her nerves are damaged and now she has been left with a maddening itch on the right side of her head and behind her right eye. 24/7.  She has been putting an anti itch cream on her eyelid, which is not so good to do, but she is desperate.  Besides which, the cream only lasts a short time and the itch is more behind than in front.
Which makes things a bit difficult for me because I see it all.

It is difficult to describe the room I am in without a drawing. I am not an artist and a photo will not do because, good grief.  This room is somewhat untidy.
It used to be the dining room, and what used to be the table is about 56 inches long by 26 wide.  It now acts as a partial desk/ and seating at meals for one. The computer desk faces the front window and forms an L shape to this arrangement.  There are also a couple of small lamps on the table with a phone.  Opposite the table within line of sight is an easy chair. A rather low sitting affair she finds very comfortable but I don’t see how she gets out of the damn thing easily as it is so low sitting.

We get more than one newspaper delivered each day 7 days a week.  On weekends and especially Sunday, it can take all day to get through them all plus the magazine supplements.  The wife even reads the financial section, which I ignore almost in total.
Cannot be bothered, the damn thing is just full of numbers. Like, 1,2,3, 4 and so on.
Now at some point about 6 months ago, she had a fall here at the house. Lucky in that nothing broken but she did hurt herself and has NOT been the same since.  There is extreme pain in her lower back.  She has had a back problem for a long time but this fall has obviously aggravated something and so she was given various painkillers to add to all the other meds she is on. 

So there she sits reading if not one of the papers then a book.  When not at the computer I’m in another chair across this small room with another paper. Which brings me back to her itch.

She sits in her chair and doesn’t exactly scratch except for the eye. She sits there with one hand on her head and from time to time doesn’t scratch but moves that hand across her head. Back and forth and back and forth. ALL FUCKIN DAY.  Can you imagine how distracting that is?  I say nothing cos after all, it isn’t her fault.
The docs say it might get better in time, or if not, at least the itch will grow less in intensity.  So there is hope. Meanwhile, the back pain is always there. The pain killers she is taking for that last not much more then a couple of hours.

So finally, I am coming to yesterday.  At last, after waiting six months on a list we get the call. 

Over here, a doctor is simply a doctor. Lower rung. If he is a specialist or a consultant, he becomes Mister.  Ain’t that odd? 
So we got the very first appointment of his day, 9am. Which is good cos there would be no wait. Glad of that because he gave us (her, the wife) extra time as she had so much. Mostly he gave us a talk about pain and causes and all sorts of interesting info.
The wife explained about the awful itch that would not go away and he said, we might have something for that that could help.  Might not work with everyone but it’s worth having a go. He showed us this demonstration sheet. Maybe 5inches by five. Something like that.  He said what you do is cut a strip out of it, take off the backing and place it on the forehead for 12 hours. Take it off and it’ll keep working another 12 hours.
So I ask him, why hasn’t her doctor told her about this?  He looked at us and merely shrugged a don’t know. But hey.  We are making headway. Right?  Sounds good. Right?  Might be an answer to prayers. Right?

Not so fast Gringo.

We now have to see about the back pain.  It’s decided that the pain medication she is on may not be the exact right one, and so he recommends another and possibly better one. Won’t know until she tries it. So we’re possibly on the home stretch? Relief?

Well …… not quite but only a few days away. Maybe four. Depends. Depends? On what?  Well, he explains that he cannot write the Rx for this stuff.  It has to be done buy her doctor. But, but, butbutbut. Huh?

“No” he says.  “I have to write out this form with my recommendation and I’m sure they will okay the change of pain killer as it doesn’t cost any more then the one she already has and they should approve it.  You then must take this form to your doctor’s surgery (office) within five days and they should write you the Rx.”

What?  Tomorrow is Saturday, her doctor won’t be in and we can’t see her today (this is all taking place on Friday mind you) because the office (always called a surgery here) can’t get an appointment to see anyone on such short notice. PLUS, the form clearly says this is NON-urgent patient/Rx.  The form even says, as you will see, the meds do NOT have to be started urgently.
Well hell, they do if you’re the patient in pain and discomfort for so long. Hell’s Bells.

I believe in another couple of weeks they may start shots of some kind. Possibly steroids. 

Just can’t wait to see what ObamaCare will become if enforced.  If he and his people have been using the NHS here as devised by Blair and gang, god help you.

Much of the current mess my wife insists, is the work of Tony Blair and the former left Labour govt.  But then, my wife blames things that don’t work as they should on anyone on the left and especially Blair. Don’t get her started on that subject.

The wife has explained to me and I do not know how close to right she is because it sounds so odd.  Apparently, it’s her doctor’s practice that will pay for the medication and so they write the Rx.  Which explains why he didn’t write the Rx. If he wrote the Rx, his office would be billed for it. 
Please don’t ask.  It’s all too much for me to understand.

Lyndon? You there?

Posted by peiper     on 12/08/2012 at 11:09 AM   
Filed Under: • Health-Medicine • UK •  
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   Thursday - December 06, 2012

america the awful?  and all these stories happened where exactly?

A few nights ago while listening to a radio panel on the subject of the welfare state, which included health care, is was no surprise to hear someone bring up America as an example.  To be avoided!  Every time they need an example of what to avoid they bring the US into the conversation. In this case, I was outraged to hear but not surprised, that our healthcare in America is the pits and probably the worst among the so called leading or advanced nations of the world.

Okay, lets admit shall we that our system of care in the USA is very far from perfect.
I have personally been witness to or else been involved in things so I darn well know we are not perfect.  So who is?  I also believe that some in the medical field along with ins companies, are the modern day robber barons.  So okay, I recognize we could stand improvement.

Anyway, what got my goat in particular was this one loon who gave as a valid example of how abused and ignored we are back home, the awful story without source btw as follows. On this he indicts an entire health care system?

Some poor fellow couldn’t see a dentist and as a result died.
OF A BROKEN TOOTH!  He was outraged on behalf of oppressed Americans I think.  And of course one of the other guys said, Oh no of course not.
We do not want the system America has. 

Well fine but what these idiots do have, thanks to their membership in the EU, is this.  And bmews readers will agree this is much better. Right?
Groan. Take a look. And they say we are bad? 

Speed up English tests for EU doctors, say MPs who accuse Government of making ‘no substantive progress’

· Doctors from European countries are free to work without language checks
· Due to a diktat from Brussels saying tests would impede movement of labour
· 23,000 doctors from Europe are registered to work in Britain despite never undergoing checks on their English or medical skills

By Sophie Borland

Ministers are not doing enough to make sure foreign doctors can speak good English, MPs warn.
They accuse the Government of making ‘no substantive progress’ on overturning strict European Union rules that forbid language tests.
At present, all GPs and hospital doctors from European countries are free to work in Britain without facing any form of national checks on their competence or English-speaking ability.
This is because of a diktat handed down from Brussels which states that such tests would impede the ‘freedom of movement of labour’ across the continent.
But there are widespread concerns that this is costing patients’ lives.
In 2008 70-year-old patient David Gray was killed by an incompetent German GP Daniel Ubani who gave him 20 times the legal dose of morphine.
The German doctor – who was on his first out-of-hours shift – had not had to prove his competence or ability with English before being employed by the NHS trust, Cambridgeshire. Now MPs from the Health Select Committee say they are ‘disappointed’ that the Government has not tried to change the law.
Officials from the Department of Health have insisted they are working with the EU to alter the legislation so checks can be made.
But a report by the committee warns that the current situation is ‘unsatisfactory’ and ‘poses a potential risk to patients’.
SOPHIE BORLAND

Damn straight. This is a far better system than what is in place in the medically backward America.  Everyone can agree on that. Right? 
And then there is this bit of brilliant medical work. Now mind you, I am not suggesting that this could never happen in the USA.  But that isn’t the point. These guys were so busy painting us black they seemed to forget things like this.

Abuse of elderly patients by NHS staff rises by a third in one year with a shocking 36,000 offences reported last year alone

By Sophie Borland
Thousands of elderly and vulnerable patients are being abused by carers and NHS staff, shocking figures reveal.
Some 36,600 offences were reported last year, mainly involving neglect, physical violence or bullying.
And the number of cases has risen by a third in the last 12 months, according to NHS Information Centre statistics.
This could partly be due to heightened awareness among family members and staff in the wake of recent scandals, such as that of the Winterbourne View care home.
But only this week the Health Secretary admitted that ‘cruelty’ had become ‘normal’ in some health and social care organisations.

Well heck that is small stuff. How many have actually died. Now I am skating on thin ice here because I have not even looked for figures in the USA. But given our size and population the number has to be high as well.

Nearly 3,000 patients die every year because of blunders on NHS wards and further 7,500 are left severely harmed

· Experts warn that mistakes on the ward will increase because already overstretched staff will be unable to cope with higher numbers of patients
· Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has admitted that there may still be ‘pockets’ of poor care like that revealed in Mid Staffordshire in 2008

By Sophie Borland
Nearly 3,000 patients are dying a year because of needless hospital blunders, figures reveal.
Another 7,500 are severely harmed after being wrongly diagnosed, given incorrect drugs or poorly cared for.
Experts warn that such mistakes will increase because already overstretched staff will be unable to cope with the higher numbers of patients coming into hospitals.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has admitted that there may still be ‘pockets’ of poor care like that revealed in Mid Staffordshire in 2008, where hundreds of patients died needlessly.
Figures obtained by Panorama in a BBC documentary to be aired tonight show that in 2011/12, a total of 2,864 patients died following mistakes by hospital staff.
This is up almost 5 per cent compared to the previous year when there were 2,726 deaths.
Errors include elderly patients being misdiagnosed with cancer when they had heart failure, and being given pointless treatment while they deteriorated.
In other cases nurses or midwives failed to notice chest infections in newborn babies which could have been cured with antibiotics.

Ok enough of all that. All you have to do is follow the link for Borland at the Mail and there’s a nightmare collection of stories.
No wait a minute. That is not enough. This is though. Maybe. No promises.
Our critics like to tell tales of how those poor Americans can not get help and so are abandoned by a broken or care-less system of health. Oh yeah?
Explain this one away ass-wipe. Did this happen in the USA recently? Oh, it was here you say?

How could our girl die of asthma attack in hospital? Damning report reveals failings in NHS care of patients ‘treated worse than animals’

· The Patients Association report discloses how some doctors are ‘acting like God’ by telling relatives they will not try and resuscitate their loved ones
· Other distraught family members have spoken of lack of compassion amongst staff who don’t care if patients ‘lived or die’

By Sophie Borland

Nurses who didn’t know how to give the kiss of life went into a panic when a child was admitted to hospital with a severe asthma attack.

Her family described scenes of hysteria as staff who were meant to be helping their daughter desperately tried to call senior medics to ask them what to do.
Three days later, 15-year-old Lauren Hughes died having suffered brain damage due to a lack of oxygen.

The appalling case was revealed by her parents today in a damning report by the Patients Association into failings in NHS care.

Pat and Dolly Hughes said one nurse became so distraught at the Ross-on-Wye community hospital she had to be calmed down by a colleague.
They said they couldn’t understand how a healthy teenager was able to die of an asthma attack while in hospital.

The hospital trust later admitted the nurses at its minor injuries unit weren’t trained in cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and should have dialled 999.

Lauren had been taken to the unit by her mother when she started to suffer an asthma attack.
Initially they couldn’t even get into the hospital as the door had been locked for the evening.

Lauren – who was in obvious distress – was also ignored by two paramedics walking out of the hospital who did not stop to help or even let her in.

She was eventually transferred to University Hospital North Staffordshire but died three days after the initial attack in May.

Okay this is I now promise the very last one. It’s from last year but so what.
It happened here, not in the awful USA where a guy can die cos he didn’t see a dentist.

Teenager, 14, is paralyzed for life after hospital left spinal anesthetic in for too long

By Sophie Borland

A teenage girl has been left paralysed for life after an appalling blunder by doctors during a routine operation.
Sophie Tyler, 17, was given an overdose of the painkilling epidural drug after surgery to remove gallstones.
Doctors wrongly left the tube in her back for two days and the large quantities of the drug damaged her spinal cord, leaving her paralysed from the waist down.

BORLAND

Posted by peiper     on 12/06/2012 at 04:45 AM   
Filed Under: • Health and Safety • Health-Medicine •  
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