[Cody Dawg]

Little girl has 16-pound tumor on her face.

It's a little disturbing, but there's a link at the bottom to donate a buck or two to help her raise money to help her. (I'm not suggesting that anyone do that, of course, but it's there.) Sadly, the online news site's link does not appear to work. Here is the correct link.

[Athens]

Oh thats bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How can she breath or eat!

[KeriVit]

Cody. that. is. yucky.

[Cody Dawg]

Well, KeriVit, it's part of life. Sad, but part of life. I hope and pray she gets the surgery she needs. The world is full of tragedies, isn't it?

Turns out that if you have your health you really DO have it ALL.

[turtle777]

-t

[KeriVit]

It makes me sad. I can't imagine what that poor child goes through. How did they let it get so big?

[Cody Dawg]

That's what I was wondering: Why wasn't there some kind of a movement or effort to help her, like, 15 years ago? If I knew that my child had a tumor there is nothing I wouldn't do to get it taken care of long ago.

But, I hope it's taken care of now.

[screamingFit]

Another reason this country is ****ed. Why wasn't this taken care of for FREE???

[teknopimp]

can't she pray it away?

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by teknopimp

can't she pray it away?

Are you asking if this is possible? Sure.

[Dark Helmet]

The only hold up is MONEY!???

Sick.

[Y3a]

Sure. EVERY SURGEON can remove this kind of tumor... fact is only a few can do it, and they are in high demand, usually doing about 25 percent of thework for free. I saw a similar tumor removed from a 5 YO chinese boy on one of those Discovery health programs. Just like the removal of the 160lb tumor from the lady..

[Timo]

I saw that Discovery Channel tumor program as well -- amazing work by some doctors in Hong Kong for a Malaysian boy. If this girl can get surgery her outlook could be quite good.

[KeriVit]

Still- someone watched this grow for years....

[isao bered]

Originally Posted by screamingFit

Another reason this country is ****ed.

?! which country? the u.s. or haiti?

be well.

laeth

[loki74]

Originally Posted by screamingFit

Another reason this country is ****ed. Why wasn't this taken care of for FREE???

Because doctors need to eat too.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by loki74

Because doctors need to eat too.

Your taxes should pay for them and not multiple wars.

[Busemann]

Originally Posted by loki74

Because doctors need to eat too.

In most countries, such surgery would be paid for by the state thankfully.

[CMYKid]

uh, no. in most countries they wouldnt at all pay for it, doubly so if it werent life-threatening.

[loki74]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Your taxes should pay for them and not multiple wars.

In. Before. Move. To. PL

..ahem. I must say, there are quite a few problems as far as implementing universal health care here in the States.

If you want doctors' prices to go down, help push for tort reform so that malpractice insurance and frivolous lawsuits don't force prices up. Many doctors do a lot of stuff for free, and the stuff they don't do for free many still write off a great deal of. IIRC, they write off as much as 50%-60%.

So please, don't try to make doctors out to be evil greedy people. There are bad doctors out there, but not nearly as much as many people would like to believe. Doctors are people who dedicate their lives to healing people and saving lives. What more noble practice could there be? How does that phrase go? "No good deed goes unpunished."

[Busemann]

Originally Posted by CMYKid

uh, no. in most countries they wouldnt at all pay for it, doubly so if it werent life-threatening.

I believe all European countries would

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Busemann

I believe all European countries would

There's some chick here in my city couldn't get cancer treatment until the local paper intervened and started naming and shaming. I don't hold much hope for non-life-threatening stuff happening real fast.

[His Dudeness]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Your taxes should pay for them and not multiple wars.

I guess you want $5 gallon gas like they got in Canada? That would be awesome man!

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by His Dudeness

I guess you want $5 gallon gas like they got in Canada? That would be awesome man!

Beats WarS

[His Dudeness]

Tell that to the Kurds.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by His Dudeness

Tell that to the Kurds.

I missed the "cheap gas prices in the US" news flash

[nredman]

i will not click the link.

[MacNStein]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

I missed the "cheap gas prices in the US" news flash

back down to $2.09 /gallon here.


and yes, I clicked the link. Dammit, what in the hell is wrong with her family that they let her get like that?

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by MacNStein

back down to $2.09 /gallon here.

$ 2.02 at Sam's. Even better than before Katrina.

-t

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by MacNStein

back down to $2.09 /gallon here.


and yes, I clicked the link. Dammit, what in the hell is wrong with her family that they let her get like that?

Canadian in the largest City:
November 11th, 2005 02:30 PM
84.0 cents per litre

[MacNStein]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Canadian in the largest City:
November 11th, 2005 02:30 PM
84.0 cents per litre

yeah, that's steep.

[Dark Helmet]

Originally Posted by MacNStein

yeah, that's steep.

No Toll booths

[MacNStein]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

No Toll booths

none here either.

[CMYKid]

Originally Posted by Busemann

I believe all European countries would

You mean the Euros and Canadians that have socialized healthcare and still prefer to come to the US and pay out of pocket?

Yeah, those.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Dark Helmet

Your taxes should pay for them and not multiple wars.

No need to derail this with your political zealotry.

[Busemann]

Originally Posted by CMYKid

You mean the Euros and Canadians that have socialized healthcare and still prefer to come to the US and pay out of pocket?

Yeah, those.

Err.. no.

If the medical expertise for your illness is only available in the US, the state would still pay for it. It's usually Americans who get their operations done in other countries these days, but they still have to pay for it.

[His Dudeness]

It's down to 1.99 here in the York County area, Yorktown, Seaford, Grafton, that area. Nice!

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by His Dudeness

It's down to 1.99 here in the York County area, Yorktown, Seaford, Grafton, that area. Nice!

Ok, I should check at Sam's today. It should have gone down as well.

-t

[ghporter]

In spite of what some people want to believe, state-supplied medical care is not a panacea. In fact, it often slows down availability to often-needed care. I've read about waiting lists for basic cardiac catheterization and ballon angioplasty in Canada-because there's a huge demand and these procedures take well trained people to perform them properly. And as the news article says, this girl's problem is RARE. Rare enough that a lot of docs have probably already puzzled over her for a long time.

And there are tons of people who come to the U.S. to avoid waiting lists, low standards of care, poor practitioner morale, and a lot of other drawbacks from socialized medicine. That just means the poor people who can't afford to travel, let alone pay for their medical care, get stuck with the "industrialized medicine" their countries provide.

Let's not get off the subject: politics or not, the situation is that the girl needs money to get the surgery.

[His Dudeness]

Originally Posted by turtle777

Ok, I should check at Sam's today. It should have gone down as well.

-t

Most of the gas stations from about 64 up to the Coleman Bridge via 17 are at 1.99.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by His Dudeness

Most of the gas stations from about 64 up to the Coleman Bridge via 17 are at 1.99.

I was wondering if the gas companies were feeling bad about ripping everyone off over the last weeks... This price drop to lower than before Katrina surely feels like somebody is trying to calm people down. The gas industry probably caught hell from the automobile manufacturers who couldn't sell sh!t anymore. That, in the end, would bite both parties.

-t

[Busemann]

Originally Posted by ghporter

In spite of what some people want to believe, state-supplied medical care is not a panacea. In fact, it often slows down availability to often-needed care. I've read about waiting lists for basic cardiac catheterization and ballon angioplasty in Canada-because there's a huge demand and these procedures take well trained people to perform them properly. And as the news article says, this girl's problem is RARE. Rare enough that a lot of docs have probably already puzzled over her for a long time.

And there are tons of people who come to the U.S. to avoid waiting lists, low standards of care, poor practitioner morale, and a lot of other drawbacks from socialized medicine. That just means the poor people who can't afford to travel, let alone pay for their medical care, get stuck with the "industrialized medicine" their countries provide.

But still, countries that have this "industrialized medicine" are the ones with the best standard of practice and the highest life expectancies in the world. Look at Scandinavia.

[alligator]

Cody - do you just seek this horrible stuff out? Kids running marathons, tumors, etc.? Why post so much that's negative. See a shrink. The glass is half full, not half empty. Go outside and play a little, then come back when you're in a better mood!

[His Dudeness]

Originally Posted by turtle777

I was wondering if the gas companies were feeling bad about ripping everyone off over the last weeks... This price drop to lower than before Katrina surely feels like somebody is trying to calm people down. The gas industry probably caught hell from the automobile manufacturers who couldn't sell sh!t anymore. That, in the end, would bite both parties.

-t

It's more than a mere coincidence, my friend. This was price gouging from the get-go. I wonder how prices can spike BEFORE the hurricane hit the area...

[Cody Dawg]

doofy
There's some chick here in my city couldn't get cancer treatment until the local paper intervened and started naming and shaming. I don't hold much hope for non-life-threatening stuff happening real fast.

That's pretty sad, doofy. I read the story.

I had to go for a medical exam today, so-to-speak, and while I was there had to have a physical check-up. Part of the exam was a routine breast exam. They thought they'd found a mass in my left breast. I left there and had to drive over to the place that does the mammograms and ultrasounds. It was 4:15 PM. I thought that I'd simply be making an appointment. Nope. I was in getting a mammogram at 5:00 PM and out by 6:00 PM. It was that easy. I asked, out of curiosity, what the normal charge would be. They said, "Your insurance company will be billed about $2500 for today's services including the radiologist reading your mammogram and the ultrasound." (I had a 3D ultrasound.) Turns out that the mass appears normal and I am grateful for that.

I pay about $1000 a month for health insurance through United Health Care. Half of it is paid by employer. I don't like paying for it, but I had this conversation with Athens earlier and said that I was VERY GRATEFUL that I had such great medical care in this day and age. I still am.

I just don't get how one person can have routinely excellent care (me) and others have none.

It's sad. I wish I could share my health insurance with that little girl, to be honest.

[strictlyplaid]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

I just don't get how one person can have routinely excellent care (me) and others have none.

It's sad. I wish I could share my health insurance with that little girl, to be honest.

Well, you can through nationalized health insurance (doctors remain private but accept public health insurance), but there is a price to be paid: wait times for procedures will go up due to increased demand. You probably wouldn't have gotten your mammogram on the same day, for instance; you may have had to wait a month or more depending on how urgent the test was. On the good side, it would have cost you a lot less than $2500 in increased taxes, and a heck of a lot less than $1000 a month!

It's definitely not a perfect solution, as many here have pointed out, but every system -- including the US's -- has costs and benefits. FWIW, those with a lot of money (and it sounds like you are one) will always be better off under the freest possible market.

[wdlove]

That is very sad about that sweet young girl. I pray that she will get the help that she needs.

My prayers are with you also Cody as usual. Happy to hear about your news.

[goMac]

Originally Posted by MacNStein

none here either.

Depends. New York, for example, has toll booths.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

That's pretty sad, doofy. I read the story.

They're getting the treatment now. The papers pretty much ran the authorities ragged on that one.

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

I had to go for a medical exam today, so-to-speak, and while I was there had to have a physical check-up. Part of the exam was a routine breast exam. They thought they'd found a mass in my left breast. I left there and had to drive over to the place that does the mammograms and ultrasounds. It was 4:15 PM. I thought that I'd simply be making an appointment. Nope. I was in getting a mammogram at 5:00 PM and out by 6:00 PM. It was that easy. I asked, out of curiosity, what the normal charge would be. They said, "Your insurance company will be billed about $2500 for today's services including the radiologist reading your mammogram and the ultrasound." (I had a 3D ultrasound.) Turns out that the mass appears normal and I am grateful for that.

Phew. You had me worried about half way down that paragraph. Glad everything's OK.

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

I pay about $1000 a month for health insurance through United Health Care. Half of it is paid by employer. I don't like paying for it, but I had this conversation with Athens earlier and said that I was VERY GRATEFUL that I had such great medical care in this day and age. I still am.

I pay about $850 a month for mine.

Basically here you can either rely on the nationalised health services (mostly free of charge) or you can get private (which you pay extra for). There's a number of reasons why I'm private:

• The nationalised service tends to put you in a ward full of people (maybe 6-10 beds), while the private one gives you your own room. Since I can't sleep in a room full of people, don't want to watch crappy soap operas all day and am physically sick if there's cooked fish anywhere near me, I need my own room.

• 4,000 people per year here die from infections picked up in the hospital, caused by poor hospital hygiene practice. So, you'd go into the hospital for, say, a pregnancy and you'd come out with a flesh eating virus which melts your skin away (yes, really). No thanks! You don't tend to get this with private places, as they aren't subject to EU regulations which require that cleaning contracts are put out to the lowest bidder.

• If a patient dies on a nationalised health doctor, the doctor still gets the same salary. If a patient dies on a private doctor, their income suffers as the patient can obviously no longer pay them for treatment. I like that little bit extra security - i.e. knowing that it's in the doctor's best interest to keep me alive and kicking.

So no, nationalised health isn't all it's cracked up to be. There's even anecdotal evidence that the system was better before the "NHS" was introduced last century.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by alligator

Cody - do you just seek this horrible stuff out? Kids running marathons, tumors, etc.? Why post so much that's negative. See a shrink. The glass is half full, not half empty. Go outside and play a little, then come back when you're in a better mood!

Cody strikes me as the type who hunts down these things to see if she can help out in any way.

And the glass is 15/16 full, not half.