Re: Re: High Blood Pressure (again) The Silly Party moves to America

[Guest guest]

Helen, your PA battle in rural Scotland is a heroic one - the public

healthcare system there seems quite silly.

My PA symptoms and secondary conditions have been so severe during the

4th stage, I had to move three times to be closer to two doctors who

told me they knew how to manage the disease but did not (both retreated

into hiding later - one actually left both her hospital postings to

'lose herself' - following batteries of ass-covering tests for their own

missteps which delayed the patient - myself - months longer from getting

real help), and a third who actually does.

His name is C Jeffery Carlson, a terrific doctor who keeps up on

everything else in medicine as well.

The first two moves before I met this doc - for incorrect Dx's,

treatments, false hopes and destroyed businesses. The third time to go

BACK to Dr Carlson following a move AWAY for a new job and residence

after I was DASHing and on spiro (true hopes this time, but. . .) -

because of an 8/10 EMG postural pain level bout with sciatica (spinal

canal stenosis - accretions of calcification probably exacerbated by

PA). Then five months waiting while spine doctors did their dance of

legal caution and exhausted ineffectual methods (epidurals, etc), and

finally back surgery - effective, but took 3 months to heal (1) enough

to be active again. Eight more months lost to PA. Ruination after a 17

year battle.

For me, moving has become part of the drill.

Dave

___________________________________________

/(1) I must say one experiential thing in favor of new developments in

American medicine. Instead of the traditional decompressive laminectomy

surgery which can take from 1-2 years to get better, I was lucky to get

the new " X-STOPS " implants at L3-L4 and L4-L5. A minimally invasive

placement of little elliptical bars (held by clamps to the spinous

processes) hold the vertebrae apart relieving nerve root pinch instead

of cutting open the entire backbone and sawing away bone, disk

replacement, etc.

In ' " insurance carriers are murderers " fashion, Blue Cross

refused to pay for the procedure (only $5000 compared to the

laminectomies at $18-20,000 plus an extra year of nursing and other care

costs) until I ferreted around in their corporate licensee (Anthem)

office and discovered THEIR insurance won't cover THEM if something goes

wrong unless " X " number of procedures have been done. This one has only

about 12,000 so far - quite new.

Never mind that 98 out of each 100 pts receiving the operation have no

sciatica afterward (laminectomy 64 / 100).

Finally a VP admitted if there were other pressing medical necessities

mitigating for FASTER relief - ones which were dangerous at a certain

level - they'd pay. But not to relive my disabling sciatica - that

can't get them sued as easily.

Back to my PA doc - who'd had to delay my switch from aldactone to

inspra (my gynecomastia got bad after 2 yrs, one excision already, and

testosterone in the basement, estrogen in the sky - posing other

problems e.g. vision loss, depression, cancer risk, etc) until the

X-STOPS were done (laminectomy would have delayed this far longer,

posing greater risks), then my pulmnologist had to say her smoking

cessation plan could not be enacted until the aldactone-inspra switch

was complete. Finally, a cardiologist had to say my LVH-shrinking rehab

was stalled by the sciatica, posing risk of sudden death cardiac

arrest. Three lawsuit potentials our economically strapped personal

injury/med-mal lawfirms would take. There have to be clear risks

outweighing profit - confirmed by experts.

Who must amass and present all this information? - the sick guy.

Alone. Most family and friends ran for the hills amid clouds of

obfuscating sepia. Went on vacations, spending sprees, etc. Chronic

illness creates increasingly empty places, empty times for the worsening

patient. Loneliness should be listed among our PA symptoms.

So, PPO (private) healthcare in the USA may be more self-determined, but

it is very silly too. In fact, I think that the head of national

healthcare may now be /Monty Python's " Jethro Q. Walrustitty, " / head of

the /Extremely Silly Political Party /in the UK during the late 1970's.

Having finished ruining Britain's patient base, killing, maiming and

financially draining them; he is working on us now. The Extremely Silly

Party's goal : to convert each nation into a ruin-nation.

/

Helen wrote:

>

>

> >

> > > Ah yes the specialist who can see past their nose. This is the

> reason we

> > stress here that you need to find a good internist who is very

> knowledgeable

> > about high blood pressure. Indeed we now have HTN boards and I

> think the

> > British HTN Society is working on this too.

> > >

>

> Yes they are.

>

> There is not one within reasonable travelling distance of me. There are

> centres in the central belt but nothing for us country bumpkins. We

> have a bus on Wednesday. By the time it gets to Edinburgh it is too

> late for the hospital. The bus back is the following Wednesday. We have

> no railroad here at all. Sorry but we don't all live in populated areas!

>

> Helen in Hume

>

> __