Is there a doctor in the house? (NOT for the squeemish)

[johnwillyums]

I think we should ask Qdos what he thinks of the NHS and whether he could have afforded these knee operations himself.
I know I could not have afforded the treatment that saved my life.
Obviously any organisation as big as the NHS is not going to be perfect but how a civilised nation like the USA can continue to support it's antiquated medicine for the rich/prudent only system is beyond me.

Get well soon Qdos

 

[Qdos]

The NHS... if I were to comment in full this would be one epic post...

In my opinion they've been good to me over this operation and the follow up care I've had thus far - although I should stress that it's still just five days after surgery!

The reason I needed the procedure was, however, solely because they used a two bit surgeon the first time around - who didn't do the procedure comptetently or properly, and left me to suffer for almost five years before a different orthopaedic specialist decided that I wasn't complaining about nothing...

Mixed feelings therefore... however they seem to aspire to continually improve, and unlike many other countries - it's even done FREE of CHARGE...

 

[smarteyeball]

The NHS... if I were to comment in full this would be one epic post...

As would mine about Queensland Health and I'm not even the 'affected' party concerned

The reason I needed the procedure was, however, solely because they used a two bit surgeon the first time around - who didn't do the procedure competently or properly,

Sadly, this is becoming par for the course

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Just for the record for my European friends!


Federal laws in the US prohibit someone from not being treated at any hospital they enter for treatment, there's even safeguards in place so that said hospital CAN NOT remove or in any other way refuse to treat someone that has no insurance, once you enter any hospital you WILL be treated.

No one goes without care if they seek it.

 

[jradicle11]

Just for the record for my European friends!


Federal laws in the US prohibit someone from not being treated at any hospital they enter for treatment, there's even safeguards in place so that said hospital CAN NOT remove or in any other way refuse to treat someone that has no insurance, once you enter any hospital you WILL be treated.

No one goes without care if they seek it.

True, but if uninsured, you'll be paying up the keister for most likely, the rest of your life. And if you don't make it through whatever medication issue have and have received treatment uninsured, guess who gets to pay? Your family.

 

[MyWin7]

How is the leg going?

 

[macgyver2]

Hope you feel better soon.

US health care needs major upgrades, I am uninsured and was given medicaid here in FL to help cover the cost of my kidney surgery, the surgeon disliked me for many reasons which caused problems getting the care I needed. Being Florida I was legally bound to this doctor, now I suffer pain on a daily basis and can do nothing about it because of the current laws in my state.

It sounds like the public health he is getting for his leg is better then what he could get in the US and I really hope he recovers better then I did.

 

[Qdos]

Guys, the leg ain't clear of the haemorragic discolourations yet, and I can't bear my full weight on it yet either, the knee, ankle and foot are still extremely tender, and the knee remains blown up and swollen of course - but the staples are all out and (apart from the icy weather...) I can get around on crutches and have even been back to work on an 'as and when I can' basis a little this week...

Recovery will be 3-6 months in total, it's still early days... I'm keeping my fingers crossed I've had a proper repair job done and it'll not cause me problems following convalescence...

 

[steve-pressman]

One paramedic
One transport to hospital in ambulance with two attentative paramedics
five different x-rays chest back ribs spine and neck
one broken nose, 3 broken ribs
one cat scan
3 doctors visits
One nurse clean up visit
One overnight stay in hospital plus meals and drinks

Cost £0.00 NHS Priceless

Great care, great nursing staff and doctors not perfect but it works

Steve

Teach me to not fall over at home

 

[Frostmourne]

Well if you stumble into a hospital after being repeatedly shot and leaking all over the floor, I don't think they will ask if you are covered.

 

[jradicle11]

@Steve,

What the hell did you do?

 

[LuckyJosh]

@Steve,

What the hell did you do?

He said he fell over at home

 

[jradicle11]

I was having a tough time imaging what he fell on.

 

[smarteyeball]

I was having a tough time imaging what he fell on.

Judging by the injuries, I'd say his face...


Hope you heal soon mate. In the meantime, tell everyone the other guys came off even worse

 

[NinaJay]

Judging by the injuries, I'd say his face...

:roflmao:

Hope you're healing up quickly Qdos. Were you given any exercises or physio to do to speed up the recovery?

FTR, I fell 10 metres in a rock climbing accident and broke my right leg in 4 places. I had some pretty wicked bruising which looked very similar to yours. I also had 50cms of titanium and 4 screws put in my leg courtesy of the Australian healthcare system which, while flawed, is among the best in the world in my opinion.

2 years later I had another surgery which would have cost me about $20,000 had I not had private health insurance. As it was deemed non-critical it would have taken me another 2 years on the aforementioned healthcare system waiting list to get done (like I said, it IS flawed) but the pain was almost unbearable so thank goodness for Medibank Private. Worth every cent I pay for it I never thought I would need private health but have since used it several times to my advantage.

 

[Qdos]

It's getting better day by day guys... but my oh my, that nose looks sore... :shock:

I once had a queen wasp fly up my nostril when I was a biker, lovely summers day, visor up... was doing about 55mph, and wham... it impacted in my sinuses and was still stinging me 20 minutes after the accident!

Most novel way I've every come off a bike...

 

[steve-pressman]

Brief synopsis:

Had a nasty chest infection that was making me cough an awful lot get rid of the phlegm in my chest. Any ways on the 2nd I was coughing so much I managed to starve my brain of oxygen and collapsed head first into my fan and then hit the floor nose first, next thing i remember was waking up in a pool of blood and not being able to move at all. Dumb thing was I live alone and had locked my door with the key in the lock My neighbour has a key but obviously could not open the door either So eventually i managed to crawl to the door and pull the key out and the rest is in my previous post.

Suffice to say I am suffering big time with the broken ribs and can hardly walk but I was lucky I guess it could have been much worse if it had not have been carpet I fell on.

Steve

 

[kronckew]

couple years ago i got hit in the leg by blue, my greyhound, while he was going full blast playing with a lurcher friend of his. went to hospital when the side of my knee swelled up like half a baseball. no break or torn ligaments but 'massive tissue damage' couple days later (dog was fine of course) :

the purple slowly worked it's way down and around the leg to my toes, took over 8 weeks to clear & get my leg back to normal. had to prop up my leg at work or edema made the leg swell up. i happened to be working for the NHS at the time, in their IT support team, so i could look at my own records and xrays while at work. treatment was mostly tylenol & sympathy.

p.s. - NHS charge for parking at the hospitals, and unless you are over 60 you pay for prescriptions. there is a committee of bean counters who decide if the medication you need costs too much, if they decide that you cannot have it, you can usually pay for it privately but then the NHS washes it's hands of you and will not treat you at all. lots of women with breast cancer were denied a particular treatment as it was too expensive, even tho it would have saved lives. govt. targets means you get to see a doctor for maybe ten minutes before he needs to get you out so he can see another patient. need a specialist? you get on an unofficial waiting list to get on the waiting list that is subject to targets. miss an appointment? start over. even if missing the appointment was due to the doctor being unavailable as he was in surgery. my MIL had a cataract operation cancelled and rescheduled 3 times. twice after she'd travelled 30 or 40 miles to get to the hospital. she was each time put back on the waiting list. after the second time she pulled some strings thru the army where she used to work, and finally they operated on one eye. then she went back on the waiting list for the second. after another cancellation she contacted her MP who finally put enough pressure on & got her other eye done.

quality of doctors vary, tho most of the nurses are good and caring, just overworked and underpaid. too much of the budget goes to management, my manager had a manager who reported to the IT manager who reported to another manager who reported to yet another manager who reported to the hospital manager. and at each level their were management staff to collate and process data on how targets were being met. the service stumbles along, people get treated, mostly free, but it's a bureaucratic nightmare.

 

[Joan Archer]

I've said it before, "Too many Chiefs and not enough Indians"

 

[johnwillyums]

Well. I hope you get well soon Steve. Sounds like you had a lucky escape there.
And Qdos. I hope your leg is getting pinker by the day.

I know this is a serious thread about human suffering but I have this image of a Hells Angel in full leather gear stumbling around with a queen wasp up his nose, trying to get his helmet off.
Nothing funny about that in any way of course....