I swear if one more murrican talks about their superior free market health care, I'm going to lose it
my mom goes to florida every year
pays for travel health care
week ago she gets sick, first time she ever tries to use it
spends 5 days arguing with company over
if it will cover the MRI the doctor ordered
luckily her friend tells her fuck this we're coming home
she's been home for less than 24 hours and has had all her scans she has cancer and is probably starting radiation TOMORROW morning
you just cost her a week.. fucking burgers
>>72071403
good thing america developed all those chemo drugs for you. you're welcome leaf
>>72071673
>radiation
>chemo
>>72071795
oh you're right. we did that too. You're welcome again
>>72071403
So wait, in under 24 hours one got a full MRI, labs, tumor markers etc.? That seems to be an amazing turnaround for development of a treatment plan, considering that many cancers would need a biopsy confirmation prior to staging for dosing radiation.
Generally, that sounds scary as a prognostic indicator, because when you have a very, very, fast turnaround to treatment time, then the disease process is normally raging, instead of occult. Also, radiation as a primary treatment is most often used in pretty fucked cancers like glioblastoma (brain) and spinal tumors.
>>72071403
American healthcare is trash... .
The free market is trash for necessities.
>>72072816
its brain, and no it doesn't look good, again my point how 7 days could have mattered
Our health care is good. It's nice knowing you don't have to worry about not being about to pay your hospital bills. How is a terminally ill person supposed to work anyways?
i'm sorry for your mum op that sounds rough. i'll pray for you.
>>72071403
Why didn't she just go to the beach in her own country? I always heard liberals believe in locally sourced?
>>72073131
yes my 30 year old cousin just had brain cancer too last year, successful surgery but hemi paralyzed
we're getting rekt but at least its not on bills
>>72073244
its fucking 10 degrees
Sorry to hear anon. Hope and pray for improvement
>>72072816
In Canada the government doc just tells everyone they have cancer.
Health care being private is okay but not fully privatized. Hospitals are a monopoly. A man who faces life and death will pay any price to stay alive. What works for Canada probably wouldn't work in US. People complain about wait times but honestly that's such a small complaint in the grand scheme of things.
>>72072816
she's 65 and in her condition they think biopsy is too risky just as surgery they literally every test for other cancer trying to see where it came from.. HOping the can biopsy that (not all of those are in yet)
gonna have to roll the hard 6 on radiation..
>>72073666
She is already dead.
>>72071403
yeah, it sucks here
>>72073727
well my hope is the pressure comes off her brain so she's lucid, so she can at least come die at home
cortizone drip has already improved her functioning
What does bitching about your insurance company have to do with free-market healthcare?
>>72071403
>Your healthcare sucks
>I know because we didn't use it!
Canadians everyone...
>>72073880
She will die not even remembering who you are.
>>72073992
the point is she did pay for it and use it, diligently every year since shes been wintering there
>>72074028
sorry edgelord, she knows me, she just has trouble with most everyone else
>>72074047
No you twit
You paid for and tried to use INSURANCE
Not actual fucking health care.
No one every cared for her health.
>>72072956
>American healthcare is trash... .
Not true. Quality of American healthcare correlates to income. If you can afford it, then the US has some of the best in the world, which is why people fly over in droves with various diseases and ailments.
>>72073078
>its brain, and no it doesn't look good, again my point how 7 days could have mattered
Assuming an astrocytoma or GBM (glioblastoma multiforme) a week most likely would not have made a difference in the outcome. There aren't a huge amount of treatment options available, surgery if possible, and radiation is standard. Not a lot of chemotherapy agents can pass the blood brain barrier.
Cancers can be thought as turtles, rabbits, and birds. Turtles are indolent, and normally very slow to grow and go metastatic. Prostate and skin (non-melanoma) are good examples.
Rabbits can be cured if you pen them in early before they escape, which are normally caught by screening. Colon, breast, etc. fall into this category.
Birds are pretty much fatal no matter what. Brain, lung, pancreatic are common examples. Obviously the treatment matters, as resectable is better than pure radiation.
Travelers insurance is a beast that I have little experience with, but I'm not sure how representative of normal healthcare. Most often brain cancer is found by sudden onset seizures in middle age which would be nearly automatic for advanced diagnostics.
Anyway, best of luck. Cancer sucks.
>>72074111
Now, maybe. But things will only get worse as time progresses. She will slip into the darkness like everyone else.
>>72071994
>we did that too
>quick google search will reveal that almost every major innovation in radiation therapy was made by non-americans
American education everybody
>>72074122
ok, shitlord, but how many people can honestly just out of pocket this?
>>72074451
>>72073666
Okay, this makes more sense then. The brain is suspected secondary to a primary tumor somewhere else? I'm assuming they are running various tumor markers to try to see if there is a base site. Most often treatment is dictated by the primary tumor. Surprisingly, you can sometimes have better long-term outcomes with metastatic cancers that move to the brain, than those that originate in the brain. Pure GBM is vicious.
You'll likely be in a holding pattern until you get a determination, and to see if there is a strong response to steroids (assuming that prednisone etc. are being given to deal with swelling in the cranial cavity) or altered mental state.
>>72074656
you said not using insurance and just paying for it
who can do that?
its relevent
>>72074696
they havn't found another cancer yet, they're looking
I don't get how they call it metastatic if they havn't yet tho?
>>72071403
>american healthcare system
>free market
The american healthcare system is the epitome of crony capitalism. In the 90s Hillary actually got her friends at the biggest insurance companies to write regulations to make it impossible for smaller insurance companies to compete and drove them out of business.
>>72074739
No you fuckwit
You claimed American healthcare is not superior
You never received American healthcare because you got dicked by travel insurance
You are now changing the argument that "well who can pay for healthcare without insurance" instead of admitting that your initial claim that American healthcare in inferior is baseless and you have shifted to a discussion about insurance.
Learn 2 Logic
>>72075058
>american so-and-so is superior (for the 0.1%)
>>72074814
Primary nervous system tumors are actually rather uncommon. A great many brain tumors are going to originate from somewhere else.
The presumption will be toward finding the site of origin, as things like lung, colon, melanomas, etc. can end up in the brain since that will determine the treatment.
>>72074814
>>72075481
From what I could find with a quick check.
In the US, there are about 40,000 non-malignant brain tumors per year, and 20,000 cancerous brain tumors. These would be "primary" brain tumors.
Secondary metastatic tumors number around 200,000 which come from the expansion of a pre-existing cancer.
>>72072816
Yes, cancer patients always get priority and are treated as soon as possible. On a side note, we do have private MRIs if you don't have cancer, aren't young and and don't want to wait a few years.
>>72075338
To be fair, American healthcare is inefficient for price, but the quality of outcomes are often superior to Canada and the UK for much of the population.
American poor/non-residents/illegals are completely fucked which brings down the average in many cases. However, the middle class easily compete or exceed outcomes with the rest of the first world. This is even more true for those who obtain insurance through their workplace.
The upper class get the best service money can buy, but "good" health care is far from exclusive to them.
>>72075481
she has alot of lung problems, like ephasyma 30 year smoker, quit 10 years ago So i'm pretty sure she's already been checked for up to 1-2 months ago
the one fucking thing she never wanted to go for was the mamogram..
>>72077510
No reason to dwell on it now, for what that advice is worth.
Lung has a very high penchant for spreading into the brain, and in itself, lung cancers tends toward very rapid growth. With that medical history, there would be a significant possibility for that origin.
However, breast cancer would probably be a far better origin simply because it tends to respond better to chemotherapy and the like, not that any result can be considered remotely good at this point.
Anyway, I'm out. Best of luck to you Leafbro. Use the time you have so that you can move forward without regrets.
>>72075902
if anything it feels comforting she didn't at least get death paneled likeobongocare
from what I read the radiation can reverse the mental deterioration in the short term
she might even be able to come home and have a few last fun days out
>>72071403
I have to agree with this. I have health insurance but they assign me to doctors.
every time I try to set up an appointment the doctor says they're not taking my health insurance.
Health insurance company tries to assign another doctor. I try to set up another appointment and that doctor says they don't take the health insurance too.
This happens like 15 times until i'm like fuck it forget about it.
