The Long, Dark Night - Cancer & no insurance - by Bob Herbert

[BridgeTheGap]

Op-Ed Columnist - NY Times
The Long, Dark Night - by Bob Herbert
I was making small talk with Dan and Sharon Brodrick in a waiting area filled with anxious-looking patients on the first floor of St. Thomas Hospital. Mrs. Brodrick seemed tired, but she managed a smile. Her husband, a former truck driver who is now an ordained minister, was the talkative one.

“We found out five days after her 56th birthday,” he said. “How’s that for a happy birthday?”

While maintaining a pleasant facade for the outside world, the Brodricks, married 37 years and still deeply in love, are spinning toward the abyss.

“We’re in big trouble,” said Mr. Brodrick.

Mrs. Brodrick learned last May that she had cancer of the duodenum and it had already spread to her liver and pancreas. Not only is the prognosis grim, but the medical expenses will soon leave the couple destitute. Mrs. Brodrick has no health insurance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/opinion/23herbert.html?th&emc=th

[barclaycard]

1. how it should work....

you can't really say much after that, but here's my personal example of how UK state funded healthcare works with cancer paitents.

my mother-in-law was diagnosed with Stage four Lung Cancer two weeks ago having suffered a 'mini-stroke'.

after 40 years of heavy smoking this is no great surprise, but the cancer has spread to three sites in her brain, her Lymph Glands, her Liver and ther Adrenal glands - this is fatal stuff, a one way street diagnosis.

she was admitted through the A&E to a general ward, MRI scans, X-Rays and CT scan produced the dianosis, a Brachyoscopy (sp) and biopsy confirmed it. eight days later, following the use of steroids to reduce brain inflamation and get her back on an even keel, she's off to the regional cancer hospital for Radiotherapy on the effected areas of her Brain to reduce the size of the tumours and to give her a bit of a breathing space before they return, after a week there she's back at our local general hospital for a week or so to recover from the RT, then she'll be moved to a hospice where she can come and go as she pleases. if she wishes she'll stay there till she dies.

she may have very gentle Chemo to reduce the pain from the Adrenal Gland tumours, that will be done at the regional centre.

the cost of four weeks hospital care - and probably quite a bit more - drugs, radiotherapy, all transport, food, Occupational Health and unlimited palliative care at the hospice?

£0.00

if she decides that she doesn't wish to stay in the hospice she could stay at home with regular nursing care both from the State and voluntary sector, her home will be adapted in any way she needs - stairlift, bath aids etc.. - social care will also be provided - meals on wheels, as well as people to do her shopping and just come around for a chat.

cost?

£0.00

a health service available to all, free at the point of use and delivered regardless of the ability to pay is the hallmark of a civilised nation.

[Briar]

2. Let's hope

those who wish to save NHS money by rationing care to exclude smokers and the obese don't get their Victorian way. This is what I was taught to expect of the NHS - a straightforward, effective response to need that values each patient as a unique individual and not as a charge on taxpayers who might, or might not, be deserving of help.

[barclaycard]

4. yeah...

i used to harbour somewhat 'harder' attitudes, in effect that people should be looked after without limit for things they had no control over, but punished for being stupid.

and, to be honest, smoking in the last 30-odd years has got to go down as a very dumb thing to do.

i'm still kind of on that track, using the NHS as part of the wider coercive power of the state (tax, social stigma) to force people to do the 'Healthy/non-dumb' thing - like giving up smoking/drinking/lard sandwiches etc... but having seen the care the old woman has recieved i've moved to a position of having the NHS doing whatever is required clinically and taxing the shit out of fags/booze/fast-food.

sounds awful, but i can't stand her....

[Briar]

3. Oh dear

I meant to offer my sympathies and clicked too soon. I'm very sorry to hear of your mother-in-law's illness.