According to Randi caller, waiting 6 weeks for a mammogram is no big deal.

[Kerrytravelers]

If his wife found a lump, a quick examination would be nice, but you know, if you can't do it, you can't do it.

:eyes: Thankfully I didn't marry a knuckle-dragging moran.

[Wapsie B]

1. Aren't long waits for service supposed to be a knock against the Canadian healthcare system?

I remember hearing horror stories about long waits for treatment in Canada. But in the good old U.S. of A. that sort of thing shouldn't happen.

[Kerrytravelers]

3. Isn't the hypocrisy insane?

[Wapsie B]

5. Yes it sure is.

We've been sold a bill of goods for a long time by the medical-insurance complex in this country.

[momster]

9. Exactly!

This is my point whenever I hear some tight-right going off on what a disaster National Health would be...when they say, you'll have to wait weeks to see a doctor, I ask 'how long do you wait now?' I have a friend with a possible bladder infection who is on her third week of waiting to see a doctor with two to go...if he doesn't cancel again. Another who is suspicious that her heart medication isn't doing the trick has another week of a six-week wait to go. And as for choosing a doctor...sure, any one you want, so long as they are accepting your insurance card this week. If you are rich or a congressman...but I repeat myself...you can see a doctor today if you need one. The restayus...not so much.

[Wapsie B]

15. And the thing is, some plans lock you in to what Drs. you can use.

Now with my insurance, I have to have an act of God before I can go for treatment out of network. That means I can't go to the University of Iowa nor the Mayo Clinic, two popular medical centers in this region.
There are HMO's, PPO's, and some new animal I've never heard of before.

Why not just insure everyone? Right now we're just paying a private tax of sorts in the form of higher premiums to cover the uninsured going to ER's across the country to get their care. I'd rather pay the state or Feds and be done with it.

[Kerrytravelers]

21. Our Kaiser plan has changed and is not near as good as it use to be.

We are doing a little research to try and improve our situation, but have to wait until Mr. kt's company has that open enrollment period where you can switch your coverage. We do realize, however, how fortunate we are to have coverage at all. We've been without it, we've been dropped on a clerical error on Kaiser's part and had no knowledge of the dropped coverage, and we've had COBRA.

[dflprincess]

42. I live about 90 minutes from the Mayo Clinic

and, fortunately, I've never had any reason to think I need to go there. But it just frosts me that people (with money) fly in from all over the world to go there, but my insurance wouldn't cover Mayo unless they were the only place that could treat whatever might be wrong and even then the insurance company has to deem the treatment an acceptable medical practice.

[skepticscott]

37. That argument makes me grind my teeth

When someone tries to claim that the average waiting time for such-and-such medical service in Canada is longer on average than in the US, I ask if that factors in all the people in this country who need that service but can't get it at all because they have no health insurance. Their waiting time would be FOREVER...which would tend to tilt the US average a bit higher if those people weren't just ignored.

[Matsubara]

30. I don't know about Canada, but under the Japanese universal system...

The copays are small, and waiting is nothing compared to the LONG waits I always endured in the states, even if I had an appointment.

I can't speak regarding surgeries, but I had a similar experience with a battery of GI tests here. Quick, and great service.


I would NEVER want to go back to the us gouging, long-wait, no choice in ductors under some crappy HMO system.

The US has the worst health care system in the developed word for the money, by far.

[Warpy]

2. Lumps don't need mammograms

they need physical exams, biopsies, then treatment if necessary.

[Kerrytravelers]

4. The point of Randi's conversation was that if someone needs medical attention, they

should be able to get it in a reasonable amount of time.

[RC Quake]

17. I found a lump.

Called my physician's office. Got in to see him the same day. Had mammogram and biopsy the next day.

Sorry people. I have no complaints about my health care. It's an HMO. It's expensive. But they are responsive.

They actually contacted us to have my spouse do a colon cancer test through the mail, because of family history and age. They actually are monitoring these things and are actually practicing preventive medicine.

No complaints here.

[Kerrytravelers]

19. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone could have this.

I don't begrudge you, but you have to realize not everyone is lucky enough to be in your position.

[Dervill Crow]

25. They usually skip the mamm and go right to the ultrasound and biopsy

if there is a lump.

[Dervill Crow]

23. Exactly. Mammograms are for catching things before there is a lump. nt

[gollygee]

6. If I found a lump, I'd expect to be at the doctor's that day or the next

Six weeks is bullshit and if my husband considered it to be acceptable I'd have to take a serious look at our relationship.

[Kerrytravelers]

7. Exactly. I can't believe people are ok with this. That guy was a total knuckle-dragger.

I have health insurance with Kaiser. They are so incredibly inept. They LOST my husband's medical records and took no care in finding them. We took time off work and drove to all the Kaiser centers in Los Angeles to locate them ourselves. It was unbelievable. Now, three years later, they have no record of me. I just can not believe it.

[Dervill Crow]

12. Crazy. I can't believe they are still using paper charts.

Kaiser Northwest has everything current on computer (old records are scanned in) and patients can access much of their record themselves. I remember what a pain it was trying to track down lost charts when everything was on paper and being couriered to the clinic for appointments. I worked for the director of outpatient records in the mid 1970s and had more than a few phone calls regarding lost records--usually they were found in the office of a physician who swore that the chart had been sent back to the records department.

Computers are a mixed blessing. We have so many hoops that we have to jump through with training on different systems and passwords and knowing what we can and cannot do with confidential information, but it's so much better than having our health information buried on a desk somewhere or traveling across town in a delivery van.

[Kerrytravelers]

14. We couldn't believe it, either.

Turns out, it was filed under his first name and not last, and in the wrong building- the one where the they keep the files of people who are no longer at Kaiser.

Unbelievable. :eyes:

[Dervill Crow]

24. If you found a lump, why would you even want to schedule a mammogram?

A mammogram is to find abnormalities BEFORE there is a lump.

[gollygee]

27. Luckily

I've never had to learn what is done when a lump is found.

[Dervill Crow]

29. That's good.

Sometimes Randi's asshole callers know what they are talking about, though. Waiting six weeks for a mammogram is not at all the same as waiting six weeks for the biopsy of a breast lump, and many of the people here don't seem to get that distinction.

I agree that healthcare in this country sucks for the most part, but not for the reason put forth in this thread. My daughter changed jobs and got pregnant pretty much at the same time and is not covered because her pregnancy is a pre-existing condition because she was already pregnant when her health insurance kicked in, so she is screwn on SO many levels. You would think a pregnant woman would be able to be covered under SOME sort of plan, but at this rate her baby's going to be in preschool before they get it sorted out.

Okay, I'm done. :rant:

[Kerrytravelers]

31. That is not the point. The caller's point was "oh well, if you can't get in to see a doctor."

Randi simply asked him "What if your wife found a lump in her breast? Would you want her to wait 6 weeks?" He simply didn't care. He said to get in earlier would be nice, but if you can't, you can't.

The conversation was not about mammograms or a particular health care procedure in particular. It was about the state of health care in America. When this guy called in, Randi asked him very pointed questions about his wife's health. he didn't seem to think anyone "Deserved a mammogram" or anything else regarding health care.


It's not that we don't get the distinction, it's that it is not the point of the caller or what Randi was talking about.

[mtnester]

34. Wonder how long he would want to wait if he found a lump on his testicles?

6 weeks? 8? 3 months?

Makes me wonder if he is even married.

[Kerrytravelers]

35. And you know, it's mindsets like this guy's that keeps sensible health care off the table in this

country. They simply see no reason to voice a complaint to their representatives to get legislation going. They just keep their heads in the clouds until something happens in their family, then WATCH OUT!

My in-laws are conservatives who have both worked in health care their whole lives. They always thought universal health care was communist until they were stuck without health insurance and my mother-in-law had a very serious head-on car accident. Now suddenly, everyone has the right to health care. I'm glad they have a change of heart, but where was this heart before? (And they claim to be "loving and giving" Christians, too. Uh-huh.)

[mtnester]

36. Loud and clear my friend...

loud and clear

[Dervill Crow]

38. Oh. I inferred from the subject line you were talking about mamms.

I read your post before Randi was on the air here, so I had nothing to go on but your post, which said that the caller said six weeks for a mammogram is no big deal. Six weeks for a mammogram IS no big deal.

[Kerrytravelers]

39. Basically, Randi was talking about health care and this caller said

"Eh. No big deal..." even if his wife found a lump! :wow: I actually stopped what I was doing to listen, it was shocking!

[Dervill Crow]

40. Now I get it! So did Randi give him what-for?

I only heard about five minutes of her show tonight, and unfortunately I missed that part. She was nailing a guy on "the right to bear arms" during my drive time. Sometimes I feel like I need a tranquilizer (or at least a glass of wine) after listening to her show, but she does get her points across.

[Kerrytravelers]

41. She did. She said her peace and then it went into commercial break.

I still can not believe it! :wow:

[devilgrrl]

8. Oh, I know! I was going to start a thread about that idiot.

What a asshole! :crazy:

[Kerrytravelers]

10. I couldn't believe I was actually hearing that.

Even if a person disagrees with the logic of health care for everyone, how in the world could they let a love one linger and not want to do anything?

AAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Hi Devilgrrl! How are you? :hi:

[devilgrrl]

11. I wonder if he'd be that lax about a prostate exam?

Hey you! :hi:

[Kerrytravelers]

13. Excellent point!

:hi: Hey right back at 'ya!

[Dervill Crow]

16. Are they talking about screening mamms or diagnostic?

If it's an annual or 6-month routine exam and you know you have to schedule it that far in advance, then it is no big deal. If there's anything worrisome, they better be doing a mamm and ultrasound-guided biopsy immediately or I'd be raising all kinds of hell.

[Kerrytravelers]

18. They were talking in general terms about the state of health care in America.

[Dervill Crow]

26. Like they say, though, if everything is stat, nothing is stat.

I expect my healthcare provider to be responsive to my needs, but a routine screening mammogram is about as urgent as a semi-annual tooth cleaning; I make my appointment far in advance and don't squawk about the wait. If I find a lump in my breast or I or anyone else in my family has any other kind of urgent need, we damn well better get in right away.

I am lucky/blessed/fortunate enough that I have good health insurance; I've been without and there are few things scarier. Even with the best insurance, though, sometimes you have to deal with idiots and be proactive in making sure you get the care you need.

[Kerrytravelers]

32. I wish you'd heard Randi's caller today.

There wasn't any swquaking... but... there was, however, anger when Randi tore into that idiot! And he so deserved it!

[donco6]

20. 6 weeks is life and death with a lump.

That's crazy.

I had lymphoma and my tumor grew noticeably in 6 weeks. I can't imagine that tormented wait.

[Lars39]

22. Let's just put that lump in his left nut and see how he feels about

waiting 6 weeks.
He's probably already got wife #2 or 3 lined up already. :puke:

[wellstone dem]

28. At work today a co-worker told

me that a week ago she had a mammogram. She had an ultra sound two days later, but she has to wait until Friday for the biopsy. She said, the waiting has been hell. She has 3 daughters, the oldest in 8th grade, with significant disabilities. The other two in 1st and 2nd grade.

Even two weeks is too long when a problem has been identified.

[Kerrytravelers]

33. The knuckle-dragger on today's show would say "So. She'll get it when she gets it."

:grr:

[orleans]

43. you're cracking me up...well, not exactly "cracking me up" but

you've got me smiling--you've used the term "knuckle-dragger" about three times and i'm finding it amusing.

i heard randi's show. come on--that guy was far more than a knuckle dragger....so, for the sake of argument, i'll just refer to him as an asshole.

you know her sister died from breast cancer. and, in the past, randi has talked about her sister's hmo dragging it's ass to the point where it killed her. i don't remember if she told that to the asshole, or if she said it after he was gone.

did you hear her last comment before she went off the air? something to the effect of: as for that one caller, he can burn in hell. (that was her sign-off!)

(i adore randi)

[Kerrytravelers]

45. That's right. She did say that! And I think he was still on the line when she mentioned her sister,

now that I'm thinking about it.

And yes, he is far worse than a knuckledragger. That just seems to be my word of the day. And I can't change my character's name in mid-story! :)

[orleans]

47. (smile!) n/t

[Ksec]

44. Im disabled and I lost my medical insurance today

I always thought if someone was disabled theyd get medicaid or medicare. Wrong again.

I have nothing, and God help me if I get a heart attack or some catasrophic sickness.

Im 52 and I have chronic hip and back problems. And no insurance to pay for a doctor. This sucks.

[Kerrytravelers]

46. I am so sorry to hear this. My heart goes out to you.

I know what you're going through after watching my mother-in-law suffer with no health care. She was hospitalized for over three months. It was horrible. I'm so sorry this is happening to you.