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jlf1961 -> RE: A question for Canadians, Brits and any other citizen of a country with nationalize health care (10/5/2013 6:17:11 PM)
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ORIGINAL: DomKen
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ORIGINAL: jlf1961
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ORIGINAL: DomKen
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ORIGINAL: jlf1961
Is your health care system so overwhelmed that the critically ill are put on waiting lists for life saving procedures and more often than not die before they can get treatment?
Are they delaying your surgery?
No, the reason for the question is the statements made by conservatives that people are dying in Canada because they are on waiting lists for life saving procedures, medicines, etc. So I decided to go to the horse to find out if they are seeing this kind of situation.
My kidney procedure is scheduled for November, which is no problem. All the delays in my treatment did not have to do with insurance, doctor availability, it was a transportation issue on my end. Since got a pass on the back problem keeping me from driving a normal vehicle, the situation has changed dramatically, although after the latest ct scans, the specialist is unsure if it is a cancerous tumor or a benign one, there has been no change in size in over 18 months. I still want it removed, so that is what we are going to do.
Unfortunately I'm something of an expert on kidney diseases.
Are you having regular checks of your BUN and Creatinine? If those are going up that is a bad sign.
Also is your blood count stable? Kidneys make a hormone vital to red blood cell production. So if you are getting anemic tell your PCP or nephrologist to give you epo.
You also might want to start taking a vitamin D supplement. The kidneys are also involved in vitamin D synthesis.
If you have any of high blood pressure, diabetes or are simply overweight a single kidney may not be able to handle the load or may be too damaged to do it. Make damn sure you get regular tests of your kidney function after the surgery. If you're aggressive about it you might avoid dialysis and trust me you want to avoid dialysis.
The procedure is called an ablation, they are going to remove the tumor and nothing else, this is because the tumor is actually less than a centimeter in size.
I get blood tests every three months since the growth was discovered, kidney function is a bit impaired, but not so bad as to require anything drastic, basically every time I got a new CT scan.
Had my shrink take me off an anti depressant that was also an appetite stimulant due to the weight gain, since I was doing so good at losing weight.
I have changed my eating habits so drastically that some people are wondering if I am the person I say I am and not some pod critter. Pizza is once a month, I allow myself a small bag of chedder and sour cream potato chips a week, one soda a week, a couple of mixed drinks occasionally, and nothing deep fried.
Taking vitamin and mineral supplements, walking more, drinking close to a gallon of water a day.
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