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This is going to take a while so if you are pressed for time I apologize for the long post ....
Some may (or may not have) noticed I have been mostly absent during this last news cycle, yes...it has been difficult ..some also know we sold my wife's Slingshot because she could no longer drive it do to a non vehicle related accident.
Well Tuesday she had four cervical fusions, a permanent state of the art spinal cord stimulator implanted, and partial reconstruction of her right arm however she will never gain function. Six hours under, one neurosurgeon, two orthopedic surgeons, one reconstructive surgeon, five PA's, and a gaggle of nurses. Then four nights in the neuro spinal recovery unit. She is now home and resting.... by definition she is also now bionic ...
So why am I posting this in the Politics Suck thread .....
Well ... it has taken almost four years to the day to get this done. The delay was caused almost entirely by laws and regulations that put control in the hands of and benefited insurance companies as part of Obama care. Since most of the damage caused clinically diagnosed Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (scrambled nerves) and her arm could now never be "fixed", as in made to function because they took the easiest and cheapest route with her second surgery and just removed the locked joint that had previously been cobbled back together rather than a prosthetic implanted, the insurance company was within their rights to "maintain" her condition through a pain management system which has grown several thousand percent since the ACA was enacted which gave her more and ever increasing strengths of drugs to a point that beyond the injury was hugely effecting her life and causing their own health concerns. Read the fine print, the ACA encourages them to put you on drugs. They now estimate six months to get her safely off the pain meds, her load is so high. Just to do the surgery they had to reverse her meds, causing withdrawal for the first 24 hours. This was one of the reasons the insurance company was originally able to use to not do a further surgery, The drugs they put her on made it difficult for them to accept the risk... difficult for them... for them .....
Only because of deregulation and patients rights enacted during this administration was I able, with help from private representation, the State, and the Feds to go after the insurance company, negotiate treatment, request specific surgeons, have cost transparency, be able to involve myself in those decisions as well as pay out of pocket for part of the process during the same surgery that the insurance company was still allowed to deny so it was all done at once with the latest technology. They also have to maintain it all for the rest of her life, even the part I paid for. If we could have waited another year new regulation changes held up in DC (guess by whom) might have made them pay for it all but we couldn't wait any longer.
For those who want to keep Obamacare, or go to "medicare for all" or some other gov'ment health care system I say FU... no FU all to hell. Throughout this process I have learned of countless situations in other countries with gov'ment systems that are far worse than what we went through. The guy in England who cut off his arm with an Axe after being denied treatment for six years has almost the same story as my wife. I can give you examples from all over the world how putting that much control on one place doesn't work for anyone other than the one controlling the money. Had they done this three year ago it would have probably been under $100K. Now it cost me personally just this week twice that, the insurance company twice again plus my legal fees, and an estimated five times more for them over the course of the rest of her life. Luckily for my part of it President Trump has made it so I can afford it. If his administration could put in place everything they want no one would have to worry about that part. But you will never hear that side unless you go digging for it because it isn't reported.
So to everyone, before the 2020 election please educate yourselves and don't just believe all the hype, spin, and outright lies from those who want total control of this important part of your life. Please remember nothing worthwhile is free, someone is making money off things that are, and if you are the one getting the free stuff you are at the bottom of that shithole with no say in how much gets piled on. Once they have the shovel they will never give it up.
Gotta go..... time to get our life back ....
Orangeman,
Thank you sharing your experience and for the information. My sincere best wishes to you and your wife getting your lives back to the maximum potential. Stay strong!
Frankie 55
