Not Yet Time To Go
It's been "time out" for me for a while, I'm afraid. After my heart attack almost a year ago, I've been medicated and exercised and dieted and monitored within an inch of my life, and then unexpectedly went into atrial fibrillation, fortunately while I was under observation at the hospital.
A short trip to the ER, a few days to settle down while blood clotting problems were dealt with, and then a pacemaker was installed, on this date, December 13. Another tentative Christmas to look forward to.
I feel better now. A twice daily cocktail of strange looking pills, daily walks, and the knowledge that the blood flowing in my veins has been watered down with Cumadin. aka Warfarin, which in case you didn't know, is used to kill rats. No comment. Please!
I wish they'd installed a GPS along with the pace-maker. Then I'd feel comforted, knowing I'd never get lost. And maybe, come to think of it, an iPhone. . . All kinds of junk would fit in there.
>> Questions & comments 0MEDICAL SITES
O.K., so lawyers hate me. Now perhaps some doctors will hate me too, because I am going to recommend things connected to your health, yes major things, where I believe a patient may do better than just asking your regular M.D. for advice.
HERNIAS
First off, I have had 4 hernia operations. The first was in New York in the early sixties, and I was startled to find that there seemed to be no settled method to surgically fix these things. Some do it in the office with a local anesthetic, some put you in the hospital, and they all sound very sincere and expert in their opinions. I auditioned for a doctor then, and wound up with a Dr. Lazarus (!), and he put me a hospital room next to the old Madison Square Gardens, the same room where Rudolph Valentino died. He did his thing, and, well, I didn't die, but the operation failed.
Next, the other side popped when I was living in Dublin, Ireland. I had that fixed by Dublin's top surgeon. That failed too.
It seemed to me that hernias were problems for a specialist, and the trouble is many doctors fancy they have the ability to make the effort and a quick buck at the same time. Then I found a place where the surgeons do nothing else all day, up in Canada.
Both of these hernia operations were repaired for (so far) ever, guaranteed not to fail again or a free re-do, and I'm more than happy to give them a plug here. The Shouldice has you up and walking immediately, and normally out of there within three days. But let them speak for themselves.
There, that's all they do, and have done since the second world war, which started them off. You will find that their price, plus the cost of airfare (it's just outside Toronto) will beat any hernia price down here in the States.
MEDICAL TREATMENT PLUS A VACATION!
Now this is worth considering. If you have some pending expensive elective surgery, and especially if you have no insurance like me (other than Medicare), think about a location trip to Bangkok, and an appointment with the folks at Bumrungrad Hospital.
No, haven't done this yet, but it could be next on my agenda. And I hear their cost is about one eighth what it is here in the U.S. of A.
Check out their website:
