http://www.endfistula.org
Either the problem described on the website above is bogus, or a huge problem is being ignored; Pelle, IIRC, has lived in places where this problem is apparently significant, and he says he's never heard of it.
If it's a big enough problem and enough people have never heard of it, could some foreign aid/economic development plans be falling short of their mark?6668. Trillium - 8/10/2006 11:47:44 PM
My link didn't work. Try again?
UN family planning link
6669. Ulgine Barrows - 8/30/2006 6:50:45 AM
So how did you get exercise today?
I really whacked my kneecap out of kilter in the spring. I hit it by mistake on the inside with a huge iron plant hanger.
And in the next few months, the outside is swelling up and gives me pain when I bend down.
I think I shifted some kind of floating knee plate.
Damn, why cannot I bounce back like I'm 21?
I think I might ask a chiro about it, rather than a surgeon.
6670. alistairconnor - 8/30/2006 9:42:21 AM
Oh get that knee seen to. We're not getting any younger. My girlfriend did a handstand in a swimming pool to impress my daughters (she was a champion gymnast in her teens) and it's still sprained, two months later.
6671. concerned - 8/30/2006 7:52:39 PM
Fistulas are hardly my area of expertise, but couldn't skin/membrane grafts take care of most such problems?
6672. concerned - 8/30/2006 7:59:41 PM
Speaking of growing decrepit - my right knee has had some soreness and pain around the kneecap and ligaments apparently due to inflammation for the last six months. It seems to have improved significantly during the last month or so with the soreness having pretty much gone away, but it still lets me know it's around by twinging when I exert myself. Funny thing is, the pain has actually changed location over time. It used to be entirely on the lower outside portion of my kneecap but seems to have gone toward the inside portion more recently.
It may be related to the fact that I still run up stairs two at a time whenever possible at age 51 which probably stresses my knee joints more than it used to.
6673. concerned - 8/30/2006 8:03:31 PM
I think I might ask a chiro about it, rather than a surgeon.
A chiroquackter?
6674. concerned - 8/30/2006 8:04:44 PM
Why not an osteopath?
6675. arkymalarky - 8/30/2006 10:40:25 PM
My GP died suddenly and I'm stunned and sad and hating to find and get to know a new one. I told Mose he was the first person she ever saw. He had quit delivering, but did for me, and I've always been grateful for that. He was old-school, common sense, and he knew me well. Bob too, for that matter, since he started going to this doctor when we married. He was very proud of how Bob dealt with things after getting diabetes.
6676. judithathome - 9/1/2006 4:08:18 PM
Sorry to hear that, Arky. I saw the same GP from the time I was 3 until I was 28 years old and he made a rather serious misdiagnosis of my son's condition. It didn't make any difference but I lost confidence in him when he seemed so flummoxed by the situation.
After years and years, I came to see he couldn't have possibly diagnosed Hodgkin's in such a short time since it took a team of doctors almost 3 weeks to fully diagnose. But I never went back to the guy, regardless.
These days, it's very rare to keep the same doctor for more than a few years. Things conspire...insurance, etc...to keep that from happening. Or so it seems.
6677. webfeet - 9/1/2006 5:21:03 PM
Has anyone heard of or know someone who has had a PPH - or a post-partum hemorrhaging?
It can happen when the uterus fails to contract and the placenta is not delivered.
6678. Trillium - 9/2/2006 11:43:53 PM
webfeet: Over a decade ago, the upstairs neighbor (and favorite babysitter of my children) hemorrhaged the way you describe.
Another neighbor, a midwife's assistant, bundled her off in a taxi to a nearby city hospital, where they gave her a transfusion.
Happy ending, although without a hospital and blood transfusion supply a few blocks away, she wouldn't have survived.. she, the husband and kids are all still thriving.
6679. Trillium - 9/3/2006 12:01:53 AM
concerned: surgery can take care of fistulas, but the surgeons and surgical facilities are not available in many parts of the globe. This is because of rural location, lack of money to pay for help, or sometimes because women may not be seen by male doctors, and no women have been educated to do the necessary surgery.
If you search the websites, the claim is that this is a medical situation afflicting millions of women, but shame suppresses discussion of the problem.
I know that when mission/settlements were set up in Appalachia in the 1920s, they focused primarily on education of children and maternal health programs.
I would sometimes wonder briefly why maternal health and hospital birthing was such an issue, because the potential risks of childbirth weren't discussed in polite society. I think in the generation prior to mine, because so many babies were born at home, the witnesses and families knew the secret risks even if they didn't talk about it in public.
The problems of difficult births are so unspeakable that they have been forgotten, and there is a tendency to assume that medical care is as available on the rest of the globe as it is in the urban first world.
What misery, though, for those people who can't get help when they need it.
6680. Ulgine Barrows - 9/3/2006 12:35:57 AM
6673. concerned - 8/30/2006 8:03:31 PM
I think I might ask a chiro about it, rather than a surgeon.
A chiroquackter?
6674. concerned - 8/30/2006 8:04:44 PM
Why not an osteopath?
Mmmm, osteopath is the path to a surgeon.
I've had worse experiences with surgeons than chiros, let's leave it at that.
6681. wonkers2 - 9/3/2006 1:19:49 AM
An osteopath is basically the same as an M.D. I recently went to a chiropractor once a week for six weeks or so for low back pain. It was the first time I'd seen a chiropracter and had been prejudiced against them. But several people whom I respect recommended this guy. I found him quite helpful. One of the first things he did was determine that my right leg was approx. 1/4 inch shorter than my left. He gave me lifts for my right shoes. Also he taught me a lot about how to take care of my back--sitting properly. Also, he recommended a back cushion for my car. Much of the benefit was from educating me about my back and how to take care of it. Also, he gave me some exercises. But he said walking every day was the best thing I could do.
Orthopedists make their living doing surgery which doesn't always work out very well. Some of them will recommend surgery when less invasive techniques should be tried first. I agree with Ulgine that a chiropractor is a good place to start.
6682. concerned - 9/4/2006 4:03:48 AM
Re.6680, 81 -
I guess I'll have to defer to your experiences in this case. I suppose a good chiropractor can be preferable to a mediocre osteopath, especially if the latter is on the make to perform medical procedures.
Even so, I would proceed with caution. In the case of a more serious illness, a real medical professional is much less likely to misdiagnose such a condition than a partially medically trained chiropractor.
6683. Ulgine Barrows - 9/4/2006 9:37:33 AM
"partially medically trained chiropractor"
And this is different than a partially medially trained surgeon exactly how?
OK, given equal parameters, I -might- listen to a 56-yr-old surgeon harder than a 56-yr-old chiro.
But most of those 50+ surgeons have retired due to insurance hassles,.
When faced with an early 30s surgeon vs and early 30s chiro.....
I'll take door #2, the chiro.
6684. Ulgine Barrows - 9/4/2006 9:38:39 AM
Damage control!
