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7288. robertjayb - 2/29/2008 6:20:32 PM Go to your room! 7289. thoughtful - 2/29/2008 6:35:42 PM Guy goes to the doctor complaining that there's a piece of lettuce hanging out of his rectum. The doctor takes a look and says, "This is just the tip of the iceberg." 7290. thoughtful - 2/29/2008 6:43:09 PM Guy goes to the dentist and complains, "My teeth are all yellow...what should I do?"
Dentist replies, "Wear a brown tie!" 7291. thoughtful - 2/29/2008 7:00:34 PM Woman goes to the doctor complaining that every time she uses the toilet, she finds nickels, dimes and quarters in the bowl.
Doc says, "Nothing to worry about...you're just going through the change." 7292. thoughtful - 2/29/2008 11:02:36 PM Man walks into a doctor's office with a pelican on his head. Doc says, "My you DO have a problem."
Pelican replies, "Yeah...get this guy out from under me!" 7293. arkymalarky - 3/10/2008 1:18:52 AM I know some other doctor jokes, but my mind went blank reading yours.
Robert:
Give me the skinny on the nose surgery. I'm asking Bro as well. He tried to get me to get it in the past and I wasn't getting it, so I forgot what he said. I left him a voice mail and he's supposed to call me back.
My problem is that way back when I started dealing with all this mess my exrays showed "problems" in my sinuses and I never asked what. Everything is way better--drainage, infections, allergy symptoms, etc--except breathing through my nose toward the back of it, if that makes sense. So I breathe too much through my mouth, so I hyperventilate, so I get extremely miserable. It's worse in spring and I've noticed it more this last week. I'm getting an appointment with an ENT guy, but I want a rundown (I think you've done that before as well, too), because, frankly and embarrassingly, I'm very scared of the surgery. It just sounds horrible to me, and I'm afraid they'll scrape around up there and slip, and I won't be able to breathe through my nose which is already driving me crazy just not breathing well enough through it.
So if you get a chance, I'd like all the details from people who've been there, not just the guy who has a vested interest in doing it. 7294. arkymalarky - 3/10/2008 2:01:58 AM This isn't about to do or not to do, btw, since I know you and Bro and the handful of other people I know who did it absolutely loved the results. I just need the gory details. I don't like surprises. When I was pregnant all my friends who were moms assured me labor wasn't that bad. If they'd been there at the time I went through it, I think I could have murdered every one of them with my bare hands. 7295. robertjayb - 3/10/2008 10:53:51 PM Yeah, they're apt to scrape around, reshaping turbinates (whatever they are)and staightening the septum. There may be blood. At least there was in my case, but I'm a bleeder. I'd say lay off aspirin and maybe get a vitamin K shot in advance of the procedure. Ask your ENT person.
I rate the discomfort as slightly worse than a root canal.
The splints, little tubes that are inserted in the nostrils to keep all the parts aligned, are bothersome but bearable. I think I had them about three days. One became dislodged in a fierce sneezing attack and had to be fished out from some strange recess in my head. No harm and funny in retrospect but scary at the time.
Go for it.
7296. arkymalarky - 3/10/2008 11:27:41 PM Thanks! I'm leaning that way, because it's the only one of my health problems of the last few years that I haven't improved or fixed, and I'm feeling so much better than I have in years. I could deal with it okay if I felt like I was getting enough air though my nose and wasn't prone to hyperventilating when I breathe too much through my mouth--if that's what's causing it. I'll at least talk to an ENT doctor. 7297. robertjayb - 4/8/2008 4:20:19 AM Alligator blood studied for antibiotic effects...(HouChron)
Researchers in Louisiana say they've discovered unique antibiotic proteins in the blood of American alligators that can kill a wide range of deadly bacteria, halt the spread of common infections, and perhaps even stop the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
If they're right, and they're able to sequence the genetics of alligator blood, the researchers say superdrugs based on their findings might be available within 10 years.
................................................
Researcher Lancia Darville explained that alligators have developed unique immune systems during the course of their long evolution.
"If you think about alligators, they usually get into a lot of fights and get cuts and bruises and torn limbs, and they live in swamps that have a whole lot of bacteria," she said. "But even in the presence of all that bacteria, they (almost) never get any infections."
The reason, Darville explained, is that alligators have unusually strong immune systems. Unlike humans, their immune systems can fight off different types of bacteria, viruses and fungi without having been previously exposed to them.
7298. robertjayb - 4/14/2008 8:58:48 PM Watch out for soaring co-payments...(NYTimes)
Health insurance companies are rapidly adopting a new pricing system for very expensive drugs, asking patients to pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for prescriptions for medications that may save their lives or slow the progress of serious diseases.
With the new pricing system, insurers abandoned the traditional arrangement that has patients pay a fixed amount, like $10, $20 or $30 for a prescription, no matter what the drug’s actual cost. Instead, they are charging patients a percentage of the cost of certain high-priced drugs, usually 20 to 33 percent, which can amount to thousands of dollars a month.
7299. wonkers2 - 4/14/2008 10:53:51 PM I just paid a $20 copay for a tiny bottle of eye drops. When I complained, the pharmacist said the insurer paid $50 for a total of $70. 7300. Ms. No - 4/14/2008 11:03:43 PM Did you ask what the price was for the uninsured? 7301. wonkers2 - 4/14/2008 11:31:23 PM No. I didn't but I know that hospitals bill uninsured patients at ridiculously higher rates than they charge BC-BS which is the biggest insurer in Michigan. 7302. Ms. No - 4/14/2008 11:40:57 PM Yeah, but sometimes your co-pay for drugs at the pharmacy is actually higher than what they charge normally. It has something to do with the bulk manner in which they negotiate the prices with the insurance companies. 7303. wonkers2 - 4/15/2008 1:01:24 AM I think my friendly pharmacist would have told me if I could have gotten the prescription filled cheaper by paying for it entirely myself. I'll check next time I'm in the store. A friend of mind told me about an experience where he was able to fill a prescription at Costco cheaper by paying for it himself than at a regular pharmacy. I don't remember the details. As I recall the drugstore wouldn't even tell him what the insurance company was paying. 7304. wonkers2 - 4/15/2008 1:01:53 AM This is our great "free" market system. 7305. judithathome - 4/16/2008 2:33:37 PM Heck, the other day I had a pharmacy claim they couldn't quote me a price on a drug unless I brought in a prescription for it! 7306. magoseph - 4/22/2008 8:24:57 PM An Atlas of the Human Body
7307. robertjayb - 4/22/2008 10:09:38 PM Ezra Klein on the curious case of dental insurance...
Imagine if your health insurance -- and for the purposes of this thought experiment, you have health insurance, and it's decent -- covered everything save your liver. For that, you need liver insurance. Or maybe it does cover your liver, but not your right foot. That requires right foot insurance. Or maybe it covers everything but your brain. Got some brain insurance?
That's the odd space dental insurance occupies...
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