guy at school's esophagus was torn away from his stomach

[Schadenfroh]

man, i barely know this guys name but this guy's girlfriend was talking about him today at school. He had a sever stomach virus for about a week and during that time he got progressivly worse and began puking blood and stomach acid up. they went to the doctor and they immediatly said that his stomach has torn away from part of his esophagus and he sent him to a specialist immediatly. So, he gets to the specialist and they deny him service because he has no insurance. I have heard teachers talking about it so it must be true, but it cannot be that his entire esophagus has been torn away or he would have been dead by now. I also thought it was illegal for them to deny service in a situation like this just because you are poor. His GF said that he has gotten progressivly worse the past few days. I tried to convince her to take him to another hosipital which is about 35 miles away, that they would treat him. Who knows, i thought it was BS becuase i did not think you could live for 3 days with your stomach not attached to your esophagus untill i heard a teacher talking about it. I figured stomach acid leaking into your thoracic cavity would cause mayhem with your lungs and heart. any way, are these people stupid for not pressing them for treatment or does our medical system just suck? If its as bad as his GF says it is, i give him a week or 2 tops

Cliff notes
1. Guy has stomach virus, esophagus parts from stomach (or at least partially)
2. Goes to doctor, who sends him to a specialist immediatly
3. Specialist denies treatment because he has no insurance
4. been about 3 days and is caughing up blood and stomach acid
5. is our medical system great or what?

 

[Murphy Durphy]

It can't be completley torn...your correct about the acid backup, that would reak havoc on his thoracic cavity. They take things such as perforated stomach linings very seriously because the acid will eat away your internal organs. I can't imagine a complete tear in your esophagus... That has to be terribly painful. Really can't even imagine...

 

[PowerMac4Ever]

Can his family get a loan or something to pay for the medical bills?

 

[dquan97]

He should've applied for low-cost (or even free) insurance... ie Medi-Cal or Medi-Aid.

Not sure how long the body can stand to have his condition.

 

[Dacalo]

Medicine has become a fvcking business, not service.

One of many reasons why I didn't persue medicine.

 

[Ikonomi]

They (his family and himself) realize he has to be treated, right? That's pretty serious.

 

[rh71]

how did this begin to happen anyway ?

 

[brigden]

I love living in Canada. Free healthcare.

 

[KarenMarie]

Has he gone to an emergency room? By law they cannot turn him away because of a lack of ability to pay.

Also, aren't there any low cost clinics around?

sorry for him.. thats gotta suck.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: rh71
how did this begin to happen anyway ?

he had stomach virus before, i would guess that he puked allot and wore away the lining of his esophagus and his stomach acid burned a hole in it, but that is just my guess. but i know he had stomach virus before it happened

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: brigden
I love living in Canada. Free healthcare.

Someone always says this and someone else always points out that it is not truly free.

 

[brigden]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: brigden
I love living in Canada. Free healthcare.

Someone always says this and someone else always points out that it is not truly free.

Neither are any of the freedoms and liberties we enjoy in North America, but I don't think about paying for roads, parks, etc.

 

[OffTopic1]

Originally posted by: Jzero

Originally posted by: brigden
I love living in Canada. Free healthcare.

Someone always says this and someone else always points out that it is not truly free.

Correct.
I'm not complaining, but $160 per month isn't truly free.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Holy smokes! I find it a little hard to believe that his esophagus and stomach could be completely separated for an extended time without him being in persistent shock. I recently had a ruptured colon and that became extremely painful after less than a day.

My mother actually had an operation about 12 years ago to have her esophagus removed, after it developed a precancerous condition - her stomach is now at the base of her neck (you would never know it - she looks perfectly normal and eats normally). Your friend/acquaintance will have to have something similar, I think, because I believe that once the esophagus is severed, the body loses the ability to conduct peristalsis (that is, to conduct food down the esophagus through muscle manipulation). This was, as you might imagine, major and incredibly expensive surgery.

Generally doctors have to provide emergency care, but may blanch at providing major surgery like this. Some hospitals have a policy of providing care first, regardless of ability to pay, and worrying about the billing later. I know when I had my ruptured colon, I was told by Rapid City Regional Hospital (SD) that this was their policy. Fortunately I had insurance.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Don_Vito
Holy smokes! I find it a little hard to believe that his esophagus and stomach could be completely separated for an extended time without him being in persistent shock. I recently had a ruptured colon and that became extremely painful after less than a day.

My mother actually had an operation about 12 years ago to have her esophagus removed, after it developed a precancerous condition - her stomach is now at the base of her neck (you would never know it - she looks perfectly normal and eats normally. Your friend will have to have something similar, I think, because I believe that once the esophagus is severed, the body loses the ability to conduct peristalsis (that is, to conduct food down the esophagus through muscle manipulation). This was, as you might imagine, major and incredibly expensive surgery.

Generally doctors have to provide emergency care, but may blanch at providing major surgery like this. Some hospitals have a policy of providing care first, regardless of ability to pay, and worrying about the billing later. I know when I had my ruptured colon, I was told by Rapid City Regional Hospital (SD) that this was their policy. Fortunately I had insurance.

Ouch.... Am glad to hear that you're OK.

How did that happen? Poor eating habbits, I assume?

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: Eli

Ouch.... Am glad to hear that you're OK.

How did that happen? Poor eating habbits, I assume?

Hee hee - no, I don't think my eating habits had anything to do with it. Apparently I have a condition called diverticulosis that basically creates herniations in the colon. One of them burst and started releasing fecal matter and other goodness into my abdomen. Apparently if this isn't treated pretty quickly you get peritonitis and/or gangrene, which is obviously bad. The doc thought it was appendicitis when he opened me up at 1 in the morning, only to find it was much worse. I had a few inches of my colon removed and the whole thing stitched back together. It was the first time I have ever been in the hospital (for about 5 days), and it was weird but not the end of the world. This was back in December.

Thanks for your kind words, anyway.

 

[PingSpike]

Remember, the United States has the best health care system in the world and all others pale in comparison. Unless you're poor, then you're welcome to die on the street like everyone else in a third world country.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Remember, the United States has the best health care system in the world and all others pale in comparison. Unless you're poor, then you're welcome to die on the street like everyone else in a third world country.

It is indeed pretty sad that Havana has lower infant mortality rates than Washington D.C. Getting proper health care to everyone is a tough nut to crack, economically and politically, but it is unpalatable to say the least that such a large (and growing) percentage of our country has no ability to pay for it.

 

[geno]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Remember, the United States has the best health care system in the world and all others pale in comparison. Unless you're poor, then you're welcome to die on the street like everyone else in a third world country.

Troll

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Remember, the United States has the best health care system in the world and all others pale in comparison. Unless you're poor, then you're welcome to die on the street like everyone else in a third world country.

Sad, but true.

It cannot continue in this direction. Healthcare must be for those who are sick, not those who have money.

I sincerely hope this changes drastically in the decades to come.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: geno

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Remember, the United States has the best health care system in the world and all others pale in comparison. Unless you're poor, then you're welcome to die on the street like everyone else in a third world country.

Troll

I dunno - I'd say it's pretty well on topic.

 

[Legendary]

Originally posted by: Don_Vito

Originally posted by: geno

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Remember, the United States has the best health care system in the world and all others pale in comparison. Unless you're poor, then you're welcome to die on the street like everyone else in a third world country.

Troll

I dunno - I'd say it's pretty well on topic.

Troll isn't necessarily off-topic, just trying to incite flames.
I'd say he fits the bill, even if he's not entirely incorrect, it's a touchy subject for many.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Remember, the United States has the best health care system in the world and all others pale in comparison. Unless you're poor, then you're welcome to die on the street like everyone else in a third world country.

Sad, but true.

It cannot continue in this direction. Healthcare must be for those who are sick, not those who have money.

I sincerely hope this changes drastically in the decades to come.

I as well. But apparently some, like geno, would prefer we stick to the current system and allow the subject of this thread to have his organs eaten away by stomach acid.

What do I know though, I'm just a troll.

If this guy is going to die though, I guess he should just try to find a hospital that has a better policy...and hope he can go bankrupt. Based on the description of the medical problem, I have little doubt there's no way he could afford this out of pocket. And with a preexisting medical condition, he CANNOT get insurance at this point. I suppose he could down the street to the bak and try to negotiate a loan while coughing up blood though. I'm not sure how excited they will be about giving a 40,000$ loan to a kid who's about to die.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Legendary

Originally posted by: Don_Vito

Originally posted by: geno

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Remember, the United States has the best health care system in the world and all others pale in comparison. Unless you're poor, then you're welcome to die on the street like everyone else in a third world country.

Troll

I dunno - I'd say it's pretty well on topic.

Troll isn't necessarily off-topic, just trying to incite flames.
I'd say he fits the bill, even if he's not entirely incorrect, it's a touchy subject for many.

Since when is broaching a touch subject taboo on here? Seems like half the threads with 50+ posts are about a 'touchy subject'.

 

[Looney]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: PingSpike
Remember, the United States has the best health care system in the world and all others pale in comparison. Unless you're poor, then you're welcome to die on the street like everyone else in a third world country.

Sad, but true.

It cannot continue in this direction. Healthcare must be for those who are sick, not those who have money.

I sincerely hope this changes drastically in the decades to come.

The fact that people are so sue-happy that insurances for hospitals and physicians are going sky high too, only means medical costs has nowhere to go but up.