September 14, 2004

• i dont know. there are some times that you shouldn't cut corners. the last thing you would want is for it to be done wrong... "Well, if it isn't my good friend Mr. McGregg, with a leg for an arm, and an arm for a leg!"
• Singapore!
• Does your state offer any kind of medical insurance plan for the uninsured? My fiance had complications from the flu a few years ago that landed him in the hospital for a week. He was only working part-time then and had no insurance. He was able to get a state-sponsored plan that paid for the majority of his medical expenses for about 6 months. I know it was really hard for him to swallow his pride and take the assistance, but it was there for people in his situation, so it made sense for him to do it. Many state plans have been really cut back in recent years, including MN where we live. Still, you may want to check out your state's website to see if they offer anything like this. The other option is to see if they offer a cash discount. My mom has had to have a lot of blood work and specialist visits recently, and she has found that you can get as much as a 50% discount if you can immediately pay in full and it's not submitted to insurance. Cash in hand for the doctor, I guess.
• Move to Canada.
• Singapore isn't all that cheap, if you compare it to Malaysia and Thailand, who have comparable level of expertise in many areas of medicine. So far I only know of plastic surgery and eye surgery (for Thailand). Not too sure about knee surgery though.
• When a friend of my brother (russian citizen, no insurance) broke an arm in Sweden requiring an ambulance ride, x-rays, etc. it cost her ~$300. I was impressed, and there's nothing iffy about the standards there either.
• I got orthopedic surgery (2 pins put in an ankle) in Guadalajara, and when I returned to Canada, one of our city's top orthopedic surgeons said the work they'd done was excellent. As I understand it, many Mexican sutgeons train in Texas. It may well be your best bet. Hell, if I can dig up my x-rays, I could maybe even give you a name.
• Dude, this is your body. Yes, look around and see if you can find somebody who can recommend a quality doctor on the cheap but don't fuck around with your body. You'll feel pretty stupid in twenty years when you've been unable to run for more than twenty feet because they did a hack job connecting the tendons.
• Incidentally sorry about your leg. That must hurt like hell. What did you do to it?
• You can try Canada. A friend of mine's spouse (he's Canadian, She's american) had her gall bladder out in Canada even though they were living in the US at the time. Reason: Costs, which they paid out of pocket, were 1/3 the american cost.
• Have the surgery, let 'em bill you for it. Pay as you can. It won't go into collections if you are making consistant, if small, payments. Nor should it seriously affect you credit much. If you care.
• Forks, I don't know exactly how it happened. But it's getting unbearable. Thanks to the help here, I'm looking into Canada as well as Bangkok. As for doing the "dine and dash" at the hospital, they want cash up front. This is a freaking lot of grief to go through for a 45 minute procedure. I got an idea, I'll "blog" the whole experience. That'll be kewl. And I'll put up a "donation" button so the whole world can help me. And I'll freaking change my name to Karyn.
• Best of luck for speedy relief to this shitty situation, argh.
• If possible, get follow-up physical therapy and see if they can recommend exercises to help prevent this happening to your other knee. Good luck.
• They charge extra for anaesthetic? Seriously?
• some wander by mistake, is it a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife?
• May I suggest that any place you go, try and avoid airlines? Change in pressure probably won't do you any good at all. (IANAMD)
• PF, it certainly is.
• now didn't your mother tell you, if you kept playing around with your meniscus you were gonna break it? hmmm?
• Several of my friends have been in hospitals in Bangkok, and they only had good things to say. (However, they were only there for traveling-related injures, not surgery.) One Canadian friend said it was far more professional and hi-tech than any hospital she had visited in Canada or in Europe.
• {simpsons} "Hi, everybody!" {/simpsons}
• I've got no insurance (long story). About, say, 3 years 9 months long? It sounds pretty shady that you need surgery to walk without being in considerable pain, and the doctor wants all the cash up front. Have you looked around locally for doctors who entered the profession because they wanted to help people and not because they're greedy fucks? $5400, for 45 minutes of the doctor's time! (The cost for the facilities I'm assuming is in the extra few grand the center tacks on.) I hear the weather is lovely in Canada this time of year.
• I can vouch for the high quality of hospital care in Bangkok (or at least the one I went to - wish I could remember the name). But airline flight after knee surgery does seem like an inherently bad idea. Makes follow-up visits pretty difficult, too.
• Some wander: they charge separately for the paper slippers they put on your feet during surgery, and for asperin.
• PF - I will second some's answer - didn't you get to the end of the book? No men with fortunes without a wife, and at least one man without a fortune with a wife :) I love that line, one of the best openers ever About the surgery - yes, costs, even without medicare, should still be lower in Canada. But is it possible to book in as a private patient? I would have no idea how to do so.
• Interesting