OT OT OT - Changes in Mastectomy Insurance Procedures

This is important & it is a real tragedy if the insurance companies are
allowed to get away with it. I checked www.snopes.com to verify it.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/medical/mastectomy.asp

Sorry for posting this OT item, but I think it's important to spread the
word as far and wide as we possibly can!!

Pauline
Northern California





(written by a surgeon):

I'll never forget the look in my patients eyes when I had to tell
them they had to go home with the drains, new exercises and no breast. I
remember begging the doctors to keep these women in the hospital longer,
only to hear that they would, but their hands were tied by the insurance
companies.

So there I sat with my patient giving them the instructions they
needed to take care of themselves, knowing full well they didn't grasp half
of what I was saying, because the glazed, hopeless, frightened look spoke
louder than the quiet 'Thank you' they muttered.

A mastectomy is when a woman's breast is removed in order to remove
cancerous breast cells/tissue. If you know anyone who has had a mastectomy,
you may know that there is a lot of discomfort and pain afterwards.
Insurance companies are trying to make mastectomies an outpatient procedure.
Let's give women the chance to recover properly in the hospital for 2 days
after surgery.

This Mastectomy Bill is in Congress now. It takes 2 seconds to do
this and is very important. Please take the time and do it really quick!
The Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill is important legislation for all
women.

Please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever
a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those
times. If you're receiving this, it's because I think you will take the 30
seconds to go to vote on this issue and send it on to others you know who
will do the same.

There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which
will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay
for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the
"drive-through mastectomy" where women are forced to go home just a few
hours after surgery, against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from
anesthesia and sometimes with 20 drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a
petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed
on. PLEASE! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below. You need
not give more than your name and zip code number.

http://www.mylifetime.com/my-lifetim...ancer-petition
or http://tinyurl.com/8n4z6t

This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to all your friends.

My darling MIL was sent home less than 18 hours after a radical
mastectomy with a drain tube and seeping bandages. She couldn't move
her arms and was in a lot of pain. I felt so helpless ..... all I
could do was change her sheets and let her talk. She was in shock,
horrified and afraid. But she's tough and strong and thank God she was
15 years younger than she is now. The toll on her was deep and
terrible. I hate the fact that insurance companies mandate our health
care and can override the doctor. I really don't know what
nationalized insurance will be like -- perhaps health care will be
rationed. But the way it works now is shameful and disgusting.

Can you tell I'm still angry about how they treated this incredible
lady?

Sunny

I hate the fact that insurance companies mandate our health
care and can override the doctor.

I don't believe they can. The doctor is free to treat the patient
however they they like - whether the hospital gets paid for it is
a different issue. (In practice almost none of them have the guts
to confront the system, of course).


I really don't know what nationalized insurance will be like

The whole idea of insurance is a stupid waste. The American
system has more professionals shuffling money and files around
to pay for health care than are actually doing it. Retrain the
bean counters to mop floors and sterilize instruments.

==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === http://www.campin.me.uk ====
Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557
CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts
****** I killfile Google posts - email me if you want to be whitelisted ******

18 Hours! How lucky she was. My student's mother was sent home after 4
leaving him and his dad to take care of things. I am writing my
congressional people directly to let them know how I feel.

Steven
Alaska


"onetexsun" wrote in message
...
My darling MIL was sent home less than 18 hours after a radical
mastectomy with a drain tube and seeping bandages. She couldn't move
her arms and was in a lot of pain. I felt so helpless ..... all I
could do was change her sheets and let her talk. She was in shock,
horrified and afraid. But she's tough and strong and thank God she was
15 years younger than she is now. The toll on her was deep and
terrible. I hate the fact that insurance companies mandate our health
care and can override the doctor. I really don't know what
nationalized insurance will be like -- perhaps health care will be
rationed. But the way it works now is shameful and disgusting.

Can you tell I'm still angry about how they treated this incredible
lady?

Sunny

4 and 18 hours?
might as well just give them a scalpel and let them do whatever needs doing
at home.
probly less likely to get any infections that ya pick up in hospitals.
that is disgusting in the extreme.
hospital staff ought to have it happen to one of their relatives to see how
it works.
j.

"steve" wrote...
18 Hours! How lucky she was. My student's mother was sent home after 4
leaving him and his dad to take care of things. I am writing my
congressional people directly to let them know how I feel.
Steven
Alaska

"onetexsun" wrote...
My darling MIL was sent home less than 18 hours after a radical
mastectomy with a drain tube and seeping bandages. She couldn't move
her arms and was in a lot of pain. I felt so helpless ..... all I
could do was change her sheets and let her talk. She was in shock,
horrified and afraid. But she's tough and strong and thank God she was
15 years younger than she is now. The toll on her was deep and
terrible. I hate the fact that insurance companies mandate our health
care and can override the doctor. I really don't know what
nationalized insurance will be like -- perhaps health care will be
rationed. But the way it works now is shameful and disgusting.

Can you tell I'm still angry about how they treated this incredible
lady?
Sunny

The hospital staff has nothing to do with it!!!!!!!!!!! You're jumping on
the wrong people. It's the insurance companies.
Gen


"J*" wrote in message
...

4 and 18 hours?
might as well just give them a scalpel and let them do whatever needs
doing
at home.
probly less likely to get any infections that ya pick up in hospitals.
that is disgusting in the extreme.
hospital staff ought to have it happen to one of their relatives to see
how
it works.
j..

ok, then insurance company staff ought to have it happen to one of their
relatives.
sorry, i dont know how things works there.
j.

"Gen" wrote...
The hospital staff has nothing to do with it!!!!!!!!!!! You're jumping on
the wrong people. It's the insurance companies.
Gen

"J*" wrote...
4 and 18 hours?
might as well just give them a scalpel and let them do whatever needs
doing
at home.
probly less likely to get any infections that ya pick up in hospitals.
that is disgusting in the extreme.
hospital staff ought to have it happen to one of their relatives to see
how
it works.
j..