Posts by rustymoose54

ruggedfalcon2 said:you totally missed the whole point of the game👎 and Vani is just doing it for the paycheck☕

Nah, nah... listen, back in Austria, they give you a little bag of Haribo gummy bears—if that's even what they're called—and they just preserve your blood from the umbilical cord. It's nothing special. It's just that those bitter American doctors have teamed up against the patients, so now they're gonna try to charge a fortune for some cheap gimmick. ☕ Honestly, it's pathetic.

ruggedfalcon2 said:Sweet, looks like the exact same video—definitely a killer business model... if you're into that kind of thing. ☕

Yeah, well... unlike those doctors over in Europe or wherever else who basically do it for a handful of gummy bears... ☕

John Richardson4 said:So basically, nobody even breathed a word against the doctor in this scenario...

alright, alright, my bad—I was definitely talking about stuff I heard through the grapevine rather than seeing it myself🙂

but look, the bottom line is there isn't some big-shot American biotech firm specializing in cell storage around here, and let's be real—that’s not exactly a problem doctors are supposed to be fixing anyway...

Drew Kim3 said:Look, I didn't realize you were gonna roll your eyes at me like that
The lady in question has been going absolutely scorched-earth on doctors in the media—but hey, that's just how news outlets work, right? They love nothing more than blowing stuff out of proportion and making doctors look like the bad guys on every major network... so this case is probably following that same script.

The eye-rolling isn't coming from me, it's coming from the media and that woman herself...

They just whip up some little segment without actually having all the facts. Or maybe they have them, but they don't have a clue what they're looking at.

Anyway, I'm no doctor. 🙂

Drew Kim3 said:well, I think I have a pretty solid reason why those doctors wouldn't touch this with a ten-foot pole!

Look, it’s not some conspiracy where doctors are just being jerks—the reality is there simply isn't any facility in this entire country set up to actually store umbilical stem cells.

Private companies overseas handle all of this, and man, they charge a freaking fortune to do it...

It’s always so much easier to just point fingers and claim the doctors are out to get the patients, isn't it? 🙄

I honestly can't stand people who think they need a kickback for everything they give away—like, if you aren't getting something in return, it doesn't count... 🙄 But then again, that's not actually giving, it’s just a transaction, or a sale, as Matthew Morris28 puts it.

You're such a troll.

And honestly? You aren't even funny... I've seen way better jokes than that somewhere else...😉

Andrew Thomas10 said:Private clinics aren't even that much more expensive than those drugstore tests you're buying. Seriously, do a little digging—check their websites for prices or just give them a call. If you spend all this time overthinking and stressing out, you're just gonna end up running late anyway.

well, not really... you can grab a test at a CVS for like, what, ten bucks?

A private doctor is just gonna send you to some lab like Quest Diagnostics to get your blood bHCG checked, which is something you could totally do on your own... 😁 I mean, you have to actually go to a lab, obviously, since you can't exactly self-diagnose hormone levels from your couch 😬...

Kyle Nelson2 said:I don't want to sound totally paranoid here... but how many people actually have AIDS?

Look, it’s easy to talk big when you're discussing people who already have AIDS, but we’re talking about being HIV-positive

If I were HIV-positive—or had any bloodborne illness for that matter—there is absolutely no way I’d be working as a surgeon or an OB-GYN without being upfront with my patients. Honestly? If I did, I’d probably lose my entire patient base overnight... 😁

Edward Green said:The day after they dilated my eyes with those drops, I couldn't read anything up close—like, at all. So, basically, the contacts made me farsighted... while wearing contacts. And usually, I can see fine with them.
Which is why I don't get how they can even figure out my prescription when my pupils are blown wide open like that. 😕

It doesn't work like that. They nail down your actual prescription *before* they dilate your eyes. The dilation part is just so they can get a clear look at your retina... you know, check the back of the eye stuff.

Edward Green said:Basically, prevention is way cheaper than cleaning up the mess after everything goes south.

Duh, obviously... but if you're actually pitching this, you better come to the table with some hard numbers—just so people don't tune out immediately. I mean, if the public perception is just "junkies are trash and need to kick the bucket," then yeah, good luck... the only way to actually get anyone to listen is to talk about the bottom line. Money talks, right?

Honestly, those of us dealing with diabetes have been showing up to Medicare with all sorts of math and logic for years, but it hasn't really moved the needle... 😬

Edward Green said:That was exactly what we needed—Megan Reed coming in to bring some actual soul to the whole mess... you know, someone who could actually implement a decent, human approach instead of this "pay up or get crushed" corporate nightmare they're running under the hood... 🙂

Look, I already laid it all out for you in that other post—I totally get what you're getting at and honestly, I'm on the same page... but as for that bit about the purchase? I only wrote it that way because, well, it's just the plain old truth. It is what it is...

Honestly, this whole situation with diabetic patients is just a perfect example of how backwards our system is—like, why even bother restricting rights or cutting access now, only to end up footing the bill for massive medical complications later? It’s such a joke... it’s obviously way more expensive to fix a disaster than it is to just allow for decent prevention in the first place. Seriously, it makes zero sense...

analogwolf2 said:They’d probably try to snatch some of that money meant for diabetes patients too... honestly, at this point, nothing is safe from them. 👎

Come on, man, where the hell are you even getting that info? What do you mean, some kind of "special quota for diabetics"? Look, Medicare just cuts corners on everyone's coverage—diabetics included, which, by the way, I know all too well from my own personal nightmare... But anyway, regarding that regulation that kicks in on May 1st—it still says absolutely nothing about funding for "safe rooms" or whatever. Not a single word...

I mean, look, maybe you’re tripping out because you see IV drug users using what they call "insulin supplies"... but honestly? That's just missing the point entirely. When people talk about fighting for the rights of diabetics, nobody is actually trying to squeeze the supply of syringes or needles—it's not even about that. Most diabetics haven't touched a traditional syringe in years; they've been using those specialized insulin pens for ages... which, let's be real, wouldn't do a damn thing for an IV addict anyway. It's a totally different ballgame.

analogwolf2 said:Honestly, I couldn't care less... let those bastards tear each other apart over their own damn money. Actually, the more aggressive they go with the fighting, the better—the sooner they all kick the bucket, the fewer of them there are bleeding my tax dollars dry... just more room in the budget for people who actually matter, I guess...😠

Look, it’s not even about whether we actually like these filthy, disgusting junkies or not—honestly, who cares? That's not the point... The real issue is just pure math—it's way cheaper for the system to just treat them for HIV and hepatitis than to deal with everything else... After... So, what's the move here? Are we just gonna sit back and let the infection spread like wildfire, or are we actually gonna try to get ahead of it—you know, do some real work to stop the damn thing from spiraling...? Prevention... honestly, what's even the point sometimes? It feels like we're all just spinning our wheels trying to stay ahead of the curve, isn't it? Like, you do everything "right"—eat the kale, hit the gym, get your checkups—and then life just happens anyway... anyway, it’s worth a shot, I guess. Just staying proactive before things go sideways... that's the name of the game..

What a complete mess this thread is... seriously, why is nobody dropping actual numbers here? It’s just people venting their feelings like it's a therapy session—which, hey, go for it, I guess—but if we're talking about what actually makes sense financially, emotions aren't exactly gonna pay the bills... turns out "vibes" aren't really a valid economic argument...

Megan Reed said:oh yeah, sure, because diabetics are just straight-up bad people who basically chose this life through their diet and now they don't deserve insurance coverage for insulin strips 😍 since we should probably just take that money and build some kind of legal shooting range instead... 😍

Correction—the folks actually drowning in medical supply costs are usually Type 1 patients. I really hope I don't have to break down autoimmune etiology or the typical age of onset for you... but anyway, getting Type 1 has absolutely zero to do with what you eat.

Edward Green said:Let them buy it then. 🙂

😈 But seriously, what do you mean "buy it"? I need at least double whatever Medicare covers just to get some decent regulation—you know, stuff that actually keeps me from ending up in the ER with complications that would force me to miss work... which means Medicare ends up paying my disability instead. It's a whole cycle...

Edward Green, look, I know you were being sarcastic about the diabetics, but honestly? I'm with you on this one. Letting junkies have a "safe" way to shoot up should actually cut down on the costs we’re all footing right now—taxpayers like us—to treat them for Hepatitis and all that other nasty business... and it's not just about them, either. It's about their partners who aren't necessarily some filthy, bottom-of-the-barrel addicts themselves 😉

Megan Peterson87 said:basically, every woman gets HPV after their first time anyway.

MIRACLE, MIRACLE!!!! I'm pregnant, and a virgin!!!! 😬

back to the point:
1. there's plenty of unprotected sex happening as it is, so I seriously doubt this HPV vaccine is going to change the game much... people are way more worried about HIV and hepatitis these days anyway.

2. regarding how many women go in for Pap smears—Crimson Petal mentioned she isn't planning on skipping hers since she'll keep going regularly😁 but hey, as long as the number of gynecologist visits doesn't drop (since they’re the ones deciding—just like always—whether to run a Pap or specific typing), I don't see this vaccine changing those habits one bit.

3. yeah, okay, the price tag is still way too high, but honestly? that's hardly an argument against developing a vaccine like this in the first place.

So, your doctor in Pittsburgh was dilating your pupils to check out your retina, right? Honestly, you should probably just ask him why he’s so obsessed with your eye health—usually, they're just hunting for any weird changes in the macula, but I’m guessing everything looked totally fine since he didn't drop any bad news on you.

The effects should wear off in maybe half a day at most... just try to avoid bright lights if you can help it. And if you absolutely have to go out, well, prepare for some temporary blindness... but please, for the love of god, don't get behind the wheel of a car.

First I'm hearing about this, my bad...

Maybe you could drop some info on what the symptoms actually look like, if it isn't too much trouble?

Honestly, that sounds kind of... like something straight out of the Bible...

Why don't you just wander down to the dialysis ward and try selling that garbage there? Just go tell those folks that even if they land a new kidney, it won’t matter anyway—that they’re basically just ticking clocks with a few years left in them... yeah, give 'em that much "comforting" news...

Look, I know people who’ve been living with transplanted kidneys for like, 20 years now—and let me tell you... that life is INCOMPARABLY better than being stuck on dialysis. It's night and day... seriously...

Don't even get me started on the other organs—like the heart, the liver, or all that other stuff... honestly, I don't even want to go there. It’s just... you look at the people stuck on those waiting lists for a heart or a liver and it’s brutal. There isn't even a middle ground, you know? Like, there's no "maybe" or "we'll see"... it's basically just a choice between dying or praying someone else can hand over a new organ. It's heavy stuff... really heavy...

By the way—this whole debate about whether someone who received an organ should decide to donate their own after they pass... it’s totally irrelevant. Like, seriously, why are we even talking about this? It’s because those people aren't actually eligible donors anyway—their organs just don't meet the "quality" standards, so they wouldn't be taken in the first place... so yeah, basically a moot point.

I don't have a definitive answer for you, but my gut says they'll probably hit you with a 15% cancellation fee based on the policy value

I mean, look—they lost their license and yet they’re still out here bleeding policyholders dry (who, by the way, basically have zero rights)... so in my book, if they can't fulfill the contract, you shouldn't be paying a dime to walk away. It's like, if they break the deal, why should you pay the penalty? Right?

Your best bet is to just give them a call, though I'm betting they'll try to talk you into staying put by claiming some other private insurance companies are "taking over" their clients. But honestly, from what I've seen, none of those other big players even come close to the service package they used to offer 🤔

Keep me posted if you hear anything else, please