Posts by Raymond Price4

I caught this segment on TV recently (think ABC or something) where they were doing one of those "debunking health myths" shows.
They interviewed some doctor who spent the whole time explaining to us mere mortals that being cold doesn't actually cause a cold—it's viruses, duh.
Wow, groundbreaking stuff. Truly revolutionary.

The thing is, it's called a "cold" precisely because people associate it with the temperature, even if the etymology isn't strictly scientific.
Sure, at the end of the day, microbes are the culprits, but they need the right environment to take hold. Like someone else mentioned earlier, you weaken your immune system first—through exhaustion, stress, or exposure to the cold—and then the bugs move in.

Sounds like a textbook UTI, and a nasty one at that. You don't even need to wait for an appointment with your GP—just head straight to the ER. You'll likely get a round of antibiotics, but in the meantime, grabbing some cranberry supplements from a drugstore might take the edge off.

It doesn't matter which specific bacteria it is; it doesn't always have to be E. coli, since other bugs can cause UTIs too. I highly doubt it's kidney stones, though.
See a doctor, because leaving an infection untreated can turn into a real nightmare.

Kate Collins67 said:Well, I went ahead and ran the numbers for you—roughly, at least.
Do the math: figure out your age and how much longer you expect to be around. Now, imagine if tomorrow you suddenly ended up needing dialysis—could you actually afford that if you had never contributed a single cent to the healthcare system? If you hadn't, you'd be stuck paying the full, brutal price for treatment right now. Believe me, you aren't that wealthy—and honestly, neither are you nor the vast majority of people in this country.

And listen, you're assuming you're the one paying into the basic health insurance, but I'm pretty sure your employer handles that part, not you—meaning it isn't being deducted directly from your take-home pay. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.
What actually comes out of your own pocket is that supplemental insurance you mentioned, plus whatever medications you end up buying yourself.

Technically the employer pays, but yeah—it's deducted from all our paychecks because that's how the law works. It comes right out of my gross pay. If the law didn't mandate pension and health contributions, I’d be taking home my full gross salary instead of whatever is left after the State takes its cut.

In private companies, it's become standard to negotiate based on gross salary (including mine)—so yeah, I'm paying for it. The boss isn't "paying" it; it's money I earned by working for them. Do you honestly think employers do this out of the goodness of their hearts, or that they'd just hand over cash to workers who aren't even profitable?

If it wasn't legally mandated, I'd choose my own insurance policy—if I even bothered—and my money wouldn't be used to fund healthcare for everyone else, including those who don't work. And unfortunately, most people fall into that second category.

Just to be clear—I'm not saying everything about healthcare is broken or that everyone is corrupt. Quite the opposite. Despite all the scandals you hear about, I've mostly had great experiences, and I don't have any special connections or pay anyone to jump the line.

And yeah, I did use the ER once—turned out to be the right call, because waiting for a regular appointment could have ended badly. When the system is set up this way, you can't blame people for looking out for themselves.

A massive chunk of my paycheck goes toward healthcare, and on top of that, I pay for supplemental insurance, a private gynecologist, a dentist, and various medications.

Of course people are flooding the ER, because you can't get an appointment for basically anything in a reasonable timeframe anymore.

A suspicious mole?
General practitioner: grab a referral and wait a few months
Let’s just assume for a second that the mole is malignant—what kind of damage are we looking at after waiting months for a checkup?

The Student Gynecology Clinic in downtown: unless you're actively bleeding or running a 104 fever, you need to book ahead. Expect a month-long wait.

Okay, sure, if a girl isn't bleeding and doesn't have a massive fever, maybe it's just some ovarian inflammation or something else that isn't critical *right now*, but could become a crisis or a chronic issue in a month. Or maybe it won't, but why should she have to walk around in pain for a month waiting for help?

They’re sending her to a neuropsychiatrist, because apparently psychologists don't exist (at least not in my book).
Actually, back in the day, most neurologists were basically neuropsychiatrists since their specialty covered both psychiatry and neurology.

And yeah, panic disorder doesn't look the same for everyone. But if that's already off the table, keep digging.

Point well taken.