Comments

• Posted by Teak on November 28, 2012

  jon- first of all take some deep breaths. Sounds like you are cometelply OVERWHELMED and frightened. The very first thing you need to do is try and relax. You’re not dead and you’re not dying! You have lots of life left. Try to get it into your mind this is not the END of anything, but the beginning. You are going back to school and you have a lot to learn. You are already doing well by getting a second opinion. See, you can do something. You are not helpless. You also posted on this site. Your numbers are incomplete, whats your PSA? What lead to you getting a biopsy? This didn’t happen to you overnight, so TAKE some time to decide and LEARN what YOU want to do about it. It is only natural that you take some time to learn about as many options as possible. When you get confused and angry ( and you will ) step back, take a breath and try to take just ONE more step. Not 2 or 4, but just one more step. The fact that there isn’t just one treatment for PC makes for a bumpy ride. On the other hand it also helps put you into CONTROL. You need to become your best friend and advocate. Your partner can also be of great help. Building yourself a good support group is invaluable. Different people can help you in different ways. Don’t worry if you stumble and fall, we all do. Just get up and back on your path. Hope some of this is of use to you be kind, gentle and demanding kapm

• Posted by Fikriye on November 28, 2012

  there is no such thing as a EUROPEAN health care sseytm! each country has its own sseytm, and some are arguably more successful than others. to lump them all together is a disservice to the reader, because it is obviously misleading.universal health as it’s practiced in most places in europe doesn’t prevent people with the financialmeans from supplementing their coverage to suit their needs, wishes and possibilities. no one who CAN pay for additional care need wait even a week for a treatment they require.i have lived in germany for 30+ years, and though their sseytm has taken some severe blows in recent years, i had no problem getting affordable comprehensive health care for my family of four that included dental, etc., without huge additional costs. for example, i had 2 kids in braces for a total of well under $ 1000.in 2000 i ripped my achilles tendon, spent almost 3 weeks in the hospital and another 4 weeks convalescing at home. i received prescription medication and a total of 6 weeks of physical therapy (the 1st 2 weeks in my own home). i paid a grand total of $450 out-of-pocket for the whole experience!after the 6 weeks my employer continued to pay my (full) salary during my sick leave, my insurance paid 75% for the duration of my leave.if i had lived in america and not had a job with good/full benefits, this incident would have either meant a huge chunk of additional debt (IF i had managed to keep my job) or a financial crash-and-burn for my family if i didn’t.my partner is dutch. although he also has good basic coverage via their national program, i often have the feeling that the treatment i receive here in germany is more detailed, comprehensive aND state-of-the-art than what he receives in the netherlands. case in point, when he went to my dentist here in germany, she was astounded at the a state of his dental bridge, saying that – in germany – what he has would have (at best!) been a temporary solution.I think there is no excuse for a country with america’s economic status to have such a desolately low health care niveau for its citizens. europe is not perfect, but with few exceptions the majority of european do not have to risk the financial security of their families to receive decent health care.the u.s. would do good to learn from both the best and worst case scenarios that you can study here in an attempt to finally bring their health care sseytm into the 21st century.