More random questions for the seabreeze brains trust.

Have just developed a hernia and hospital wouldn't operate as it's not strangulated. Waiting time to get it done through medicare is months!!

Pretty annoyed with myself as 6 months ago I was looking at getting health insurance and after a few hours of wading through all of the bullsh1t small print I was loosing the will to live and it got shelved for a later date.

Doesn't hurt at all but the lump is pretty disconcerting. So has had anyone had one before? Would like to know just how careful I need to be with it.

Think that I'm going to have to go down the private surgery route. So I'm also just chasing some ballpark figures for a minor op as trying to get numbers out of anyone is a lot harder than it should be.
rough estimate for a half day in hospital and possibly an anaethatist??

I've had 3 of those bastard things and I just turned40. Last one I waited 6 months once diagnosed to see a surgeon and a further 2 months to have an opp. If it's a low hernia it will only get dangerous once it starts to drop into your scrotum, this sucks cause you gotta lie down and put it back in place!!. You can buy a "hernia belt or truss" to keep it in place. Good luck!!

i paid for mine in '96 so i didn't have to wait six months.
it was keyhole surgery and i was back on my bike doing easy rides within a few days.

knigit said..
More random questions for the seabreeze brains trust.

Have just developed a hernia and hospital wouldn't operate as it's not strangulated. Waiting time to get it done through medicare is months!!

Pretty annoyed with myself as 6 months ago I was looking at getting health insurance and after a few hours of wading through all of the bullsh1t small print I was loosing the will to live and it got shelved for a later date.

Doesn't hurt at all but the lump is pretty disconcerting. So has had anyone had one before? Would like to know just how careful I need to be with it.

Think that I'm going to have to go down the private surgery route. So I'm also just chasing some ballpark figures for a minor op as trying to get numbers out of anyone is a lot harder than it should be.
rough estimate for a half day in hospital and possibly an anaethatist??

I developed a hernia just after breaking my back, I'm fairly sure it was due to sit ups (rehab) I sure didn't lift anything remotely heavy.
I had private hc, but there were no Drs. that charged the fees the private hc would cover... so I would be out of pocket ~$2500.
I waited the 4 months and went public.

During that time I had one scare... was swimming and more of my gut than usual popped down and I went pale for a minute, other than that just lied down and push it back in.

Private healthcare is a complete useless con. and I just use it to limit my tax medicare surcharge another f'ing con.

FlySurfer said..

knigit said..
More random questions for the seabreeze brains trust.

Have just developed a hernia and hospital wouldn't operate as it's not strangulated. Waiting time to get it done through medicare is months!!

Pretty annoyed with myself as 6 months ago I was looking at getting health insurance and after a few hours of wading through all of the bullsh1t small print I was loosing the will to live and it got shelved for a later date.

Doesn't hurt at all but the lump is pretty disconcerting. So has had anyone had one before? Would like to know just how careful I need to be with it.

Think that I'm going to have to go down the private surgery route. So I'm also just chasing some ballpark figures for a minor op as trying to get numbers out of anyone is a lot harder than it should be.
rough estimate for a half day in hospital and possibly an anaethatist??

I developed a hernia just after breaking my back, I'm fairly sure it was due to sit ups (rehab) I sure didn't lift anything remotely heavy.
I had private hc, but there were no Drs. that charged the fees the private hc would cover... so I would be out of pocket ~$2500.
I waited the 4 months and went public.

During that time I had one scare... was swimming and more of my gut than usual popped down and I went pale for a minute, other than that just lied down and push it back in.

Private healthcare is a complete useless con. and I just use it to limit my tax medicare surcharge another f'ing con.

If the sit ups caused the hernia, there was probably a weakness there anyway.

I had a similar surgery, but by going private I got it done as soon as I could by a good surgeon, but the out of pocket expenses were still pretty steep.

Just imagine what private health care is going to be like if they push more and more down our throat, and try and privatise the hospitals. It will be big premiums, the same healthcare, and profits for the health insurers.

FlySurfer said..

Be smart, go to Thailand for a nice holiday and get it done there... 3 days of world class service and you're good to travel as long as you've got wheels on your suitcase.
The surgery is simple and you want somebody gentle with small steady hands, it's the bruising/stabbing that hurts.

Better still, get the operation attempted by the cheapest doctor you can find, and then get travel insurance to fly you back to Aus, and get operated on as an emergency

In all seriousness, I keep on seeing those programs where people get botched surgery overseas and then need to get it corrected. I guess its probably the minority, but it still makes you think.

FormulaNova said..In all seriousness, I keep on seeing those programs where people get botched surgery overseas and then need to get it corrected. I guess its probably the minority, but it still makes you think.

In all seriousness, I fairly regularly read about Aussies getting killed or maimed due to having operations, procedures and diagnoses performed by the Aussie medical industry.

Doesn't matter where you go, mistakes happen, and people suffer for it.

Cant recall where I saw the figures, but IIRC, deaths from medical mistakes, dodgy decisions, malpractice and plain sloppy work by our medico's are one of the leading causes of early deaths in this country.


stephen

www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2013/s3778256.htm

not the article I was looking for - but near enough.


stephen

FlySurfer said..

FormulaNova said..
I keep on seeing those programs where people get botched surgery overseas and then need to get it corrected.

I think I showed you an x-ray of my botched back.

Yeah, I think you did. I didn't take note that you said it was botched though. I thought/assumed it was just a bad break.

It was interesting to note in the article Stephen linked to that 3% of doctors are responsible for 50% of the complaints. If the names were generally known, I think they would be boycotted. It was interesting to see that the anesthetist that killed someone admitted that he often never checks the armbands for allergies. How is that possible, and how is it that the hospital doesn't have checks to make sure these guys check these things?

I guess it makes sense if the surgeons overseas are part of a large 'international' hospital, where their reputation and standards are important to them. I guess it would be much more risky if its just a lone surgeon operating in his own business.