Thanks Neil !!!


Headed back to the Mayo in August for a Roto-rooter job in the liver stents - gotta keep 'em cleaned out now - kinda like a creosoted chimney!! Had a blood draw in advance of that procedure today as a matter of fact!


Every 6 months -- or possibly more often (every 3 months) -- it's a trip to Scottsdale and a clean out. Beats dying. LOL

Not sure if this was already asked and I missed it but with out being too nosey. Greg what would an estimated cost of this treatment be do you think ...?

I probably spent around 10 grand.....


Figure about $35 per "syringe" -- And I took one of those per day - in THC AND CBD oil..... Some THC is even more expensive... But you need 500mg per day until the cancer is gone. If you can get HIGH QUALITY doses -- and you take that for 90 days -- that's $6300 ish right there.... If someone has done chemo and radiation - they're going to need to take it for twice as long!


I don't know if it's covered by insurance in legal states such as Washington - if prescribed by a doctor etc. Sometimes they won't pay for stuff that isn't text book. I didn't bother to even discuss it with my insurer.

The MAYO clinic bill -- for the last clean out ERCP and MRI and all of that - bloodwork etc --- my out of pocket for that was $18 grand -- the rest covered by insurance.

Can I rub some of that CBD on a Skin Cancer before I go to the Dr next week?

There actually is some type of Cannabis oil that cures skin cancer. For lots of info go to Facebook and search Cannabis oil success stories. Plenty of good reading.

No TC - you'd need THC for that!!

On Facebook - as Charley mentioned - there is a "PAGE" that you can search for --- "Cannabis Oil Success Stories" - you must ask to join (that way they can kick the bozos like me OUT!)..... once the allow you in --- you can then do a very specific search on that page for what type of cancer someone is looking for.

The whole website is filled with stories of success --- and some not.... some of the info is just over the top with every known "cancer cure" that someone tried - flowers - seeds - juices - topicals - you name it...... but the BASE is always THC. THC being the stoner part (if ingested).... THC being what was the original RICK SIMPSON OIL ---- by the way ---- Rick Simpson discovered it's magic when he applied it to skin cancer.

Here's DOSING INFORMATION -- which is what I followed -- but I added the same exact amount of CBD (full extract) on a one for one basis.... the CBD is thought to lessen the "high" - trust me - when you work up to taking 500+ mg a day -- "lessen" is an oxymoron - because you ARE a walking moron! It's not "bad" - it's neither here nor there.... but that is a tremendous amount of "pot" in your system. I'd rather just be sleepy and stoned - and alive - than sick as a dog - taking handfuls of pills a day to counteract the other pill I just took - and sitting in hospitals and doctors offices waiting for someone to do something FOR ME --- I'll do it myself.....To me it was half a dozen to one - six to the other. Besides - I wasn't really given any hope or options by the doctors.



http://phoenixtears.ca/dosage-information/

I think the problem for me is that I live in the Stoner/Import Center of the World, but yet nothing is legal yet!

Just had another ERCP where they clean out my liver stents. Take biopsies etc. They have once again declared me 100 % cancer free. In fact. Said I'm the picture of perfect health.

Excellent! :thumbsup:

Greg, that is great news. Very happy for you and yours. :thumbsup:

If you don't mind, does this accurately describe the procedure?

http://www.medicinenet.com/ercp/arti...ercp_procedure

Great news Greg.Stay Well!

Well of course they did Greg. And as much as they declared you cancer free, you should declare it as well. Say it every day!
Super happy for you and the family!

Thanks T.C. !! Was great news for sure! People don't understand cancer -- it weighs on you daily... is it "back" -- is it still there.... will it move to somewhere else etc.






Yes that is the general description. In my personal case I'm knocked out completely -- the procedure is about 3 hours long - various operations need to take place depending on what they find. This time I had a "stone" removed - they used a wire to poke around - they used balloons - they took pictures - they did biopsies... so a complicated series of procedures.

My personal problem going forward is simply the stents. They are not to be in there on a permanent basis. Normally the patient is deceased before they'd become a problem. In my case - I'm still bouncing around (and off the walls) - so am left with an abnormal situation in which we're all guessing what will be the long term prognosis. The stents are perforated --- which then is an irritant -- and a place for which tissue is trying to grow in to (plugging them) - and they cross the right bile duct tree at its intersection of the left going into the main bile duct -- plugging off that entire right side. All of this slows the flow of bile - causing it to "sludge" and causes stones to form that otherwise wouldn't. It will be a lifetime of dealing with the net results.

This was the first "6 month" view (originally they thought I'd need this every 3 months) -- now we'll try 4 months this next time. If I get a stone that is too large to remove -- I'm toast. So we'll try to avoid that!!

By the way ----- so much for Obamacare -- laughing at this thought --- our insurance is up about double what it was before O'care.... and my out of pocket cost per procedure is about 18 grand. What would normal folks do!?!?!?!?!







Thanks buddy! I'm trying!!

We discussed "diet" -- sadly -- that is not an issue. According to the surgeons -- there is not a single thing I can do to alter this issue.








I can tell when I'm feeling fine. I have not felt well this last month. Fatigue and itchy skin - and balance seems to go away. Given how hard I work out -- this is an issue for me. Driving track cars is also an issue. I need to be 110% to keep ahead of Rob!! I noticed the fatigue at Sonoma and Thunderhill. The heat and the effort was A LOT. But I'm 100% cancer free and will stay that way!

My heart goes out the the "normal folks". Who aren't in a $ituation $uch as yours Greg . These times I'm thankful for being Canadian. Glad to see you're still kicking ass .

I'm guessing they didn't do a mental evaluation.

Glad to hear the good news, Greg!

NO KIDDING!! Except in your system they might just say -- oh well -- so sorry.... IDK. I've heard that in England if you have prostate cancer and you're 65+ they just say that! I don't know if that really is fact.







No! They did!! They did a colonoscopy - didn't I send you the pictures they took?? They say "everybody has a twin" -- and damned if they didn't find yours!!







Thanks Trey! It truly is great news! You worry about this stuff every dang day.Now I can cut my worry to about 1% and go to just "be vigilant".

..........

:thumbsup:

Nice 'Octoburns' Charlie and Greg!

#experiencecounts

:thankyou:

https://twitter.com/that70slife/stat...51731997896706

I hear you! I'm getting my Knee replaced in 3 weeks and after my Auto Insurance (was in an Accident 2 months ago) & Medical Insurance, I'm betting I will be out of Pocket $6,000! :waveflag:

Fantastic news GW! Stay healthy and strong forever!

EDIT: BTW, re: my quick O-Care story ... my boy has had a lifelong an endocrine issue. We deal, but every year the changing insurance coverage is an issue. Past few years, it's been about the medicine costs. Year one was about $6k a quarter. It got better and I thought we outsmarted them last year at next to no cost. This year his specialist does not accept his insurance. We paid out of pocket, but it's over the top. We 'finally' got an in network appointment at CHLA in DECEMBER! This means we'll get one appointment out of insurance before it changes again next year. In a city of about 10 million you'd think Blue Shield would have more than one pediatric specialist? F'n ridiculous!

/rantover

Foolproof way to avoid Obamadontcare nightmares?

Just get yourself elected to the Congress or Senate. They don't have to use it/are exempted...(as many here know).

:thankyou:

Doesn't help if you die young. My Grandfather was a Senator, Divorced my Grandmother, ran with Wild Women and died of a heart attack at age 38!

Awesome news. That makes the day tons better.

Thats something else!!! Happy for you Greg...

Thanks Stuart!


Funny -- My Doctor at Mayo said he just loves to see me.... because most all of his patients have so many on going issues and that while many of them do get better - they've suffered so. He gets giddy when he's showing us the MRI images and how much improved everything is. For the first time this visit - he sorta acknowledged my course of medicine might just be the miracle.






Thanks Mike - see you on Hall of Fame tour?

How true as every time you start to feel funny or night right that is the first thing that comes to your mind.

Freaking Awesome !!!

Funny my best friends father who is 75 and healthy except for Colon cancer living in Italy had to fly here to America to have surgery since after a certain age (don't know the actual number) they don't do extended life car. So they basically sent him home to die. He chose to fly here have surgery and then had back home 6 weeks later. Good news is he is doing fine.



Ron very sorry to here this as it sucks to have kids that are sick or need constant medical care. My heart goes out to you and your family.

btw - Screw Obamacare as it's f-n worthless and all it did for me was raise our insurance costs to the point of stupidity.

Our rates are well over double -- I have coverage for items we don't want or need (Gwen won't be pregnant any time soon).... our deductible is near $10,000 (in my eyes you need to add this amount to your premium costs to figure out what you're really paying for insurance).... and the out of pocket for all the crap they don't cover now (they used to) would break a working family.

Basically O'care forced those that couldn't afford insurance to buy it - which many probably didn't anyway -- they'll still stick the doctors and hospitals with unpaid bills -- and then the pre-existing conditions mandate swamped everyone with costs that are simply unsustainable regardless of how much my premiums went up.

We need a multi tiered system -- public and private -- not everyone is going to get premium care - they'll get the care they "need" to sustain.... which is more what the euro and canadian models are. You get basic care - more than that - you pay for private care. It may not be "fair" - but life isn't fair nor is it "equal". Never has been - never will be. We need to have controls on what it COSTS -- because that's why insurance is so costly that people can't afford it. We probably also will have to go to a non-profit system for basic healthcare. It's all driven by money. If someone invests in a hospital - then they want a return on that investment..... so that's where "government" needs to step in and build clinics and staff them.


If a people can't afford to pay for medical school -- fine -- we'll pay for it - and you can pay it back with giving an equal amount of time to one of the community clinics or hospitals. You'll get a basic salary - and when you're done you can do whatever you want with the rest of your career.

Well said Greg.

Our deductible is 3,500 per person (family of 4) and 80-20 on the billing.

Last year we spent an additional 30 grand after paying premiums because they found three new nodules in my left lung. This year has been just as bad because my wife had a few procedures and my youngest daughter is missing 7 adult teeth so the cosmetic dental work is going to be close to $20.000. Funny that forced dental insurance that we have to pay for doesn't cover any of it. We are still battling with the insurance as this is actually considered necessary dental work not cosmetic. Even though they call it cosmetic.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry for the rant, but here are my thoughts...

Actually, there are things that are much simpler to O'care and government purchased everything that could be done to fix the system.

The fundamental issue, in my humble estimation, is there are significant structural forces that have completely screwed up healthcare.

First and foremost - the consumer must have transparency to cost. How many times have you gone to have a procedure without any clue as to what it will cost and what your total out of pocket cost will be.

Imagine what would happen if you were having some work done on your car. You drive up to the mechanic and simply say "fix it". A time period later, you get your car back and everything is working. You drive away happy, because the thing that was broken is now fixed.

Over the course of the next six to twelve months you get random high dollar bills. One for the engine specialist. One for the body guy. One for the paint booth owner. ... and so on.

Now, imagine that the government passes laws saying that there are certain things on your car that you cannot have access to. It will cause your car to be dangerous, they say, to give to the general public. This includes things such as tires, brake pads, etc. You must go through your mechanic to have them install these, else you'll endanger everyone else on the road.

This is exactly what we have in healthcare. Imagine if the law required that, doctors and hospitals could charge whatever they wanted, but every single procedure they offer must have prices publicly listed and whatever price they post is what must be paid.

Imagine if people had access to the wide variety of drugs that today are only available to doctors. Instead of keeping people ignorant and must go to the doctors for prescription, drug makers must inform the population on the pros and cons of their offering.

Finally, imagine if there were real competition between doctors and hospitals. Consumer reports or similar would yearly compare, much the same way happens in the auto industry, cost / quality / overall value for different procedures.

O'care did none of these. Instead it made things far, far worse. People are much further abstracted from the whole of payer, provider and consumer process.

Sigh... Enough of a rant. Thanks for the indulgence.

Sorry, had my rant first. This is really wonderful news Greg! Congrats!

:cheers:

I won't get into the lack of Constitutional authority the Federal Government has to undertake such a program, but instead will focus on how this idea could work.

Start a foundation with this goal! :gitrdun: I love it! When do we get started? Where can I contribute?

That is an interesting concept and I think a great idea.

This is a great idea!



The other thing that just kills me <is that the wrong expression in a healthcare discussion?>.... if a procedure is "retail" $5,000 -- but they have an agreement with the insurance company where it only pays $2,000...... then that is the value of that procedure. Don't bill me $5,000 for it!! WTF

When I worked (pre WWI) - a store was not allowed to advertise something as being "on sale" -- or discounted from a price -- unless they could show that they actually had offered and had sales of that item at the higher price prior. Period. Otherwise the "sale price" was the price -- so stating that it was "on sale" was complete BS.

Why bill an uninsured person $5,000 when you're willing to do the procedure for only $2,000. You'd probably stand a better chance of collecting on the 2K bill than the 5K (or 50K - or 500K) bill.

Agree 100%

Hospital billing it total bullsh.T

Unfortunately no. Car wasn't done from the repaint in time and it went way over budget :bang: (wouldn't do it again, but it was effed up under the paint) so that bucket is empty. Plus i really wanna take Pam, but her back is fried (not to mention the menopause)

What car u driving?

Hopefully they'll do a May one again....

bummed

Anyways, hope all is well!!!! BTW, the money i spent on paint i coulda bought your stang track car or Nates fastback for da track, oh well....

Glad to hear GW!

This is worth 11 minutes of time. If I was a Dr. This is what I would be doing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGZa...ature=youtu.be

Darren

I use a "annual pay" doctor here for normal stuff -- a "concierge" doctor I think they're called. So that's ON TOP of the insurance premiums and deductible.....

I like the ACCESS! Call and you're in! Plus I like the doctor - he talks to me like I talk to my friends (in other words - not nice and doesn't beat around the bush).

IMHO "Obamacare" totally hosed the insurance that we HAD and liked --- costs have gone WAY WAY up - deductible is double or more... and coverage is less. All typical and expected when the "government" gets involved.