An Infection I Just Couldn’t Shake

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Putting aside the tragedy of the tens of thousands of hospital-infection-related deaths, there are significant personal costs for those who survive an infection. Not only is there lost work time, family disruption and the angst of battling an enemy that is unpredictable and stealthy, but the financial price can be steep—particularly for those without comprehensive insurance. One course of Zyvox can cost nearly $2,000. RID calculates the national price tag for hospital-acquired infections at about $30.5 billion per year. Patients with the most stubborn or life-threatening bugs can end up in the hospital for 20, 40 or even 80 days at a time.

And it's not just a long stay on an IV drip. In my case, as in many others, doctors had to operate again to see how much damage was being done by the infection at the site of the original surgery and scrape out infected tissue. And every time they open you up, you're once again vulnerable to more problems—and rising hospital bills. I can't even begin to imagine what my 14 inpatient days cost. Nor do I want to consider the consequences for my family had I not had excellent health insurance.

All told, I missed at least six weeks of work. Worse yet, I wasn't there or was barely attentive for my daughters' first few weeks of school. I remember dressing my youngest child for the first day of kindergarten, sitting woozily through the "parent welcome" breakfast and then heading straight to bed until it was time to pick her up.

And though I'm healthy now, it's hard to shake the idea that the infection isn't really gone for good. This summer, almost a year to the date after the first hospitalization, I got that tell-tale fluey feeling again. I headed straight for the doctor's at the first inkling, and this time they knocked this nascent recurrence out with a whopping dose of antibiotics in pill form. Still, I'm left wondering if there might be some rogue microbes hiding somewhere in my body, just waiting for a weak moment to regroup and attack. And what medication options will I have the next time? It's a frightening question all too many of us will be faced with.

Additional resource: The Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths tip sheet on reducing your risk of hospital infections

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Posted By: curlykin22 @ 09/16/2008 12:54:21 PM

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Posted By: Nins @ 07/06/2008 11:49:50 PM

Did you know that if McCain is elected you will have to pay income tax on the value of the medical insurance that your employer gives you? Worse still, he is offering a tax break for people who pay their own insurance, BUT only $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families.

Let's say you have a family of four. Your insurance policy costs would be at least $1,500-2,500 per month under a self-pay plan, which cost more than employer group plans. So, you pay $18,000 -$30,000 per year for insurance, and you get to deduct only $5,000 of that. If you paid $25,000 for you insurance, you would be out of pocket $20,000 per year. This is FAR WORSE than the current system, where if you are self employed you can deduct 100% of you medical insurance costs.

So, if you're not self employed, you would stick with your Employer's plan. Employer plans for a family of four have a value of $900-$1,500 per month totaling 10,800-$18,000 per year. Surprise! On April 15th, you owe tax on all of that as INCOME to you. Say your bracket is 25%, and the value of your Employer medical plan is $14,000. You will OWE THE IRS an additional $3,500, and that's ON TOP of whatever monthly premium you already pay to your employer for your insurance.

Many analysts say that McCain's new rules would encourage employers to stop offering health benefits. If that happened, then far fewer Americans would be insured than are insured today, because what family of four can afford $18,000-$30,000 out of pocket per year for self-pay health insurance?

Furthermore, McCain's plan does not require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions of people who self-pay their insurance. People under employer group plans have all of their pre-existing conditions covered. This is a hugely unfair aspect of the current system. Insurance companies can afford to cover the pre-existing conditions of the much larger pool of people with group insurance, but they refuse to pay the pre-existing conditions on the smaller pool of self-pay customers. They have been allowed to price gouge the self-pay customers, which is a form of market manipulation that should be illegal.

So let's say one of your kids had diabetes and you have high blood pressure, then your employer stops offering insurance. You now have to buy your own, but you and your child are INELIGIBLE due to pre-existing conditions. Oh, yeah, they will let you buy the insurance, but you can't use it for any pre-existing condition until you have paid on time every month for two years. And you know what happens at one year and 11 months? You get a letter saying your policy has been cancelled. I have many patients this has happened to.

McCain's plan SUCKS.

It does nothing to help middle class working Americans afford or obtain medical insurance. In fact, it makes the current system WORSE.
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Posted By: spencer jones @ 01/14/2008 2:14:26 AM

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Mans claims colloidal silver cured his MRSA infection...
http://www.northantset.co.uk/675/Man39s-MRSA-cure-claims.941888.jp

An elderly man who lived with a potentially lethal infection for two years claims he has cleared himself of the illness with colloidal silver.

David Sharman, 82, was infected with superbug MRSA in June, 2001, but believes determination and a regular dose of colloidal silver has helped him beat the infection.

He said: "There are so many terrible stories about MRSA in the news, but people seem to just talk about it and are not doing anything.

"I started to use colloidal silver and, after almost two years living with the infection and having regular check-ups, I was told I was clear."

Mr Sharman, of Exmouth Avenue, Corby, claims he contracted MRSA after a series of hip operations at Kettering General Hospital during 2001.

He said: "The wound on my hip became infected and the hospital informed me that I had MRSA before I was discharged for rehabilitation.

"I was determined to help myself and began using colloidal silver directly on my wound daily."

Colloidal silver is a liquid commonly used before the 1930s as an antibiotic treatment and is available at health food shops.
It works by attaching itself to a vital enzyme found in bacteria and disabling the offending pathogen, preventing it from reproducing.

Mr Sharman, who has three children Richard, 22, William, 20, and Sarah, 18, with wife Denise, said: "I could feel myself slowly getting better and the day I got the all-clear, just before Christmas 2003, was an extremely happy day for the whole family.

"Getting MRSA doesn't have to mean it is the end of the road and I really believe colloidal silver helped me."

Dr Richard Slack is a microbiologist based in Nottingham who works in infection control.

He said: "The silver is quite a good antibiotic used in burns units because it does kill MRSA and other bacteria that cause wound infections.

"There is absolutely a possibility that this has been beneficial to Mr Sharman."