On Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 11:26 AM, curtisdeltablues < curtisdeltabl...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "I am the eternal" > <l.shad...@...> wrote: > > I gotta say, this whole topic has added a bit of gravitas to FFL > lately. This is profound shit and I greatly appreciate your sharing > your thinking process with us. Your friend is lucky to have you as a > fellow health advocate for his care. There are so many complicated > decisions and it is smart to go in with your eyes wide open. No one > has a magic simple solution to complex medical issues. Not being > afraid to jump into the complexity and seek different opinions goes > against our natural desire to find a simple solution. I went through > this with some loved ones so I know how strong the tendency is to stop > going deeper and finding more complexity. It gets overwhelming. You > are being a good friend and I wish you both good luck. > > Curtis, I certainly hope that my request to this very diverse and esteemed group of character assassins **and life threateners hasn't dampened the spirit of the group. I'm feeling pretty good about the situation, as is my friend. But then I'm playing hooky from the Dome doing this research. I'm doing this all in the very rarified atmosphere of the cult we all hold so dearly. It turns out the my friend's insurance company, UnitedHealthCare, very surprisingly thinks the waters in this area are pretty muddy and are a delight to deal with in this matter. My friend and I just had a concall with a registered nurse at UHC asking what the protocol is for a second opinion. My friend said that according to Johns Hopkins, 1/3 of all prostate biopsy results are false. "Would you like to go to Hopkins?", asked the nurse. That took the wind out of both of our sails. My friend and I agreed that the Austin Diagnostic Center would be perfectly fine. It's just outside of the northern part of the Austin City limits and in the high tech corridor of Austin. Where there's high tech there's good insurance coverage. Where there's good insurance coverage, there's good medicine. Plus there are a lot of TMer and Governor doctors who have privileges there. Might as well keep this all in the cult. My friend complained about the assembly line manner in which the urology practice group he's been going to operates and asked if he should expect pushback when mentioning a second opinion. My friend was told that if he receives pushback then he's obviously in the wrong place. Call back in and get the name of another urologist to see. I am very grateful for the advice that's been rendered here, though obviously it's coming from all directions and following all of it is, shall we say a personal matter? It's interesting how the group dynamics have played out. The posts and email I've received are very appreciated. I am a helper by nature, which is I guess why my friend turned to me. Yesterday I didn't know quite know what to tell my friend. Now I'm happy from the contributions here, Google and my friend's insurance company, there's a path forward. That's what matters at this point.
