Holidays!

Oops, a long time since the last post...Why?

Jan had her annual check with the oncologist in April. For the first time ever she actually saw the consultant, an oncologist who gave confidence she knew what she was talking about, unlike earlier apointments where so often the replies were "I don't know", or even worse panic inducing tests for potential new cancers.

All was clear, so we jetted off to Portugal for a couple of weeks break on the Algarve!

Prayer in US, yet banned in the UK

We watched a thrilling TV program tonight on Dr Ben Carson, one of the US leading paediatric neurosurgeons. He is a devout Christian who has led the world in seeing "miraculous" recoveries of patients for whom other doctors had given up hope.

He states he prays before each surgery, and asks his patient to do the same as their homework and contribution to the team. The results speak for themselves, this guy is world renowned, and even gets onto TV in the UK....

Yet what of our NHS? Will they learn from such leaders? It seems we are determined to suppress any formal mention of God. Recently a nurse has been suspended just for offering to pray for an elderly patient. The patient was not even offended! Yet the nurse was suspended.

From the BBC:

Community nurse Caroline Petrie says she asked an elderly woman patient during a home visit if she wanted her to say a prayer for her. Mrs Petrie follows the Baptist faith.

The patient, believed to be in her 70s, refused and Mrs Petrie insists that she left the matter alone.

The woman wasn't offended but was concerned that someone else might be". As a result of this Mrs Petrie was suspended, without pay, on 17 December 2008 and will find out the outcome of her disciplinary meeting next week. You can sign a petition on her behalf here.

It could be excusable of we had proof that our NHS treatment beat Dr Ben Carson's, but it doesn't. It seem so sad that our NHS take such a line, something that has only come in over the least 30 - 40 years. A London hospital in the 1970s used to start each day with prayers on the wards, and Jan regularly prayed with her patients. What we have lost...

1 year anniversary - all clear

Jan had her first year anniversary checkup 2 days ago, thankfully all clear. Jan saw the consultant surgeon, who merely felt her breast, and was unconcerned so no mammogram was taken.

As neither he nor she could not feel the original cancer, it only showed on mammogram and then ultrasound this is not too re-assuring, but a mammogram is scheduled for 6 months time.

The nest day I reflected on how we relied on a clear outcome, and how devastating a recurrence of cancer would be. We have just booked two foreign holidays for the next 3 months without any cancellation insurance. Any re-arranging to fit around hospital visits would be so depressing. So we thank God for this good news.

Jan continues with a slight skin rash, attributed to the long since abandoned Tamoxifen, and pain in her shoulder, attributed to Arimidex. But so far she lives with that to reduce the risk of recurrence.

Socialised medicine - Betsy Kulman

An entry on the UK NHS socialised medicine so that Betsy can ask questions by way of comment.

Socialised medicine is something that we (or at least our government) have been very proud of.

The benefits are that we see our friends receiving modern medical treatment as needed, with almost no regard for cost. Two friends have recently had nerve grafts to recover from cancer and industrial accidents. This is high tech medicine. A german immigrant had his life saved by a UK liver transplant.

However if leads to great inefficiencies:

• Overload due to excessive expectation. Callers to the ambulance service rang to ask crew to help wrap up Christmas presents, and to request an ambulance for a fashion photo shoot because the blue lights would look good..
  
• Many maligerers visit doctors rather than working
• Inefficiency that seems endemic in any large government run body
• Over regulation prohibits development of alternative treatments - Mexico seems better than the UK on this.
• Excessive and politically manipulated waiting lists. Jan's radiotherapy was way later than government targets. My earlier posts list many NHS delays and manipulations.
  
• Political interference - we could not top up Jan's NHS teatment by paying ourselves for additional drugs without losing all NHS treatment - the government claim this is to ensure fairness! Is it fair that I cannot spend my after tax hard earned money as I want?
• It is run as a mechanised production line for statistical efficiency rather than as a caring organisation. Staff have been "removed" for offering prayer support. We pay car parking charges just to attend the hospital. Sometimes these are longer than necessary because our shambolic hospital organisation always results in long delays.
• Ambulances have been wheel clamped whilst parked at the hospital!
  

So I sometimes envy rich Greeks or Americans who have health insurance and choose the best hospital for each treatment as needed.

The drawbacks of UK's socialised NHS

Jan had a further check up between Christmas and the New Year. All was well, the dermatologist reckoned Jan's skin reaction was caused by an allergy to Tamoxifen, so was not Paget's disease or anything untoward.

The visit brought home a snag of our socialised medicine, which enables any waif and stray to demand attention whether needed or not. A consultation fee would stop much time wasting of our hospital staff, which of course has escalated by drunks over the Christmas holiday. A fee might also encourage some respect for our medical staff.

I write this as whilst visiting the hospital we passed a loud youth calling a doctor an "arsehole". |It saddens me that youths can be so uncouth to staff we need to prolong Jan's life!

Power of Prayer

Interesting that since Jan's diagnosis we come across so many friends and contacts who also have cancer...one encouraged us that prayer has major effects.

A lady friend of Jan's had tumours in her neck, needing a nasty operation, to be followed by radiotherapy. The operation cut through the jaw bone to gain access, and a nerve graft to repair the damage. The surgeon planned for the work to take a whole day, and the lady needless to say was very afraid.

A a member of a local church she gathered a large team of folk praying to support her, probably amounting to something just under 200 folk. She assured the surgeon that she was a Christian, and would rest the matter in prayer. The operation was performed, and a week or so later on removing the bandages the surgeon was amazed by the rapid and good recovery. "It must be those 3500 people you have praying for you!" he exclaimed.

More evidence that diet is effective

I was encouraged to read today's news in our Daily Telegraph. It reports from Addenbrooks Hospital Cambridge that a study found that almost four in ten patients with aggressive prostate cancer did not need planned surgery or radiotherapy after making simple lifestyle changes.

Wow, good news for me as a man. and for Jan as breast and prostate cancers share a similar hormone dependency.

More veggies tonight!