With my finger poised above the Thunderbird SPAM button, I reread the email yet again, to be certain I understood what it was really saying …

… a new web site about medical tourism … what the flying fritter is “Medical Tourism”?

As I reread the brief email a third time, my finger stood down from its incipient nuke position. I could see that it was a self-promotion. Here’s what it said:

Hi

My name is Jimmy Atkinson and I’m writing to let you know that I’ve recently launched a Web site on medical tourism at http://medicaltourismguide.org/. I thought that you and your readers at All Blogged Up: A Moof’s Tale might especially be interested in reading our feature article explaining why we feel medical tourism is so popular — http://medicaltourismguide.org/12reasons/. Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Jimmy Atkinson
Medical Tourism Guide
http://medicaltourismguide.org/

I clicked on his links, and took a peek. The site talks about the pros and cons of medical tourism, with a definite accent on the pros. There’s no actual information on the site … just a list a countries, a few with anecdotes, a bit of general information about each country. To actually get info, you have to contact them. They don’t even say if they arrange the trips, provide info about which country does what surgery, or really much of anything, from what I can see. For any details on just what sort of info they’ll provide, you have to sign up.

And as far as signing up is concerned, that’s where the danger! flag goes up for me. If you click on Privacy at the bottom of the page, you find the following statements:

We may send a cookie to your local machine and that cookie may be stored on your machine’s hard drive. We may use the information we obtain from the cookie to improve site usability and for marketing purposes. Our advertisers, sponsors, and partners may also send you cookies.

[…]

Use of Your Personal Data

Personal data submitted or collected on this Web site may be used for any and/or all of the purposes specified in this privacy policy or anywhere else on this Web site. We or our commercial partners may use your personal information to:

* administer this Web site and improve usability;
* send you general (non-marketing) commercial communications;
* send you e-mail notifications which you have specifically requested;
* send you marketing communications related to our business or the businesses of carefully selected third parties;
* provide third parties with statistical information about our users.

If you click on Disclaimers, this is what you find:

Effective July 12, 2007

Welcome to Medical Tourism Guide. By using this Web site, you agree to the following terms and conditions. Read them carefully each time you visit the site, as we reserve the right to change these terms and conditions at any time. Any changes made will be posted here. If you disagree with any of the terms and conditions below, please do not use this site. (emphasis mine)

Privacy

From our site visitors we collect such information including, but not limited to, referring URL, click behavior, IP address, time spent on site, and more. We may also track our visitors’ behaviors with the use of cookies. We may sell or share your information to third parties for marketing purposes. […]

Whoa! They don’t tell you what kind of information they can provide unless you sign up, or write to them. If you do sign up, they can send you spam, their buddies can all send you spam, and there’s no “opt out” clause. Just visiting the site means that they may smack a cookie onto your hard drive, and then sell the information they get about your IP address - and more - to third parties for marketing purposes!

Not only that, they warn you to read their terms and conditions each time you visit their site, because they could change them at any time; they also tell you in a different place that “Personal data submitted or collected on this Web site may be used for any and/or all of the purposes specified in this privacy policy or anywhere else on this Web site” … so baby, you’d better read the whole blimey site each time you go! Although I don’t understand what on earth they could add to the terms they’ve already got … perhaps begin charging by the minute for browsing there?

Okay … before really exploring this fellow’s site, I thought it would be nice to write about Medical Tourism, and I replied and told him that I would blog about it, and “explore the subject as objectively as possible.” Had I done my research first, I might not have been quite as polite, and I would certainly have challenged him on some of his policies, if not his lack of “resources.”

But enough about the web site … I think you’ve got the picture, and I hope Mr. Atkinson does too, if he really wants to become “the #1 resource” on medical traveling. Besides, I think that a resource probably needs to have a body of information which is accessible to the clientele, otherwise, it’s not really a resource, it’s a “come on.”

Let’s move on and take a look at the idea of “Medical Tourism.” This isn’t something I’ve ever really ever thought about. Splenectomy Sabbatical, anyone? Or how about a nice peaceful Rhinoplasty Retreat?

It’s cheaper, it’s often faster, and you get to recuperate on a nice sandy beach! Sounds great!

However - there’s no continuity, and you have to provide for your own follow up care. I have a feeling that the “follow up care” might be a bit hard to come by …

I honestly wouldn’t think twice about heisting myself to India, to Vijay’s hospital, for surgery … but I’m not sure that I would be happy with trying to find someone to follow up with at home.

I’d like to know how many patients would be willing to outsource a major, non-elective surgery, if they thought it would save them several thousand dollars? I’m also wondering about trust issues - since the person doing the surgery may be someone you only see briefly. What would you do if things didn’t go as well as expected? And for those of you (like me!) who complain about hospitalists, this would be a whole order worse than that!

I’d also like to know what my physician friends think about having a patient take off for parts unknown for surgery. Do you have anything to say about the safety of a long trip so soon after a major operation? It would really jerk the heck of out continuity, too - what about medical records? Would they be hard to obtain? Would you be willing to take on a medical tourist’s follow up care?

Mr. Atkinson says that his feature article explains why he thinks that “medical tourism is so popular” … does anyone else think that medical tourism is “popular”?

I’d love to see some comments addressing the following questions:

Have you been a medical tourist?

Would you become a medical tourist?

I’m all ears (or eyeballs, in this case)! Let’s discuss medical tourism!

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work on this web site is distributed under fair use without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. [Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml]

Last year, Pattie and her husband Dave, Dr. Flea, Mrs. Flea and the two little “Terminators,” and my son Dougie and I, all had a meeting in Merrimack, MA. It was great! The sun was shining, the food was plentiful, and we enjoyed each other’s company immensely!

There’s nothing like good friends, good food, and good conversation!

This year, our meeting was much, much smaller. Dr. Flea was unable to come, although he had been in on the planning earlier on, and Pattie had just shipped off her husband Dave to a far away city earlier in the same day. That left a party of … 3! Although we were lacking in number compared to last year, we were not lacking in “good friends, good food, and good conversation!”

I’m pretty sure that the restaurant thought we’d never leave! It was nearly 10 PM before we parted in the parking lot - for one more long year.

We met at “Not Your Average Joe’s” … a restaurant with a load of locations across MA, and another in VA, with more coming soon along the Atlantic seaboard. The food was really yummy, and the wait staff was excellent.

I’ve got to say that the visit with Pattie was definitely the high point of my week, plus some! Pattie lights up a whole room with her presence - she’s one of those rare people who put all of themselves into a smile. She was able to do that after having spent what must have seemed like a lifetime driving. She’d begun the day in the mountains of NH, driven down to RI, and then driven all the way back up to Medford, MA. And that was on top of all of the driving she’d done from North Carolina to NH less than a week earlier.

I’ve included a few shots of last night. For those who don’t know, that’s Pattie at the top left of the post. That’s not the only picture I have of her from last night, by the way … there’s one more, but I’m saving that one for blackmail purposes! >;o)

On the right is Dougie, looking oh-so-mischievous. That pic really captures the spirit that makes him so much fun(?) to be around … *blink* … he keeps me on my toes, because I never know what he’s going to say (or do!!!) next! Actually, I’m always telling him that he was a great kid - never in trouble, never rambunctious … he saved it all until he hit 21, and it’s been payback ever since! *LOL*

And yes, I know - I didn’t include one of myself. I intended to. However I’ve been really busy in the last week, and that’s meant that I’ve been eating things I shouldn’t (think salt *rolls eyes*) and the 2 photos Dougie took reveal a moof that looks about 10 pounds heavier than she really is. Not at all flattering. Give me a bit to get my diet back in line. You know it’s salt when behaving yourself takes 8 to 10 pounds off in less than a week.

Anyway, that’s it for this year’s meeting … hopefully next year, more of the original crowd will be there, and we’ll perhaps even have added a few people.

And - you never know who those people might be! In fact, this is how Vijay and I ended a conversation yesterday when it was time for me to leave for my meeting with Pattie:

vijay:

bye moofie
i enjoyed this

me:

ME TOO
please, let’s do it again SOON

vijay:

in person over a grateful dead or two or 3 or 4

Now wouldn’t that be interesting!!!

When I got up this morning, I was just stock full of good intentions. I was going to post in both of my classroom threads, do at least 1 of my 2 labs on networking, and finish reading last week’s assigned chapters, since it’s been a crazy week, and I hadn’t been able to quite get them all in. Well, I’m starting out with a constipated school week … all of my schoolwork is backed up the wazoo.

But … I have an excuse a reason …

I booted up my computer, good and early. I was going to get right in there, and attack my schoolwork with a vengeance. Networking is such an interesting subject! I just couldn’t wait to get into it!

The road to a warm area is said to be paved with good intentions … I just added a mile’s worth of asphalt today!

But I can explain how it all happened! It was Vijay’s fault …

I decided that it would be OK to check my email before I headed into the classroom … and when I did, I got a super email from Vijay! It had all sorts of neat photos from India. I was mesmerized! Of course, I had to write back and thank him … and while I was at it, I had to comment on his poor lap top, which he’d just gotten repaired after a misadventure with a hyperactive coffee cup.

Of course, he wrote back to me, and aimed me at the post he’d made about the poor little computer, and of course, I had to go and read it.

While I was reading it, I noticed something at the bottom of his post that I’d never noticed before …

Powered by FireStats

Like any other normal nerdy person, I asked myself: “Hmmmm … now what is that?”

Of course, I had to go take a quick peek … and not for the first time, I was so impressed with one of Vijay’s nice toys, that I just had to get one for myself. That meant going to my blog, getting into my WordPress so that I could get the sweet little plug-in installed!

Well, when I got to my admin panel, the first thing I saw was a bunch of incoming links. Of course, I had to check those out. (Come on now! You don’t expect me to not snoop when someone is talking about me someplace, eh?)

Fat Doctor and Patient Anonymous were the top links … and they had both awarded me with the Schmoozer Award! Double whammy!

Here’s a description of the award which I hijacked from Fat Doctor, and which she hijacked from Lois Grebowski:

“As it goes, schmoozing is the natural ability “to converse casually, especially in order to gain an advantage or make a social connection.” Good schmoozers effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship…. […]”

So I’m a Schmooze!!! w00t! I want to thank both of you for thinking of me! That’s definitely one I’ll have to add to my resume! I can think of a few people to pass it on to myself … Vijay (who’s indirectly responsible for my even finding out I was a schmooze to begin with!) … Pattie (when she gets back home from RI) … JMB (whom I’d love to sit and have a loooong chat with!) … Wandering Visitor (who is a sweet, deep and wise lady!) … Ipanema (that one goes without saying! *LOL*) … Chrysalis Angel (a kind, gentle spirit, spreading love wherever she goes) and Dr. Schwab (who has an amazingly addictive blog!) There are a lot of others I could put down, including a few who’ve already been schmoozled! (Cathy! ;o)

Okay … now, where was I? Oooh yeah! I got Schmoozled while I was checking out my incoming links, before installing my plug in, which I was going to do, quick-like, before doing my school work. On to the next link …

The next incoming link was from the Curmudgeon … and in a 400th post “link fest”, he said something so sweet that I’m thinking of putting it in my sidebar:

All Blogged Up: A Moof’s Tale — As near as I can tell, Moof is kind of a Den Mother for the entire Blogosphere….

I really like that! I think you’re pretty neat too, Curmudgeon! :o)

After I finally stopped strutting all over the house, crowing about my new title - schmoozing den mother for the entire blogosphere - I got down to business, and installed that neat plug in.

With all of my little side trips done, I finally headed back over to my classroom …

Just about then, Doug hollered from the other room that there was a real snappy looking storm heading right for us. I dutifully dropped what I was doing, and he and I headed out the door to bring in all of my potted herbs before they got drowned by a gully washer.

That took a few minutes, because as you’ll see in a later post, I have a load of them! With the herbs safely tucked away in the living room, I headed back into my classroom. Just then, the storm hit with a ferocity that took me aback!

I quickly unplugged my lap top, and none too soon - the lightning was pretty snappy. Before I could put my attention back on my work, the power went out - and the internet connection went with it.

Ayuh. No school work.

We hunkered down while it lasted. Once it began to ease up, I convinced Doug to go “power hunting.” I wanted to see just how widespread the power outage was. We went for a long way before we saw any houses that had lights on … and as we surveyed the areas we went through, we could easily see why that was so. We saw several trees which had been hit by lightning, and were split right in half. One of them had come to rest on some poor family’s roof. Several areas we went through looked strange to me at first - the trees reminded me of springtime, when the leaves are really tiny. It took me a minute to realize that the leaves looked “tiny” because they were shredded to little bitty bits. The streets underneath the trees looked as if they were coated in green confetti. Apparently … there’d been some serious hail in those areas.

Before we lost power, an Emergency Emails Network email warned about quarter sized hail, and winds in excess of 70 MPH. They weren’t kidding.

The power didn’t come back on until about 9 PM; it had been out over 6 hours.

Well, I finally did get into my classroom, and posted to my classroom threads … however, I still have all of my networking labs to do, last week’s reading to catch up on, and this week’s reading to do …

And now, before I quit … a bit of news.

My mom-in-law is home, and feeling better, however she’s still having some serious ups and downs. She called here at 3 AM two nights ago - her blood sugar was in the 30’s. Doug heard the phone ringing, and ran up to the house to make sure she was OK. It’s going to be a bit before things are balanced out, but now that she actually knows what to do for herself, she at least stands a chance of getting on top of things.

Yesterday, Dougie, Magnus and I drove down to Connecticut to see my daughter. She’s still on TPN, and is fighting some sort of raging infection. The antibiotics aren’t getting on top of it, and if they treat her Crohn’s, it will hamper her immune system even further. She’s a very, very sick young woman.

Some people asked for an address to send her a card:

Deneen Jardstam
5 Osprey Dr.
Groton, CT 0630

And now … I’m heading off to dreamland. I’ve been working on this post for hours! It’s 1:30 in the morning!

I’m going to try to blog again on Tuesday late in the day, or early on Wednesday … with a surprise … :o)

See you then!

Lightning Photo credit

Visited my Mother-in-law again today, and talked to her nurse about having her followed by both an endocrinologist and a dietitian once she’s sent home. Apparently, there’s no guarantee that she’s going to get either of those, however one thing he was able to arrange was a visiting nurse.

I don’t understand why they wouldn’t have a dietitian working with her after her discharge … even without being bullied into it by family … ? Her blood sugar was over 500 again today … so they’re having quite a bit of difficulty bringing it under control. So much informational literature I’ve seen has stressed that CRF and HTN patients should have dietitians working with them … now I know I’ve never been offered one, but she has both of those plus out-of-control diabetes! Is the offer of a dietitian wishful “ideal world” thinking by medical websites and informational pamphlets, or are our local groups dropping the ball?

The primary care group that she’s been seeing all of these years hasn’t quite broken up shop yet, and they’re one of the only two in the entire area that are not owned by the hospital … so, she’s being seen by one of the physicians in his group - although not by him. All three of the physicians in the group are elderly. This is one of the very rare times that I would prefer having someone seen by a hospitalist. We’re going to find her a new primary care, so “continuity” is not an issue. Also, the fellow seeing her is a very elderly internist with an emphasis on cardiology … and as of last word, she still hasn’t been been by an endocrinologist … with numbers up around 500 still … *sigh*

Anyway … I’m going to try to go back there tomorrow with a few DVDs … she’s got a TV with a DVD/CD player, and a VCR … we can bring her a load of movies to watch. The days are very long for her there.

I also have news about my daughter.

Today, she was told that they had taken her off all foods and liquids. She’s not even allowed ice chips, and is having to use a sponge to moisten her mouth. She’s going to be fed intravenously … and they were not able to tell her how long this was going to be continued. The physician did tell her, however, that she probably would not be attending a meeting she’s supposed to be present at on July 17 … so this is long term. He also told her that they can’t do surgery at this time, because her intestines are so inflamed that they’re as delicate as “wet paper,” and are oozing like a sponge.

I honestly can’t even imagine what she’s going through. They have her pretty numbed up, and she’s very difficult to talk to over Skype; even with my headphones on, I can barely hear her, and follow what she’s saying.

I’m going to have to find a way to get myself down to southern Connecticut, where she is. It’s going to make for a really rough round trip, but that’s what it’s going to have to be. My vacation is officially over at 2:00 AM this morning, when the Week 1 session of my next course becomes available … and the course begins with a bang: multiple chapters, 3 labs to complete and pass in, and a minimum of 6 “value added,” carefully researched, classroom postings.

And so … that’s where we are now. I’ll be calling my daughter in a few minutes … and reading her the comments from the last post. That sort of thing really cheers her up. Thank you, all of you, for your prayers and concern.

Armed with a printout of the last post, and all of the comments I’ve received … along with a load of dietary information, Doug, Dougie and I went up to see Althea today.

I read her the post … I read her the comments …

She sat with a sheepish grin on her face through the entire thing. When I was done reading, I told her that I wasn’t under any illusions about being able to walk into her house and tell her what to do …

One eyebrow went up, and she smiled and asked: “Do you think someone is going to come into here and tell me what to do?”

Um … no ma’am!!! Absolutely not!

However … I reiterated what I’d told her on the 3rd … I didn’t think she’d live long enough to see her doctor in August if her numbers stayed up between 400 and up over 500 for very long! …. She agreed.

She checked her blood while we were there - 407. This was at 2 PM, and we all knew it would rise substantially as the day wore on. I asked if she’d allow me to call the Emergency Room to ask them if they thought she should come in, with her current numbers. She said I could … and I did. When we hung up, it took less than 10 minutes to be out of the house, and on the way to the ER.

The ER was a little confusing … a lot of new faces. One of the nurses (also new to me) told me that she’d only been working with the young doctor who took care of my Mom-in-Law in the ER for about 2 days. It’s not a teaching hospital … they’d just hired a huge bunch of new physicians.

The young physician was great. He looked over a record of her numbers in the last few months, and he was shocked. He actually wagged his finger at her, and scolded her for not going to the ER when her numbers were that high.

“Well, I was testing it every day.”

“Yes, but you test it so that you can do something about it when it gets too high!”

Of course, they kept her. She’s probably still going through all of the initial poking and prodding even as I write. Just before I left, I could hear the young doctor in the hallway, giving someone instructions to call in an endocrinologist, and the nurse told us that the cardiologist was also on his way in to see her.

They kicked me out just before they brought in an X-ray machine. I knew I was leaving in her in excellent hands.

Teasing, just before I walked out the door, I asked her: “Do you still wuv me? *innocent blink*” … all she did was chortle … she never answered! *gulp!* ;o)

Seriously though, one of the last things I said before leaving was that she had a right to not feel sick all the time, and to have someone actually pay attention to her medical needs. She told me that she couldn’t remember what it was like to not feel sick.

Hopefully, they will not only get her straightened out, they’ll also hook her up with an endocrinologist who will follow her once she’s discharged, and a dietitian who can help her sort out what she can and can’t eat. And then … we’ll have to find her a new PCP …

OH! Before I forget! I got a quick email from my dear friend Joanie this morning. This is what it said:

Hi - just was reading your blog…and who is her dr?

is it B… ? Well you should know that he is moving his practice, and only working with younger patients…no elderly. He and one of his associates are merging with another practice someplace. So if it is B… and his office, she needs to find another physician

hugs

YES! *does a happy little moof dance*

Now that is what I call propitious timing!!!

And … all of you … thank you so very much for your input!!! I read each comment to her … and I’m sure that it was all of you who convinced her to do the right thing. You all rock!

And now … on another note …

Back in May of 2006, I wrote about my daughter, and her struggle with Crohn’s Disease. Unfortunately, the last year has not been kind to her in quite a few ways, and I only yesterday discovered that she’s in the hospital again, and has been there since Sunday. She’s too far away for me to visit, so we’re relying pretty heavily on our Skype accounts to stay in communication.

She will probably not get out there without surgery this time.

She also has a lot of other issues in her life right now - most of which are way beyond a normal person’s endurance, and which I’m not at liberty to write about. Those of you who are praying types … please keep her in mind.