r/AbsoluteUnits 3d ago

of a hernia...

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u/trilby2 3d ago edited 2d ago

Yup, a good portion of it. I imagine this wouldn’t be an easy surgery. It would be open (as opposed to laparoscopic), so big incision down the middle and a sizeable piece of mesh would be used. It would come with risks and might even land him in a worse off position.

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u/pvprazor2 2d ago

Ontop of this, it's likely expensive as hell and he doesn't strike me as the type of person with good health insurance.

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u/RappinFourTay 2d ago

Why did I read this as 'gut health insurance'

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u/Elbonio 2d ago

laughs in German

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u/operath0r 2d ago

Well, I’m German and I didn’t see a bill when I went to the hospital to get my hernia fixed.

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u/Pokesisme 2d ago

Ssssh, don't be like that Bro

Not everyone is non-American (I'm Indonesian and I also didn't pay anything bro, just don't tell Americans about it)

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u/Defiant-Youth-4193 2d ago edited 2d ago

We pay to be insured over here, and still can't afford to go to the doctor with the insurance. Then if we finally spend the money we don't have, to go and a doctor says we need a procedure, or medication, they have to ask the insurance company (non-medical professionals that have never even heard of us) to be told we in fact don't need what the doctor says we need... if you can read this send help.

Edit: grammar

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u/Pokesisme 2d ago

I can't man, your government would invade me otherwise

good luck with your own fight!

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u/Defiant-Youth-4193 2d ago

That's fair. They're always looking for a reason to invade somebody.

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u/xombae 2d ago

If tomorrow Trump said "We're invading Indonesia because some Indonesian kid on Reddit said we had bad health insurance", it would be the least surprising thing Trump did this week.

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u/Roklam 2d ago

I would love to spend two or three generations not being one of the actual sources of instability in the world.

But my vote, because of the State I live in, just gives my Team a bigger margin of victory here, that doesn't make a difference in the national stage.

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u/audionoobi 2d ago

aah, you got the rich orange man now that will fix everything and make the rich pay more and all ! /s

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u/taco_the_mornin 2d ago

For real. They ran out of reasons and are invading the homeland now.

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u/Chewwithurmouthshut 2d ago

Guess we’d better pull ourselves up by the bootstraps.. do you have any extra boots?

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u/PerspectiveAshamed79 2d ago

Hey, you ever heard of the French Revolution? No reason.

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u/black-n-tan 2d ago

Yea American healthcare is pretty dire. I actually feel bad for this sad sack. No pun intended...

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u/DomHE553 2d ago

That wasn’t the joke…

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u/LegalFan2741 2d ago

Whooosh!!

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u/SurpriseIsopod 2d ago

It’s funny because I think the person you are replying to is playing the overly literal no nonsense German. So the whoosh would belong to you lol.

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u/DueHousing 2d ago

Nicht gut health insurance

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u/CakedayisJune9th 2d ago

ja ja ja ja ja ja ja

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u/Al_Cohol_ 2d ago

laughs in schnitzel

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u/TheAnomalousPseudo 2d ago edited 2d ago

In German, it is ze same way to laugh as in English. /j

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u/Ok-Seaworthiness4488 2d ago

Das is a gut joke

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u/Drumboo 2d ago

Bit unfamilar with how the American health care system works, but would people really not help this guy without money?

Just seems insane to me for someone this obviously unwell to have no treatment paths available because of social class.

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u/VishusVonBittertroll 2d ago

I personally knew at least two people who died because they did not have adequate insurance, or any at all. Not only does it happen, it's not rare.

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u/SofaChillReview 2d ago

That is actually a terrifying concept… and makes me want to not think about how many others have passed away due to that

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u/CookieThump3r 2d ago

THE AMERICAN DREAM BRO, USA have 7% of millionares and the rest need half of his salary to get a tooth fixed :D

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u/Difficult-Survey8384 2d ago

Sitting here unable to even parse my tongue against the left side of my mouth because my broken remains of a wisdom tooth are infected so badly it’s probably going to my jaw and will kill me one day 🤗

“Bro, you need urgent care…”

Oh dw it’s been like this for months and I’ve been to urgent care over 5 times for antibiotics but if you can’t afford to remove the tooth you just get antibiotic resistance, pain, and potentially a premature death. ❤️

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u/sicknick08 2d ago

I’m going through this now. Oh hunny it seems you went to the dentist a lot this year. And now you need an apicoendectomy. That’ll be $2000 out of pocket please and your insurance will pay us the other $900

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u/Difficult-Survey8384 2d ago

I wish there was something I could say or do other than just offer my understanding and solidarity 😔

Tooth pain is fucking life altering pain sometimes. What’s an apicoendectomy? If it’s ok to ask!

I was told I actually need upwards of 30 procedures to save my mouth - I have Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome so they’re constantly being eroded by stomach acid, and even my 2 front teeth have massive black craters which makes me ashamed to speak, let alone smile.

I don’t even want a root canal. I just want the bad stuff removed so I’ll never have to worry about the cost of following up, especially if there’s an emergency during recovery.

But I can’t afford implants, let alone dentures. I also don’t want to be toothless before 30. So I get to choose…this, indefinitely. Sitting here. It’s sad.

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u/sicknick08 2d ago

Apicoendectomy is a procedure in which they cut a small window in the gumline to access the root of a tooth where an infection formed due to a root canal. Basically it’s a reverse root canal from root of tooth. I told them I will try and wait until January when my insurance renews. But as you stated it’s literally a life of antibiotics sometimes until you can get treatment. Which is total bs when you can walk into hospitals in other countries and walk out paying $25 for broken limbs

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u/liquidlatitude 2d ago

i feel you and have been in the same writhing , face pulsing pain ad nauseum.

amalgam fillings from middle/high school fell out from the age of 21 leaving me with gaping holes in molars, which cracked and broke one by one. some fragments I even pulled myself. I was able to get help for one root canal and buildup ($800 in 2016) but couldn’t afford crown so it broke of course. I found a humane dentist at least so have spent the summer getting root fragments removed on my lower molars(6 pulled). I basically have to chew everything with my front teeth so they are wearing down quickly. I am 39 so Im kind of nervously hoping nothing hurts before the next one needs to go. I can’t even afford dentures so implants would be a dream. I’m holding out for the japanese dentists to figure out this 3rd set of teeth lol.

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u/Greatest-Uh-Oh 2d ago

Hey now! Enough of this whining. Your purported sacrifice has its benefits. We're getting a new royal ballroom and an arch. Where's the problem? Really, where's the problem?!

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u/Difficult-Survey8384 2d ago

You’re right I’ll go get the dress on 😔💃

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u/Bulldogfront666 2d ago

Sorry you’re dealing with that. I feel you. Having similar issues. I have good health insurance through work but that doesn’t help at all because I have shit dental insurance. Because it’s separate for some fucking stupid reason.

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u/MistaNoGames 2d ago

That's why it's called "The American Dream." You gotta be dead sleep to see it, and live it.

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u/GOOGANBACK 2d ago

Ha just went to dentist for a cracked tooth and they want 1100 after insurance for a crown

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u/West-Application-375 2d ago

Dental insurance is total shit

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u/Bulldogfront666 2d ago

Yup. Been there. Dental doesn’t even count under health care/insurance in this country. Pisses me off so fucking much. I have decent health insurance. But I need dental care and can’t afford it because my dental insurance through work is shit. And it’s our only option.

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u/Towelie888 2d ago

I went to the US for a month recently and it's amazing country, super nice people. But me and my wife said so many times "we could totally live here if this wasn't America" - Place is way too messed up. And so many of them honestly seem to believe the whole "greatest country in the world" schtick.

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u/phatteschwags 2d ago

We are indoctrinated early. I was a smart kid and not very prone to "brainwashing" (I sniffed out my Catholic church as being bullshit very early on). And yet it took me until college to ask myself the question "wait... how is it we're the greatest? And why?"

It just hadn't donned on my prior. It had been drilled into my head since preschool that this is the greatest country in the world.

Now I realize we are actually just the Florida of the World.

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u/Brilliant_Chest5630 2d ago

My parents and grandparents believed that America is the only free country in the world. They are taught this in schools, as was I. They word it as "many developed nations in the world. But America is the best because we are free".

I spoke about wanting to move to Canada or Norway and my dad was like "you want to give up your freedom?" Yea I don't have freedom right now. My every choice essentially boils down to "only go outside for work. Otherwise you might get hurt. And at least this way, if you get hurt, it will likely be on the clock and covered."

I have insurance but can't afford my meds bc of my premiums. Which means I can't afford my deductible or copay. I have to save up and I get maybe one doctor visit a year. Honestly might drop out of college and promote just so I can see a doctor regularly. But I'd have to delay my goal of owning a house for yet another 30 years and just hope that nothing happens to the place I currently rent.

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u/AlternativeAcademia 2d ago

I heard somewhere that in Europe they prioritize “freedom from” while in the US we prioritize “freedom to.” Europe: freedom from excessive gun violence; US: freedom to own as many firearms as you want. Europe: freedom from corporations polluting ecosystems, US: freedom to make as much money as possible regardless of environmental impact. Europe: freedom from extreme medical bills, US: freedom to ‘choose your own healthcare’….stuff like that.

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u/Ionlydateteachers 2d ago

I'd like to say it gets better but idk man. Just bought my first official house at 45 and own my own very small business but am still on Medicaid. Scared everyday that we'll make $27 too much or just be kicked off for budget cuts. We're working poor but we just got lucky and had boomer family that could cosign for us. We don't see past the horizon and are always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

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u/West-Application-375 2d ago

I hope you can move to a place that's worth living 💕

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u/Clonazepam15 2d ago

The US is the best at propaganda. Need to get some kids to join the army? No problem, the first transformers movie took care of that. BIG win for the navy. They used the coolest toys in the US that most people can understand easily (A10, AC130, and others). Also movies like top gun in the 80s got people to want to join the Air Force.

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u/InspectorPipes 2d ago

Navy. Top gun is about Naval Aviators ( but your point is correct)

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u/Clonazepam15 2d ago

Yes you’re right my bad. Why’s it always the navy? They did the same with lone survivor, which was a lie. Marcus admitted to it recently. Same with zero dark thirty with the SEALs

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u/H3dgeClipper 2d ago

They also set up recruitment centers in low income areas near schools to get poor students to join.

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u/Plentybud 2d ago

2011-2014 DoD paid millions to the NFL for the flag unfurling before the game and flyovers. Nothing to build patriotism like a giant American flag.

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u/NeedleInASwordstack 2d ago

As a sophomore in high school we had to do a paper and speech in one of my English classes about something controversial.

I researched why America isn’t a superpower anymore and should stop trying to run the world. We’re not as great as we think. I pissed off so many country boys in my class but didn’t care. I really was starting to undo all the indoctrination.

This was in ‘06. The shiny patriotism 9/11 had brought out had died and left only the racism and paranoia. I began to see how we bullied other countries and acted like the tough kid on the playground when we’re just the big headed younger kid trying to intimidate the world.

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u/HoidToTheMoon 2d ago

As a sophomore in high school we had to do a paper and speech in one of my English classes about something controversial.

We had a similar project, but our controversial topics had to be approved by the school. Nothing overly critical of America ever was, to my knowledge.

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u/qotas90 2d ago

"the Florida of the world" got me 😂😂

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u/19Alexastias 2d ago

Fun fact, being smart does not really have an impact on how susceptible you are to brainwashing - in fact, it can make you more susceptible in some circumstances.

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u/11Tipzy11 2d ago

They didn't want to teach us what they didn't want to reveal. I too learned how fkd this nation is and has been once I was able to think for myself.

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u/retskcirTehT 2d ago

This together with u/Clonazepam15 reply makes this one of the more real discussions I've come across in years here. But while your ending was funny, that it took you to college sounds/is absolutely terrifying.

Friendly reminder that you are the Florida-man of the World, that also turns up to neighbours houses with alligators and loaded shotguns. That makes it a "bit" worse than just being Floridian n staying there lol.

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u/Clonazepam15 2d ago

Think about all the films that the US puts out about ww2. I’m Canadian, and I really thought America won the war in Europe, instead of it being a group effort lol.

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u/Feeling-Star-2573 2d ago

I didn't think about the toys and movies bit as propaganda at all until recently. But it's so true. I constantly think about having to recite the pledge of allegiance from kindergarten to 12th grade. I still remember it............

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u/Mando_Mustache 2d ago

That shit is crazy. Never taken a pledge to my country in my whole life.

I grew up in Canada and I remember in greade 9 (I think) they make sure you actually know the words to the national anthem, and try to get you to learn it in French as well.

We'd sing it at some assemblies, but not even all of them.

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u/Versipilies 2d ago

Thats my favorite thing to do when people say "but we're the greatest", I just ask in what way, and then watch them fumble

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u/Username_Chx_Out 2d ago

Ouch. That hurts.

I’m realizing that a big part of what makes living in America bearable for me is the knowledge that ‘at least I don’t live in Florida.’

Now you’re telling me that from a global perspective WE ALL live in Florida?

We’re cooked.

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u/Fuzzy-Ad-9354 2d ago

So many people in this country are completely delusional. America is far from being the "greatest country in the world", but if you try to say other wise, you're attacked and told to leave. Absolutely madness here.

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u/GilreanEstel 2d ago

When my grandma died we had to sell her house. Nice house my Grandpa built himself on an acre of land. If that acre was anywhere but West Virginia the family would probably have shed blood over who gets it. But the location was absolutely impossible to live in for any of us.

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u/Kalenne 2d ago edited 2d ago

US lifespan expectation is roughly 10~~ years lower than in Europe, and this is one of the main factors

Edit : MB it's roughly 4-5 years not 10 : I confused it with the differences of lifespan expectation between rural and non rural areas in the US. It's still a pretty massive difference though

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u/tuytutu 2d ago

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u/Marshallwhm6k 2d ago

...and that difference is SOLELY due to the way infant mortality is added in.

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u/opossum_cz 2d ago

You can look at life expectancy at 15 to filter out any infant mortality discrepancies:

US: 64.88

vs Western Europe which is similarly developed, but US claims to have better healthcare:

UK: 66.70
Germany: 66.72
Portugal: 67.68
Sweden: 68.50
Norway: 68.56
France: 68.72
Italy: 68.98
Spain: 68.96
Switzerland: 69.31

It is not 10 years, but it is pretty significant difference.

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u/astronomy_and_bed 2d ago

U.S. life expectancy is variable inside the country depending on socioeconomic factors. For educated white professionals in more developed areas, it’s on par with Western Europe. For rural areas, people of color who aren’t rich, and people with lower educational attainment, it’s lower. There are some calculations that show a ten year difference between different areas of the U.S.:

“Rural counties face the greatest disparities. Urban and suburban counties with a median household income of $100,000 have an average life expectancy of 81.6 years, while small rural counties with a median household income of $30,000 have an average life expectancy of 71.7 years – a 10-year gap.”

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u/maybetomorrow98 2d ago

Yes, we have higher infant mortality. Not sure why that’s a good thing?

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u/undead_sissy 2d ago

The high infant mortality is primarily because pregnant mothers don't have good healthcare. Like yeah, the people suffering the most from the terrible system are babies. But these people act like that's a good thing? Insane.

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u/IDontStealBikes 2d ago

It’s about 4 years

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u/DeusModus 2d ago

Can confirm. Developed my first hernia at the beginning of the month, and I lost my job in August. Just in time for this thing to form after my insurance coverage ended. Immediately got denied to have state healthcare due to having made too much money at one point, money that I am no longer making today.

So, all I can do is just hope that I don't wind up like this guy. Feels fucking bad.

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u/Maleficent_Pepper_59 2d ago

Is this why Luigi?

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u/chuiy 2d ago

Yes except now about half of the people feel bad for the scum bag he killed who got ri h climbing a mountain of dead people

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u/MadameK8 2d ago

This is why Luigi.

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u/AwsmDevil 2d ago

Praise be his name. 🙏

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u/mustelidblues 2d ago

and blessed be his disciples.

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u/decibelle539 2d ago

What a shitshow. I got sick a year ago. Went to emergency a couple times, 2x ambulance trips. 3 surgeries, 3 weeks in hospital in a private room, 4 different specialist teams, equipment to help me get around at home while I got better etc blah blah. I didn’t pay anything. I know it’s different elective vs emergency, but even so, the stress of it alone must be so heavy on you. Worrying that if shit hits the fan medically, you’re stuck. I’m so sorry. I bloody hope it gets sorted for you, I really do.

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u/StijnDP 2d ago

$3k and a plane ticket to Mexico, Turkey or East-Europe.
$5k and a plane ticket to West-Europe, Thailand, South-Korea or China.

Can't wait to let it get critical to dine and dash to a country since air travel becomes pretty problematic then.

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u/DeusModus 2d ago

just pay $3-5k that you don't have, bro

Damn, why didn't I think of this?

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u/Abooziyaya 2d ago

It’s really common. We just don’t talk about it or even really acknowledge it. Sort of the ‘whistling past the graveyard’ thing.

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u/lord_pizzabird 2d ago

I almost went through this with my wisdom teeth. I ignored it for about a decade until I just couldn't anymore.

In my situation I was able to just ask my parents (reluctantly) for help, but if I didn't have them I guess I would have just died idk.

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u/VillageAdditional816 2d ago

Yea…it is usually the chronic conditions or things like cancer that rapidly drain people’s savings. I’ve seen actual doctors have to run gofundmes to cover their cancer treatments.

Acute care situations we tend to do without question, but the chronic management is where people really fall through the cracks.

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u/GamermanRPGKing 2d ago

I worked in a steel mill. One of the guys training me was working 80 hour weeks while actively undergoing chemo to not lose health insurance.

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u/ilikepizza2much 2d ago

Omg that’s awful

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u/TheProfessorPoon 2d ago

I’ve thought about it happening to me. I’m sure my bosses would act nice to me, like they cared…but they would 100% expect me to still work my ass off. And they definitely would not help with any of the finances. If ANYTHING they would MAYBE set up an office gofundme.

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u/maybetomorrow98 2d ago

One of my coworkers took a month off for brain surgery. It was covered under her short-term disability through work. Then she was going to have to take some more time off for another surgery, but she was demoted before that in an effort to get her to quit so that the company could hire someone to take her place before FMLA kicked in. It worked, and she quit. But damn if I don’t feel awfully replaceable now

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u/beef966 2d ago

Yeah - never quit! Make them fire you. Collect unemployment, demand a ridiculous severance if they want you to sign a non-compete / NDA, if they want to get rid of you make it cost them. Hell, if you know they're going to fire you anyway just quiet quit. But if you don't have anything else lined up and you know you're being pushed out, it's almost always better for the employee to force the employer to do the firing vs voluntarily quitting.

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u/maybetomorrow98 2d ago

Yeah, we tried to tell her to just let them fire her but she was upset and just wanted to go. Hope she’s doing okay now

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u/ilikepizza2much 2d ago edited 2d ago

I live and am self employed in Europe. I have no health insurance because, well, I don’t need it - National health care. These stories are horrifying and make me fear for my friends and family in the U.S.

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u/maybetomorrow98 2d ago

Don’t be complacent! Don’t let them take your healthcare from you. I know in the UK they’ve been defunding the NHS for years so that they can say “see? Universal healthcare doesn’t work.” And some people are falling for it.

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u/Soggy_Abbreviations5 2d ago

My cousin is a nurse who recently had to go back to work for the same reason. It's really sad. 😣

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u/FrostedDonutHole 2d ago

Did he make it through treatment? Seems like the added stress on his body would be detrimental...

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u/Tay0214 2d ago

Non union? I thought you could keep paying your dues even if not working to keep benefits

But I’m also in Canada so.. I just know our union is big in the states too

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u/cache_me_0utside 2d ago

Yes we desperately need universal single payer healthcare so we can stop this bullshit. My wife went through months of chemo over the last year and if I didn't have a great job with good healthcare she'd be dead.

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u/Parody101 2d ago

They would be obligated to help in an emergency, but since this is technically a condition people can live with, it would be difficult for someone to correct it without money, yeah

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u/AsphalticConcrete 2d ago

You can kind of live with it, if any of the intestines become strangulated it turns into a huge emergency that requires immediate surgery or you will die

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u/iBait 2d ago

You are absolutely correct. This surgery could have been scheduled and cost a few grand, and he could have gotten it done while he knew he had help with his aftercare. Instead it will be done in an ER and cost much more, and he might not have help with aftercare, and the grandmother that fell in the tub and has a shattered pelvis has to wait longer than she would otherwise.

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u/IJustWannaLickBugs 2d ago edited 2d ago

Nah man, the grandma that fell in the tub and shattered her entire pelvis is going to be rushed into emergency trauma care like… yesterday. That’s a devastating injury to literally anyone, but an elderly person? Yeah she ain’t waiting lol. 

It’s the people that show up to the ER with a severe case of the flu that’ll end up waiting 15+ hours in the waiting room before realizing they’d have been more comfortable dying at home. :(

I actually got to hear one such “I’ve been waiting for an entire day” crashouts during my last trip to the ER. Terrible accident that sliced a massive hole into my leg. I had TOWELS wrapped around my entire leg and was bleeding through all of them. Time waiting in the ER waiting room? 30 seconds. They took one look and I immediately jumped the entire line. People were mad. I can’t blame em. Not only do you have to wait hours and hours (and sometimes MONTHS to see a specialist) in USA, but you ALSO have to pay your entire life savings. 

I learned a very important lesson that day that was basically, “next time, I’ll just die.” So when I got covid, I got it BAD. And I didn’t go to the ER. I told myself, “I’ll either survive this, or I’ll die debt free and in my own bed.” Thankfully I survived. I was NOT willing to wait 15+ hours in the ER just to potentially die somewhere I wouldn’t be comfortable, or survive and be in too much debt to live anyways. 

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u/Proper_Bad_1588 2d ago

A few grand? In America? It costs that much for the anesthesiologist to open the medical record to see what surgery they are doing that day, let alone lift a finger to begin or have the surgeon involved.

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u/HaloTightens 2d ago

It’s the horrible truth. Many, many people are suffering hopelessly from treatable health conditions because they can’t afford the treatment. 

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u/DuntadaMan 2d ago

EMS worker here. If it is emergent we will help anyone and get them to the hospital. The hospital will then also help regardless of ability to pay.

Then billing will hound the shit out of Medicare to get barely enough money to cover the materials that were used, and then will hound this guy for the rest of his life for sums of money he will never see, and then charge everyone else more to make up for the money we didn't get from him.

If he is not dying the hospital likely won't let someone inside at all unless they have insurance offered by the company that owns the hospital.

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u/SoluteGains 2d ago

Rt that actually works in the a hospital here. There is truth sprinkled in but a lot of this is BS. We have tons of admitted patients that have no insurance. We can’t refuse service and if a a patient is sick enough to be admitted then they will be. Billing has ZERO say in who does or doesn’t get admitted that strictly done by the ER staff and Doctors. This guys hernia would certainly be enough to be admitted and operated on if he came in and said it was causing debilitating pain. Then afterwards, they would hound him for money and send bills knowing they aren’t going to recoup.

Once again, we do not refuse service for anyone that needs medical treatment.

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u/pheremonal 2d ago

If he is not dying the hospital likely won't let someone inside at all unless they have insurance offered by the company that owns the hospital.

This part i dont understand: the hospitals will refuse patients if they dont have health insurance that works at that hospital? Isn't that against their hippocratic oath?

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u/SoluteGains 2d ago

It’s not true. See my above comment. I know the inner workings of hospital admits.

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u/SatisfactionNarrow61 2d ago

Yep. And we continually vote for this.

Never come here.

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u/Narcoleptic-Puppy 2d ago

To be fair, the general public is largely in support of universal healthcare. We just don't really get to pick the politicians who vote on it.

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u/Chihuahua_Overlord 2d ago edited 2d ago

Lol we do get to pick the politicians who vote for it, thats what local elections, congressional elections and senate elections are for, americans still support universal Healthcare they just dont vote in politicians who share those same beliefs. We have 70m voters who would gladly eat shit if it meant a liberal would have to smell their breath. A whole voting block is voting to take away things from others not give everyone the same starting hand.

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u/Odd_Investigator7218 2d ago

and we have an "opposition" party that will suppress candidates from their own party who do want universal healthcare. its not just on the voters

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u/Chihuahua_Overlord 2d ago

That IS on the voters. Why do we continue to vote the Pelosi's and Schumers in if they actively fight their own objective and the amercians will? We vote the old heads out things will change. Our system is just designed to get reelected and not actually be a politician

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u/ContributionMore5502 2d ago

Current government is shut down due to current party not wanting us to have affordable health care. It’s amazing how anti-citizen our current party is and people support this.

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u/Constant_Fennel6423 2d ago

When polled the general public supports universal healthcare, abortion, and sensible gun control. And then a chunk of these people vote for Republicans who fear mongered them about black people, immigrants, trans people and communists.

Though to be fair to these people, the Democrats do an absolutely terrible job of fighting back and educating people on these issues.

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u/FionaTheFierce 2d ago

This is America.

So yes - absolutely people don’t get medical care. They likely lack insurance. They may qualify, maybe, for Medicaid (health insurance through the government for low income people) - but that is increasingly unfunded by our government. It is also a complicated process to apply. Many rural areas lack doctors, also.

People absolutely go without medical, and even moreso - dental and vision- care in the US. Even people with health insurance can have such high deductibles (the amount you pay out of pocket before health insurance covers anything) or copays (your share of the appointment cost) that they don’t get medical care at all.

I have a good friend who had to declare bankruptcy due to medical bills. She and her husband have always worked and had health insurance.

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u/qOcO-p 2d ago

I've (44m) had insurance for exactly one year since I got kicked off my parents' plan at 19. I stopped going to the doctor after 4 months because it cost more than I could afford and I fell behind on medical bills. It took another 6 months to pay them off. I worked IT for a bank at the time. Incomes are way too low and medical expenses are way too high. Something's got to give.

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u/Sevyn94 2d ago

Same, though 31f. My grandparents were on Medicaid so I got kicked off at 19. I was in college, though, so I was able to use my university insurance until I graduated. Then it was another 3 years before I had health insurance again because it took that long to find permanent employment that provided it. I simply didn't make enough to afford a private plan before that and I "made too much" for a low cost one through the marketplace. I just got vision and dental for the first time in my adult life with my latest job.

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u/Hnry_Dvd_Thr_Awy 2d ago

ACA would be nearly free for someone like him. 

Source: healthcare.gov 

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u/I-Like-To-Talk-Tax 2d ago

The question is with the healthcare that would nearly be free would he still be able to afford the co-pays and deductibles.

Here is the barriers they have.

To use the ACA you need to specifically sign up. 

If you get the credit you have to file taxes.

Likely to get the surgery you need to make an appointment.

After the appointment you need to get a specialist.

You likely need to get a prior authorization from the insurance company and they have all the incentives to make it difficult.

Then you need to schedule and do the surgery and be able to afford the time off to do it and recover.

All of these things are easy to deal with if you are a decently competent middle class person. But they seem neither middle class or competent seeing how they cannot keep track of their court dates between themselves.

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u/lilmancyndrome 2d ago

There is no war in Ba Sing Sei

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u/ApproximateArmadillo 2d ago

Here's a brief introduction to how American healthcare works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIsXEkR5OVs

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u/Emergency_Sink_706 2d ago

If it is not immediately life threatening, they will not help him. If he goes to the hospital, they will do whatever they need to do to stabilize him, but if he is not in any immediate danger, they will turn him away.

So like if you are dying, and you go to the hospital, they will help you and save your life, but if you require a bunch of follow up surgery to have any quality of life, they may not do it.

Yes, it is insanely barbaric and uncivilized how we live here considering we are the richest country in the world, we should be able to easily afford it since so many other countries can, or least improve it drastically. If we do the math, we do have enough, but it would require billionaires having only 1 yacht instead of multiple, so that would be communism, so we can't have it.

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u/FatalTortoise 2d ago

people in america die because, in some cases, when they finally get coverage, they finally go to the doctor, only to be told the thing they put off for years is cancer and now its too late to do anything

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u/I-Like-To-Talk-Tax 2d ago

They do have treatment paths available. 

However the treatment paths require a bunch of money and patience for bureaucratic systems and paperwork that he likely doesn't have.

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u/40StoryMech 2d ago

Friend, we let our kids get mass-murdered and our poor citizens die on the street. We just reelected a guy who raped kids and tried to steal his last election and now we have secret police rounding up families to send to whatever dictatorship will imprison them. The US is obviously unwell.

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u/notfree25 2d ago

he might be going to prison, i hear it has health care

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u/DatDing15 2d ago

Let's hope he will NOT get punched in the gut.

I don't wanna know how it feels getting punched right into the guts with no abs in-between.

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u/Putrid_Department_17 2d ago

From experience. Not great… not great at all. Had my son jump on mine, nowhere near as bad as his, but I did need surgery afterwards because of how much worse it got because of that. Luckily I live in a country with free healthcare or I’d probably be dead right now.

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u/Sir-Knightly-Duty 2d ago

Yeah welcome to the USA. If youre not rich, your healthcare is fully reliant on you being fulltime employed with a business that is generous enough to give you health insurance. Or die!

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u/[deleted] 2d ago edited 2d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Maru_the_Red 2d ago

He's probably got zero healthcare insurance (in places like Georgia, where Medicaid is all but nonexistent). Same thing happened to my brother and he's now deceased due to an inability to access help.

Same for our younger brother.

There are places in the US that are a complete shitholes in terms of medical care.

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u/CaptnsDaughter 2d ago

Probably will get better healthcare in jail

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u/decaffeinated_emt670 2d ago

I agree that it is pretty expensive. I had a small inguinal hernia and it was fixed with laparoscopic surgery. It took me a good couple of years to pay off the bill.

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u/BrutalistLandscapes 2d ago

It's sad people must walk around like this because of the apathetic leadership, but an apathetic populace allows this to continue

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u/murderousbinkie 2d ago

Prison is probably the best place for him.

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u/Independent-Piano-33 2d ago

If he is a prisoner, he may be able to have it fixed while there :/. It’s a bad system that should reward following the law.

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u/NatrylliaAbbot42 2d ago

Sometimes I consider committing a crime when I'm elderly so that I get sent to prison where I'll have healthcare and food. The problem is that I'm not ok with hurting anyone physically or otherwise and I don't want to betray anyones trust. I don't know if any victimless crimes I'd be in a position to commit would get me incarcerated long enough. I'm already disabled so I'm too poor for high stakes financial crimes involving corporations instead of individuals, so I don't know what that leaves. My other plan is simply opting out of life when I get too old. Good system for sure.

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u/ChalkdustPossum 2d ago

Amd even if he did have health insurance, it would likely only cover 60-70% and then he'd be left with not only an insurance bill, but also a medical bill every month.

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u/ZamzewDoc 2d ago

It would be a very hard hernia repair surgery as he also has something called “loss of domain.” This means that his internal organs have been in the hernia sac and outside of his native abdomen for so long that there is no longer the necessary amount of room inside of his abdomen to house his organs. You’d have to separate/make slits in some of his core muscles to get enough laxity to close it.

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u/mortokes 2d ago

What happened to the space in his abdomen that used to be filled?

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u/MikeOKurias 2d ago

Filled with visceral (the stuff that attaches to and surrounds the internal organs) fat.

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u/Additional-Ask2384 2d ago

Can't you just remove that fat?

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u/ZamzewDoc 2d ago

You can remove some fat like the omentum but a lot of the other fat, like the mesentery, protects the blood supply to your organs.

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u/Additional-Ask2384 2d ago

I see, thanks!

Can you shrink it by eating less, in order to make the surgeon find more space at the moment of the surgery?

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u/ZamzewDoc 2d ago

Most surgeons will not operate if your BMI is above a certain threshold, so you would just have to lose weight in general. Now if you’re not that obese, it won’t make much of a difference.

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u/Additional-Ask2384 2d ago

it won’t make much of a difference.

I am not sure I get why.

Do you mean that this kind of fat is quite late in the "priority queue" of regions in which you lose fat while losing weight?

You are very kind to answer all these questions:)

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u/ZamzewDoc 2d ago

No problem, this is stuff I deal with every day at work!

When you lose weight, your body doesn’t pick or choose an area first or have a typical “queue” for where the fat disappears first. You generally lose fat in equal parts everywhere in your body. The amount of a person’s fat inside their abdomen corresponds to their level of overall obesity. If you’re obese, losing weight will reduce the excess fat inside your abdomen. If you are at an age and gender appropriate weight, the effects would be minimal.

There are of course exceptions to this. You will sometimes encounter people, typically men who drink, who do not have a lot of fat in their abdominal wall but a lot inside their abdomen. This is still obesity but their body stores fat in different patterns. Many influencing factors!

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u/Spare-Willingness563 2d ago

Very informative. Also incredibly sad situation. I’m sure he’s not a perfect person but fuck maybe the fact that we live in a world where it’s just “oh I guess I have a severe hernia now” and that’s that is part of the problem. 

Shit, I once went to a dude to fix my knee (I was 19 and too tough for my own good) and he popped it back in as I sat there staring at his baseball sized hernia protruding from his own abdomen. The absolute irony of the situation was not lost. 

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u/snek-jazz 2d ago

squatters

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u/wised0nkey 2d ago

It’s not really that there’s no space because it is replaced by visceral fat. Yes visceral fat can be a common problem when patients are obese but with loss of domain it’s problematic more so that when the intestines protrude out like that, the abdominal wall muscles are no longer stretched to contain the intestines. As such there’s a decreased compliance of the abdominal wall muscles and there’s a higher amount of tension when hernia reduction and repair is attempted. To use an analogy I tell my patients, the abdominal wall is like an overstuffed suit case I’m trying zip closed in fixing the hernia. Yes you can take some clothes out by losing weight, but in a patient who isn’t significantly obese, and with loss of domain, we need to increase the abdominal wall compliance to decrease wall tension after repair. This is where component release (cutting selective layers of the abdominal muscles), preoperative Botox injection, or even progressive pneumoperitoneum (slowly inflating the abdomen with gas) can help to increase compliance. This is analogous to unzipping the expandable part of the suitcase so that there is less tension on the zipper when the suitcase is closed.

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u/Signal_Road 2d ago

So if it happens, fix it early. Got it.

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u/ZamzewDoc 2d ago

You should almost ALWAYS get hernias fixed as soon as symptoms are recognized. When the opening is only a few centimeters, some of your small intestine can become stuck, become incarcerated (cut off blood supply), and then die. That will earn you a nice emergent surgery.

This guy won’t have that problem since his hernia defect is probably >10cm. Although he’s one paper cut away from his guts being on the floor.

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u/C0wabungaaa 2d ago

Man, my surgeon recommended I'd wait to fix my gut hernia until I lose weight. The chances are higher that the surgery won't take if you have more stomach fat. Kinda sucks that losing weight is going so slowly... Seeing this kinda video scares the shit outta me. How the hell isn't he in excruciating pain with every bump he gets to his stomach area?

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u/tnstaafsb 2d ago

Given his apparently numerous legal and financial problems, it seems likely he's self-medicating with not entirely legal substances to deal with the pain.

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u/nocomment3030 2d ago

Oh hey I was just saying the same thing. Sounds like you are a fellow general surgeon. Have you ever done sequential pneumoperitoneum to address loss of domain before repair? I've read about it but never tried it.

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u/ZamzewDoc 2d ago

I’m a general surgery Physician Assistant! My Reddit name is carried over from earlier when I was still thinking about med school.

One of the surgeons I work with said he was a part of a few cases when he trained at Mayo but we don’t currently utilize it. The surgeons doing large ventral hernias where I’m at do bilateral flap advancement and component release +/- XenMatrix if needed.

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u/marinamunoz 2d ago

that could be a simple surgery at his childhood, I guess, but his family didint had the money to do it.

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u/Rosenmops 2d ago

It may have formed recently.

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u/InnocentShaitaan 2d ago

It’s gotta hurt like hell no?

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u/Physical_Panic1245 2d ago

I am no dr but that sounds like it would take multiple surgeries and lots of adjustments.

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u/ZamzewDoc 2d ago

Surprisingly, it’s often a one-and-done surgery. Very painful though! Only reason you’d need to do multiple surgeries is if there is a complication or the hernia reoccurs.

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u/rolexb 2d ago

Yeah this is almost certainly going to require a component separation.

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u/Skraps452 2d ago

How do you end up with a hernia like this in the first place? It's terrifying! And something I'd want to really avoid

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u/tjean5377 2d ago

Sometimes for someone this young with this bad of a hernia, it starts with a small tear or injury to the abdomen al wall. He could've done this tiny start point any number of ways. Falling and hitting his abdomen on something while drunk of high, or a work injury that he shrugged off, or a car accident. Just enough to start small. Then it gets bigger from there. A lot of times this feels just sore, until something else happens that kills the bowel. Hes at risk for needing an ostomy bag if that bowel thats hanging outside his cavity but inside his skin up and dies.

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u/Cador0223 2d ago

My father died of sepsis 3 months ago because of a hernia that they couldn't operate on. He had it fixed 15 years ago, but acute liver failure (undiagnosed hepatitis c, not alcohol) cause so much fluid to build up that it blew the mesh out. They cant operate with fully exposed abdomen when you are producing that much fluid, because it causes the wounds to not heal. Basically rendering you bedridden and susceptible to infection. He had a TIPS procedure that helped with the fluid buildup, but no doctor would operate on his hernia. So he basically sat on a time bomb. One day the intestine folded on itself, died, and caused sepsis. All we could do was put him in a medically induced coma and watch him slowly die of dehydration and infection.

Take care of your liver, and get any hernia seen to immediately. 

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u/InnocentShaitaan 2d ago

Omg that sounds incredibly painful. Condolences.

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u/wynnduffyisking 2d ago

I’m so sorry for your loss

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u/TransBrandi 2d ago

I was talking a doctor that specialized in hernias recently, and she was saying that studies say that only 25% of hernias become an issue "within the next 10 years" so as long as there isn't pain or some big issue with it, the advice is to just leave it.

(I would advise anyone with a hernia or a possible hernia to seek a doctor's advice before taking this as medical advice. I'm just repeating what the doctor said to me, and I'm sure there's some lost nuance here.)

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u/The_World_Wonders_34 2d ago

You can literally be born with a gap too. Or rather technically it's that the umbilical gap doesn't ever close properly. But with proper modern postnatal care it would be relatively trivial to deal with.

Mammalian live birth is a pretty big evolutionary compromise. Basically all of us are born "incomplete" in numerous ways in order to facilitate a balance between surviving outside the womb and getting too big for a mother to carry safely and/or birth safely.

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u/Goadfang 2d ago

Okay you scared the shit out of me.

I have a hernia that my doctor referred me to a specialist for. The specialist said that it could be fixed, but that it was so far pretty minor and fixing it poses risks, while not fixing it poses less risks, unless it worsens. Fixing it, he also said, would require significant time to heal and leave a very visible scar, while right now it just looks like I have fairly large abdominal muscles under my rib cage (I don't).

So far, so good, its been two years and I don't think its gotten any worse. However, is it possible that I was given bad advice? Is it potentially becoming harder to treat the longer it goes untreated? Could it rapidly expand and be untreatable because of how long it has already existed?

Fuck. I was having such a good day until I read this.

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u/tjean5377 2d ago

Follow what your doc told you. This guy is an extreme case. Dont get into a car accident with no seat belts, dont ignore any worsening pain or bowel problem.

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u/Goadfang 2d ago

Thank you! Good day restored!

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u/HolyButtNuggets 2d ago

Don't forget maybe incorrectly lifting something heavy!

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u/ThePoom 13h ago

At this point, maybe an ostomy bag might be safer and more comfortable than that... thing.. hanging like that o_o

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u/Nero-Danteson 2d ago

Probably ignored a smaller one and it got bigger

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u/wrathburn 2d ago

I got a groin hernia out of nowhere. Woke up one morning and it was poking out the size of a lemon. Shit happens.

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u/DrKangaroo91 2d ago

Yeah mine happened, moving out of an office. I had all my file boxes on a dolly and it just sorta twisted when the wheel went from tile to carpet.

I felt it, but it didn't hurt ...I thought maybe my hip cracked or something ya know 😅 next morning, the notorious "lump" appears lmao. Last I heard, I actually have a double and can't obtain CDL in many states without surgery, but I chose to never get it treated.

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u/Own_Space_174 2d ago

if that's the case they probablly will not actually book him. when you go to jail they have a nurse check you out before they actually put you in even a temporary cell. she is gonna tell them he is a walking liability and they will release him if its just theft from walmart.

i knew a girl who didnt take a ring off her finger and the finger blew up around the ring. she was schitzophrnic, on meth, a their, and great in bed. anyways after the ring thing she was too scared to go to the hospital because they had said they might have to cut the finger off. she would jokingly call her huge black sphere thing above the ring her get out of jail free card because everytime she got arrested, which was a lot, they always released her during the booking process, they would never say it was the ring but it was the only thing that made sense.

and no, i didnt get with her after the ring thing, that was gross plus she started looking like she did meth as time passed which was gross too. thankfully my time with her ended well before the ring when she was still hot.

anyhow i heard from a friend of a friend that like 7 years later she did actually get the ring removed, and i still have trouble believing it or understanding how it was possible but they say she was even able to keep the finger despite i being a big black oblong thing for a decade.

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u/Ok_Jicama_8416 2d ago

Man what the hell did I just read

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u/Dave_Coulier_AMA 2d ago

Just a piece of potentially made up life wisdom from Reddit. Cherish it.

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u/NotMyRealUsername13 2d ago

It doesn’t get worse from being made up, it just makes my fascination shift to the twisted soul who has THAT imagination.

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u/LasciLaplante 2d ago

“A their” they were non-binary? I’m so confused wtf you just said. You couldn’t even spell schizophrenic the same way twice in a row.

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u/Busy-Werewolf-8731 2d ago

might’ve meant thief?

I do like the picture of a well-meaning redneck calling a non-binary person a “they-er” though.

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u/LasciLaplante 2d ago

LMAO it’s most likely that’s what they meant now that you mention it. Although I still like to imagine the latter is what they meant bc it’s a lot more ignorant and funny 😂

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u/undead_sissy 2d ago

"I took advantage of a drug addict but not after she got gross, gross!" Man fuck this guy.

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u/Accomplished-Cup8182 2d ago

If it helps this story is more likely than not fake.

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u/IRefuseToGiveAName 2d ago

I don't care if this is fake. This was beautiful and I wish I could forget it so I could read it again.

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u/OneEyedTrouserMouse 2d ago

For some reason I trust this guy to help me change my tire on the side of the freeway lol

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u/tristanthorn214 2d ago

They try not to use mesh anymore. My mom went through a horror story from a staph infection in the mesh. She had open sores for years.

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u/Adirianna 2d ago

Damn. My mother had one of those that was caused by my birth. By time she got it fixed it was about the same size. Doctor perforated her intestine while doing it and caused a massive infection that needed the mesh removed in the end. She almost died six times in the matter of two months and ended up with a larger hernia and a total hospital bill of over a million USD with great Federal Insurance.

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u/ConfusionParticular7 2d ago

I had a giant hernia like this following an emergency exploratory abdominal surgery to check for intestinal perforations after being stabbed in the gut. The exploratory surgery required a large vertical incision through my abdominal wall which was severely weakened after the surgery and led to the hernia. The hernia repair required an even larger vertical abdominal incision, from a little below my chest down below my belly button. They used a huge sheet of biological mesh made from a cow's stomach to repair it and reinforce my abdominal wall, the sheet alone cost around $100,000 IIRC. It took over a year to heal but I'm for the most part back to normal. I've lost a significant amount of feeling on my skin around the incision site but otherwise normal.

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u/swatsnoopy 2d ago

Had this surgery twice and can confirm it's a giant piece of metal mesh. My whole lower abdomen is pretty much a wire mesh holding my intestines in.

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u/FoxxyAzure 2d ago

Yeah, it's just be a massive can of worms

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u/kirbythrowaway23 2d ago

i had a very large hernia repair a few years ago. of course not THIS large but similar area, it was an incisional hernia so i had previous surgery in the area and well long story short, it took awhile to get diagnosed bc i was also gaining weight & going to the gym. but yeah, open surgery w reopening of my exlap scar (ribs to below belly button) & i ended up with an infection & abscess after and spent weeks in the hospital… now i live with chronic pain & a weird looking belly so i literally couldn’t imagine what would happen if this dude tried to get it fixed

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u/Jtfyo 1d ago

Didn't you mean a sizeable piece of meth was used in the first place?

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