Shopping

Dear insansapinas,

Sometimes, I wonder why an inmate who is about to  die by lethal injection or electric chair because of the crime he committed has to be under the suicidal list to prevent him from comitting suicide. Those who becomes sick before the appointed hour is treated or  is brought to the hospital to save his life and then carry out the death sentence when the time comes. Is it because, Virginia, even those who are about to die has a right to live. Malabo ba? Ako rin nalalabuan. 


Shopping  
I am not referring to the past time of many women whether they're , married, single, divorced or widowed. I am not referring to that activity where you go inside the mall empty handed and come out with lots of shopping bags of merchandise, purchased on credit or cash.


I am referring to SHOPPING FOR DOCTORS. You do not choose your doctor at random. Even those who were referred to you do not necessarily the ones you choose. As patient, you check also their credentials, their facilities and practice.


It is not as easy as to search a doctor from the web or choose from the list provided by the accrediting insurance companies much less choose them  and asked them to be flown in a country. This is not an ordinary visit to the family doctor for an antiseptic, painkiller, pain reducer or gas problems.  NO WAY JOSE. This is more than getting the appropriate medications. This may entail a long process. During the first meeting, a connection is made (confidence is built up) as questions and answers are exchanged between the patient and the doctor. 


So what's the plan of the administration of solving the problem of GMA? Fly in specialists and if they are not the right doctors, fly them out and get a new team of specialists?  GANUN? I could not fathom how it is to be done without so much expense on the part of the government.


Besides, there are medications to consider. There are meds that are prohibited in one country but allowed in another country just because the local FDA would not stamp for its approval. A good example of this is a cancer med that had been outlawed in the US (could be the patent had already expired and they are no longer produced in the US since they generated very marginal profits). But they are still available in other countries. 


Then there are the new hospital equipment. As I am writing this article, I am watching the news  about the new MRI machine where more time is saved because of the new innovations. Do you know how long you stay inside the MRI to get a reliable scan of your organ? Not less than thirty minutes? Do I hear, "ow just thirty minutes, easy". Try getting inside a pipe that leaves only a few inch space for you to breathe and that is how it feels inside. 


I got a medical team to take care of my surgery and treatment but I still have an oncologist to assess and confirm the results. Onli in the Philippines when a kidney specialist could give professional opinion about bone problem?



Even my ordinary doctor has to refer me to a podiatrist to trim my toenails and check on my feet's blood circulation. In the Philippines, a friend of mine was advised to have her legs amputated by a regular doctor because he suspected that she had already gangrene. She declined. Now she is still climbing up and down the LRT stations. tsssk tsssk.


Pinaysaamerika