We finally figured out where my mom lost her cell phone…she sent it through the dish washer…time for a new phone
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Good value on the trade-in since it’s extra clean.
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Any thoughts on wireless tv speakers for the hard of hearing?
My dad has a wireless headphone set that he likes. Has a charging stand they sit on next to the TV, auto connects when you take them off the stand, and you can use them with or without muting the actual TV. Can get the name if that sounds like a good fit for you.
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Fun times with old man Rugby.
He’s been super extra confused for the last 8 or 9 days, a bunch of tests came back negative, doctor sent us for a CT scan.
As soon as it was done they were like “go straight to the ER”
He’s apparently got a bleed on the brain, must have been there for a while, 27mm depth with an 18 mm midline shift, whatever that means. Seems fairly significant based on a brief google.
Been in the ER for a while. First doctors has done a bunch of checks. Other than the confusion he seems okay.
Waiting for the neurosurgeon now. First doctor says they may need to operate, but may also monitor.
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An update. Written for another medium.
A love letter to Australia’s public health system.
I sit with my father in a small, curtained off room in Monash medical centre, a large public hospital in Australia’s public health system.
Monash is a good hospital, but not so different to any of the other 697 public hospitals across Australia.
A few days ago we went to see my dad’s doctor because he was even more confused than normal.
We went to the same clinic where every 3 months he sees a nurse for a preventive check-up, a service provided to keep old folks healthy and out of hospital. That service is free.
Over a series of tests, we dealt with a doctor, three technicians, a nurse, and two receptionists. All of them competent, caring and professional. With a few exceptions, the services were free.
A follow up appointment led to a referral for a CT scan for dad’s brain.
A scan that showed a significant bleed on the brain.
This led to a quick referral to the ER, where we were instantly triaged by another competent, caring and professional nurse.
And then we waited. Surrounded by other patients, some of whom may have needed treatment more urgently, some of whom did not.
Mums and dads worried about toddlers, old folks with their husbands and wives, a drunk teen with a broken ankle, being a little obnoxious to an extremely patient nurse.
The sound of someone crying uncontrollably, in my imagination having the worst day of their life, but surrounded by competent, caring professionals.
And we moved through the process… slowly. Blood pressure, an ECG, blood tests, followed by a full medical and a referral to the surgeon.
We spoke to a surgeon who had just come out of theatre, and then we waited.
The surgeon who then called us, from the operating room, to say they had been pulled into an emergency, but wanted to update us.
They didn’t have a bed, but they were going to move people around based on need.
And we waited.
And then after an hour we spoke with the surgeon.
A brain-surgeon.
A surgeon who took time to explain everything in depth and slowly.
A surgeon who had trained at some of the best Universities in the UK and Australia.
A surgeon who bonded with my dad about their time in Oxford, and talked to him about Rutherfordium, one of the obscure elements of the periodic table. Named, like the surgeon’s son, after a famous physicist.
A surgeon who explained the risks in clear language, pulling no punches.
A surgeon who said that we couldn’t do the surgery tonight, because another emergency was coming in, and that took priority.
A surgeon whose time, and skill, and patience, and good humour, are provided for free.
And so we wait. We wait in a system where valuable medical resources are clearly rationed based on need and priority, but where we’ve felt supported every step of the way.
Surgery is tomorrow, I hope it’s okay. Safe in the hands of the slow… competent, caring and professional… free… public health service of Australia.
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Best of luck to Rugby senior, bud. Ill absolutely be thinking of him and what you wrote above today. Anyone who ever complains “But if we had universal healthcare we would have to wait like all those schlubs in countries with socialized medicine” should read your post. The waiting is torturous, yes, but imagining anybody in this country without money getting to the point youre at now, surgery scheduled less than 48 hours with a competent world class surgeon is ludicrous here.
And thats the rub. There is only one group of people in the States who would get the kind of respect, care, and attention you have received so far and that’s the wealthy. That level of care is afforded to everyone in Australia, but if you don’t have the bucks in the States, you’re little more than cattle in an emergency situation.
Im glad that through this extremely difficult situation for you, the worry and stress over the cost of your dad’s care is the furthest thing from your mind. That is how it should be for everyone.
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Nearly everyone I know in a public health system has stories like this one.
Its why despite best efforts, the bad guys will only take it away from us now by stealth, or from our cold dead hands.
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Its funny this came up today. My knee fucked around on me today so now I get to decide whether to try to wait for a GP appointment 3 daya from now, or go to urgent care and pay 5X the amount for likely the exact same care.
Merica!
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Best of luck Rugby and Rugby Dad. Have always appreciated you here and appreciate your posts on this topic even if they don’t paint the rosiest picture of the health care system someone like myself wishes I had.
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Its a pretty Rosie picture from my perspective. Elite medical care is so expensive and so hard to produce, I think it feeling a little bit rationed but available to everyone is probably the right point
The only experience that could be better is what the haves get in a privatised system, but that’s predicated on a bunch of the have nots not getting that experience.
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Old man Rugby out of surgery and seems to be doing well.
They drilled two holes in his skull to release the pressure and then washed the blood clots out.
Funky stuff.
My brother flew in from NZ and took over from me and Mrs Rugby at the hospital. Really appreciated that as I’ve been able to go home after nearly 36 hours there.
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Wonderful news 
lol my knee took an arrow in the last couple days but already had an appointment for bloodwork follow up on Friday, so trying to make it until then.
Stumble into an archery range?
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I used to be an adventurer like you
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I don’t care if there are 100 Marksmans in the ICU with arrows in their heads
I haven’t posted much about it because it’s so convoluted, but my father-in-law is 87 years old. He has zero assets and skipped out on many many debts, although I wouldn’t say he’s “in debt” because nobody would ever bother coming after him because he has literally nothing. His social security is like $2K/month, 100% of which goes to a Jewish home that my wife fought tooth-and-nail to get him into. I think rack rate at this place is probably $10K/mo, so he’s almost entirely there by virtue of their charity and my wife’s tireless efforts. Good time to mention that he left my wife’s mother and the family when my wife was 17 to live with his mistress, then my wife’s mother died (after he cut off her health insurance), and then he married the mistress. Also, he was once a multi-millionaire LA real estate developer and blew it all. I could go on and on with stories about this guy. You get one guess who he supports politically. Anyway here’s a message he sent today about the extraordinary Jewish home which feeds him, bathes him, houses him, and wipes his ass for free.
Thank you. Just another indication that they have no idea what they are doing here. One hand does not know what the other is doing, or has been done. It’s really dealing with idiots on a regular basis. I didn’t need to get a college education to talk to them .
I understand you, and appreciate your assessments. You don’t live with this twenty four hours each day.
What kind of country am I leaving to you, and your children?
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I’m sorry for what you have to put up with from him. I’m grateful he is well tended to at this stage of his life despite himself.
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Thank you! I have always had very good boundaries with him (much easier for me since I’ve really only ever known him as a grifter). He drives my poor wife absolutely insane, but she is a people-pleaser who puts up with (imo) way too much. If she weren’t that way, she’d have left me!
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