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In reply to the discussion: My experience with Universal health Care [View all]MADem
(135,425 posts)Family member suffered a brain stem stroke.
By a small miracle, he was not paralyzed, but he had severe deficits on one side as well as speech. He was hospitalized for several days in intensive care, checked by nursing staff around the clock, and had not one, but two, primary physicians assigned to his case. He was treated in the hosptal with the standard scans, MRIs, what have you, blood thinners and a measure of physical therapy was started nearly immediately.
He was then transferred (ambulance ride) to one of the best rehab hospitals in the world--it was the same place where Theresa Heinz went after her incident. There, he received unbelievable physical/occupational therapy, medications, massage therapy, psych eval and support, etc. He "worked" an eight hour day, seven days a week, with therapists, and ate pretty good too, once he got out of "eating school" (strokes impact swallowing, so he had an eating coach in hospital and initially in rehab). Many in our family would visit around mealtime and we were permitted to go to the cafeteria, buy a meal and sit in the dining room with our loved one and share a meal--made the whole process very nice. We'd spend the evening together chatting/watching TV--very comfortable arrangement.
To make what could be a very long story short, his therapists took him from mumbling/slurring to speaking clearly to singing, and from a wheelchair to a walker, from having no use of one arm to being able to write without any noticeable change in handwriting. At that point, he was discharged to a "lesser" rehab facility.
At the "lesser" facility, he got less rehab, but it was all focused on walking. This facility got him using the walker with aplomb. He had sufficient balance that they allowed him to be discharged if he had help. He was itching to go home so we stepped up to provide the "help," to include therapy sessions to encourage the walking. He could have had a visiting nurse, but that was eschewed because family was available. He then went to "outpatient" therapy. The outpatient therapy consisted of getting him from a walker to a four point cane, with a brace. That's where he's at, at this point, and his doctors say it is a miracle he lived, kept his marbles, and was able to recover sufficiently to perambulate at all.
Oh, this poor guy was unemployed....had no insurance...and his unemployment insurance had run out. He had applied for some assistance but it hadn't kicked in yet. He was in a bad situation, make no mistake.
Anyway....cost to him for all that medical treatment and ongoing care?
$0.00
He's disabled, make no mistake, but not so much that he doesn't volunteer to help brain injured and PTSD vets in his community. He's able to drive, so he drives them around, makes sure they get to appointments, and things of that nature. He's also back to singing with friends, and his voice gets better every year.