Oh, Tony!!!

I'm hoping your feeling better guy! I feel your frustration, but just like gall stones, this too shall pass.

Feel better my friend!

Regards,
Al

We are all thinking of you Tony and I hope everything is good for you once you have recovered from your recent treatment. It would be great if it turns out that this was the cause of your health problems and is clear now.

I was very lucky to find some very good brain surgeons and neurologists a few years back. I was working on Synth Zone at home back in 2000 when I felt a weird fizzing sensation in my head. I remember thinking I should see a doctor if it persisted ( even though I was self employed with no health insurance at the time ). Well that was pretty much the last thought I had because it turned out I was having a major brain aneurysm and started having seizures and fell into a coma. I ended up at USC hospital in downtown LA with no insurance .... oh dear ... But they have so much experience with gunshot wounds they have plenty of experience with brain injuries and miraculously managed to patch me together.

So between their incredible surgery and the rehab treatment I received over the next couple of months at Los Ranchos Amigos my attitude towards doctors and surgeons has really changed ( which had never been very postitive before that ). I guess I was very lucky and my wife and a programmer friend made sure Synth Zone never went offline while all this was happening. When I came out of brain surgery and my coma I couldn't talk, but I did manage to scribble "Synth Zone" almost illegibly on a piece of paper. No-one else could read what I wrote but my wife could and assured me that everything was OK.

So there still are some very good medical people around fortunately. And I was at the mercy of the public health system.


[This message has been edited by Nigel (edited 03-11-2005).]

Nigel, OMG, That is an amazing story. We're all glad you recovered from that.

Do you now have health insurance?

Scary thing just happened in my area. There is a major contract battle going on between Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield here in New York (my health provider) and one of our top health providers who happens to own 3 of the areas TOP hospitals.
http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/03/11/empire10.htm

The Hospitals have dropped Empire as the insurance company leaving thousands of doctors and patients without insurance coverage!!!!! Obviously this is a negotiation tactic, but I can't help but imagine the poor patients that are currently under hospital care that are NOT covered by insurance.

Where does this madness end?

Hey Nigel! I hope you have left this all behind you. I'm an absolute sensitive human and so I feel blue with every sad story I hear or read. So I like to hear that you've overcome your disease.


------------------
Greetings from Frankfurt (Germany),
Sheriff ;-)

Hi gang .... thnx for all the kind words and prayers .... I had sent my message on Wed, 3/9 and that night ended up with strong stomach pains again ..... I called the doc and he prescribed a different antibiotic .... he actually followed up 3 times that night to see how I was doing ... since I wasn't improving, he suggested I go back to the hospital, which I did ... I got out again today ... seems some fluid had developed at the surgical site which they first tried to treat with meds, but once it increased they stuck a needle in and drained it ... Another complication was a slight case of pneumonia and a slight collapse of the right lower lobe of the lung ... I have anti-bio's to take for the next week, and breathing exercises to do which should bring the lungs back to normal ... maybe I'll try some singing to expand the lungs ...
t.
PS: The most disappointing and frustrating part of this whole ordeal is that while in the hosp, as recent as last evening, I experienced that same damned chest pain I've been fighting with for the past year ... Of course, they found it was not cardiac, which is ALWAYS a good thing, but we are still no closer to finding out what it IS !!! ...
t.

[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 03-15-2005).]

[This message has been edited by tony mads usa (edited 03-15-2005).]

Nigel .... There is no doubt we've ALL had our share of illness, either our own or through a loved one, but MAN, yours had to be really scary ... so glad you are ok ....
t.