Anyone else ever been in this situation??

[JenkazMrs]

Hi all,

To say that I am upset and annoyed would be an understatment! I have included the link to the discussion I started about it and have sought legal advice. I feel as though I am fighting not just for my husbands life but the whole NHS at times!

http://deannejenkyns.proboards46.com/in ... 555&page=1

Deanne

x

http://www.lc-action4life.co.uk

[Treebywater]

Deanne,

I've never heard of anything so outrageous.... Wow. So many prayers as you all work through this. Whoever made the decision to refuse your husband treatment is a special kind of evil.

[blaze100]

Hi Deanne, It is hard to believe. It is something I think the dem election campaigns might be interested in bring to the public spotlight, considering the cancer angle and the national health care angle.

Have you considered contacting Clinton or Edwards campaign headquarters?

I am sorry this is happening to you. I am sending prayers for you and your husband, but perhaps the political arena can get some help.

Barb

[JenkazMrs]

Hi,

Thanks fo your support. I have written to our New PM Gordon Brown and also our local Member of parliment. This is all way out of control. They don't like me having a voice...but as I have said on my website IT'S GONNA GET LOUDER!

Thanks again

Deanne

x

http://www.lc-action4life.co.uk

[RandyW]

One voice is but a whiper, but a thousand voices is a ROAR OF THUNDER!!!!! Let us know what we can do for oyu about this.

[JenkazMrs]

Gosh Randy,

I am struggling about what to do about it myself. I do know however that I will be involving the media. I can also comfort myself with the fact that the scan results were fantastic and he is doing so well. I am just so angry with the whole situation. All of you know on here what a battle this is without having added presure like this. I ended up in our hospital emergancy department on thurs night after the events of the day with chest pain. Anxiaty attack, was really scary, thought I was having a heart attack! Scared me so much and poor Jimmy was also worried sick. as if he has not got enough to worry about! If I can think of anything that may be of help I will let you know! Thanks so much!

Deanne

x

[Don M]

Deanne: I hope you get some resolution with this soon. It is hard to believe that one could be denied medical care because of a doctor having a hissy fit when you talk to another doc.

Don m

[Welthy]

"blaze100"]Hi Deanne, It is hard to believe. It is something I think the dem election campaigns might be interested in bring to the public spotlight, considering the cancer angle and the national health care angle.

Have you considered contacting Clinton or Edwards campaign headquarters?

I am sorry this is happening to you. I am sending prayers for you and your husband, but perhaps the political arena can get some help.

Barb

Barb -- Deanne lives in the U.K.

Deanne,

This is beyond reprehensible. Someone is deliberately targeting you for your activism. I thought that in the U.K. you could also seek private health care. Maybe that was Canada. Regardless, something posted on a bulletin board on the internet should NEVER be considered as grounds for non-treatment. Please let us know if there is anything we can do from here.

Hang tough,

Welthy

[Larry]

That has to be so frustrating and to me a American so unbelievable. I'm in agreement with Welthy thought's. Your situation is a good example of what is wrong with goverment ran medical care. I do believe if you can afford it in England there is private care. One thing about the good ol USA no matter if your broke or not you will get treatment. Yes there are exception's to the rule like all rule's.Good luck in your fight....

[Shar]

Hi Deanne,

This must be very hard for you. I am sorry this is happening, but glad to hear you are willing to fight.

I don't think government run medicare is the issue here at all, just a doctor with a way too big ego. I know that the medicare system here in Australia is wonderful, nobody gets refused treatment here at all. After seeing the documentary Sicko, I am glad I live here.

I just think you need to have a discussion with the hospital and find out if you can get by this guys ego.

Sharon

[blaze100]

Barb

[wendyr]

Attention Sharon in Australia: Sicko is not a documentary. There has not been one instance of an American doctor looking a patient in the eye and saying 'you have cancer, you have to go to Havana'

wendyr

[wendyr]

Deanne, I have cousins in England and friends in Canada and I hear this all the time. It turns my stomach that 'rationing' and cost come before cure and/or quality of life. Keep up the good fight. The squeaky wheel will get the grease eventually.

Not to get too political but to all of our American friends who want free health care, please pay attention and see if this is really what you want.

wendyr

[fillise]

Deanne,

To say I'm outraged at the treatment you and Jimmy are receiving is an understatement. Please let us know what we can do to help.

Susan

[Welthy]

Shar!

Please don't let another Michael Moore mockumentary be your vision of what the health care is like in the U.S. He really is just trying to get a dialog started on this issue in our country, but many people completely miss his sarcasm and actually believe everything he is saying. He freely utilizes artistic license and has no journalistic credentials, but that seems to part many people's hair. We certainly have issues that need addressing, but gee whiz, I'd pick our system over other's any day. I sincerely believe my husband is alive today because of the exceptional Doctors and healthcare we have here. Wendy is right about the "rationing" -- it sickens me to see that happening to people in countries with socialized healthcare. But it scares me more when I hear our politicians talking about wanting it.

People from all over the world routinely come to the Mayo clinic, not Havana, for different tests, diagnoses, and treatments. They aren't coming here because they can obtain the same high level of expertise in their own country!

Welthy

Deanne -- keep fighting! You rock! (But go a little easier on yourself -- no more ER's for you, okay? )

[JenkazMrs]

Hi Guys,

I just wanted to say I am overwhelmed by your support! Thanks so much!

((((hugs)))) to all!

Deanne

x

[Shar]

Hi All,

Didn't want to start an us versus them debate at all. Every country has it's problems, but I can only go by experience. Nobody in this country needs insurance to get health care. No matter if you are a millionaire or on a pension, care is the same if needed. I have not been billed one cent for all my treatment and have seen the top doctors. If I want private health care, that is my choice. However, during the past 3 years I have received the highest care all for no charge. Not sure what is wrong with that system at all.

Don't make judgements about a system that you have no knowledge about and I will try to do the same.

As for going to another country for treatment, a lot of the cancer research is being done here in this country. The new cervical cancer vaccine was discovered right here and is offered free of charge to all women 12 - 26 years of age. I don't know of anybody here being referred to any other clinics other than the ones on offer here. I know I don't need to travel anywhere else in the world to better the care I am receiving right here.

Aussie, Aussie , Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi!!!!!!!

Sharon

[j ross]

I used to be proud to be British but now I am ashamed of this country. I do not think the British really have any idea of what a situation like this is actually like. It is only when you suffer directly that you discover the horrors of this government. We are lucky so far we have the resources to have private treatment.Barry has been going for over three years now leading a normal existance. If we had stuck with the first nationalised health care oncologist I do not think this would be the case. Disgusting isn't it.

Jennie

[Larry]

Oh my God i can not believe anyone with any education or common sense would take Michael Moore Seroiusly. He is what i call a opportunistic film maker that is also a avowed socialist. He does not call him self that but just listen to his interview's. As for Australia i think they are truly great people and friend's of America. And i must say i've never heard any bad comment's on there health care system, so it is possible there's is working.But i've heard plenty of negative comment's on the Canadien and English health and European care system and most of it is about rationing and the enormous debt there piling up because of it.Some one said that my previous comment was not about politic's but a single doctor. Well i'll grant you part of that but with out the Goverment allowing it i have to wonder.I just hope there is success in combating the Doctor's attitude.

[Welthy]

"Shar"] I know that the medicare system here in Australia is wonderful, nobody gets refused treatment here at all. After seeing the documentary Sicko, I am glad I live here.

Crikey Shar! -- I was casting no aspersions about the health care system of our friends down-under, merely responding to make sure that people didn't think that this film was an accurate depiction of all health care in the U.S. I didn't even know that the Aussies had Government Health Care. "Medicare" in our country is the health care term for folks over 65, who have paid into the system for their entire working lives. People in all countries do pay for their health benefits, whether it be directly to an insurance carrier or through higher taxation.

This thread brings home the sad experiences of some of our friends in the U.K. and Canada. There are very subtle things about these systems that, as Jennie pointed out, their own citizens don't understand until they fall into the holes. I have left these boards on many occasions feeling frustrated and heart-broken by some of their problems getting appropriate treatment in a timely manner. That is why I am firmly behind any of Deanne's efforts to address these concerns and dearly want to help.

Welthy

[JenkazMrs]

Hi all,

Wow we have a debate going on now! appologise in advance for the long post

The NHS used to be one of the best in the world but lately it has been slated and it has been said that Cancer care is 3rd world! When Jimmy was 1st diagnosed I turned to the internet for hope and I found this website. Reading the posts on here gave hope. And I looked into other options. We were told by the oncologist to treat every day as our last! He basically put Jimmy in his box! I asked about treatment and he said he would give us what was available to them. That set alarm bells ringing straight away! I have copy and pasted from a poster I have just written to give you an insite to what has been is going on.

My name is Deanne Jenkyns. I have been campaigning for the drug Tarceva to be made available to my terminally ill husband James Jenkyns. The case has had a lot of media attention. The drug is being refused to patients in England even though it is available to NHS patients in Scotland and to some other patients in different areas in England through their local PCT. The PCT here have been refusing to fund the drug. So if a patient wants access to this drug they have to pay for it at the huge cost of £1740.00 per month! I started a campaign and set up a support website for patients finding themselves in the same position and finding themselves having to fight for or self fund a life prolonging drug. Some patients using this drug have been using it for a number of years having only been given months to live before they received it. My husband Jimmy is doing fantastic on this drug and his recent CT scan shows the drug is working and after only 8 weeks his tumour has shrunk by 33% and he is leading a full and normal life. Since setting up my website I have came into contact with many who are now self funding and fighting for this drug. This has became somewhat of a headache for the oncologist...His words! He is now refusing to treat Jimmy at all! All I have done is brought out into the open that their are other treatments available out their offering some patients a possible lifeline and we are now being persecuted for that. Had I not done my own research about other options available and lets face their aren't many for Lung Cancer patients goodness knows where we would be now. Bottom line..the fact that I have made a noise and spoke out for what’s right has left my husband without an oncologist and he has been told to go else where for treatment . We now have the clinical evidence the PCT have been asking for so why should we change hospitals simply because the oncologist does not like to be challenged and thinks it is wrong of us to seek advice from else where and voice our opinions! I also highlighted the fact on my website that patients are being charged different amounts through the same oncologist for the exact same drug! A difference of £150.00 WELL GUESS WHAT? MY VOICE IS ABOUT TO GET LOUDER! I know that you may not be affected by this now, but you or someone close to you could be in the future.

Each area in the England has it's own Primary health care trust (PCT) and even though there are guidlines isseud from NICE (national Institute of clinical excellence) it is up to each PCT in a particular area whether or not they will fund a drug or not!! So depending on your poscode in other words. It does not matter that you pay the same amount of tax!

Thanks

Deanne

[Shar]

I guess I was just responding to others generalising regarding government run medicare. Yes, we do pay for health care in some way. However since having to go on the Disability Pension over here, my health care has remained the same as when I worked and I obviously pay no tax nor a levy for health care.

Our system does work and one thing I am proud of is that everyone gets looked after regardless of income or lack of. I don't have the worry of insurance companies refusing to pay for treatment or having to fight with them to do so. I can't imagine having to go through that and fight this disease at the same time.

When Bill Clinton was in office he consulted our government on our health system to see if it could be implemented over there. That's because it does work.

We are given the impression over here that if you are a minimum wage worker or on welfare in the States you struggle to get appropriate health care. That's the picture being painted for us. I am more than happy to hear that is incorrect. I hope it is.

Sharon

[tiredmom959]

Actually, if you're on welfare in the U.S., you're usually o.k. You'll get a green card and may not have access to every single doctor, but most of the doctors I'd use anyway.

Minimum wage, unless you have coverage through a parent or spouse, you pretty much work to pay for your coverage with little profit.

I am basically a conservative republican ... my husband works for a major U.S. corporation as an electrical engineer and has health coverage. Here's my concern ... he just needed quite a few, fairly expensive tests and visits to specialists (all of which, thank GOD, turned out fine). When I saw the amount we had to pay (which was 10%, after a deductible was met), I was horrified. I guess to this point I've led such a sheltered life health wise, I was ignorant as to what our benefits, when put to the test, really covered.

My mother has medicare and a supplemental policy for which she pays (Medigap perhaps). Her coverage has been excellent, again thank GOD. She owes very little, if any.

But, I realized ... if my husband, myself or my children were ever to need treatment for something like cancer, even with my husband and I having decent incomes by any standard, would likely be instantly bankrupt. Something isn't right about that.

What do most of the people in the U.S. do when faced with these medical bills?

[Larry]

Sharon it is true there are some cases of the poor here not recieving health care but that is many time's there own choosing.It is a Law for example in America that no one can be refused emergency room treatment . But one thing i can absolutely guarantee that no matter the health system those in Goverment will alway's recieve the better treatment.I think you can say that for the rich, but i do not complain if the Rich recieve better treatment here being as they pay most the Taxes here(for those who doubt check the IRS statistic's).I'll give you one personal example of our Health care and that was with my Wife. She eventually lost her Kansas state Employee's insurance and when we told the Cancer center there first word's were she will still recieve her treatment's as the drug companies have a program where they give the needy and uninsured free drug's.Fortunatly we were able to hang on and were able to stay insured. But our Welfare system here is so abused by so many people that they actually cause hardship's on the truly needy by creating suspicion with those who are in charge. As for Bill Clinton all i can say without starting a fight with his believer's is he was the most political politician and shrudest i've ever known or read about and knew all the right button's to push. American's overwhelmly have alway's refused state run Health care as at one time our parent's and forefather's were strong independent people who felt the least Goverment was the best but unfortunatly i fear that attitude is changing.Hopefully we will retain our Republican form of Goverment and i do not mean the Republican party or the Democrat party but America is a Republic not a parlimentary Goverment.And last i heard our Medicare system is over 3 trillion dollar's in the red...Cheerio Mate...

[Don M]

There were 47 million uninsured Americans according to a census bureau report in 2006. These people don't go to see a GP. They wait until a problem gets serious and then go to the ER thus driving up medical costs for everyone else. A National Health Care Plan that works as it apparently works in Australia can't be a bad thing. However, if we in the US had a situation such as exists in Canada or the UK, from what I have read, I would not have been able to get my ck treatment, and that may be the only treatment that will work for me. My current tumor has ignored 2 sets of chemo and 33 sessions of radiation. I would like to see the 47 million Americans get good medical care, but I also want to be able to have access to the latest advances in cancer treatment, not just average good care.

Don m