Free Health Care All The Way - :D [Archive]

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BOAS_N_PYTHONS

01-18-05, 05:13 PM

EVERYONE:

This was sent to me and I thought - wow!

http://img53.exs.cx/img53/6360/toothache9rj.png

A dentist found the source of the toothache Patrick Lawler was complaining about on the roof of his mouth: a 10-centimetre nail the construction worker had unknowingly embedded in his skull six days earlier. A nail gun backfired on Lawler, 23, on Jan. 6 while working in Breckenridge, a ski resort town in the central Colorado mountains. The tool sent a nail into a piece of wood nearby, but Lawler didn't realize a second nail had shot through his mouth, said his sister.

Following the accident, Lawler had what he thought was a minor toothache and blurry vision. On Wednesday, after painkillers and ice didn't ease the pain, he went to a dental office where his wife works. "We all are friends, so I thought the (dentists) were joking...then the doctor came out and said 'There's really a nail,'" his wife reported.

He was taken to a suburban Denver hospital, where he underwent a four-hour surgery. The nail had plunged about four centimetres into his brain, barely missing his right eye. "This is the second one we've seen in this hospital where the person was injured by the nail gun and didn't actually realize the nail had been imbedded in their skull," the neurosurgeon said. "But it's a pretty rare injury."

Despite his lack of medical insurance and hospital bills between $80,000 and $100,000 US, his wife Katerina said her husband is in good spirits.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/

Tony Pharosx

Asian Jon

01-18-05, 05:17 PM

My calculus teacher told me that yesterday. I found it odd how he unknowingly embedded the nail in his skull. *ouch!

Removed_2815

01-18-05, 05:29 PM

Originally posted by Asian Jon
I found it odd how he unknowingly embedded the nail in his skull.
I find this odd:
"This is the second one we've seen in this hospital where the person was injured by the nail gun and didn't actually realize the nail had been imbedded in their skull," the neurosurgeon said."

BOAS_N_PYTHONS

01-18-05, 05:33 PM

JON:

I actually worked alot with power air nail guns for a roofing company in my younger years and the speed these nails can come out are insane especially when you find out some yahoooo modifies his gun without the safety on it. Literally 3 - 5 nails on 1 point and shoot. I saw them all go into the wood in same area all side by side some just fly into the air so who knows how it got him in the head - maybe came direct from the mouth and assumed it was something else, who knows :D

Tony

crazy4reptiles

01-18-05, 05:37 PM

That is way too crazy... I read that in the paper yesterday.... I knicked my finger with a nail gun once and it hurt like hell, so how that would go unnoticed for 6 days is really strange.. maybe he was really high or somthing?

Rikki

01-18-05, 05:38 PM

I saw that on tv the other day, ouch!

oscar

01-18-05, 06:42 PM

Free Health Care All The Way

ok, free health care is wonderful on paper, but it has its limits too. i know both sides of the story as i am an american and my wife is canadian. when she was in CA and suffering from some intense migraines, it took her 2 weeks to see her doc and another week to get x-rays. if this guy was in CA, he might not have a $80K bill, but he very well might still have it in his skull waiting for his appointment. on the other hand, my sis-in-law is beating breat cancer and the gov't has been right onthe ball and she is doing fantastically.

two sides to every coin.

peterm15

01-18-05, 06:57 PM

well no matter what anyone says the canadian health system is good... could be better but good... my mom used to suffer from migranes (alot) and she went in one day they put her on oxygen and gave her a shot of something... thes had 1 since... and that was 12 years ago... and just last year she had a heart attack at 43 and before she was even able to give her health card they pulled he in and had almost a hole cardiac ward helping her... she had a massive blockage and a heart attack that was more than anough to kill her... they cought it just in time...

granted it could be better but they do go by severity rather than the size of the wallet... and as for family docs... i can usually get in the next day and wait no more than 20 min..

peterm15

01-18-05, 06:58 PM

BOAS_N_PYTHONS

01-18-05, 07:22 PM

EVERYONE:

Lets keep this calm this is stroking political genre and it might get shut down.

Tony

CDN-Cresties

01-18-05, 07:32 PM

Thats one expensive bill. I'd wish I could say more but...

oscar

01-18-05, 08:22 PM

lol.. i was wondering if anyone was going to be offended. that was not my purpose at all.. i just want people to see that all systems have their pros and cons.. no system whether it be political, a health care system, or even your way to care for your creatures has its pros and cons.

broad encompassing statements create blind spots that create problems. i did not claim that a private health care system was better, just that it has it strong points..

marisa

01-18-05, 08:29 PM

No more political talk or the thread will be closed.

Sorry guys, but it's a clear rule and helps us all keep calm when it comes to these discussions. :D

Marisa

peterm15

01-18-05, 10:25 PM

this is political??? lol... just to clarify i wasnt getting upset.. i was actually having a good time... no offence given (i hope) and none taken.. lol...

and it is true... no matter what system.. wether it be health or game.... everything has pros and cons...

i was reading through my g-friends bio book and in 1843 a guy got some spike or bar or something through his head.. and the only difference between him before and after is he went from being a quiet shy person to a very short tempered person... i found that humerous...

Removed_2815

01-18-05, 10:42 PM

You must be talking about Phineas Gage! Anyone who has taken pysch in University should be familiar with this case study... Not one of my favourite courses.
Ryan

marisa

01-18-05, 11:01 PM

"this is political??? lol... just to clarify i wasnt getting upset.. i was actually having a good time... no offence given (i hope) and none taken.. lol..."

Doesn't matter if someone got upset, didn't get upset, loved the discussion or hated it. If it starts bordering on a conversation of canada's system pros and cons VS. the USA's then it is too political for ssnakess.com :D

Marisa

peterm15

01-19-05, 12:25 PM

oh...i was only joking.. sorry... i was just meaning that it didnt seem political... trying to lighten the mood... and about the offence that was in responce to oscars post.....

sorry for the confusing.. i did realise what you were saying about political...

RMbolton... i dont know if that is the case.. it was in a gr 12 bio book... what about the other one where buddy got stabben in the head with a butcher knife and walked himself into the hospital..... i might be getting 2 stories mixed up though...

i still think the most amazing one was that young kid that got half his skull and half his brain shot off by a shotgun... and went on to graduate with honers from university or college.. now thats an amazing story... he did all that with half a brain, some ppl cant do that with a full one...:)

Removed_2815

01-19-05, 01:50 PM

Originally posted by peterm15

RMbolton... i dont know if that is the case..
From your description, it was without a doubt Phineas Gage (http://www.deakin.edu.au/hbs/GAGEPAGE/). In 1848 (there's controversy over the exact date), Phineas was laying track for a railroad when a small explosion launched a tamping iron into his skull, destroying a significant area of brain. It is one of the first cases that revealed direct evidence to the spatial organization of brain tissue (brain mapping) and how different areas are responsible for various functions; from vision to emotion, and everything in between.
This is how he is described on the link I provided (I didn't look into the page's content too much, I just googled his name and that's what came up, there's better information in my undergrad texts but I ain't diggin' 'em up!):
"Before the accident he had been their most capable and efficient foreman, one with a well-balanced mind, and who was looked on as a shrewd smart business man. He was now fitful, irreverent, and grossly profane, showing little deference for his fellows. He was also impatient and obstinate, yet capricious and vacillating, unable to settle on any of the plans he devised for future action. His friends said he was “No longer Gage.”"
Ryan

BOAS_N_PYTHONS

01-20-05, 03:54 AM

EVERYONE:

Just an update.

The Colorado construction worker who shot himself in the head with a nail gun - an accident he didn't discover until 6 days later - said he'll change his line of work from here on out. Wow - I have utmost respect for the next bit!

"I'll make pizzas," Patrick Lawler, 23, said Tuesday. Lawler, who may be released from the hospital as early as Wednesday, was working on a house when he accidentally fired the nail into his head. He said it felt like he had been hit with a steel baseball bat.

I suppose the pain must have came up gradually amongst the assumed seriousness and focus he must have while on the job! It was hard to believe...and now it is harder to believe. This man didn't realize the gun had fired a 10-centimetre nail through his mouth and 3.8 centimetres into his brain until six days later, when he went to a dental office complaining of a toothache. Hahaha, this guy is tough as nails! The X-ray we saw revealed the nail, and surgeons removed it just last week.

"The nail could have been millimetres to one side and it would have severed an optic nerve, leaving him blind," said Dr. Sean Markey, operater of Lawler. "He's unbelievably lucky."

The uninsured nail-man said he doesn't know how he'll pay medical bills estimated to reach $100,000. "I was self-employed on the job," he said. "I would have had to carry my own health insurance. But I didn't think I'd shoot myself with a nail, you know?"

Hopefully making pizzas will offer this poor guy some insurance.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/

Tony