Posted on 04/16/2020 9:25:52 AM PDT by Kaslin
MADISON — A northern Illinois man with fast-growing leg and abdominal aneurysms was forced to cancel his scheduled surgery. His doctor told him the operation, although very necessary, was a “nonessential” procedure in the COVID-19 era.
If left unattended, the aneurysms could cause blood clots, blocking blood flow. If the bulges burst in his stomach, they could cause severe pain, an extreme drop in blood pressure, shock, even death.
But the man, who lives near the Wisconsin border, said his doctor had no choice but to postpone his surgery to free up resources for coronavirus patients.
Concern has risen in the month since the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that “all elective surgeries, nonessential medical, surgical, and dental procedures” must be delayed because of the pandemic. In Wisconsin, Gov. Tony Evers’ administration quickly followed suit. The idea was to not tax badly needed hospital space and equipment during the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis.
But what of those whose health has been compromised because they were forced to delay pain-relieving, even life-saving surgeries and tests? They have been asked to sacrifice for the “greater good” of the coronavirus fight.
“What about the dentists that have closed down, the number of mouth cancers they could have detected in the early stages?” said Rep. Mary Felzkowski (R-Irma) a vocal critic of government’s abuse of emergency powers.
“Think of the mammograms, the colonoscopies, the other diagnostic tests put on hold because of COVID-19,” added Felzkowski, a cancer survivor. “A Stage 1 cancer could have been caught before going to a Stage 4.”
“Are these lives any less important?”
And that really is the question, isn’t it.
It’s also about quality of life. As The Atlantic pointed out last month, “elective surgery does not mean optional surgery.” It means “non-urgent.” But urgent is not always easy to define.
Gerard Doherty, chair of the surgery department at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, told the publication that surgical procedures fall into one of three categories. About 25 percent — such as joint replacements or weight loss surgeries — may be delayed with few serious repercussions. Another 25 percent are life-threatening emergencies, such as serious heart problems or perforated bowels. The remaining 50 percent are the question marks, with “some potential for harm,” Doherty said. That could include some forms of cancer or problems with blood vessels in the arms or legs, like our source from northern Illinois.
Dr. David Hoyt, executive director fo the American College of Surgeons, says not all elective procedures are considered the same under federal and state directives. He said the most serious, such as cancer surgeries and transplants, are going ahead without delay. The ACS also is coming out with guidelines to prioritize certain surgical procedures.
“The commitment of surgeons to serve their patients is unyielding,” Hoyt said. Maybe, but those decisions aren’t always up to doctors.
“I’m one of many Americans waiting in limbo for a surgery because of coronavirus. I have a hip problem that cannot be solved with physical therapy, and my quality of life is miserable while I wait for the hospital — cleared out to make way for potential COVID-19 patients — to reschedule my procedure,” wrote an anonymous source in The Federalist.
And the basics, primary care medicine, have taken a back seat to the pandemic. In a March 20 memo from the Department of Health Services, the agency advised Wisconsin dental practices “postpone all elective and non-urgent care treatment” until after the public health emergency has passed.
When will that be? Evers says it could be a month before he even begins to soften his “Safer at Home” order.
“I would fully expect another couple of weeks, a month, before we are in a position to actually say we’re ahead of the curve here and after that, we can start thinking about how we can relax things,” Evers told the television station,” KSTP-TV in Minnesota.
His emergency powers, however, would be subject to legislative approval by May 12, according to state statute.
For now, dentist offices like Thousand Oaks Dentistry in Sun Prairie are complying.
“In light of the current coronavirus outbreak, our office has transitioned to limited hours for emergency procedures under state guidelines,” the practice’s voicemail message states.
The same goes for the Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Surgery Center, which is closed until further notice, “with the hope of opening in early May.”
What will the lapsed health care toll be by that time for the many waiting for “non-essential” procedures?
A skeptical mind may wonder if some of these emergency orders are an attempt to accomplish political goals by non-political means.
Deaths other than wuhan flu do not fit the narrative.
Karenopoly. The rule of the Oprah generation.
Had to have a graft put in 8 years ago when mine bulged larger than 5 centimeters.
One of the procedures not to hold off on. If you have one just sitting on the toilet with constipation and straining can blow it.
Elvis?
A friend of my husband’s is in a nursing home because he has a catheter because of an enlarged prostate. If he had surgery and it was successful, he could go home after recovery and not run the risk of catching coronavirus in the nursing home. Surgery deferred in definitely.
Step daughter’s BFF since HS, had a gel form around her heart, Pericardial Effusion, they had to hold her in hospital several days before they could do the surgery to remove it.
It’s weird this is a thin very active woman.
Yet niece who uses Plaquenil the Trump Pill, has to have it daily, she has Lupus and Sjogren’s + a lot of other health issues. To make matters worse the abusive husband she is trying to divorce is STALKING Her and the 2 kids. Court closed so no progress or a Restraining order. He drinks shoots DOPE with the local cops. Police chief says he doesn’t have the Power to stop the Stalking. Kids are Terrified. She has video & txts shows up in different cars. She has a 9mm Glock, No Permit.
Is that covid related? Because afaik, they can clear up the pericardial effusion with antibiotics in many cases.
I hope the stalker gets some sense. Hopefully he’s done abusing the niece and the kids. That’s just downright mean to put kids in the middle of terror like that. It’s gotta be hard enough for kids right now.
A routine screen caught it, the company she works for has over seas people in and out. The ruled Covid out.
Stalker is a Dope addict drunk, pathological liar. It’s more the near 15 yr old who is the target, He is slow to do things because of the Duchenes, talks funny, gets bullied in school to. Duchenes is the worse of all the MD’s. Muscles will eventually put him in a wheel chair and early death. Taken a yr to get him in to a Ped. Neurologist in July. It’s a gene passed from father to daughter then to the males she has. Rare a female gets it.
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