We have two Italian Greyhounds (affectionately referred to as IG’s). Dixie was two when we brought Yankee home. I read that IG’s are happier with another animal and thought that another IG would be half as much trouble and twice as much fun. After a few days of establishing a pack order the two became great friends.
For those not familiar with IG’s, they are about ¼ scale of the famous racetrack breed. In their finest form they look half-starved, even though it may look cruel to most pet owners, that’s when they are the most active and truly happiest. A pound or two slows them down tremendously and even becomes dangerous.
They are fearless leapers. No matter how many times I try to explain to them Newton’s Laws of Gravity, it does no good. Heart-stopping stories abound over the internet chat rooms about their Superman like tendencies. The extra weight increases the risk of broken bones.
They are also tremendous jumpers. In her hey-day Dixie could jump straight up over 6 feet high to grab a snack. At will she could jump flat-footed on to the dining room table, landing as soft as a butterfly with sore feet.
But more than anything, those long thin legs were meant for speed. Unfortunately, they can run faster than they can think. IG’s become single focused when running. Twice I have nearly had a heart attack as they ran full speed into each other from opposite directions, tumbling like out of control race cars. Chasing after one another, they’d scrape the trees so close that bark literally flew off and misjudging turns, wiping-out in to brick walls and other immoveable objects was a common occurrence.
Well, one day the inevitable finally happened, Dixie went into a door facing and snapped her left leg. The break was clean through. Her little paw dangling 90 degrees from just below her knee told me everything I didn’t want to know.
I did the best I could to immobilize it as my wife called the vet. As soon as we got there they took her back for x-rays. She was obviously in a lot of pain but had quit yelping after I first picked her up. In fact, she was the calmest of any of us.
My wife was crying because of the dog. I was crying because of the bill. If I would’ve known how much it was going to cost in the lobby I would have cried a lot harder. This was going to be a big payday for the vet.
The choices were simple, they could try a cast, but it would probably not set right because of the very tiny, toothpick-thin fibula. The vet recommended a titanium plate and screws.
The surgery alone would run $1,000. The total bill would actually end up over $1,800. I could have bought 3 Dixies and a lifetime supply of dog food for that much. My wife got mad because she didn’t like my sense of humor, but I wasn’t joking. I know the power of the purse, and I have no intention of getting hit by hers again so I relented.
The next morning they put in the custom made plate and screws. It was really tricky because the screws had to be big enough to hold things together, but small enough not to interrupt blood flow.
More painful (if you can believe that) than the vet bill, was the care and attention Dixie would require for the next 3 to 4 months. For the next three months she would have to be kept in a crate at all times.
For the first three weeks when we took her out to go potty we would have to hold on to her. No walking was allowed. It is absolutely crucial for dogs to find the perfect spot to relieve themselves, not any spot will do. Humans cannot fully appreciate this until they miss an entire showing of Monday Night Football.
A few weeks after the surgery we got a bit of good news, the leg was healing fine. She would still have to be crated, but we could put her on a real tight lead and let her stand on her three good legs to go potty. In about two to three week intervals after that she was allowed a little more freedom.
Slowly things got back to normal. The first month after she got full clearance to run was rather tiring. Each jump, every full trot run brought held breaths in anticipation of another vet trip.
It has taken two full years to get to where she no longer yelps or pulls up after a full run or sharp turn. She has lost a noticeable amount of her initial burst. She can longer track down Yankee from behind, but they still love to chase each other in the backyard and that gives us great pleasure. If you’ve never seen these gracious runners play at full speed then you cannot fully appreciate why we went to all the trouble and expense.
My wife loves to show Dixie’s scar to anyone who comes by. She talks about the whole adventure like it was The Good Old Days. Out of fear that my wife will read this article I will state that if I had to do it again I would. But I won’t like it.
About The Author
Kerry Clabaugh runs http://www.bamabots.com, a website dedicated to robotic lawnmowers sales and education. Kerry is also interested in your experiences with robotic lawnmowers. He can be reached toll free (877) 383-6054.
tocshop@comcast.net
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Medical Tourism in China by: Arthur Wyss
China has been a late bloomer in medical tourism. China is a popular tourist destination, but not a popular destination for medical tourism. There are several reasons why. Quality and safety are more important issues than price when it comes to medical tourism. China’s reputation in both quality and safety has not been stellar in the past. It will take a long time to develop a solid record of good performance adequate to convince the public to trust the medical system in China.
In recent years Chinese officials have been greatly embarrassed numerous times over serious health and safety issues that brought international negative attention to China. The good news is that the Chinese are determined to overcome this negative image. The American approach to improving a negative image would commonly be the “Madison Avenue” approach. The Chinese approach does not focus on rebranding, public relations, advertising, focus groups, etc. China is attacking the problem at its core, in a head-on manner. When a mistake is made in China, and health and safety is jeopardized by that mistake, those who are determined to be responsible are punished. In America when they say “heads will roll” it is a euphemism that means those responsible may be demoted or lose their jobs. In China when they say “heads will roll” they mean it literally.
The global economic meltdown has intensified competition for a reduced pool of buyers and consumers. China has long been cost competitive, but lacking in quality. China is changing, with a new focus on becoming quality competitive. This bodes well for the future of medical tourism in China. It is hard to beat the prices in China. Chinese medical services are rapidly improving in quality and safety.
The USA arguably has the highest quality health care system in the world. Yet even in America thousands of patients die every year because of mistakes made by their health care providers. To err is human. Even with all the safeguards, regulations, checks and balances in place in the USA, health care providers still manage to make plenty of mistakes in America. There is a silver lining in the cloud for medical tourists to China. Medical providers in China are careful to avoid mistakes because penalties for mistakes tend to be higher in China. Those responsible for mistakes are held accountable. When it comes to foreign patients, extra care and attention are paid to every detail. Foreign patients receive the very highest quality of care and attention possible.
Chinese political leaders like to call China a “developing nation.” There is a pragmatic reason for this self-depreciation by Chinese leaders. China hopes to continue to receive favorable trading treatment from the rest of the world, and not be pressured to cut back on pollution during this “developing stage.” One should not mistake this political rhetoric for fact. In reality China is no longer a “third world” country. China is well along the path of becoming a first world nation. The Chinese people are highly literate, even more so than the people of the USA. Technologically China is among the more developed nations on earth today. In some areas China actually leads the world. One such area is MAGLEV train technology. Japan and Germany both beat China in the MAGLEV development race, but only China has put MAGLEV trains in commercial service. America has plans to build them, and other countries have the ability to do so, but only China actually did it and has them in commercial service today. Things get done in China.
“This is nice, but what’s in it for me?” The answer is value. Medical tourists can find good value for their money in China today. Sure there are risks. There is no such thing as foolproof medical care anywhere. Any medical treatment anywhere invokes a “cost-benefit ratio.” I would recommend China for medical tourists who are seeking procedures that tend to be low risk, such as cosmetic surgery and liposuction. These low risk procedures are where the cost-benefit ratio gives China a big advantage.
Finally on the “tourism” part of medical tourism, China has a lot to offer too. China is not only the most populous country on earth but also a rather large country, about the size of the “lower 48” (the USA minus Alaska). The more common tourist spots are the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, and The Summer Palace. In addition to these many tourists these days are exploring a bit more, in out of the way places all over China. For example, the beaches around Sanya, Hainan Island rival those of Hawaii. The beaches on Hainan Island are not yet so well known outside of China, but there are a few international hotels there now and the popularity especially of Sanya is growing. China extends from the tropics along the Chinese-Vietnamese border area to the Himalayan Mountain Range along the Western border of China, up to the Gobi Desert, and to Inner Mongolia up north. There is a lot to see in China. Travel inside China is convenient and inexpensive.
About The Author
Arthur Wyss is a resident of Shenzhen, China. He specializes in immigration assistance for those who wish to live in Brazil. He also operates Brazil Land Sales, which primarily sells land in the State of Tocantins, Brazil. He is the former President of Adventure Spa Cruise. He now offers referrals to hospitals and clinics in China, especially for foreign tourists. His website is: http://www.medicaltourisminchina.com
The author invites you to visit:
http://www.medicaltourisminchina.com
In recent years Chinese officials have been greatly embarrassed numerous times over serious health and safety issues that brought international negative attention to China. The good news is that the Chinese are determined to overcome this negative image. The American approach to improving a negative image would commonly be the “Madison Avenue” approach. The Chinese approach does not focus on rebranding, public relations, advertising, focus groups, etc. China is attacking the problem at its core, in a head-on manner. When a mistake is made in China, and health and safety is jeopardized by that mistake, those who are determined to be responsible are punished. In America when they say “heads will roll” it is a euphemism that means those responsible may be demoted or lose their jobs. In China when they say “heads will roll” they mean it literally.
The global economic meltdown has intensified competition for a reduced pool of buyers and consumers. China has long been cost competitive, but lacking in quality. China is changing, with a new focus on becoming quality competitive. This bodes well for the future of medical tourism in China. It is hard to beat the prices in China. Chinese medical services are rapidly improving in quality and safety.
The USA arguably has the highest quality health care system in the world. Yet even in America thousands of patients die every year because of mistakes made by their health care providers. To err is human. Even with all the safeguards, regulations, checks and balances in place in the USA, health care providers still manage to make plenty of mistakes in America. There is a silver lining in the cloud for medical tourists to China. Medical providers in China are careful to avoid mistakes because penalties for mistakes tend to be higher in China. Those responsible for mistakes are held accountable. When it comes to foreign patients, extra care and attention are paid to every detail. Foreign patients receive the very highest quality of care and attention possible.
Chinese political leaders like to call China a “developing nation.” There is a pragmatic reason for this self-depreciation by Chinese leaders. China hopes to continue to receive favorable trading treatment from the rest of the world, and not be pressured to cut back on pollution during this “developing stage.” One should not mistake this political rhetoric for fact. In reality China is no longer a “third world” country. China is well along the path of becoming a first world nation. The Chinese people are highly literate, even more so than the people of the USA. Technologically China is among the more developed nations on earth today. In some areas China actually leads the world. One such area is MAGLEV train technology. Japan and Germany both beat China in the MAGLEV development race, but only China has put MAGLEV trains in commercial service. America has plans to build them, and other countries have the ability to do so, but only China actually did it and has them in commercial service today. Things get done in China.
“This is nice, but what’s in it for me?” The answer is value. Medical tourists can find good value for their money in China today. Sure there are risks. There is no such thing as foolproof medical care anywhere. Any medical treatment anywhere invokes a “cost-benefit ratio.” I would recommend China for medical tourists who are seeking procedures that tend to be low risk, such as cosmetic surgery and liposuction. These low risk procedures are where the cost-benefit ratio gives China a big advantage.
Finally on the “tourism” part of medical tourism, China has a lot to offer too. China is not only the most populous country on earth but also a rather large country, about the size of the “lower 48” (the USA minus Alaska). The more common tourist spots are the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, and The Summer Palace. In addition to these many tourists these days are exploring a bit more, in out of the way places all over China. For example, the beaches around Sanya, Hainan Island rival those of Hawaii. The beaches on Hainan Island are not yet so well known outside of China, but there are a few international hotels there now and the popularity especially of Sanya is growing. China extends from the tropics along the Chinese-Vietnamese border area to the Himalayan Mountain Range along the Western border of China, up to the Gobi Desert, and to Inner Mongolia up north. There is a lot to see in China. Travel inside China is convenient and inexpensive.
About The Author
Arthur Wyss is a resident of Shenzhen, China. He specializes in immigration assistance for those who wish to live in Brazil. He also operates Brazil Land Sales, which primarily sells land in the State of Tocantins, Brazil. He is the former President of Adventure Spa Cruise. He now offers referrals to hospitals and clinics in China, especially for foreign tourists. His website is: http://www.medicaltourisminchina.com
The author invites you to visit:
http://www.medicaltourisminchina.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
