Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Why are holidays more important than PSA tests?

Jeff Allan is discussing the McGuinty government's election promise to fund PSA tests. Ontario men are still waiting. Jeff was actually instrumental in bringing forward this promise, which Dalton McGuinty announced on his show.

Local MPP John Milloy was interviewed and said that it will take some time to enact this promise, but that they are working towards it - obviously at a snail's pace.

How is it that a holiday, which is still having negative repercussions, can be decreed practically overnight, but the public funding of a potentially life-saving test takes plodding deliberation and consultation?

How many men are holding off getting this test done until the Liberal government actually fulfills its promise? How many men will die because of that wait? Making this promise and not carrying it out immediately is far worse than never having made it in the first place.

If covering the test would be too expensive, why did Dalton make this promise???

Perhaps the MPPs could vote to revoke their raises.

Or else use some of that notorious Health Tax, which mainly goes into 'general revenues'.

17 comments:

Brian said...

When you look at the mess they made of family day (Casablance books is my favourite), it's better they are going slow on this on.

OMMAG said...

Because for LIberals ... Empty Gestures are the safe and sure way appease the clamoring masses.

Anonymous said...

I apologize, Joanne, I'm going completely off topic, but I think your readers should be warned about those twirly lightbulbs.

One I bought (@ about $7.95, not in a dollar store) almost burned yesterday after only a year and a half (?) of usage.
If I had not been home to turn it off immediately, who knows what could have happened to the lampshade?
Whenever I'm out in the evening, that lamp is left on. It did get regular usage.
Maybe it's not such a good idea to ban incandescent lightbulbs?

Anonymous said...

why did Dalton make this promise?
why did/does Dalton make any of his promises?
I'll give you three guesses Joanne.

ommag's very close.

I'm so disgusted with politics at all levels these days I want to puke.

I often look at other countries which when their government's tick them off they take to the streets, riot, and are so vocal that action is necessary...sadly event that of a violent nature.

Every once in a while I wish we Canadians had that kind of fire in their bellies.

What's happened to us? Have we been truly conditioned to believe that we deserve idiots in powers in governance?

I like Harper, don't get me wrong, but lately they all deserve time in the penalty box. Federal, provincial, municipal, and thanks to all of this it even makes the lowly school council unattractive.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Gabby, thanks for that. I've heard similar stories. Sounds like a good blog topic. If you hear about anything in MSM please send me a link. Thanks.

Glad you're o.k., BTW. Perhaps you might consider contacting the store & manufacturer?

Swift said...

Joanne, do you want me to look up the website that has all the info on the twirly lightbulbs and post it again?

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Swift, that would be great. I'm going to start a new thread for that though, so wait a sec. Thanks.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

When you look at the mess they made of family day (Casablance books is my favourite), it's better they are going slow on this on.

Good point, Brian. Jeff Allan is talking about the book store just now.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

I like Harper, don't get me wrong, but lately they all deserve time in the penalty box.

Why?

Joanne (True Blue) said...

i.e. Why Harper, Anon?

Anonymous said...

Harper too because he can do something to end it all....like go to the GG and call and election.

Unless of course he likes this too?

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Harper too because he can do something to end it all....like go to the GG and call and election.

Technically, he can't call an election because of legislation introduced by his government that calls for elections only every four years, unless the government is defeated in a vote of non-confidence.

But I'm not sure how strict that rule is since he was talking about going to the GG if the Senate didn't get the Crime Omnibus bill through by the beginning of this month.

In theory though, he can't call an election.

Anonymous said...

You guys are getting off topic. It's about publicly funded PSA tests, for men. We fund breast screening and PAP smears, but here in Alberta, you have to pay for the first test. It's cheap $25 + GST. I did at my doctors advice. Glad I did, because I had early stage prostate cancer. We pay, like Ontario does now, health care premiums here. My wife can get a breast exam and a PAP smear just by booking an appointment. No extra cost. Frankly, if state run health care is the only choice in Canada, I wonder why men are being short-changed vs women? Not to make too much of an issue, but if state run health care is to be used to screen for and pro-actively prevent health problems for the masses, then the "man disease" needs a bigger PR effort to get men screeened and diagnosed. One of my biggest complaints about prostate cancer is the lack of up to date information to deal with the issue, both pre-op and post-op. What gives? Men are dying and are having their quality of life impacted by this disease and it is not going to go away. Its not one of your dining room table subjects, but there are plenty of men standing for extended periods of time in front of a urinal who should be seeing a Urologist, pronto. The sooner the better, in my view, because once this disease spreads outside of the prostate itself, all bets are off. Even surgical teatment of this disease is in serious need of upgrading. My advice is to go to Paris, where the newest micro-surgical proceedures have been pioneered. Few Urologists in this country are trained to the newest techniques and that needs to be addressed as well. I'm 2 1/2 years out of surgery and I still have issues to deal with on quality of life, but I'm still alive and have returned to productive work after only a 4 month recovery. My work is high stress and demanding physically, but I am having no real issues on that front. Sex life - well to be truthfull I have a supportive, loving wife. God bless her, because it was harder on her than me, as her father died of the disease. If you are a wife of a man who is in his mid forties or older, get them tested. Insist on it, because if you don't then the end result, explained by my Urologist isn't pretty.

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Wow. Thanks Anon, for that testimonial. Are you alright now?

Thank heavens you went for that early screening test. I absolutely agree with you that this is not fair to men. PSA tests should be covered.

Anonymous said...

ginlrYes I'm doing just fine, thank you for asking. Other than some periodic incontinence (coffee, wine or other liquid indulgences make life a little more oopsie prone, heh!) especially if I lift something really heavy, without dealing with that issue first. Sex life, little blue pills are advertised daily for ED. Works for me. My wife and I have no regrets for opting for the surgical treatment, as radiation treatments leave one with the nagging thought that if the cancer is not eliminated or stopped, I'm told by my Urologist that surgery is NOT an option, post radiation treatment. I'm cancer free now 2 1/2 years and I carry on life as much as I did before. I had kidney cancer 4 years prior to prostate cancer and I suppose that some other form of cancer will do me in, in the end. I don't dwell on it. I doubt very many women dwell on their cancers either, they are just happy to be a survivor. Its not the same as Leukemia or other cancers that are not treatable with surgurey. Once its out, there is not much more than a five year period where you get screened. By the way, post-op PSA tests are free in Alberta, go figure!

Joanne (True Blue) said...

Well, I'm glad you're doing so well! It speaks volumes about getting tested and catching the cancer early on.

You would think that a simple test like this would be a no-brainer, and cost much less than cancer treatment in the long run.

Anonymous said...

Actually, the medical professionals should have had me tested right after dealing with kidney cancer, four years earlier, as these organs are all interrelated with the urinary tract. just my opinion, though.