Where are all the retired guys?

[cp fa]

I know that Kip is still present and accounted for, at least until boating season starts, but where are Don Hudson, GDR, HHI...?

Haven't seen you here in a while, but hope you're all doing well and just too busy enjoying life!  

[conehead]

I'm retired, and I'm still here.

[boestar]

I am on the Freedom 88 plan...I will be here for a while yet...

[UpperDeck]

I recently spoke to three "former" posters one of whom is retired. They indicated that they had taken a "break" from the forum because of a recently perceived change in "tone". A few very strident voices with somewhat extreme views and a tendency to personal attacks had diminished their collective enthusiasm for the forum. Regrettable that in the process of encouraging the free exchange of opinion, one promotes the involvement of a few unfettered devotees who spoil the site for others.

[conehead]

I can understand how they feel. When I see stuff like that, I simply stop reading that thread. There's usually something else of interest on this board...

[conehead]

1 hour ago, boestar said:

I am on the Freedom 88 plan...I will be here for a while yet...

Keep working buddy... I need your tax dollars to support the lifestyle to which I have become accustomed.

[GDR]

Hi Jennifer

 

I'm still here and check in regularly. Having been retired 12 years and pretty much out of the loop and don't always have much to add.

 

I did reply recently to the post on the last C-130E having flown the specific aircraft going into the museum many times. The Herc was the plane I really cut my teeth on I have very fond memories of my years at 435 Sqn. with a great bunch of guys. (Sorry, this was back in the day when it was an all boys club. )

[Fido]

5 hours ago, GDR said:

back in the day when it was an all boys club

Does anyone know if 401 or 430 sqns have any female helicopter pilots as yet?

[Kip Powick]

1 hour ago, Fido said:

Does anyone know if 401 or 430 sqns have any female helicopter pilots as yet?

I do not believe so.

[cp fa]

18 hours ago, GDR said:

Hi Jennifer

 

I'm still here and check in regularly. Having been retired 12 years and pretty much out of the loop and don't always have much to add.

 

I did reply recently to the post on the last C-130E having flown the specific aircraft going into the museum many times. The Herc was the plane I really cut my teeth on I have very fond memories of my years at 435 Sqn. with a great bunch of guys. (Sorry, this was back in the day when it was an all boys club. )

You mentioned you were undergoing cancer treatments last year.  I've been thinking about you and wondering how you were doing.  Hope it's going well.  xo

[GDR]

Hi Jen

 

Thanks for your concern and I hope all is well with you guys.

All is going well and I have certainly got more than my money's worth out of our health care system in the last year or 2. I had 10 hour surgery over in YVR with both an ENT and Brain surgery where the removed most of my cartilage from my sinus cavities, (I now have one real big sinus cavity), carved out a 2 inch diameter hole in the cribriform plate which they patched up with tissue they took from my thigh, and took out a small bit of the brain which I wasn't using anyway. I had then  had 25 sessions of radiation.

After the surgery the margins were all negative and I have had 2 MRI's since, with the last one being a couple of weeks ago, which all showed clear as well. I have some minor side effects as the type of cancer I had, (olfactory neuroblastoma which is really quite rare), required the removal of both olfactory bulbs so I have zero sense of smell and also the radiation didn't do anything to help my sense of taste. So that is no big deal and looking down on the grass sure beats looking up at the roots eh? 

[Kip Powick]

Wow...Greg.....I thought I had gone through a lot with my surgery but if we're keeping score.....you really outshone anyone I know. I really have a hard time even thinking about what you went through and what you are going through now.

Scuba 02 and I wish you all the very best and yes, any day where you don't take a "dirt-nap" is a good day.

[Guest]

Wow Greg and  I thought my  Radical Prostatectomy

was tough" I too have some side effects but 12 years later I am still around to enjoy my grandchildren. All the best Malcolm

[conehead]

5 hours ago, Malcolm said:

Wow Greg and  I thought my  Radical Prostatectomy

was tough" I too have some side effects but 12 years later I am still around to enjoy my grandchildren. All the best Malcolm

Malcolm; reading that link, they state that "If you and your doctor decide that you need surgery, be sure to choose a highly skilled surgeon at a hospital that has a good success rate. Studies show that men have fewer side effects from prostate surgery when they have a skilled and experienced surgeon."

Curious, how does one go about researching how to find a skilled and experienced surgeon?  Never having had any major surgeory myself, I just thought that you get who you get?

[Innuendo]

Quote

Curious, how does one go about researching how to find a skilled and experienced surgeon?  Never having had any major surgeory myself, I just thought that you get who you get?

The same thing is suggested if you are looking at shoulder surgery, (just been through that).

How do you check the credentials of a surgeon and are you educated enough in matters medical to appreciate a difference?

In my case I asked the physiotherapist if he had any experience with Dr xxx's patients, at that I think the Physio's answers were a bit guarded. At any rate  it is still a bit of an act of faith and trust that Dr xxx is good at what he/she does and is experienced in the procedure.  I have a certain amount of belief in the system in our country that people are not turned loose on their own if not competent but I still believe that there will be some better than others.

 Yet, everyone in a field cannot start fully experienced from the gitgo    but I guess  the assumption is that they have assisted in enough procedures before they are turned loose on their own, rather like a new captain .

  The most re-assuring  is if your GP has confidence in the referral.

[Kip Powick]

One method of "checking" the surgeon is to GOOGLE his/her name. Perhaps all you see is not factually accurate  but many doctors are rated by their patients and one can get a fair idea on just how competent they are.

The onus is also on the patient to ask the doctor during pre-op consult just how many of "these particular procedures have you done?. I have a friend who decided to go with another surgeon after he did all his research, and the pre-op consult, and according to him, he was really happy that he did.

On the other hand...many of the best surgeons are extremely skilled in their field, quite egotistical, but lack what we would all call as an "excellent bedside manner".

I believe if you really feel  comfortable with the individual who is going to do the job, you take a lot of stress out of the equation.

[GDR]

7 hours ago, Kip Powick said:

Wow...Greg.....I thought I had gone through a lot with my surgery but if we're keeping score.....you really outshone anyone I know. I really have a hard time even thinking about what you went through and what you are going through now.

Scuba 02 and I wish you all the very best and yes, any day where you don't take a "dirt-nap" is a good day.

Thanks Kip. Actually I went through it, came out the other side and life is great.

I had great surgeons at the YVR General. I'd add that you don't always want to go by the ratings on rate your MD. The ENT surgeon I had was business like, straight-forward and highly skilled.   He doesn't get rated particularly high on that site because he isn't the type to hold your hand and pat you on the head and tell you all will be well. He told me that what I had was a bad tumour but that he was hopeful.

Haven't had a dirt nap in a long time.

[Guest]

10 hours ago, conehead said:

Malcolm; reading that link, they state that "If you and your doctor decide that you need surgery, be sure to choose a highly skilled surgeon at a hospital that has a good success rate. Studies show that men have fewer side effects from prostate surgery when they have a skilled and experienced surgeon."

Curious, how does one go about researching how to find a skilled and experienced surgeon?  Never having had any major surgeory myself, I just thought that you get who you get?

Quite often your MD will give you some advice in that regard. The article is written, if I am correct, for the US where you pick and chose your Surgeon and Hospital and not for us in Canada. I took the luck of the draw so to speak and have no complaints. My surgeon spent well over an hour with my wife and I going over the various treatment options and was also very candid re. the success rate of the various procedures (chemo, surgery, radiation) and when asked regarding his own performance (he was a surgeon), he provided us with some facts and figures. He also provided us with his CV which listed his various degrees etc. In the end I chose the surgery over the other treatments as in my opinion, if successful, then the source of the Cancer is completely removed while the other treatments leave the organ in place which could result in a recurrence. Regarding the surgeon, we did have the option of asking for a 2nd referral.

[conehead]

Thanks Malcolm.  Good info;. I don't need it now, but one never knows what the future holds...

[Canoehead]

I had a minor surgery performed at a specialty hospital several years ago.  The next day the nurse doing rounds checked my incision and said, "I know who did your surgery without even looking at the chart... Doctor Meticulous.  Lucky you!"

That was a great thing to hear.

 

Best wishes to all you folks who've gone through or are going through health battles.

[DEFCON]

Sorry to interrupt the maintenance of old guys discussion, but I've got to respond to Upper Deck’s purposely vague, call it weak form of advocacy post above that’s intended to stir a pot.

I suspect he’s trying to say that he, like so many of the left, would prefer to live in a world where they can continue to advance their own especially strong and pointed proclamations, but without ever having to respond to the contrary reality the facts frequently demonstrate. I think times are changing ...

At a recent CPAC gathering film producer Dinesh D’Souza offered the following observations with respect to the history of the American Democratic Party who by the example have provided a solid demonstration of the policy in practice to which I refer above.

 

“The Democrats want us to believe they’re the Party of Equal Rights and Human Rights and Civil Rights. The truth is, the Democrats are the Party of Slavery and Indian Removal, of broken treaties and the Trail of Tears. They’re the Party of segregation and Jim Crow and lynching and the Klu Klux Klan. They’re the Party of Japanese internment and opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Fair Housing Bill of 1968. This is their actual history.

 

So what they do is they try to cover it up and the way they try to cover it up is by blaming America. America did this and America did that, but the reality is that America didn’t do it, the Democrats did.”

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMDB-2r0w80&nohtml5=False

 

 

 

 

[AvWatcher]

So here's the difference between Canadian and American healthcare. A friend of mine developed prostate cancer. He went to his GP, who referred him to a specialist, who indicated that he needed surgery, and the Surgeon told him there was a 50/50 chance could save his sexual function. And he could do it in about 6 months. So my friend went to the Cleveland Clinic, who told him that his sexual function was not even an issue - they would guarantee that he would retain it, and was he available the next day? So for $20K, he headed down to Cleveland. They put him up in hotel next to the clinic, the next day escorted him to the clinic, to the operating room. The surgeon was using a robot assisted laparoscopic process, and was viewing what he was doing on a screen the size of the wall opposite him. He was doing 15 surgeries that day, and did 1500 to 2000 a year. The Canadian physician was proud that he did about 100 a year ... In medicine, much like flying, normally the more you do, the better the outcome. And better the equipment used, the better the outcome. 

Every community in Canada with a Hospital wants to have all of their surgeries done there, and as a result, we end up with very few true specialists, unlike the US. And our Physicians and Hospitals can only dream about the quality of the equipment some US Hospitals have and use.  I'm not saying that they have a better healthcare system, but there are advantages, and not all cons to theirs. A  number of my friends have headed south, and have paid big dollars to have work done sooner, and by a more experienced physician, with far better equipment. 

[DEFCON]

The US medical industry certainly isn't without its share of problems, which are recognized and pushing Americans to shake up the status quo.

As the debate presently stands, the Democrats appear to favour a free-for-all Canadian styled single payer type of health care program, but at the same time seem to fail to recognize their current Government operated and funded VA hospital system, the same one they routinely criticize, represents a fair & accurate reflection of the Canadian model.

Those supporting the calls for further radical reform should ask Hilary and or Bernie why they would construct plans and pursue an agenda that would only result in the American people being subjected to the same inefficient and generally substandard level of care their Veterans have been enduring?

 

 

[Guest]

I favour a mix of Private and Public with those who can wish to pay for private doing so and easing the burden on the public system.

[DEFCON]

I think your position suggests you favour the current American system Malcolm, which includes three levels of care, Medicaid, Medicare and the more expensive options provided by private plans.

Those Americans that are seeking so-called equality of health care want a single payer, one size fits all program that mimics our own. This approach to the delivery of health care places the guy that funds the system in line behind someone that has never contributed a dime to the maintenance of the program. I think the Republicans understand the consequence this approach would have for the working man and accordingly stand opposed for the reasons only a capitalist could appreciate.

D'Souza also claimed that the eternally popular and respected Lincoln defined slavery as; 'I work and you eat'.