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Yeah, foot and ankle injuries are some of the worst.

Without a doubt head injuries are the worst. I had a tumor removed from my had the size of a baseball and I'm still not 100% recovered.

Jesus dude. Glad they could get it out. That's a gnarly wound. Did you at least get a cool scar out of it?

The scars not too noticeable, just a thin white line with over a hundred stitches. The only person that has noticed it and said something was a little kid at a supermarket checkout who looked at me with a frown and said 'what happened to your head'. My son says the scar looks cool, I don't see it, so it doesn't bother me. What is strange is that side of my face in places is still years later totally numb where the nerves have been cut.

Yeah, Dennis, your injury was definitely was worst. Glad they could remove it.

After doing some research, I think I tore some ligaments in my foot. I read that doing so usually comes with the pop sound that I heard. Luckily, if I read it right, it was not a complete tear since I am feeling pain. Very slow recovery due to very little blood supply going to ligaments. If not better over time, I will probably get it looked into. It seems to randomly hurt, so I do not know. lol

« Last edited by Warrior13 on Jun 7th 2022 »

I wish your foot a speedy recovery Warrior13, not nice having to limp around on a bum foot.

Yeah, it stinks because sometimes there is the random shot of pain that sees me limp for a step or two, and then I can walk normal. Sloped surfaces seem to be the worst.

Yeah, probably not too much you can do besides wait and see.

Sanzano said:

Without a doubt head injuries are the worst. I had a tumor removed from my had the size of a baseball and I'm still not 100% recovered.

Holy goddamned f*cking sh*t, Dennis.

That was about 10 years ago now Darkboarder77, they were the darkest days of my life.

I had the inside of my ear removed and replaced with fat from my stomach. One of my vocal cords was paralyzed from the operation and had to be surgically attached to the other one. I had to have a face lift, botox, and liposuction to obtain the fat to place in my ear. I lost my equilibrium and was unable to walk, I struggled swallowing food, it would take an hour to eat a McDonalds burger. Terrible time, I could not close my left eye which had to have a weight attached to the eyelid in order for it to do so, and to top it all off I had blurred vision. I spent a month in a hospital in Madrid before they let me go back home to Barcelona.

I wanted to keep the tumor that nearly killed me in a pickled jar as a reminder, but I was persuaded to donate it to medical research.

That's absolutely insane, and even crazier that you've managed to recover so well.

It took over two years to recover, I have a permanent ring in the ear the tumor was removed and also totally deaf in that ear. There are certain exercises at the gym like pull ups that I am unable to do as one of the nerves in my shoulder had to be cut when the tumor was removed. At the end of the day I'm just thankful I am alive to be honest.

If I hadn't of had the surgery, the tumor, which was growing would have invaded the nerves in my neck and totally paralyzed me down the left side of my body. So when you look at it in that context I was very lucky it didn't reach that stage.

What was crazy though was the surgeon in Barcelona who initially found the tumor told me he was unable to perform the surgery as it was located in a dangerous place. He said there was maybe four or five surgeons in the whole world that would be capable of removing it. One was in Israel, one in Germany, maybe two in America and one in Spain. He then told me he just so happens to know the Spanish one and that he would contact him and see if he would take me on. Luckily he did and I had to go to Madrid for the operation.

Another thing that is crazy is before I knew whether the Spanish surgeon would operate on me, I inquired how much it would cost to have the operation done in America. I was told it would be $750K which shocked me. I ended up having the operation done on the Spanish national health system for free. Bottom line is if I had lived in America I'd be in a wheelchair now as there is no way I could have afforded to have the treatment.

Sanzano said:

That was about 10 years ago now Darkboarder77, they were the darkest days of my life.

I had the inside of my ear removed and replaced with fat from my stomach. One of my vocal cords was paralyzed from the operation and had to be surgically attached to the other one. I had to have a face lift, botox, and liposuction to obtain the fat to place in my ear. I lost my equilibrium and was unable to walk, I struggled swallowing food, it would take an hour to eat a McDonalds burger. Terrible time, I could not close my left eye which had to have a weight attached to the eyelid in order for it to do so, and to top it all off I had blurred vision. I spent a month in a hospital in Madrid before they let me go back home to Barcelona.

I wanted to keep the tumor that nearly killed me in a pickled jar as a reminder, but I was persuaded to donate it to medical research.

High Christ. That sounds like a new level of hell. I've been through ****, but nothing like that.

I'm glad you donated. Other people could benefit from that. You could be the reason someone else doesn't have to go through all that. Holy hell. I actually can't imagine what that was like for you.

My condolences and respect for toughing it out. I'm not sure I would've.

Medical costs do not exactly work that way here, but yeah you would've definitely paid something.

darkboarder_77 said:

My condolences and respect for toughing it out. I'm not sure I would've.

I'm sure you would have Darkboarder77, you would have had no choice, you just got to grit your teeth and get on with it. There's an old saying I always say to myself when things are going bad 'Tough times never last, but tough people do'


steelersrock01, just curious, how would it have worked seeing as I am not American and don't have any medical insurance. I really have no idea how things work with health care in America, I've always been led to believe if you don't have insurance you are in trouble.

In the UK and Spain you pay a contribution towards healthcare each month from your wages, the amount is deducted at source and that covers you if you need to go into hospital at any time.

The thing about forums and not knowing people in real life is that you don't realise what they have been through. That's incredible that you overcame all of that Dennis. I know you've mentioned bits a pieces in the past, but that is one hell of a recovery.

Not everyone is lucky enough to survive. You survived, and my best friend's sister survived. But someone I know lost her mum during high school. It's great that there hasn't been a re-occurrence.

Dennis, I don't exactly know how it would work with you as a foreigner. I can almost guarantee you wouldn't have had that gigantic debt, you would've worked out a payment plan and gotten the cost down negotiating with the hospital. In most cases the hospital is just happy getting something for the service, I've heard of people getting the bill down to 1/100th of the initial cost, paying amounts like $20 a month.

As a citizen the insurance landscape is quite complicated. Most people have their insurance tied to their employer - your employer negotiates as a group with the insurance company to provide plans for the employees. All employers are required to provide their full-time employees with an insurance option. It might suck, but it's offered. My current plan costs $130 a month and a doctor's visit costs $35. My plan kinda sucks because I have a $2000 deductible. So if I need to get any bloodwork or imaging like an MRI, I have to pay the full price until I hit $2000, and then my plan kicks in and pays 80% of the cost, a scheme called "coinsurance". If I need more work done after that, my plan's "out of pocket" maximum is $4500, so after I hit $4500 in medical bills for the year everything is covered 100%. But basic stuff like doctors visits are always just $35 and you don't need to hit that $2000 deductible for them.

If you work part time or are self employed, you buy your own plan through the "marketplace". I did this for the past year as a contract worker. You put in your income and it suggest you some plans, and if you are low income you get tax credits that make the plans really affordable. My income was rather low last year so I was paying $45 a month and only had a $250 deductible, and after the deductible everything would be covered 100%, no coinsurance nonsense. I'm not eligible for this plan anymore because my employer offers me a plan, and if you are offered a plan by your employer you aren't eligible for any tax credits.

Very low income people are in a government sponsored plan called "Medicaid" where they pay pretty much nothing for their insurance. Everyone age 65 and older is in a government healthcare plan called "Medicare", which everybody pays into throughout their life through taxes automatically deducted from their paycheck. This is the plan most similar to what you guys have.

There are definite trade-offs between the American and most European systems. If you're in a high paying job or work for government you likely have an incredible insurance plan through your employer. My dad was a state govt worker and paid nothing for his insurance and everything is covered 100% for life. Salaries are also generally much higher here that can offset much of the cost. But if you're in a low-paying, low skill, or entry level job where your insurance plan is probably worse and higher cost, it's definitely more comfortable as a European.

« Last edited by steelersrock01 on Jun 11th 2022 »

Thanks for all that information steelersrock01, I found it very interesting, and it made me appreciate the healthcare I received in the UK and Spain. All I have to do in either country when I don't feel well is phone the doctor's surgery and tell them I need an appointment. I then just turn up at the given time and get seen to. I don't pay a penny. I get given a prescription for the medicine which brings the cost down to literally a couple of pounds or euros for most things. For example my has an infection and needed antibiotics, I went into the Chemist with the prescription the Doctor gave me and produced it along with my Mum's medical card, and they charged me 51 cents.

Nice to see you here again Matt, I hear what you are saying about surviving. Before the operation I was told to get my business in order as there was a distinct possibility I wouldn't be waking up. I fully realize how lucky I have been.

Yeah, the system in Europe is definitely much simpler, offset by the lower salaries and higher taxes you guys pay. Americans seem to have an "I got mine" mindset for the most part. My dad is like that, he says he "put his time in" and earned his insurance, and he doesn't care that other people have plans where they might have to pay 10k in a year if they need surgery or something. Europeans, generally, seem to be much more open to "raising the floor" so everyone has access to the same relative level of care.

Very poor people and the elderly have a setup like you've got. It's also the system I enjoyed all my life as my family was covered under my dad's plan - we paid at most $5 for a doctor visit, $2 or $3 for prescriptions, never paid a penny for any surgeries or diagnostic tests. You can only stay on your parents' insurance plan until you turn 26 though.

I'm of two minds. I think if you are lower/middle income you'll be much more comfortable as a European, but the States offer a much greater opportunity (if still unlikely) for the average person to break into that 100-150k a year salary range with a relatively lower tax bill, where you've got enough income that costs like insurance just don't matter, that is much more difficult for a European. Especially if we consider all of Europe instead of the "premiere" Euro countries.

If you are lower to middle income in America the healthcare issue sounds like a nightmare.

When people get rich in the UK they tend to leave and live in America, Monaco or some other tax haven. You see this a lot with British A-list actors who make millions a movie and top sportmen or women such as Lewis Hamilton the F1 race driver who lives in Monaco. The more you earn in the UK the more tax you will pay.

In the UK if you earn �100,000 your tax rate is an eye watering 45 per cent.