Published by
Pyrofenix under
Main on
May 20, 2008
Around Thanksgiving in 2006 my step-father, began having some health issues. One evening he went to the hospital when things got worse and he found out that he had bladder cancer. Just after Christmas, he had surgery to remove the cancer. All went well. Symptoms returned in November of ‘07, so he went back to the doctor who had treated him initially. That’s when we found out that we were supposed to have scheduled a follow-up visit after the chemo treatment. Alas, no-one told us during any of the doctor visits for treatment nor did they attempt to schedule an appointment with us.
Well, the cancer returned in November ‘07, and the doctor setup surgery which went well. Chemo treatments continued for 6 weeks after and on the final treatment, we were told to setup a check-up in 6 months. Yesterday, my step-dad attempted to do that only to be told by one of Georgia’s largest private practice urology groups that they would not be able to schedule an appointment until his bill was paid in full!
The first instance of cancer was mostly covered by his health insurance but the second instance was deemed a ‘pre-existing condition’ and they would not help pay. The insurance company calls something a pre-existing condition if there is a re-occurance within 1 year of the last treatment. John fell within that by just a few weeks. So now, there is a $10,000 bill which is due before a check-up can be completed. It’s being paid down, but not fast enough in their eyes.
So, if I break my arm in January and then re-break my arm again in October, will health insurance consider it a pre-existing condition?
Please digg this story!
Published by
Pyrofenix under
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May 9, 2008
With the movie theater experience being what it is, I almost never will go to a movie on the first weekend its’ open. That’s why I’m only now reviewing Iron Man.
First off, when I heard that Robert Downey Jr had picked up the roll of Tony Stark, I was thrilled. He’s an excellent actor and just seemed perfect for the roll of a playboy.
Oh how right I was. Iron Man blew me away with how smartly crafted it is. It updates the story from the comics but still respects the original material. For those that don’t know, Tony Stark is the head of a Lockheed Martin type weapons manufacturer. During a trip to Afghanistan to demonstrate a new weapon, their convoy is attacked and Stark is captured. His captors, a group of terrorists who are holding him to make weapons for them. A doctor being held by the terrorists patch up Stark and remove some shrapnel from his body, the pieces that can’t be removed are kept from reaching his heart by an electromagnet attached to his chest.
Instead of building the weapon that the terrorists wanted, Tony builds the first Iron Man suit to escape. Once returning to the States, he has a change of heart about his war mongering ways.
The special effects were wonderful, it was often hard to tell what things were CG and what were practical. The movie is funny, exciting and tells a really well crafted story. In my opinion, Iron Man is the best movie to come from the ’super-hero’ genre.
Marvel took control of their property with Iron Mang and appear to have big plans with films for The Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor, and eventually an Avengers movie. It’s good to be a geek!
Published by
Pyrofenix under
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entertainment on
May 5, 2008
The movie industry whined when Halo3 came out claiming that gaming was the culprit for lower movie turnouts. That must have worried Marvel when they found out Grand Theft Auto 4 was coming out the same week as Iron Man - a franchise with no movie history like Spiderman or X-men. It appears that there are no problems in the film industry when they produce a quality product. Iron Man brought in over $100 million this weekend and with the $400 million GTA4 is expecting to turn in might make for the biggest entertainment weekend ever. Hopefully Hollywood can survive.
