Sicko

We dug into our DVD collection the other weekend and found Sicko by Michael Moore. I've read a couple of his books and seen several of his films. I doubt his films really classify as documentaries, but they are great entertainment.

In Sicko he puts his finger on the American health care system and the role of the insurance companies in particular. The funniest scene is probably where he first shows clips from American TV on how good health care the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay get. Then he fills up three boats with 9/11 rescue workers who have been denied sufficient health care by the insurance companies and don't get treated in the US and heads towards Cuba. Outside Guantanamo Bay he picks up a megaphone and shouts out loud that he has sick 9/11 rescue workers on board and requests the same health care as the al Qaeda prisoners. Nothing more, just the same treatment! Hilarious!

Private health care is a growing field also in Finland, and we discussed if that is a threat to the quality of public health care services. At least I have very positive experiences with Finnish public health care during my cancer treatment. But have to admit that we use the private sector often when our kids are sick, mainly because we get to see a doctor on pretty short notice and we have an insurance for our kids. We have noticed that many of our friends don't even bother to contact the public health care any more but take their kids directly to the private side as you don't have to line up so long. Many companies have hired private health care companies for their employees. You can now also get cancer treatment in private hospitals in Finland, if you have the money. Is this a worrying trend? Will the best doctors end up on the private side?

Good scan

Today I got the feedback from Friday's CT scan. Marjo and I saw yet another doctor we haven't met before. When she eventually came by to call us in one hour late (!) I immediately calmed down a little as I knew she's not one of the senior doctors at the cancer ward. I figured they'd set me up with a less experienced doctor only if the treatment plan would continue unchanged. In other words, I expected to hear good news.

And good news came. CEA had come down from 40,6 on August 18th to 30,2. This is an all time low and I've come a long way since June last year when the CEA value was 6257,1. Even though 30,2 is low (for me) it still means there is active cancer cells and that there is no other target than zero. The CT analysis also stated there were no new tumours and that the existing tumours had shrunk in size. We're only talking about a change of a few millimeters but that we also expected. All in all, yet another good scan and they'll continue the current treatment plan (Camptosar + Erbitux + Xeloda). This means I'll have to continue to visit the hospital every Wednesday for another three months or so before next CT scan.

I requested a one week break from the treatment plan. The doctor said she would consult "my" senior doctor to check his opinion, but probably it would be fine. The thing is, I'm off to see Manchester United versus Blackburn at Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday October 31st. I'm lucky to have friends sharing the same passion for ManUnited. In the past we've been bravely talking about going to see the best team in the world "some time". A few weeks back a friend of mine told me we're going and organised flights, hotel and tickets. Thanks JP! Now, what if I would contact Ole Gunnar Solskjær and ask him to join us or sit down for a coffee and exchange ideas how good football should be played? Well, maybe not.

By the way, Marjo is slightly disappointed as she would have liked to join. Maybe we'll go and see the second best team in the world together? I had Barcelona in mind.