
I was given new hands for Christmas - YeGoblynQueenne
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jan/05/experience-i-was-given-new-hands-for-christmas
======
erroneousfunk
I think it's incredible that her health insurance didn't cover electronic
prosthetics.

The hook prosthetic is just a simple open/close grabber tool. Imagine trying
to navigate through life with two grabbers. The modern myoelectric prosthetics
offer way more functionality and freedom. You can use a computer, dress
yourself, drive a car, and feed yourself (of course the author can't do all
these yet, it does take time to learn). You can't do this at all with hooks.

I fractured/dislocated multiple wrist bones two years ago and it wasn't life
threatening but I would have had diminished functionality without surgery --
insurance covered it no problem. My hand is great.

How the hell does it make sense to fix a wrist in order to allow someone to do
the activities of daily living but it doesn't make sense to give them a common
commercial prosthetic in order to do the same thing?

~~~
TheBeardKing
This is why the entire health insurance market doesn't make sense. Right now,
as a healthy person, how am I supposed to weigh the impact of every potential
health issue in my life? I'm sure she could've purchased some cadillac plan to
cover it, but without experiencing that and with such a minute chance of an
accident like that occurring as a teacher of all things, why should she ever
buy it? Or even know to look for that kind of coverage? Who can price the
repercussions of going without some medical procedure or medicine without ever
having experienced that situation? I can understand car, boat, our house
insurance and can easily replace those tangible items, but how should I price
the risk to my health?

~~~
adventured
Healthcare is heavily rationed in socialized medicine systems. That's why wait
times are so extreme in Canada, and doubled from ~1990 to 2015.

Rationing is the same exact thing as what you're talking about. They're
choosing who gets what medical access and when. If you're 92 years old and you
want an extremely expensive surgery or treatment in Canada, and it's only
going to prolong your life by 18 months, you are not going to get that
treatment, period. The same applies in France and Britain. Rationing is a
required tenet of socialized healthcare. I'm not saying all rationing is bad,
however pretending that under socialized healthcare it's just a free-for-all,
is flat out wrong.

A very recent example of the rationing squeeze:

"N.H.S. Overwhelmed in Britain, Leaving Patients to Wait"

"Cuts to the National Health Service budget in Britain have left hospitals
stretched over the winter for years, but this time a flu outbreak, colder
weather and high levels of respiratory illnesses have put the N.H.S. under the
highest strain in decades. The situation has become so dire that the head of
the health service is warning that the system is overwhelmed."

"Some doctors took to Twitter to vent their frustrations publicly. One
complained of having to practice “battlefield medicine,” while another
apologized for the “3rd world conditions” caused by overcrowding."

[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/world/europe/uk-
national-...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/world/europe/uk-national-
health-service.html)

~~~
trhway
>That's why wait times are so extreme in Canada, and doubled from ~1990 to
2015.

what are wait times for 30M uninsured in the US? Infinity? Or even for
underinsured :

[http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-
briefs/20...](http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-
briefs/2015/may/problem-of-underinsurance)

"Half (51%) of underinsured adults reported problems with medical bills or
debt and more than two of five (44%) reported not getting needed care because
of cost. "

~~~
adventured
Who said the US system was better? You're attempting to stand up a strawman
counter.

I said socialized medicine requires heavy rationing of care. The comment I
replied to was implying that somehow the selection of and or limitation of
care is wrong (eg under the US health insurance system): _all_ socialized
systems depend on that exact approach, aka rationing. They limit access, they
restrict types of therapies based on age or expected outcomes due to cost,
they extend wait times dramatically based on what they decide is more or less
important, and so on. Socialized medicine would collapse instantly without
such aggressive rationing.

And nowhere in the above paragraph did I say the current US system is superior
to alternatives in the developed world.

~~~
trhway
you must be kidding. You brought up the socialized medicine as a strawman
counter in your first comment in this thread.

~~~
adventured
I didn't do that in any manner. I brought up the fact that socialized medicine
depends on restrictive filtering systems - rationing - to strictly control for
costs. It can't function otherwise.

The argument in favor of socialized medicine isn't that it enables any care
you need at any time you need it. It's that it's supposed to be a morally
superior distribution of resources.

------
epicide
_Over the next few weeks, I watched my hands turn black and shrivel up._

As a software developer and musician, but especially as a human, this is my
nightmare.

~~~
Something1234
This should the worst nightmare of any human. It completely removes any
ability to be a productive member of society with the loss of both hands. It
ruins them and just completely removes any possibility of a good quality of
life without a prosthesis.

~~~
jdtang13
This is not true at all. This is just a pessimistic exaggeration.

~~~
Something1234
I don't think it's overly pessimistic. How about you try to open a doorknob
with your fingers taped together.

~~~
epicide
He didn't say it was easy. He said it's overly pessimistic.

I would tend to agree that "It completely removes any ability to be a
productive member of society" is not only quite a stretch, but pretty
insulting.

------
RickJWagner
Amazing generosity, and an incredible story.

------
ShabbosGoy
I've always been quite fascinated by prosthetics and cybernetics.

I would be willing to trade most of my biological body parts that have limited
lifespans for self-healing synthetic replacements.

~~~
Jemmeh
The unfortunate thing is currently prosthetics are much less nimble than real
hands. I'd want to see a lot of improvements in that tech before I'd see them
as a replacement.

In the article she mentions she's had them for a year and is still learning to
use them and struggles to do some things.

~~~
ShabbosGoy
Absolutely. I’d reckon you can do a lot of gross motor skills with existing
prosthetic, but _fine_ motor skills are a long ways off.

I haven’t been keeping up with self-healing materials either, but I am certain
they are also in a nascent state.

------
emilfihlman
Anyone know what was the reason her hands died? Inadequate oxygen supply?
Couldn't they have just oxygenated her blood in the hands?

~~~
logfromblammo
It wasn't necessarily _inadequate_ as much as it was _inconstant_. There was a
dip due to the lung damage, but then there was reperfusion afterward as a
result of medical treatment.

Sometimes, when tissues are deprived of oxygen, they undergo apoptosis _when
the oxygen is restored_ , not when they are deprived. This is why people who
undergo heart attacks are sometimes rapidly chilled to core hypothermia. The
cold discourages their tissues from committing suicide when their power comes
back on.

Her extremities might have been saved by putting them in ice baths, but it is
very unlikely her physicians would have been aware of the potential problem
and quick enough to respond appropriately. Their primary concern was likely
maintaining sufficient oxygen to her brain and vital organs.

~~~
pavement
Okay, time to add another entry to the list of terrifying trauma
complications. Adding it to the subgroup that includes compartment syndrome.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compartment_syndrome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compartment_syndrome)

------
intralizee
As a transwoman I haven't been able to afford any surgery. I'm hopeful that
eventually society realizes luxury & cosmetic are just added terms to
discriminate against people suffering.

~~~
vinceguidry
The problem with that logic is where does it end? Should anyone who wants
anything from anyone be able to claim it?

~~~
fzeroracer
The same could be said of any medical treatment. I've known people that
believe drug addicts deserve zero treatment because it's all their fault. Same
with people that did something stupid and got severely injured.

'Where does it end' isn't much of an argument. Instead we should be asking how
should we determine where the line is and I believe the answer is simple: If
it can be determined that it would result in a significant QoL increase then
it should be covered in most cases. A transgender person receiving hormone
therapy or reassignment therapy is an example. A victim who lost their nose in
an accident and wants to mend their face is another.

~~~
vinceguidry
> If it can be determined that it would result in a significant QoL increase
> then it should be covered in most cases.

I don't argue that there shouldn't be a line. It's just a very fine one with
lots of edge cases.

------
ZeroGravitas
I guess it's not really the point, but I'm intrigued to know how a lawyer can
spend $260,000 on a gift for someone they don't know.

This also reminds me of reading a story about the olympics style event
organised for disabled veterans. The article included a conversation between
an Afghani amputee and a british counterpart:

 _" One day at the games, Azimi, whose lost hand was replaced by a 25-year-old
hook, saw a British athlete with a prosthetic leg and asked him what it cost.
The British athlete didn’t know.

“You have that leg and you don’t know how much that costs?” Azimi asked him.
“Maybe $50,000 or $60,000,’’ the British athlete responded. “Our government
pays for that.”

Asked about the disparity between the first- and third-world teams, U.S. team
captain, retired Army Capt. Will Reynolds, said he was appalled.

“I’ve got eight (artificial) legs — more than I need,” said Reynolds, a leg
amputee who was enjoying a moment’s rest with his son watching the U.S. team
practice wheelchair volleyball, after winning medals in cycling, track and
field. “Some of the legs I can’t even wear. And to know there are other
servicemembers out there wearing stuff that’s not serviceable is
unacceptable.”_

[https://www.stripes.com/news/no-coach-training-or-
prosthetic...](https://www.stripes.com/news/no-coach-training-or-prosthetics-
for-afghan-team-at-invictus-games-1.409471)

~~~
BonesJustice
The attorney, Mark Holden, is apparently Chief Legal Officer for Koch
Industries, so I'd imagine he's quite well compensated. That doesn't diminish
the generosity of the gift, mind you, but it's not as if he was a solo tax
attorney or something.

~~~
pnutjam
I'd be surprised if he paid the rack rate either, but that does not diminish
the generosity of his gift. This is how all people should act. Making the
world better one stop at a time.

------
tptacek
Unpleasant as this is, it's worth pointing out that the superlawyer who bought
the hands for her, Mark Holden, is almost certainly the same Mark Holden who
sits on the board of directors for Americans For Prosperity and runs the
public sector legal division for Koch Industries.

It's generous indeed for him to spend $200,000 on prosthetics for a stranger,
but this story would be more heartwarming if he wasn't at the same time
working to strip millions of people of their health insurance, which is what
AFP is zealously trying to do.

