Born premature at 27 weeks 40 years ago, I think I qualify.

While I would be alive without it, I wouldn't be able to stand up. About three years ago, I had a tumor removed from my spine. Much better now.

Otherwise, no broken bones, and no other surgeries.

Voted yes.

Had meningitis barely out of college. Without antibiotics, who knows. Same with the respiratory infections, killers back in the old days. Never had traumatic injuries other than dislocated shoulders and such, no broken bones.

Let's see: Scarlet fever as a kid, two strokes as an adult, Prostate cancer survivor. Going with "yes".

quote:

Originally posted by DaBigBR:
Nope. Never broken a bone, never had a cavity, nothing. Never even been put under. I'm not sad about any of that.

Are you human ?

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

quote:

Originally posted by DaBigBR:
Nope. Never broken a bone, never had a cavity, nothing. Never even been put under. I'm not sad about any of that.

Are you human ?

He has to think about it when answering that "I am not a robot" question some web pages ask . . . .

flashguy

I’m 71. At 50 I began having signs of imminent heart blockage. Shortness of breath and chest tightness with little physical effort. Under care of cardiologist, a cardiology professor at Baylor Houston. Cigna denied permission for heart cath due to having passed a treadmill test months earlier. Finally, after relentless pressure from my employer, Cigna referred me to another cardiologist. Apparrently they didn’t believe the professor.

Went to 2nd cardiologist. About 30 seconds into treadmill test, they stopped the test, went into emergency mode, put me into a wheelchair and wheeled me across the street to St. Lukes, Houston Med Center for an emergency cath.

Left Anterior Descending (aka widowmaker) over 95% blocked. Rotorblater, angioplasty and stents needed.

Being married to a Cath LAb nurse who realised seriousness of sympoms prob saved me.
I’m fine so far at 71.

Insurance co tried to murder me. Fuck them.

I have had 7 colonoscopies, My grandmother died from colon cancer. They remove pre cancerous growths every time.

Probably would’ve died this week without modern medicine. I’m posting from a bed in the hospital so I’m not out of the woods yet (much better though).

On the other hand, I likely wouldn’t have been at death’s door if it weren’t for modern medicine. All indications are that I had an acute reaction to a very expensive modern prescription.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Probably would’ve died this week without modern medicine. I’m posting from a bed in the hospital so I’m not out of the woods yet (much better though).

Dang tatortodd ...hoping and praying for a most excellent outcome to this...get well soon!

Yes for me, for a number of items.

Antibiotics for sure. A whole bunch of them over my life. There were some years where sinus infections were pretty much constant once ski season arrived. I think my teammates wondered if I was ever healthy from Thanksgiving to the arrival of spring.

I've had a few surgeries, all of which had some level of antibiotics. Some of the surgeries were more recent, and thus were less invasive than the original scalpel methods. The list....removing adenoids, removing tonsils, hernia repair (groin and navel) to repair damage from a tree felling accident, removing all four wisdom teeth, nasal surgery (ethmoidectomy & sinoplasty), one root canal, thumb bone repair from a skiing fall, microfracture repair of the femur from a really bad skiing fall, and prostate TURP.

Then there are all those immunizations that certainly helped. Asthma and sinus meds. And for anybody who's been an athlete for all their life -- Vitamin I (ibuprofen).

quote:

On the other hand, I likely wouldn’t have been at death’s door if it weren’t for modern medicine. All indications are that I had an acute reaction to a very expensive modern prescription.

Several years ago I was given a heavy dose of Levaquin which turned my skin bright red and sent my blood pressure to the moon.

ER personal stood around guessing the problem, when a young female Doctor walked in, looked at me, looked at my chart and said: "Reaction to the Antibiotic - put him on something else" and walked out.

She probably saved my life.

Type I diabetic with an insulin pump, so yes.

quote:

Several years ago I was given a heavy dose of Levaquin which turned my skin bright red and sent my blood pressure to the moon.

ER personal stood around guessing the problem, when a young female Doctor walked in, looked at me, looked at my chart and said: "Reaction to the Antibiotic - put him on something else" and walked out.

She probably saved my life.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Stevens Johnson Syndrome I bet. Bad stuff. Worse that spontaneous tendon rupture all associated with Levaquin. Think it now carries a black box warning. Some patients have life long problems.

In 2005 I was scheduled to have a relatively minor procedure to fix a herniated disk in my neck. A pre-surgical blood test revealed a severe anemic condition that was ultimately diagnosed as colon cancer. I had an uncle who died of that a number of years earlier. He had no symptoms at all until it was too late to do anything. If it hadn't been for that blood test, I wouldn't be here now.

quote:

Originally posted by Bisleyblackhawk:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
Probably would’ve died this week without modern medicine. I’m posting from a bed in the hospital so I’m not out of the woods yet (much better though).

Dang tatortodd ...hoping and praying for a most excellent outcome to this...get well soon!

Thanks BBH. Hoping to be discharged tomorrow.

Most “no” respondents won’t bother voting, so percentages are not significant, but it’s interesting to see the absolute numbers of people who are still functioning or are even still here because of modern medicine. We should give a thought of gratitude to all the people who have been responsible for that over the past couple of centuries.

i'm on my sixth decade on Earth and have no meds / prescriptions. statins? won't take them. while i volunteer at the pharmacy - they have nothing for me.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
You could say so. I'm not sure I would have died, but I wouldn't be what I am today, either.

I've had pneumonia three times as well as other infections that could have been problematic, and antibiotics solved those problems.

I was going to vote "No" until I read this. I've had pneumonia a couple of times too. It's easy to overlook because it doesn't have the impact of a heart attack, but it kills 4 million people every year. I'm sure pneumonia would have put an end to me if not for the meds I got.