Dai Henwood has cancer

[harm_less]

life is a funny thing and just for a few extra months I have no idea what I would do either, I know that death scares the shit out of me because its so final but do you put up with the aches and pains and being sick with chemo or do you just call it quits?

The healthcare system is crap I have been waiting now for about 18 months for open heart surgery to have a replacement Aortic valve put in and last Monday I went to see the surgeon and he apologised and said I had fallen through the cracks and my surgery should have been many months ago, so I asked him ok so when will it be scheduled for me now and he couldnt tell me, he said he was so busy that wasnt going to put a time on it.
Yep GREAT health system.

Yet another complication caused by the huge demographic bulge that is commonly referred to as 'baby boomers'. As the population percentage of this age group increases social support infrastructure such as superannuation, health, public transport and housing will struggle to operate as those older members of the population are supported by an economy with proportionally fewer of working (and tax paying) age.

In particular the health sector will face huge demands as the afflictions of the elderly increasing dominate its workload. I've heard it said that somewhere around 80% of the average person's medical support is undertaken in the last 2 years of life. Also the unrelenting rise in dementia sufferers is a worrying burden on the health sector due to the amount of personalised care per patient increases drastically as the illness progresses. Maybe a promising growth model for the aged care sector but their demand for quality staff is already under extreme pressure.

The most health compromised also tend to be those with lower socioeconomic standing who are least able to fund their own care. Somewhere down the line our health sector is in danger of collapse and it ain't going to be pretty.