The Sickening Truth About How Hollywood Shows Off An “Illness”

The 4th anniversary of my father’s passing was on October 16th, 2014. 
When he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2008, the signs were clear. He couldn’t swallow, food got lodged in his throat for hours at a time and the war he fought against acid reflux was a no-winning battle. I remember when he got his first endoscopy at the hospital after he tried swallowing soda one day. 

The bubbles didn’t make it past the growing tumor doctors found in the upper part of his esophagus.

However, my dad suffered for years and months before he was ordered to have the endoscopy. There was no call for the procedure during the early stages of his cancer (thanks to all of his doctors for simply saying it’s acid reflux and it’s “not a big medical concern.”) In any event, our family new about this issue and how his health was declining over the years. We didn’t know it would lead to the discovery and development of cancer, but having an invasive procedure was the only way to detect the horrible disease.

Who gets an endoscopy – or other cancer-screening procedure that you usually have to be asleep for –unless you suffer serious health problems? 

According to Hollywood – anyone!

Days and weeks after Joan Rivers’ death, the “full” story came out about how she had an endoscopy performed because she “wanted to find out why her voice was so raspy.” While I think Rivers’ unique and distinguishing voice topped off her sense of humor, I didn’t know someone could simply walk into a clinic, get an endoscopy and consider the procedure similar to a regular doctor’s check up. The first thing I wondered is – is Hollywood telling the truth? Can you or I just go to our neighborhood gastroenterologist and have them put a camera down our throat if our voice is scratchy and not at the pitch we think is “normal?”

Let’s get real! No one vies for a cancer screening procedure just for the hell of it to “see what’s going on down there,” – or up there! I think Hollywood is lying – and that Rivers was attempting to get plastic surgery to fix her vocal chords, which unfortunately led to her death. Weeks later, there’s no mention of a diagnosis or results of a biopsy that was performed.

What kind of cells did they find before Rivers succumbed to her death? Why didn’t Rivers have the test done in a hospital – under expert supervision – if she was so afraid for her health? While not having the endoscopy done at all could have extended her life, the public should now be concerned with how Hollywood interprets – or downplays – the severity of someone’s illness. Who cares about 

Dr. Lawrence Cohen, who was reportedly not even certified to perform the procedure! Apparently, other celebrities had the luxury of getting endoscopies to check out their throats, too.

Sometimes, when celebrities undergo a procedure that changes – or ends – their lives, it makes non-celebrities think about the importance of having the same thing done. The problem is that people like you and me can’t just have these tests done without a referral, approval from our health insurance company and, many times, without pre-operative testing of our vitals.

An endoscopy costs well over $3,000 – and some insurance companies will profess that, unless deemed absolutely necessary by a gastric doctor, they won’t cover the costs of the procedure. Unless you have something serious that could lead to a terminal illness, why would you hand over thousands of dollars for such an invasive test?

It’s not like community health fairs offer “free endoscopies” for throat or lung cancer screenings. Most people will walk around for months and years with cancer or a life-threatening disease and never know it. So celebrities can just mosey on into a clinic when they think they something’s wrong? I contend that Hollywood is covering up the fact that Rivers didn't survive yet another round of plastic surgery – something you or I wouldn’t sensibly risk our lives for when we’re in our 80s.

When it comes to other invasive procedures, like colonoscopies – which also require patients to be admitted into a medical facility and put under anesthesia – it’s not like getting a cleaning at a dentist! I also imagine that if you’re in your 80s, a doctor won’t be too keen on giving you certain tests or treatments given the high risk you pose of complications.

Joan Rivers’ passing hit close to home for me – and every time I hear about her dangerous endoscopy, I wonder who’s to blame for her death? Normal people like us can blame deaths on diseases they couldn’t prevent or detect soon enough. But let’s blame Hollywood instead. They definitely do a great job of lying to the public and setting an unrealistic example of what happens in the medical world – unless you’re financially privileged and ready to risk your life…

http://www.canarsiecourier.com/news/2014-10-09/Telling_It_Like_It_Is/Telling_It_Like_It_Is.html