His partner, Melissa Ewins, is speaking out as part of testicular cancer awareness month, and is urging men not to brush symptoms off and say, “It’ll be all right”, or, “I’ll deal with it another day”.
“The sooner you get on to these things, the better the outcome.”
Read the full story: Testicular cancer awareness: Kurtis Jones’ partner speaks out after Rotorua man lost his battle.
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And that’s today’s evidence for why health insurance is vital in NZ.
Drinking and smoking are frequently seen as the ‘bad guys’ associated with poor health outcomes, but a bigger problem now is being well overweight, as well as poor heart health, lack of exercise and recreational drug use, or the one you can do little about, family history.
Ray S
In reply to Ray S: I was treated for head and neck cancer through the public health system. They were excellent.
Manda D
In reply to Ray S: When you have serious issues like cancer, the New Zealand health system is very good. I had a son with cancer as a toddler - the full weight of the health system swung behind us. Alternatively, I lived in the US when my former partner got sick, had a pretty good health plan, and it was frankly a debacle. It would have been cheaper to fly home to New Zealand. The most important thing for health is firstly the luck of your genes, and then diet and exercise. It seemed this young man was very healthy. For men, it is going to the doctor regularly and being honest with them.
Ross W
My heart goes out to you Melissa, and Kurtis’ family too. Good luck with your nursing career. GPs should take things more seriously and act quickly, too.
Joy C
The biggest problem is getting a GP to take you seriously and then getting to an appointment with a specialist. Then, getting the tests done might take months. Again, our medical system is overwhelmed and cannot cope with demand. The result being that people who could’ve been saved are dying. I’m going through this exact same situation now where no one gets back to me - it’s just so frustrating.
Francois N
In reply to Francois N: GPs are only human, and all will take you seriously if you show or explain the necessary symptoms. Having said that, all of them are under a lot of time pressure because they have to be the funnel for everything: prescriptions, referrals and at worst, ambulances.
If your experience has been poor then I’m sorry, but blanket comments don’t help. I’m not a doctor, but come from a family of doctors, and I know the pressure they face seven days a week and for a good 16 hours of the day.
Richard Y
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