The Most Insanely Valuable Metal Of All!

SageGrouse

Elite Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2013
Messages
2,167
Location
Santa Fe NM
has GOT to be Tungsten!
Yep! I just got a bill (my insurance will cover it) for a piece of tungsten approximately one and a half centimeters long (doubled into a clip) and, close as I could guesstimate from seeing it, about 16 gauge. At this moment, I have it on me... well.... IN me to be precise.

You see, about a month ago, I had a biopsy of "Ernie", my right *cough* chestal appurtenance. (.)(.) Charlie, the left one, wasn't involved. You see... the (NON-cancerous! Relax!) lump was about the size of a popcorn kernel, hard to find, etc, and so they localized it with a tiny wire clip! maybe the size of a grain of rice... made out of pure Tungsten.

The bill reads: 04/03/19... A4649... Clip for Biopsy......$211.00

YEOWTCH!! Talk about your ROI! While it wasn't the most expensive part of the procedure (which was $4,169.00 billed to my insurance) that teensy lil rice grain wire is pretty doggone SPENDY!

So yeah, my surgery date (to yank out the popcorn kernel (Again, NON-Cancerous!) is June 5th. And you bet your sweet BIPPY, I'm askin them to save me that @#$!! WIRE! It goes in my finds bag!!
Sage(What? Doesn't everybody name their boobs?!)Grouse
 
Glad to hear its non-cancerous.

I had surgery 4 years ago to remove a piece of glass shrapnel from my neck. It was in my neck for many years and I wanted to keep it. But NO! "Sir, you can't have it because we need to test it to see what it is". I am 100% positive it is glass. So then they charge my insurance a hundred or so to identify it - glass.

I carried that piece of glass in my neck for 40 years (explosion accident when I was 17) and they wouldn't let me keep it.

Hopefully they will return the $211 tungsten wire to you. If not, you have a valid court case against them for theft of property.
 
That is insanely expensive! I am glad that it is benign! I do know a thing or two about expensive hospital procedures. While my "lump" (not breast) was not benign, it was at least very localized and had not spread. A few bouts of radiation after day surgery with a cost of around 50K, all is right and 15 years later, no ill effects.
 
Well,, I will see if they'll give it to me! At the very least, I'll demand in writing that they won't try to re-sell it on ebay! :D
Oh, and for the medical among us, what I have is a "Interstitial Papilloma - Atypical" Basically a little cluster of cells, like a wart or mole, benign, but they gave me a choice - Have it out OR have mammograms every six months forever! Uh... Yeah. NO!
Sage(I Got the Music In Me!)Grouse
 
Do women still complain about having mammograms? A few years back a medicine I was taking caused the growth of breast tissue. Now I know why young ladies in puberty complain. But the Doctor insisted that I have a mammogram. The young lady doing the test was far more embarrassed than what I was. But when she finished she had a very worried look on her face and said I have to go see the radiologist. For the next ten minutes I sat there sweating bullets knowing she had seen something. She then came back and said nothing to worry about. But I found the procedure to be a piece of cake and still wonder what all the fuss was about that I had heard about mammograms.
 
You see, about a month ago, I had a biopsy of "Ernie", my right *cough* chestal appurtenance. (.)(.) Charlie, the left one, wasn't involved. You see... the (NON-cancerous! Relax!) lump was about the size of a popcorn kernel

Bravo for you, Sage! My wife didn't fare as well. Had cancer in the right 26 years ago ,and came out ok with minor surgery and radiation therapy. Now, she's diagnosed with a return in the right side, 3CM, with a small nodule attached to the right lung. Just got the meds this past weekend, and need to visit the Oncologist's on Thu. for a blood chem screening before starting. At least it didn't go full-on metastatic.

Sage(What? Doesn't everybody name their boobs?!)Grouse

Ummm, no, but I'm a guy.

Roger
 
I hunt sometimes with a fellow whose father is in the medical supply business. And ... you're right : A simple copper screw that you can get in a hardware store for .05c, will sell for $1k when the exact same screw is used to fuse bone together. Doh !
 
I hunt sometimes with a fellow whose father is in the medical supply business. And ... you're right : A simple copper screw that you can get in a hardware store for .05c, will sell for $1k when the exact same screw is used to fuse bone together. Doh !
Drug and surgery prices today are legalized extortion on a massive scale.
 
Drug and surgery prices today are legalized extortion on a massive scale.

Could also have to do with the litigious society in which we live in. You're not likely to get sued for a copper screw that you use in home-wood-working. But you are subject to lawsuits in medical stuff.

Reminds me of the outcry in the 1970s or '80s of how the government (military, etc...) spend hundreds of dollars for a coffee pot or toilet seat that they could merely have gone down to the store and bought for $5 or $10. This was paraded as "government waste".

Until the full story comes out of how much volumes of paperwork and contracts there is to procure that single coffee pot or toilet seat. That the vendor has to practically have teams of lawyers to look over and fill out.

So too is the bureaucracy probably onerous for anything medically related.
 
A large portion of the cost of medical care is liability insurance. If a patient is not happy with their care the next thing they do is sue Then those on the jury feel sorry for them and award millions of dollars. It a vicious cycle.
 
I Know about medical supply costs. About 3 times a year I have to order 2 boxes of Colostomy flanges and 2 boxes of bags; by looking at them you'd think $25 each box, but no $771.00 for the 4 boxes. That doesn't even include the skin barrier, release spray or the powder.

Thank God for "Blessed Insurance".
 
A large portion of the cost of medical care is liability insurance. If a patient is not happy with their care the next thing they do is sue Then those on the jury feel sorry for them and award millions of dollars. It a vicious cycle.
So true, unfortunately. On top of that there are many in the medical profession with high salaries. My wife is an RN (Registered Nurse) making close to $80 an hour.

And its not just medical care. "Roundup" weed killer maker "Monsanto" was found liable for $2 Billion by a California jury recently. The claim is that using Roundup for 30 years caused a couple to get cancer. I'll be surprised if the company continues making the stuff.
 
So true, unfortunately. On top of that there are many in the medical profession with high salaries. My wife is an RN (Registered Nurse) making close to $80 an hour.

And its not just medical care. "Roundup" weed killer maker "Monsanto" was found liable for $2 Billion by a California jury recently. The claim is that using Roundup for 30 years caused a couple to get cancer. I'll be surprised if the company continues making the stuff.

My wife is a retired RN. She worked Labor and Delivery for a number of years and if there was anything wrong with the baby there was a law suit and millions of dollars. I talked to one OB type and he said that he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars every year for insurance. Once someone files suit against a doctor the insurance rate goes up My wife got tired of having to give depositions and being named in law suits. that she went to the OR to work.

A good Nurse is worth far more than they make. '
 
Was reading your story and was just thinking you should get to keep the clip but I see you have it covered 😀😀
 
I think titanium is also quite expensive. My wife got to keep both of her titanium pieces. Of course the surgeon left them in her knees. No idea how much they cost but I suspect it was in the many thousands each.
 
I think titanium is also quite expensive.....
Titanium is $30 per pound or $1.88 per ounce.

Tungsten is $20 per pound or $1.25 per ounce.

But once it gets in the hands of a medical-surgical supplier the price goes up astronomically.
 
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I Know about medical supply costs. About 3 times a year I have to order 2 boxes of Colostomy flanges and 2 boxes of bags; by looking at them you'd think $25 each box, but no $771.00 for the 4 boxes. That doesn't even include the skin barrier, release spray or the powder.

Thank God for "Blessed Insurance".

Amen! And that Karaya stuff stiiiiiiiccckkkkkssss like mad! I don't have a stoma, but I used to do colostomy care for a patient. I'll never forget those cute lil Hollister blue and white boxes! :D
Sage(Keep tugging! It WILL come off!)Grouse
 
Amen! And that Karaya stuff stiiiiiiiccckkkkkssss like mad! I don't have a stoma, but I used to do colostomy care for a patient. I'll never forget those cute lil Hollister blue and white boxes! :D
Sage(Keep tugging! It WILL come off!)Grouse

I hear ya, Sage. I had to switch from Hollister to Convatec due to the itchy adhesive that Hollister uses. :yes:
 
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