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This Guy Suffered From Chronic Back Pain for Nearly 3 Years — He Just Identified the Unbelievable Reason Why

Mar. 21, 2013 5:30pm Jason Howerton

Meet Billy McNeely, a 32-year-old man from Canada who got into a fight with a man over an arm-wrestling match at a birthday party in 2010. The dispute resulted in McNeely being stabbed five times.

He rushed to the hospital and got stitched up by doctors. Then he got on with his life.

But the incident left him with a permanent and painful back itch that wouldn’t relent. Earlier this week, he found out what was causing it: a knife blade that had been buried in his skin for nearly three years.

Man Finds Knife Blade in His Back After Three Years

(National Post)

(The Canadian Press)

McNeely told the National Post that he and his girlfriend were asleep in bed when he began having back issues.

“I sat up, I tried to rub it and scratch it the way I always did, and then the tip of my nail caught a piece of something solid, something sharp,” he said. “My girlfriend got up and she started playing around with it and she maneuvered my back in a certain way and the tip of a blade poked out of my skin.”

He went straight to the hospital and doctors found a blade about 2.5 inches long lodged in his flesh.

“I’ve got it in my pocket right now,” McNeely added.

While the 32-year-old is happy to finally know what was causing his back issues, he is pretty upset that doctors never took an x-ray to make sure he didn’t have any internal damage, which would have shown the blade.

“I walked around for close to three years with this thing in my back,” he lamented. “They brushed me off.”

He says he is considering a lawsuit against a hospital in Fort Good Hope, the hospital he went the day he was stabbed.

Comments (109)

Perspective
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:54pm
So much for that fine socialized medical system in Canada ey?

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- Richalu
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 7:29pm
  My thoughts exactly. And coming to a US hospital near you soon.
  
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- kenboo1
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 7:49pm
  Kinda like what the politicians do to us… http://www.repeal17.net
  
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- Anonymous T. Irrelevant
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 9:21pm
  So, it took this clown three years to put two and two together? The kind of idiot who would get into a fight over arm wrestling. Please, stay in Canada, we have enough idiots in the USA, voting for chooming, tantrum-throwing, child-tyrants.
  
  Report this comment
- Caniac Steve
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 10:51pm
  Now you know why they call it “the practice of medicine”
  
  Report this comment
- SweetDoug
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 10:58pm
  ‘
  ‘
  ‘
  ‘
  The sucky-baby!
  
  A good Canadian boy would’ve sucked it up and lived with it!
  
  We’ve all been corrupted by that socialized health care!
  
  •∆•
  V-V
  
  Report this comment
- banjarmon
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:10pm
  TSA would have found it if he had gone through airport security…NO Doctor Fees needed!!!
  
  Report this comment
- Puddle Duck
  Posted on March 22, 2013 at 3:14am
  Incidents like this are more the norm than the exception…..I could tell all kinds of horror stories about how the system has crumbled in the last 3 decades but it sufficient say this ….you could see this coming once the unions gained control of all of the various personnel that comprise a complete full service facility….once the politicians started pandering to these “interests” the costs began to outstrip revenues at a terrific rate. Union busting in all areas of the public sector must be task number one if we are ever going to get control of costs and begin to rebuild from the ground up. HC used to be well run, efficient and affordable when it was in private hands….once this vital sector of any 1st world nation was taken over by Government it’s downfall was preordained. That is the lesson we seem to ignore time and again to our own detriment.
  
  Report this comment
- Phattdad144
  Posted on March 22, 2013 at 7:31am
  You would think that a metal detector would be useful in determining if anything was in the wound. We use metal detectors to verify that there is no metal in food processing. Just a thought.
  
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- grimjack3791
  Posted on March 22, 2013 at 8:09am
  Shoulda went to Cuba for treatment.
  
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- TROONORTH
  Posted on March 22, 2013 at 8:11am
  We’re tough up here in the land of the midnight sun. Walking around with a knife in your back is nothing. The leader of our Liberal party has been walking around with his head stuck up his azz for years and years!
  
  Report this comment
- SGT Rock
  Posted on March 22, 2013 at 9:32am
  While I read it I was wondering why they did not xray him, guess the old combat medic in me popping up again. You gotta just run out and get some Obummercare so this can happen to you.
  
  Report this comment
- Cavallo
  Posted on March 22, 2013 at 10:13am
  Get ready for this level of care in the US. Thanks Bobo!
  
  Report this comment
- PK_SEA
  Posted on March 22, 2013 at 7:15pm
  I really wouldn’t worry about that problem here. Although we are going to have socialized medicine, we are a nation of lawyers and are litigious beyond belief. With that in mind, many unnecessary tests will be run on many patients (just as it is now) thus inflating the price of single payer health care even more.
  On a positive note, if I got in a knife fight after an arm wrestling match here in the USA, I am 90% positive the ER doctor would find the broken blade in my back.
  
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- dmerwin
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 2:34am
  Bingo.
  
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catty
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:53pm
Was this a Palin who drove to Canada for their healthcare?

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- Walkabout
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 7:12pm
  McNeely is not the same name as Palin. Nor is it the same surname as Sara’s maiden name Heath.
  
  Your better than this Catty. I know so.
  
  Report this comment
- catty
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 8:09pm
  Joking about the Palins going to Canada for healthcare, hello!
  
  Report this comment
- Tankertony
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 9:52pm
  Sarah Palin for President…2016…whoo hooo!
  
  Palin/Rubio…unstoppable.
  
  Report this comment
- rosegrower
  Posted on March 22, 2013 at 11:33am
  No Catty – it was more likely an Obama supporter who believed everything they’d heard about American doctors who cut off the feet of diabetics who come in for a nail trim. You know, like YOUR relatives????
  
  Report this comment
- catty
  Posted on March 22, 2013 at 1:55pm
  your comment might be interesting if it made any sense.
  
  Report this comment
- dmerwin
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 4:19am
  Actually, Alaska is the last bastion of choose your own doc medical care. No HMO, we may pay more but we receive timely, quality medical care. Why would you think we would go to Canada? They can’t take care of their own folks in a timely fashion. Oh, I get it, you are making a “Catty” comment on your perception of the Palin’s being some sort of brawling trailer trash. Funny, I haven’t seen any Palins or Heaths in the news for coarse behavior. Might you be a bit of a no nothing (or know it all) snob? I’m not a huge Palin supporter but they are good people.
  
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termyt
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:43pm
I learned that lesson the first time, too. Now every time I am stabbed in an arm-wrestling match, I make sure to check that the blade isn’t broken.

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- D-Back
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 7:13pm
  Lol!!!!!!!! ;-)
  
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dajones
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:39pm
That’s really crazy but here’s my story which is closer to where more people live: For 4 years I suffered with what seemed to be seasonal coughing spells. It always happened toward the end of winter and lasted for about 1 to 2 months. Over those years, I saw around 7 or 8 doctors and had x-rays, tuberculosis tests and blood tests galore… spending a ton of my own money (having no insurance), I was diagnosed with pertussis, allergies, pneumonia, even asthma… given repeated courses of antibiotics, decongestants, or inhalers. Finally, I went to the emergency room of my local hospital and saw yet more doctors. These doctors were going down the same road with me after looking at my x-rays… until one doctor on a whim decided to order a cat scan. It came back with an obvious massive blood clot in my lungs…nearly the size of half my fist. They were ashen faced and said you’re not leaving here for a while. They saved my life.

The cost to me was a nightmare I’m still dealing with… but what’s going to happen to the people who have similar problems after even more of the “cost saving” Obama-Care kicks in? With more poorly educated doctors and pressure to shave costs by “avoiding unnecessary testing”…I’m thinking this is going to be very very bad.

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- Silvertruth
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 7:21pm
  Glad to hear they found it. You got lucky.
  
  Many people aren’t this lucky and perish from easily treatable conditions that get missed. This is NOT medical malpractice, it’s regulatory malpractice.
  
  Good doctors are forced into specializing because specialists only have to focus on one area and it’s less risky. General Practitioners are sued so often that malpractice for them costs so much that they actually earn less than they pay their RN’s. Why be a doctor?
  
  So, the GP’s rattle through their fast flows and give pills, you’re lucky to get any kind of internal scan even though the technology is so accurate now, and quick, that they could find dozens of malady’s during an annual checkup and get them dealt with before they become problems.
  
  You could replace Obamacare with a mandatory regimen of annual scans and tests for everyone and SAVE insurance companies money, SAVE lives, and increase quality of life for everyone. Instead they are TAXING the makers of these life saving machines and making getting to them so difficult that to make the money back on them, hospitals and health care locations will have to increase the cost of a scan, not decrease.
  
  The other portion of this is TORT reform. We need to stop letting people sue over the smallest things and let doctors have some room to breathe and be wrong. We go to these people to help us and they get sued for it. Unless they are incompetent, they should be protected, not punished.
  
  Report this comment
- drs1969
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 7:31pm
  Competence is already in short supply. After Obama Care, there will be doctors being imported from Pakistan who have every intention of killing Infidels. 3 of them fire bombed an airport in London several years ago.
  
  Report this comment
- HarvestTime
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 9:19pm
  @Silvertruth
  Could it be they just want less of us around?
  
  Report this comment
- navydoc2008
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:55pm
  @DAJONES
  I find your story flaud. Blood clots to the lung called Pulmonary Embolisms (especially the size you report) are deadly within minutes to hours if not treated. 4 years? That’s an awful long time for a Pulmonary Embolism to be there and not kill you. On top of that your symptoms that you reported are wrong for a PE. The symptoms of a PE are shortness of breath while at rest, inability to perform exercise, chest pain, anxiousness, not seasonal cough.
  
  I dont doubt you are telling the truth that you had something, but not likely a blood clot to your lungs (PE). There is a chance you had an empyema (a collection of puss and blood between the lung and chest wall in the pleural space) which do go undiagnosed at times. They can cause weird symptoms including intermittent cough and fevers. If they drained it and put you on antibiotics then it was an empyema. If they gave you injections of blood thinner then it was a very unusual PE.
  
  Empyemas are usually only found by accident or on purpose with a CT. Most doctors will not irradiate people with a CT scan for seasonal coughing, therefore your treatment was normal. I once found one the size of a football in a patient who most likely had it for 10 years. They are pretty rare however and you would have to irradiate (guessing) thousands of people with a cough to find one. Not good enough odds to check routinely.
  
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- navydoc2008
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:56pm
  sorry for the spelling errors I just read it.
  
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mlimberg
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:33pm
It’s already here…. I just found out I have a broken neck for the past 16 months. All because of Government (State) involvement since I was injured on the job.

I have to wait up to two months until they decide to move to the next Dr. appointment. I finally told them that a real person is in pain here…. been kind of quite since they found out about the neck issues…

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hi
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:33pm
Crappy socialized medicine.
On a positive note, he should really count his blessings that no damage was done!!

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Witness1974
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:30pm
And I thought I was too busy.

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Rogue
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:28pm
The Blaze is starting to confuse me. I’m not sure why they used “unbelievable” in a headline today.

Have you already met your daily quota on amazing, stunning, shocking, insane, and incredible? Now THAT is unbelievable.

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Airport-bum
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:26pm
Hooray for socialized health care! We’re all saved!

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- CatB
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:35pm
  Yes . that good old Canadian healthcare system .. my Canadian relatives die about 10 years before those here … of course Obama is going to “fix” that .. yea … /sarcasm
  
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- CZ858
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 10:19pm
  @ CATB “my Canadian relatives die about 10 years before those here”
  
  I call B.S on the above statement. Numerous independent sources don’t support your claim that Canadian life expectancy is 10 years less than the United States.
  
  Here’s one: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy
  
  Canada ranks 11th out of 198 Countries. The United States is in 40th position – 2.57 years less than Canada.
  
  This story took place in the Northwest Territories which is largely wilderness so it’s hardly surprising that an x-ray machine wasn’t available.
  
  I grew up in a border town and spent alot of time in the United States. In 1987 I was in Green Bay, Wisconsin working out at a gym. I badly tore a ligament in my lower back during my workout. The pain was bad enough that I went to a Green Bay hospital. When the doctor found out I was Canadian (ie. no American health insurance), he wrote me a prescription for a muscle relaxant and refused to treat me further).
  
  There are pros and cons to both health systems. There’s no question that the Canadian health system isn’t perfect but it annoys the hell out me when people on this website slam our system out of ignorance. Glenn has done it numerous times as well so he certainly set the example.
  
  Canadians are the United State’s best friend so we’d appreciate it if you’d stop pocking us in the eye.
  
  When Obamination finishes ruining the United States, you’ll be glad we’re here.
  
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- luxomni
  Posted on March 22, 2013 at 12:21am
  @CZ858 When I was getting my radiotherapy for throat cancer in 2005 in Atlanta, Georgia, there were six Canadian men getting their radiotherapy for prostate cancer. They were younger than I am now, but they were considered “too old” for treatment under the Canadian Health Plan. At this time, I could get prostate cancer treatment here if I needed it, but when Obamacare finally kicks in, I suspect treatment will be considered uneconomical in this country also. “Just go wait it out and die”. That really doesn’t appeal to me.
  
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Mike Austin
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:20pm
Welcome to the future with Obamacare.

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hades3
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:10pm
If a government run health care system in Canada has its flaws, just wait until Obamacare is in full swing. I wonder how many people are aware there are as many people in California alone as there are in all of Canada ? That means there are 49 other states in our union, which increases the odds of such incidents.

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SaturdaysWarrior76
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:07pm
“…she maneuvered my back in a certain way and the tip of the blade poked out of my skin..”

Ewwwww! 0_o Glad he’s okay now but what a weird story! :)

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MDECKER
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:03pm
Funny, the United States got stabbed in the back a little more than 4 years ago. The blade won’t be removed for another 3-4 generations.

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- bgp
  Posted on March 22, 2013 at 11:03am
  Sadly true!
  
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michaelmoron
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:03pm
I don’t need no stinkin’ Health Care.

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RaydocX
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 5:55pm
he apparently did not fly in those three years.

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- circleDwagons
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 7:26pm
  Lol, for physicals we will have to go to the airport. But if he had gone he ptobably would have been charged for trying to smuggle a weapon.
  
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TimPatriot
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 5:55pm
Wait till he gets the bill for the bio hazard bag they put the blade into….now that will be painful.

Medical device $200, Tax on Medical device $20, Value Add Tax $50, Not Correctly Insured Tax $75, Medical Redistribution Tax $100….etc, etc,….

He would have been better off getting a pair of pliers, jerking the thing out himself, and putting the whole procedure on YouTube. Make big bucks for an ObamaCare repeal add…

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chips1
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 5:51pm
That’s an assault blade!!!!

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- chclttrffls
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:04pm
  Priceless!
  
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- G-WHIZ
  Posted on March 22, 2013 at 10:06am
  He was shot with an assault-knife!!
  
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The-Monk
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 5:49pm
Canadian Socialist Health Care system…. need I say more?

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- Eastinfection
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 8:53pm
  Hey Monk…
  
  Canadians? Knives?
  
  Where have i heard this before? ..Oh yeah:
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VZhSkREYBc
  
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Realman30
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 5:45pm
Just another day in Obama’s America 2.0.

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cptenn94
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 5:43pm
Socialist medicine at work right there.

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SoundnFury
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 5:43pm
Our future under Obama-care. I predict more stories like this in a few years.

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- drs1969
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 7:25pm
  Go to the UK sites, like the Guardian. These kind of stories are on there, everyday.
  
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DAYOFTRINITY
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 5:41pm
Good Canadian medicine. I knew they had long waits for care but this is ridiculous.

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NO_MORE_OBAMA
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 5:37pm
Sue the doctor and hospital … Oh ya thats right. Socialized medician you cant sue crap.

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762x51
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 5:36pm
Welcome to government run healthcare.

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- Voice_of_One
  Posted on March 23, 2013 at 12:44am
  Damn!! Sorry, that was supposed to be 1974. I hate that there is not a way to edit these comments!!!!!
  
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AquamanSucks
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 5:32pm
Was he a white house staffer??

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- 762x51
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 5:58pm
  Dare to dream.
  
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