| Donald Trump |
For those who have the same warped sense of humour this Letter can also be had in French. (Complaints can be addressed to the Blog Council, your nearest newspaper, radio or TV station and when you leave this blog remember to pull the chain) *Terms & Conditions Apply, if you can find them.
Saturday, January 17, 2026
THE BBC FOUND IT COULD NOT TREAT DONALD TRUMP ANYTHING LIKE AS BADLY AS IT TREATED SIMON ABBOTT AND GET AWAY WITH IT.
HOW TRUE WAS THE MEDICAL TREATMENT I RECEIVED WHILE IN THE TOKAI MELOMED HOSPITAL IN CAPE TOWN
| Dr Cecile Balkema |
In the hospital Dr Cecile Balkema, who is a specialist physician, allegedly saw me and charged me for her services.
In November when I was back home I sent her an email because I was not happy with the number of medical people who allegedly saw me in hospital and I was also concerned about the amount she had charged me, as well as what all these other people had been paid by my Sizwe Hosmed Medical Aid.
These are the Questions I put her:
1. When I was in hospital did you ever tell me that you would be submitting an account for your services that would not form part of the Hospital's Account?
2. Did you ever ask me what my financial situation was so that you could get some idea as to whether or not I could afford the treatment you had in mind?
3. Is it right that you were responsible for my medical treatment while I was in the Tokai Melomed Hospital and that you arranged for me to be seen by all the other doctors etc who saw me? If you did do this why was I, as a 91 year old, who was brought to the hospital because I fainted, seen by physiotherapists Van der Meijden and Hassim, who are described as "sport injury and post operative recovery specialists." I have no recollection of having any kind of physiotherapy yet my medical aid Sizwe Hosmed paid them a total of R1 681.49 for treatment on two days 15 and 16/5/2025.
4. When I came into the hospital I was initially in a general ward, but nobody told me that I was going to be put into a High Care ward that would cost a lot more than the one I was initially in. And your personal account for R1 681.20 for each of the four days shows that my Medical Aid only paid R578.34 on two occasions. (This was my mistake Sizwe my Medical Aid paid her this amount on four occasions) So it seems I was put into a High Care ward with no regard as to whether or not my Sizwe Medical Aid would pay for it.
5. Did you examine me at any stage while I was in hospital because I don't recall it. And if so what were your findings?
6. Did you liaise with Sizwe my Medical Aid when you wanted to get other medical people to see me to find out whether my medical aid would pay for them?
I got the account from the Cardiologist who saw me after it had been paid by my medical aid and at the bottom of it was the name of the Doctor who had referred me to him. It made me wonder why I hadn't made world headline news as the first 90 year old man to have had a sex change. The referring doctor it turned out was none other than a Gynecologist.
7. I only recall being seen by somebody for the itch I had and the cardiologist who said as he was walking away, "There is nothing wrong with your heart " and the Ear Nose and Throat specialist who I saw when I was taken to his rooms.
8. But I can't understand how I could have had something like my chest X-rayed by Morton and Partners without knowing about it. Surely I could not have had this done while I was in bed in the ward?
9. Regarding your first Account Detail Statement that gave the total as R5 292.12, now the more recent one I got gives it as R4 135.44.
My general observation is that as you are a specialist physician I would have thought that you would have been able to diagnose my condition pretty accurately, so that it would not have been necessary to have a sort shot gun approach with the bringing in of all sorts of medical people before the final one got my condition right and that it was an inner ear problem. And having spoken to some of my grown up relatives this ear condition seems to be quite a common problem among older people, so it was not as though I had some rare illness.
My situation reminded me of a lion's kill in the game reserve when a whole lot of other animals like hyenas etc. as well as vultures get fed at just a single kill.
This was the reply I got from ShaiYah du Preez, the Team Leader at SPESprac the firm that evidently deals with the doctor's accounts.
"Kindly see the attached statement. Please note that Dr Balkema has written off the account, your balance is now R0.00"
Note: Unfortunately by this time my Medical Aid had already paid her R2 313.36
Regards,
Jon
Friday, January 9, 2026
THE FICTITIOUS CANCERS THAT WOULD HAVE BADLY SCARED ANYBODY
Dr Sandra Pather is a Dermatologist who is a Senior Specialist Consultant in Cape Town and a part-time lecturer at the University of Cape Town. She works in the Skin Cancer Multidisciplinary Team at Groote Schuur Hospital and contributes to the undergraduate and post graduate teaching programme. She also finds time to run her own private practice and that is where I consulted her in 2025 for a skin rash I had over most parts of my body, which had kept me awake for the greater part of the night for months. Even when I had been in the Tokai Melomed hospital for four days some time before I saw Dr Pather nobody there was able to sort out my rash problem.
I was taken to hospital by ambulance after I fainted at home as I was getting out of bed. It turned out that I had an inner year problem which was soon cured once I had had my ear syringed by an Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon. The Dermatologist who I believe saw me at the hospital prescribed some cream for my itch but it didn't work. So I still had it when I left the hospital.
I was aged 91 at the time I went to see Dr Pather because she had been so successful in treating the outbreak of sores on the lower part of my legs that I had had six years earlier. I saw her after my GP at the time had failed to make any impression on what was eating me up. But after consulting Sandra it was as though I had seen a magician. Within a couple of weeks my ugly wounds were healing up nicely and they were soon a thing of the past.
On my head I had what looked to me like two small blood blisters almost next to each other. The size and look of these had not changed for a year or more. She then told me I would have to have another R1 650 consultation so that she could remove samples of the cancers to be sent for examination at the laboratory. My first consultation lasted about 15 minutes and my second one was even shorter.
After the 2nd consultation when she could not give me a plausible explanation as to why she was sending two samples to the lab when she had told me I had three cancers I told her I was not going pay for any lab reports and I walked out still with the rash that had plagued me for months. Again no reference was made to my rash.
I had paid for both consultations with my credit card before I left her rooms. But shortly afterwards I was shocked to find that this practice, that does not deal with medical aids, had submitted a claim for R1 650 to my Sizwe Hosmed medical aid and had been paid. It took me a bit of time before I eventually got this refunded.
It is now about 6 months since I last saw Dr Pather and this is what my back and the top of my head look like. I got my carer to remover the two blood blisters on my head because they were ruining my modelling career and as you can see there is only a slight sign of them ever being there. As for the cancer on my back I have no idea what Dr Pather saw because apart from an obvious rash I have not had anything that could be classified as some kind or growth.
Regards, Jon