'Modern medicine' refers to the advances in medical technology made over the last hundred years. These would include antibiotics, chemotherapy, CT scans, mass-produced insulin, organ transplantation, pacemakers, radiotherapy, ultrasound, etc., etc.

Do you think you would have survived this long without it?

Yup, never really had anything serious other than the cold.

I'd probably have been fine up until a few years ago when I got diagnosed with breast cancer at 42---if there were no modern medicine at that point, I most likely could have looked forward to being dead before I turned 50, given the rate at which it had started to spread in me.

No, about 8 years ago I nearly bled to death with a bleeding ulcer. I was in ICU after the surgery 7 days, another 3 in a regular room. Heck if I had been in the US I would probably have died, or if my husband hadn't been home too. In both cases I would have said oh I wait a day or two to see if this clears up. I didn't have a day or two.They pumped 4 units of blood into me right away. Another 3 after the surgery.

Me? Yeah, I prob. Would.

If not for that damn adrenal thing several years back, I'd be ok. My immune system is fairly kickass. But I would have croaked without the MRI.

No. I would have died 16 years ago.