rie
16th September 2009, 23:42
I was rushed to the ED with intense pain last week. I could barely stand, let alone walk and my poor flatmate had to listen to me howl in the car all the way to the ED. I arrive at the ED and fill some forms in shakily and wait - I am totally aware that there are several steps you have to take, even in ED, before you can actually see a doctor. That's okay.
What's not okay is that I told the nurse that it hurts to walk, which he doesn't seem to understand. He tells me to follow him. By foot. Then the nurse leaves me in the middle of the hallway to have a banter with the other nurses. They are giggling about something, while I cry from the pain 2m away as people walk past me. This public humiliation feels punitive. I feel like my ovaries have exploded and I picture the doctors vacuuming out my childbearing properties from my guts and yet I am being treated like I've done something wrong. Some nurses stare at me before they walk away. I am still standing in the middle of the hallway. Finally, the nurse points directly behind him (OMG my room was 2m away from me ALL ALONG?) and tells me to wait inside.
Nurse #3 walks in later and grills me. My poor flatmate is assumed to be my boyfriend, and the nurse asks some unexpectedly embarrassing questions. Flatmate scuttles out urgently, as I am desperate he hears no more. The assumption that just because a boy has driven me to the hospital means that he is entitled to hear intimate details of my medical history is so flawed I can't even begin. Yet, almost gleefully she asks "did you two have a spat then?" But not before she snaps at me and demands to know if I speak any english. (I don't think you'd be very articulate either, if your ovaries were exploding)
It got a bit better from there. People were a bit nicer to me - maybe after they realised I spoke english? who knows. I have resolved since that incident that I will never, ever go back to the ED. :mad::mad:
Later, I attended the GP every day for four days to be prescribed stronger medication each time. What is baffling is that the stronger the medication, the less the chance of subsidy. My first three days' worth of meds cost around $3 each. On the fourth day, the meds were $30 each. So, those who are in greater pain are taken to be less needy of assistance? Bizarre. When the usual panadol + Ibuprofen + others no longer make a difference, you don't really have a choice. You WILL fork out half your pay to get the stronger meds.
WTFhealthsystem.
/endrant
What's not okay is that I told the nurse that it hurts to walk, which he doesn't seem to understand. He tells me to follow him. By foot. Then the nurse leaves me in the middle of the hallway to have a banter with the other nurses. They are giggling about something, while I cry from the pain 2m away as people walk past me. This public humiliation feels punitive. I feel like my ovaries have exploded and I picture the doctors vacuuming out my childbearing properties from my guts and yet I am being treated like I've done something wrong. Some nurses stare at me before they walk away. I am still standing in the middle of the hallway. Finally, the nurse points directly behind him (OMG my room was 2m away from me ALL ALONG?) and tells me to wait inside.
Nurse #3 walks in later and grills me. My poor flatmate is assumed to be my boyfriend, and the nurse asks some unexpectedly embarrassing questions. Flatmate scuttles out urgently, as I am desperate he hears no more. The assumption that just because a boy has driven me to the hospital means that he is entitled to hear intimate details of my medical history is so flawed I can't even begin. Yet, almost gleefully she asks "did you two have a spat then?" But not before she snaps at me and demands to know if I speak any english. (I don't think you'd be very articulate either, if your ovaries were exploding)
It got a bit better from there. People were a bit nicer to me - maybe after they realised I spoke english? who knows. I have resolved since that incident that I will never, ever go back to the ED. :mad::mad:
Later, I attended the GP every day for four days to be prescribed stronger medication each time. What is baffling is that the stronger the medication, the less the chance of subsidy. My first three days' worth of meds cost around $3 each. On the fourth day, the meds were $30 each. So, those who are in greater pain are taken to be less needy of assistance? Bizarre. When the usual panadol + Ibuprofen + others no longer make a difference, you don't really have a choice. You WILL fork out half your pay to get the stronger meds.
WTFhealthsystem.
/endrant