Don't EVER get sick

[Blossom]

Hope Vicki is getting some care from the hospital now, Good that you have a good GP. All the best for you both.

[RantyDave]

My crash - March this year - I got to stagger into AnE, announce myself as having been in a motorcycle crash, probably have broken ribs, having difficulty breathing - then wait for an hour before they even send the triage nurse. Fucking amateurs.

Is Vicki OK?

Dave

[vifferman]

Dont worry Paul i know how you feel....etc etc.

Phark!
I thought my last one was bad: crash at 8am-ish, spent most of the day on a gurney in the halls of Auckland Hospital, got home about 4:30 PM the same day. In between, there was a wee bit of x-raying, an unnecessary jab with a needle coz I'd forgotten I'd had a tetanus booster, and much pain. I was too stupid/sore to insist on anything, so didn't have my foot x-rayed. "You can walk, it must be OK".
Walk?!?! WTF?!?! More like hop/hobble/limp. Still gives me shit some 5 or 6 years laters.

[sunhuntin]

Phark!
I thought my last one was bad: crash at 8am-ish, spent most of the day on a gurney in the halls of Auckland Hospital, got home about 4:30 PM the same day. In between, there was a wee bit of x-raying, an unnecessary jab with a needle coz I'd forgotten I'd had a tetanus booster, and much pain. I was too stupid/sore to insist on anything, so didn't have my foot x-rayed. "You can walk, it must be OK".
Walk?!?! WTF?!?! More like hop/hobble/limp. Still gives me shit some 5 or 6 years laters.

i hear ya on that! when i came off, they focused solely on the leg that was bleeding. and me still being hopped on natural adrenalin didnt know my other knee was damaged as well. long story short, my unbroken bleeding left leg got a cast, and my damaged right knee was left to carry my 70-odd kg frame around for 2 weeks. that didnt do it any favours either. its been 3 years and still hurts like hell in the wrong temps or if im kneeling/squatting at work.

and just recently, my old bosses son spent about 10 days in hospital. he was in there for 2 days before my boss flipped his lid and demanded they do something. hayden very nearly died from a burst appendix. his still a very sick young man, but at least he is alive, no thanks to the hospital. both these stories happened at wanganui hospital.

paul... i hope the mrs is feeling better. the health system sucks arse over here. its fucking pathetic.

[MotoGirl]

I'm sorry to hear that, Paul.

You know what scares me the most about our DHBs? They have been known to prioritise based on ethnicity.

My boss and workmates are ex-DHB employees and I hear bits and pieces from them. I've also observed things for myself whilst wandering around the hospital as an external contractor (we had access to all the departments).

One memorable event is when an appointment was double-booked because the Maori patient had not attended her five previous appointments (for a tubal ligation). The admin staff did genuinely not expect her to show up so wanted to fit in a cancer patient in that slot. When it was learnt that the appointment was double-booked, they were told to bump the cancer patient because Maori patients always come first, regardless of their health issue.

[sunhuntin]

thats shit! they should NOT be allowed to do that. im betting the cancer patient was a tax payer living a decent life, where as the tubal ligation was just another drain on the system adding more shit genes to the pool.

[MotoGirl]

thats shit! they should NOT be allowed to do that. im betting the cancer patient was a tax payer living a decent life, where as the tubal ligation was just another drain on the system adding more shit genes to the pool.

Yup, I've quickly learnt that the health system is not about fairness. If it was, someone might come to my house to collect me and my whanau when it's time for an appointment. I'm also told that Maori have their own clinics within the hospital so, in the case of a referral, they'll get seen before you or I. The preferential treatment doesn't end there...

[Nasty]

Hi Paul

I know how you feel the system sucks the big one ... when Grub came off they took him to Hutt, where they checked him out and sent him home without booking for xrays .. which we found essential a couple of days later after he swelled to three times the size and found he had four broken bones in his arm.

I hope that Vicky is ok.. if there is anything I can do just call me ... i am easy to find ... fingers and toes are crossed.

[sunhuntin]

Yup, I've quickly learnt that the health system is not about fairness. If it was, someone might come to my house to collect me and my whanau when it's time for an appointment. I'm also told that Maori have their own clinics within the hospital so, in the case of a referral, they'll get seen before you or I. The preferential treatment doesn't end there...

hmmm, my mrs is maori... wonder if i could sneak in behind her? lol.
its shite like this that i avoid doctors and hospitals like the plague. when i came off, i was protesting the whole way into the ambulance. i was determined to go to work. chances are, my legs would be fine if they hadnt dragged me off. havent been majorly sick since 2003/2004, and then it was glandular fever. the meds from the doc plugged up my plumbing and removed my reason from struggling out of bed. needless to say, that medicince went down the drain. my body fixed itself within a month.

[pete376403]

really sorry to hear about your troubles and I hope vicki is improving.

I haven';t had a lot of experience with emergency care but when I had a (mild) heart attack, Lower Hutt A&E could not have been better. Perhaps they have certain trigger phrases, but when I delivered myself to A&E on a weekday mid-morning and said the magic words ("heart attack"), they were all over me in minutes, (to be fair the place was not that busy) and the standard of care I got over the following week was excellent. Lucky timing I guess.

[Lias]

I've had two relatives die through the apathy and neglect of the state run health system. They should just shut it down entirely, and go to an entirely user pays health system.

[Str8 Jacket]

Huh, I know whatcha talking about!!

I had to go and see my GP today. She was on sick leave (due to a bad accident) so I had to see a locum. So I walk into this locum’s office and tell him that my stomach has been causing me grieve and my belly button has swollen up in a big way! Anyone that knows me, know that I had a cancer scare a couple of years ago so I take abnormal lumps and bump’s VERY seriously now day’s.

So anyway, without even checking out my stomach or even trying to listen to me he tells me that it’s definitely my bowels and goes on to list all this food I should try to avoid for 2 weeks to see if the swelling will go down. I try telling him that I know that I am crook and have a temperature but he liked the sound of his own voice too much…. Long story short; I walk out of his office in the middle of his spiel about how I probably don’t my own body as well as I would like to think and I go straight to the reception and demand to see another doctor. Another doctor see’s me immediately and discovers (immediately) that I have a temp of 38.5. So she examines my stomach to discover a large abscess. Bloody lucky that I knew something was wrong or who knows what would’ve happened to me while I was eating rabbit food for 2 weeks!!

[Forest]

I'd just like to use this opportunity to recommend the St Johns first aid courses:

http://www.stjohn.org.nz/education/courses.aspx

The courses aren't free, but the training will more than pay for itself when you need it.

[Marknz]

Hi Paul,

While my Wgtn A&E story had a happy ending, I feel for you and do know what you mean.

Here's hoping you have good news to share with us this evening. Best wishes to you and Vicki.

[Beemer]

My mother-in-law is in Palmerston North Hospital for the fourth time in four months after having a heart attack. They keep sending her home and saying they will make an appointment for her to go to Wellington. Well, finally they say it will happen next week as this heart attack damaged her heart.

Makes me sick (pardon the pun) when you see scum in prison get immediate medical attention whenever anything goes wrong and yet decent people get the run around.

I hope Vicki is feeling better and/or gets the treatment she needs soon.