Fuddle Duddling Hospitals !

[bccap]

Pain level down a tad today . Down from " Oh Gawd please let me die ! " to " Holy sh!t that hurts ! " ......

[bccap]

I think, from looking in from the outside, it's a power play They seem to have the power. You make the appointment in my state, (Connecticut) but it might be 3 months before he decides to see you. I have found that Neurosurgeons see you right away. Internal surgical doctors, like for Hernias and the like, take their sweet time. I have one of the best Eye Surgeons in the country. If I miss an appt. with him, it will be 6 months before I get to see him again, so he schedules me way in advance, and I make those appts. no matter what, same with my Pain Management doctor.

It is interesting how things work in different places . For this surgery I got my consultation three days later and surgery scheduled two months later which I called and cancelled telling him it was just too damn close to my recent three week stay in the summer . It was originally scheduled to be fairly major operation involving cutting a section of the artery out and replacing it with some kind of fancy tubing . After I cancelled it I got a call saying after further review of my scans they were just going to go down the artery with a scope and open an umbrella to widen it . They just asked me when I was comfortable going in and gave me a surgery time in the area I asked for . I wanted Spring and they arranged that .....Glad I cancelled as it is a far lesser invasive surgery.

If by eye surgeon you mean opthamologist I have had three occasions to use them . The first and second were cataracts and took about a month each to schedule . The third was a detached retina and I left the opthamologist's office { same day appointment booked from emergency } in a taxi over to the eye centre for immediate surgery ..... Interestingly I had my first cataract surgery pre covid. That involved being at the eye centre hours early and waiting around in a crowded waiting room to be treated. I had my second during covid and there is me and two other people waiting and fifteen minutes later they were working on me . I chatted with my doctor later and she said the plan is to keep the covid method from now on .....

The worst here is the back . With universal health care and virtually everybody having some sort of back problem that can take some time . I think I waited three months for a CT scan at the back clinic once. But they also use triage and give instructions for you to call 911 if certain symptoms occur in which case you are going to get that scan that day ......

[Suzukian]

It's blamed on Universal Health care, but it's some government pencil pushing bastards that instead of making more Ct Scanners and medical centers, and training more Doctors, decides, "Hey, how can we take the most minimalist approach to this", and some one else says,, "You come up with one, and we'll give you a better position with more money". Sounds simplistic, but people are greedy, and unfortunately, it only takes a few of these people in positions of power to screw everybody up.

Making more Ct Scanners creates jobs, as does making more medical centers. You end up paying less in the long run, and with a healthier, stronger population.IMHO.

[bccap]

It's blamed on Universal Health care, but it's some government pencil pushing bastards that instead of making more Ct Scanners and medical centers, and training more Doctors, decides, "Hey, how can we take the most minimalist approach to this", and some one else says,, "You come up with one, and we'll give you a better position with more money". Sounds simplistic, but people are greedy, and unfortunately, it only takes a few of these people in positions of power to screw everybody up.

Making more Ct Scanners creates jobs, as does making more medical centers. You end up paying less in the long run, and with a healthier, stronger population.IMHO.

I don't know if I am being accurate in blaming the back clinic on universal health care . It just makes sense to me . If you have a little twinge in your back you don't put off going to the doctor like you might if your wallet has to open .That is just an opinion on a known treatment that takes a little time to get . I don't have any evidence to back it .

Our hospitals aren't owned by the government { some are but not here in Vancouver } In Vancouver they are owned by individual entities that are non profit and managed through their own management structures . Vancouver regional health will step in to coordinate specialties to make the system efficient . For example of the three major hospitals St. Paul's is owned by Providence Health Care that owns a few hospitals in the city. Vancouver General and University of British Columbia Hospital are owned by Vancouver Coastal Health . Both organizations are non profit . Getting new equipment and staff is at the mercy of the funds they can shake out of the Feds and Provs and their own fund raising efforts .....

To be honest the only thing I've waited for was the back clinic and it wasn't unduly long in my opinion . It was only three months one time and usually around three weeks to a month . Maybe they were having a run on back aches at that time ......Had I been in greater distress I would have been triaged to an earlier appointment ......

[Suzukian]

I don't understand medical care, in the U.S., or anywhere else. The first time I got injured was when I was 23 years old, and they had no way of seeing what a ruptured disc looked like unless they opened you up. It two years before they finally opened my neck up to find I had two, which was why I couldn't raise my right arm up much. That surgery was botched, as they had me on 3000 mgs of Motrin, but they didn't know back then that Motrin prevents the bone grafts from knitting together.

So I had two discs floating around my neck for a decade. That I wasn't paralyzed was a blessing. I was in my '73 MG Midget when a guy hit the front side of it, with me in it. That dislodged the vertebrae, and within 3 days I had a Titanium plate in my neck. Even though the guy was driving a car for a dealership he worked for, doing a company job, I was left holding the bag for $60K, as their insurance would only pay $385K for the surgery.

I sued, of course, but the dealership went belly up, and I got nothing. My Neurosurgeon got together with the hospital, and Orthopedic doctor he worked with, and when I went for my last visit, he says, "I don't want you to worry about this anymore, you've been through enough, I arranged to have to bill "forgiven"". I wasn't sure what he meant, but that was the most empathetic person I ever met. I never received another bill.

When I started losing the ability to walk, I called his office. I was there talking to him in 3 days. 1 week later, I had 4 inter-body Titanium cages put into my lower Spine. He said 3 hours surgery, it turned into 9 hours. Scar tissue had wrapped around my Spinal Cord and he told me it was very difficult to know what to cut. The CAT scans did not detect any of this, they showed the discs were ruptured and pressing on the Spine. It took me a year to be able to walk 30 feet. Supposedly, I should have lost the ability to walk by now, but I do pretty good. He said I have 5 ruptured discs that are inoperable because of their location (Thoracic area) sometimes they give me trouble breathing as they Ganglia there control the nerves to the lungs. 5 fused, 5 ruptured, that's where I am at.

Just as before, I was left now with an $80K bill the insurance I had expected me to pay. He, again, had the hospital "forgive" the bill, and I paid nothing.

I don't know how medical bills are calculated. I also did not know he was the head of Neurosurgery at one of the largest Hospitals in Connecticut. I guess that helped.

I don't know if it's the systems, the doctors, or what.

[bccap]

Pain is considerably reduced today. To the point I am not dreading going to the bathroom . But I have been thinking about this and have come to the conclusion that a catheter will never enter this body again . Even if the consequences are death . This is my fourth go around with them and in this case I got lucky. The other three times resulted in not being able to pee very much and fighting with urology who are taking ultrasounds and telling me they want to put it back in because my kidneys are 80% full. I didn't let them as they did damage the first time and I saw no reason they wouldn't do it again . So I just pushed and pushed til flow started to happen .....

I'm also having a trust issue with this doctor . Though he is a nice guy and known to be a very good vascular surgeon he has said a few things that are little too much on the " cover your a$$ " spectrum . He told me that he felt better with the catheter in because there were complications . Seriously ? What complications ? He went down there with his camera and saw that nothing needed to be done and came back out. This was to be a three hour procedure that was over in an hour ..... Also when the original more complicated surgery was to be done I asked him to remove the catheter while I was still sedated . Nope . Can't do that. It isn't safe. Well he had no problem removing this one while I was under probably in the hopes there would be no damage and I wouldn't know that it was in there .

And then there is the hospital . The surgeon comes in and says I can go home in 45 minutes { originally I was to stay for two days } ..... So I tell the nurse to get these tubes out of my arms and I'm leaving . Anesthesiology makes a big deal about me staying because I don't have a ride home . I tell them I live two blocks away but if it will make them happy I'll take a cab. Nope they bitch and gripe but they do as I instruct them . Later that evening my brother calls the hospital to see how I am doing . The a$$holes tell him I left against medical advice . So now my family is wondering what the Hell I did ......

[Suzukian]

Sounds like a mess. I've had many catheters, without problem. When I had the lower back surgery, I could feel nothing below my belly button. I felt the outside of my bladder, it was hard as a rock. I told the Nurse, she acted like I just wanted to show her my "thang". My Neurosurgeon came in, and freaked out. He called the same Nurse back in, and made her do the catheter right in front of him. Half of my "thang" kept flopping over her small hand, and he started asking her if she needed to go back to nursing school. When it finally made it's way in, I filled a 1500 milliliter (IV. bag size) of urine, and they disconnected that, and I continued to fill up half another bag. He called the head nurse in and said "His bladder was about to burst, you are personally responsible for taking care of this patient. She took the nurse who messed up, and by the time she was done with her, she was a sobbing mess. They left it in for 3 days, till feeling came back to my toes. I was surprised how many times that bag filled up. I think they pierced something in you, or damaged the valve at the base, and that may be causing your pain. They will cover their own, and each others asses till Hell freezes over.

If my bladder had burst, I could have died. I've had many catheters since, but without incident. I feel bad for you. Pain is an enemy. I let my Spinal Pain flow over me, and try not to react to it. Sometimes I mouth, "Yes, I know, I know, enough" and try and think about something else. It doesn't really work, but if you tense up, the pain gets worse. Pouring Warm water over the tip can sometimes help you start urinating.