Trapped in sickness
If we all had a good knowledge of medicine, there would be no need for doctors, right? The same goes for lawyers, engineers, and all sorts of other professionals, even the craftsmen who lay tiles in the bathroom or cover the roof with tiles. If we all had knowledge of everything, would the world look the way it does now? And should it be any other way?
I am not saying that it is not possible to have knowledge of everything, I even think that in school, instead of learning nonsense like: what the author of the work wanted to say, or how to calculate the pipes of a pool, we should learn useful things, explained in an understandable and easy way.
Why do I say understandable and easy?
I remember with some shame that a while ago I told to my partner the following thing: "we didn't learn useful things in school, like anatomy of the human body, for example."
"On the contrary, of course we learned it", he had answered me. And then I thought about it. There were years at school when we studied biology and chemistry in German, and those years are a complete blur for me, they are just like skipped, for a number of reasons related to the specifics of that type of education back then. But in the following years, when we studied biology in Bulgarian, I don't remember anything from this material either. Why is this so? Because the teacher made us memorize and recite the lessons from the textbook when she tested us for grades. Just as students were preparing for their exams later in university, who had to take exams in biology and chemistry to apply for specialties such as medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, etc. - everything was learned by heart. Literally, with the dots and with the commas.
Well, how could such knowledge be preserved over the years? Personally, this is not possible for me. But at the end of the day, that's what doctors are for, right?
Or so I thought. Until yesterday, when I had to go to a doctor. Due to an emergency.
Look, I'm not even complaining, I don't have the energy for it anymore. I know, or rather suspect, the root of my problems - it's rooted in childhood, lol, I'm not going to hide it and pretend that something special is happening to me and only me now. Yes, I live in a country where unpleasant things happen to everyone or almost everyone on a daily basis, but people don't complain. They just accept it as the status quo, the way things are and nothing more. Sometimes I think I'm the only one complaining. That's why I'm just writing today. As I told you, it was useful for me to read the things I wrote 20-10 years ago, things should not just be forgotten, discarded from everyday life, it is useful to know about them.
And this is what I'm reporting: yesterday I had to go to the doctor in an emergency. Yesterday was Sunday, a day off. Today is Monday, but it's also a bank holiday, and that makes things complicated. If today wasn't a day off I would probably try to wait and try to see my GP today even though I wasn't given an appointment for her until the 30th of September. But if you have an emergency, how can you wait another week?
I know I told you once that I am grateful for the availability of doctors in Bulgaria, simply because apparently I was lucky then, the period was like that and I was able to make an appointment on time. But that is not the case now. And actually, it never was, lol. There is a wait for specialists for weeks, as in all other countries. And this, in an emergency, is simply insane. For a specialist, you can also wait for months, but a referral is only valid for a month, so I think that the specialists try to fit in this period, simply because they want to receive this money given to them by the state, anyway.
But the point is that there is no access even to the own GP, and even if I manage to reach her, then begin negotiations and exhortations to give me a direction. Also, she told me herself over the summer that she wasn't going to give me any more directions this year after my messed up labs, like it was my fault and like I'm only entitled to one or two directions a year at most and then nothing no matter what happens to me during the year. And with that being the case, was it strange that I just sat and waited and watched and followed the symptoms to convince myself that I really needed to see a doctor?
On Sunday, I couldn't take it anymore, and I went to the emergency room in the neighboring regional town, which is 25 km away. This address and this office is posted on a note on the door of my GP - an emergency office on weekends and holidays, such as the current one. Of course, there was some major confusion right from the start, because it turns out my GP actually doesn't have a contract with this ER, and even though I'm insured, I actually have to pay for the exam at an even higher rate than usual.
But that wasn't the biggest problem.
"Yes, you are an emergency and you need to be examined, but I will not examine you now. In this regional and big city, where there is not really a single specialist on duty, laboratory, or anyone to serve you during weekends and holidays, you are very lucky that I am here and tomorrow I will work in my private office, so come there tomorrow". - the doctor on duty in the emergency room told me.
Do you understand what all this means?
I was smiling while I was in the office listening to this nonsense from the woman opposite me, I told her I was glad she was having fun with me because she was being quite mocking and disrespectful. She tried to assure me that she is the specialist I absolutely need, but not today, but tomorrow, when she wants me to pay in her office even higher - double the amount that is required here in the emergency room.
Walking out of the emergency room without being examined in this emergency, I burst into tears. And that is what I call helplessness in this country. I think, I hope, you can understand me now.
So my partner decided to drive me to the emergency center of the university hospital in another regional town, much bigger than this one, but another 100 km away from where we were at the moment.
There are many specialists there, so I thought hopefully, because I know that. But the question is whether you will be very lucky to really come across one such.
Well, what happened there - the doctors quickly examined me and misdiagnosed me. I tried to explain that the case was not what they claimed it was, it was obvious to the naked eye, but no one would listen.
The funniest thing was when one doctor gave me a prescription for a specific medication and I told him that I had already been using it for the past few days and it didn't help me at all, that's why I'm contacting them. Even that didn't help, he didn't back down, didn't admit his mistake, didn't think that if someone has already used a specific medical product, knows about it and managed to decide to use it, then he - (I) knows what he's doing, and if this product has not helped at all, then perhaps another diagnosis should be considered.
The doctor admitted nothing. He just thought and prescribed an antibiotic.
And then I remembered. Bulgarian medicine is famous for excessive use/prescription of antibiotics. Bulgaria is one of the countries in the EU with the highest use of antibiotics, if not in first place. And it's not just because doctors help the pharmaceutical business. It is because with the antibiotics they wash their hands so to speak. Especially when the doctor does not know what he is doing and is not aware of the correct diagnosis. The antibiotic should help with something in most cases, if not the specific disease, then something else.
I'm not totally against antibiotics, but today, a day after all the doctors visits, my situation is still urgent and worsening, only now I'm also on antibiotics.
I really don't know what to do now. I am preparing for a long and complicated, very expensive process of examinations and check-ups. There is a specialist in the next town, which is 5 km away, but I know she won't be able to see me right away - tomorrow when I try to call her on the first day of work. And the options for an emergency check-up have already been exhausted.
So what can I do now? I'm in my own country, I speak the language fluently, I think I'm intelligent and I understand things, but I find myself trapped and I don't know what to do in this situation. Is there a way out of it?
During the covid I had read an article about Venezuela, that the condition of the hospitals was so bad, there was not even soap and water, and if you got sick with covid it was recommended to stay at home to die in peace. I don't know if this is true. Here on Steemit, I see posts of people from this country visiting hospitals, receiving consultations and treatment, treating even serious diseases. Will it not turn out that Bulgaria is much worse than "brotherly" Venezuela? 🤔
| Thank you for your time! Copyright: | @soulsdetour |
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 | Soul's Detour is a project started by me years ago when I had a blog about historical and not so popular tourist destinations in Eastern Belgium, West Germany and Luxembourg. Nowadays, this blog no longer exists, but I'm still here - passionate about architecture, art and mysteries and eager to share my discoveries and point of view with you. |
Personally, I am a sensitive soul with a strong sense of justice.
Traveling and photography are my greatest passions.
Sounds trivial to you?
No, it's not trivial. Because I still love to travel to not so famous destinations.🗺️
Of course, the current situation does not allow me to do this, but I still find a way to satisfy my hunger for knowledge, new places, beauty and art.
Sometimes you can find the most amazing things even in the backyard of your house.😊🧐🧭|
I think there's nothing worse than not being able to receive proper medical care in this so-called advanced era. The situation here is somewhat similar. Only if you are rich and can afford private hospitals then you have a chance to be in good hands. There are some competant doctors but mostly poor facilities. During Covid, none of the hospitals took my father in due to shortage of beds and other hospital facilities. We were his doctors and treated him at home. That one month was a nightmare.
I can only pray that you get the needed medical attention and recover soon.
Thank you! 🙏❤️ What worries me the most here is that I actually have no rights in this case. Health insurance is mandatory, I have to pay for it and I do it regardless of whether I have a job or any income at all. Otherwise, there is always a potential legal opportunity for the state to seize everything a person owns, if anything at all (in my case - nothing), but at the very least to take their last remaining money to recover those mandatory obligations to the state. On the other hand, however, when it comes to using these medical services that I pay for, I get this in return - next to nothing or nothing.
To tell you the truth, I don't know how it was during covid here, how all those people who were in hospital coped with their stay (there was also a shortage of beds here and usually the living conditions in hospitals are very miserable), how they have managed financially. I don't know if the state then took over anything, because a stay in a hospital is always expensive, regardless of what diseases or what patients are involved. I hope I never have to go into hospital because I won't be able to afford it. Especially right now I can't afford anything and it terrifies me on top of everything else I'm dealing with.
This is sad. Since you can't change the system, for now, I just hope you get better with those antibiotics or have you considered going back to the first doctor who asked you to visit the next day?
Oh no, I don't fall for such cheap tricks to manipulate suffering patients in need. In addition, she was not at all "the right specialist that I need". After two sleepless nights I realized what kind of doctor I needed and today I went there - in the neighboring town. I was incredibly lucky that this specialist had a 10-minute break between two patients and, most importantly, agreed to see me. I couldn't believe it! At the same time, if I had another incident like the previous ones today, it would probably kill me already.
We discussed my Sunday experiences and she said that I don't even need a specialist to make the correct diagnosis for all these specific symptoms - this is something that every doctor, regardless of specialty, should know and easily navigate. What has happened to me is a display of appalling incompetence, and prescribing drugs that are dangerous to health when used improperly - the antibiotic and other specific things that one doctor insisted I use but are dangerous, makes things even scarier.
I told her that these were quite young people and she said to me: Well, I'm not surprised, after covid the medical training went online, all the control and discipline was lost, the practices too, the quality of teaching went down.
Personally, I think that this was one of the goals, or ok, one of the sure consequences of this period - the reduction of the quality of everything. And if you're wondering why in today's modern-technological times we can't receive proper medical care, here's one reason for that. I look forward to the time when AI will replace doctors as well, and they will become a kind of administrative staff to serve it. In fact, in my case on Sunday, the AI probably would have done better than any of the doctors I encountered. I say this ironically, of course, because I am against the use of AI in any sphere of human life.
Looks like I just read a horror post. Indeed, the situation looks terrible. For some reason, different countries have similar problems in the field of medicine. I also try not to go to the doctors once more. Not because I might get substandard care. The reason is in the system itself - it is quite complicated and usually the doctor is very busy.
I wish you a speedy recovery!
Thank you! ❤️ I'm a grown person, but when the system and also the people in it bring me to the point of crying, then things really get out of hand and lead to nothing. I don't want to see doctors either. Either way, it's better to die younger living in this country, but I'd rather it not be in agony and suffering that no one in the system wants to help alleviate. In fact, contacting a doctor, a representative of the humane profession, who refuses to help you, is the easiest way to lose faith in people. Final and forever.
I met different doctors. There are those who immediately rush to help you, without thinking about what benefit he will have in the end result. But there are those who will not do anything until you offer him some benefit. Because of such people, you lose faith in the system and medicine in general.
Unfortunately, as we age, we increasingly need medical services. I sometimes think about what will happen next. I had a contract with a family doctor, whose services I was relatively satisfied with. But he was mobilized to the front. Now I am left without a doctor and I have to make a contract with someone else, but it is very difficult to make a choice. How to evaluate a doctor with whom you have never dealt?
A doctor is chosen by recommendation only.
When we came to live in this part of the country, it was a constant questioning of the people we knew: family doctor (GP), specialist doctors, dentists, etc. I had no luck with dentists, as I have written before. But the two GPs I've had found with contacts - the previous one who died a year ago still working age and the current one, I'm not questioning their knowledge and skills, could be better but could be a lot worse too. In addition, there is a shortage of family doctors in Bulgaria as well. What worries me is their lack of interest and concern for me as a patient. At the same time, I have witnessed a totally different behavior on their part towards locals who they know. It's just that here I feel like I don't speak the same language with these people, we just don't get along. My partner said yesterday that it's more about frequencies and that I don't click with these people here, or vice versa, as if in a doctor-patient relationship it's acceptable to have things like "I like"-"I don't like" this person.
Because on Sunday, I still thought that maybe if a doctor is called to be a doctor, he will "immediately rush to help you", but if he chose the medical profession for selfish reasons - because it is prestigious, it can bring money, connections, etc., he "will not do anything until you offer him some benefit". However, it is possible that it is much more than that, and that there are quite a few other additions to the reasons (which seem unacceptable to me).
Will you believe me if I tell you that my son received medication for tonsillitis for 5 days before I diagnosed him with hepatitis A? Yes, the yellow coloration of his eyes and skin made me insist to the doctor that he should run a test for hepatitis A.
And my own family was adamant that I was overthinking. But yes, coming from the field of medicine and with my father being a doctor himself has always given me an advantage. I kind of have a tendency to challenge the doctor; I mean, I'm not an example of a docile patient.
So you are justified when you think:
And you are also right when you say that we can't learn everything by heart but at least some basics would have helped...
The misuse of antibiotics being on the top of the list!
Gosh, what could tonsillitis and hepatitis A possibly have in common to be confused? 🤦♀️ And if the hepatitis isn't caught and treated in time... OMG, this is another terrible example of criminal negligence, I hope there are no consequences for your child!
I understand you well because I too come from a family of doctors for generations and it was very strange, I can't even explain it how when I got sick, the diagnosis just popped into my head, I don't know this disease, I've never had it. I went online and read up on the symptoms and they indeed turned out to be the same. And then it was very unpleasant when in the university hospital I had to say to the doctor, in my helplessness: "I'm sorry, I don't want to tell you this because you're the doctor, but you're wrong."
It didn't help at all, I took two days of antibiotics and used other useless but dangerous medications before starting the real treatment. I was also very late.
I don't know if my partner trusted me either, after all it's pretty unusual to say doctors in a university hospital are wrong. It was not one, but three at once!
Indeed, it is not my job to self-diagnose or self-medicate. If it could be so, they should arrange society in another way.
Apparently, it's his rather large tonsils, which he still has—they never receded. I'm on a follow-up, but the doctor says that if they're not causing any symptoms, I shouldn't worry.
Oh yes, I’ve been through this dilemma multiple times. They’d often say, “So you know better than the doctor?” And it wasn’t just my partner, but also other family members like my mother-in-law and father-in-law. Specially regarding the kids. But now they trust me in this matter or at least ai tend to think that they do!