Hi there Friends and Neighbors. Oh what a wonderful example of our medical system have I been exposed to this last weekend. I am convinced that Mike Judge is a prophet. In his film Idiocracy we see a horrible future the likes of which Nostradamus could not have imagined. I suggest you all watch it.
This past week, Ms. Bat came down with a heavy duty fever. Chills and aches joined her pain and we were off to seek medical attention. When we arrived, it was raining something fierce. Cobra and their weather machine again. Well no time to deal with them, or so we thought.
The attending nurse was not at all concerned with answering any questions. Rather she wanted to fill in boxes on the computer. She did not even look at us. She asked questions, yes or no, only to check boxes off. The system ran on Windows XP, as if that wasn’t bad enough, but it was so generic I was appalled. What kind of diagnostic is this?
I have to admit, the temperature was taken in a rather cool fashion. She clearly had one of Dr. McCoy’s tricorders because the instrument was lightening fast and noninvasive. Then she proceeded to take the Blood Pressure.
You want to talk about high prices? Medical waste? The blood pressure cuff was disposable!! Not like a tongue depressor or a cover for a canula, but the cuff itself disposable. I wonder how much those cost? Don’t give me safety, you can clean that rather easily.
So the Doctor was no Dr. O. he looked at her, suggested it was a UTI. She said, “what about Staph, I have a history…” He ignored that, said that the mark on her leg was due to ant pee. One more time… ANT PEE. So we waited 3 hours. Finally he comes back in, sputtering in whatever language he spoke- poorly – and gave her some prescriptions. The visit alone – 300 dollars + fees.
Fast Forward a couple days, she is hurting more and her leg looks like mine did back when I had the plague. We go to Warren Clinic. 160 dollars down and a much more acceptable and amicable doctor says – “Ant Pee, really, why would he say that?” Yep, it was as we thought. Staph. Bactrim to the rescue.
The point of today’s tale is that our medical system is run by a plethora of adults who were “not left behind.” One of the most revered professions is in a pretty sad state. It took over 500 dollars to tell us what we suspected in the first place. Had he listened, might have saved us some time and money.
And I still don’t think it should be free healthcare.
Be Excellent to Each Other,
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~BAT