Been in hospital lately?

[Rhys]

You're talking about the cheapskate policies now. Cheapskate policies serve only to bring in money for the companies. They look like they cover most things but cover nothing. Read the small print

 

[nynfortoo]

I can't fault the doctors here from my limited experience, fortunately.

Last year, I had a crash on my motorbike and managed to absolutely obliterate my wrist bone (right distal radius). From the x-rays, the surgeons didn't have high hopes; they said I'd likely only get about 20% mobility back, but did their best anyway. The bone was shattered into 15 major pieces, then thousands of fragments.

After a fair few hours in surgery, 6 weeks off work, and great physio, I've got to the point of about 95% mobility. I have a metal plate, several screws, and a kick-ass scar, as well as a bruised ego and a lesson learned.

I'm very thankful to the people who took care of me, but I do understand that this is a small slice of what goes on. Not everyone is so fortunate.

 

[Miaow]

But hey. After the new scandalous happenings in an American ER waiting room (video proof, too), I'd prefer any ER where you "only" have to wait for 4 to 6 hours to those where you go with an EMERGENCY (!) (after all!!!) and have to sit there for 24 hours (and then die ).

Is that the story recently in the US waiting room where the person collapsed and died and they just walked around her for about an hour - shocking that happening

Here emergency waits are sometimes really long I once waited about 10 hours in a waiting room despite coming in in an ambulance originally (they did check me out slightly before the dumped me in the waiting room but it was only a real basic check).

There's been a few cases here of wrong diagnosis - I've had a doctor tell me my daughter (about 20mths i think at the time) asthma was playing up and just to keep giving her ventolin (yes she does sometimes get it a little but this was not like that). I said I think it's croup (by the cough as any parent knows its a very recognisable cough), she was also loosing her voice and had shocking breathing and was told no way would it be croup you're wrong. I took her to another docotr the next day and yes it was croup and she needed steroids to reduce the inflamation in her voice box/chest.

 

[Senor Hound]

America has the greatest healthcare in the world. If you are rich or moderately wealthy. Otherwise, its not so good. But this isn't about politics, this is about funny charts.

I don't really have any experience with funny charts, but I've seen some funny prescriptions in my days as a pharmacy technician. And some crazy, drugged-out people saying and doing some crazy, sometimes funny stuff.

The rectal thyroid examination still bothers me. I hope to GOD that doctor meant prostate...

 

[LaFoto]

You're right, of course, Señor, that it is about the funny charts, only has hovis's original post triggered a discussion that went further.

But yes, we should try to keep this on a light tone, or bring it back there.

Though I did talk about that woman in the US waiting room, Miaow, that very story, indeed.

And what, Señor? You feel the doctors sort of hollowed that patient out before they examined his thyoid glands "from behind"?

But I'm happy for that patient in 12. She seems to be ok. Any further below than where there are my toes, I don't feel anything much any more, either. And above I feel cheerful and in good health.

 

[Senor Hound]

And what, Señor? You feel the doctors sort of hollowed that patient out before they examined his thyoid glands "from behind"?

I don't know why, but I got a very strong image associated with that, and it BOTHERS ME!

As far as personal experience, I know of someone who gave us a prescription for Oxycontin (VERY powerful narcotic) with a bunch of scribbled out stuff on it. Any prescription like that is automatically invalid, but when the guy handed it to us, he told us that he marked it out because "He and the doctor like to play games with writing stuff on prescriptions." After calling the doctor, it said not to fill it for another two weeks. Busted.

We had a girl ask her doctor for Morphine (used almost exclusively for terminal patients with pain) because she had really bad menstrual cramps. And there was a guy who was trying to eat a suppository. And there was also a girl who bought 5 tubes of KY jelly every week cause she, "made hand lotion," out of it. Personally, I just think she was a very active woman with a lucky husband And then finally I knew an older woman who told me she was very happy there were drugs like Viagra out nowadays...

I know these aren't as funny as the aforementioned chart bloopers, but I just wanted to throw my two cents in.