Bad experiences with medical system
Re: “Woman speaks out after alleged poor CDH treatment”, (Citizen, Jan. 5)
I believe Tanya. There’s a lot of frustration out there in regards to our medical system. If one were to ask me how I liked it, I’d simply say, better than nothing.
You know, it ranks just barely above the U.S. overall. When we look at Canada/U.S. only, the difference is the U.S. gives more quality access to the rich, which has more greedy Canadian doctors moving south, and, if it’s not prohibitive, Canadian patients using U.S. services for more timely treatment, to avoid sometimes huge waiting periods and suffering.
I think medical personnel are not immune to the frustrations as well, either receiving or giving treatment. They work hard as individuals, exorbitant hours, etc., to make up for lack of resources at almost every level. Sometimes, maybe more often than we think, and maybe it’s getting worse, patients are feeling the brunt of it. When I do receive what I think better than average service, it is due to individual effort. Most experiences I have had are “by the numbers”. If you find a doctor stepping out of the box here, you just found an anomaly.
If you criticize, voice your frustrations to some particular medical personnel, get ready for some heavy backlash. I once, and it was only once because of my suffering, voiced my frustrations on lack of dermatological expertise on the Island and B.C. in general. Depending on where one lives, you have to travel and wait a long time to see a specialist, and I find virtually all GPs have little expertise in this area. So, if an individual has minor, yet maddening problems in any specialized medical field, like skin disorders, good luck unless it’s immediately life threatening. Anyway, I’m 69 and my then-GP suggested I go back to school, get a medical degree, and become a dermatologist. He was serious in a angry tone. I left him. One GP misdiagnosed me — that turned out to be full blown double pneumonia.
That same “doctor” negligently splinted my finger that had a snapped tendon, which never took hold. After that I walked around with a dangling finger for months. A plumber visited my home and noticed my dangling finger being held up with a common bandaid as well as all my musical instruments in the house. He too was a musician. I was in my sixth month waiting in limbo. The plumber informed me of The Hand Clinic in Langford, as he had a similar injury, only much worse. The staff there worked a miracle on me, saved my finger. It meant a lot. I play guitar. My GP knew that also.
In returning to my GP, I asked if he heard of the hand clinic, because I was now showing him the repaired finger, he said yeah. I asked why he didn’t recommend me; he had no answer. He said it was remarkable my finger repaired itself. I was so angry, I had to walk out immediately or possibly become violent toward him. Initially, he sent me off to find my own splint, and even splint it myself. I was in shock, literally, shaking and so forth. His so-called treatment verged on criminal neglect. His misdiagnosed pneumonia thing sent me to the emergency completely dehydrated and on the verge of death. The ER doctor said my body was eating itself. How could it get that far when I had just seen my GP a week earlier?
And, even though the ER treated me for dehydration, they too did not diagnose the pneumonia; gave me Gravol, I think, so I could keep Gatorade down.
A week later I was saved because my GP went on vacation and his replacement helped me as I was coughing up blood. She ordered an an immediate X-ray and prescribed antibiotics. The X-ray showed double pneumonia. I’ve not been all that lucky with the system.
From my experience, you’re on your own a lot of the time. That type of thing doesn’t inspire one to frequent the doctor, even for routine service. So, I live in a very preventative medicine way, which includes diet considerations, which is wise practice for everyone. I stay away from doctors as much as possible. Even doctors will tell you the last place they want to be toward the end is in a hospital.
We have what we have here. There are good outcomes and a lot of frustration in between. Those that have nothing but good experiences I would categorize as very fortunate, very lucky. I have had more negative than positive experiences, by far. The more fortunate I am in not having to see a doctor, at all, the better. I actually, like this woman, have been reticent in seeking treatment due to my frustrations with the system and some run-ins with some really dark attitudes. I can’t believe my experience is unique. I’ve heard some horror stories from others.
Daniel Ferreira
North Cowichan