rant

[salixbabylon]

Yesterday was one of those days that starts off fine and ends in tears. Got up earlyish, painted, went to bellydance, came home, got ready to leave for our anniversary date. Drove to SJ with no traffic, made good time, got to the museum well in time for the educational-movie my husband wanted to see at 3:30. After that we were going to check out the Egyptian collection and have Indian food, and toast 6 years together.

But then I fell off the path on the way to the museum. One of those raised-brick paths, just an inch above the grass level. Nothing tricky about it. Just mis-stepped, fell off. Ankle made a crunching sound, and something seemed to be sticking out at an impossible angle. Couldn't walk on it without crying from pain, got nauseated, almost puked and/or passed out. Husband helped me hop to the car. Got to the Emergency Room in 15 minutes, at 3:30pm.

The Emergency Room in HELL, apparently. Took 2 hours to get an x-ray done (5:30ish) and then another FOUR hours to get someone to see me (9:30). And not because they were ready to, but because I tried to leave. I said I wanted to go home, I'd been there for SIX hours, could I go home? They wheeled me into a hallway and I got 2 minutes with a doctor who confirmed that it wasn't broken, just a really bad sprain, and someone would get me an ice pack and some pain meds, and they'd send me home with a splint and crutches. Took another hour to actually *get* those things.

I've never been to a hospital in a city before (as opposed to my smallish towns). I am beyond appalled at the practice of keeping people with potentially broken bones (and other patients bleeding, etc) there for *SEVEN HOURS*.

You can bet I would have been seen faster a) at home or b) in a "nicer" part of the city. Does this sort of thing happen in countries with socialized medicine? I mean, there was a young man with a severed thumb sitting there for a long time (at least 2 hours), and a very old woman with a broken-turning-purple foot (at least 4 hours). I know my injury wasn't as bad as some peoples, not by a lot. But *SEVEN HOURS* still seems beyond unreasonable to get 3 min of doctor-time and some minor treatment.

I know I'm probably just another middle-class-white-woman shocked at how everyone else is treated, but I have a new cause of moral outrage, here. People were *bleeding* and they still made them wait. And I can't figure out why, since last I checked, we didn't have a shortage of doctors in this country.

And now I have crutches. They are not as much fun as I thought they'd be when I was a kid. :P

Comments

[mellacita.livejournal.com]

Welcome to health care in much of the US. :( When I went to the ER for my gall bladder, I went at 3 am and it was 6 am before I was seen, 3 pm before I was admitted, and two days later before I was operated on. And this was at the Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine at GW University. It's not even a public hospital! And forget public hospitals, which are so over crowded, because people without insurance have to resort to using the ER as their doctor since the ER can't turn them away.

As for whether it happens in socialised medicine countries, it did in Oxford. And Maura and Joanna have some Canadian horror stories too as I recall. A lot of it is also of course we think our own problems are of primary importance, but what you are not seeing are the trauma cases coming in the other entrance that take priority. Life threatening and non life threatening have to be triaged, I guess. Even so....7 hours sucks. I am sorry, hon. *hugs*

[wantonhussy.livejournal.com]

God, it just sucks. I guess I'm spoiled by my HMP's urgent care, because the waits there are never more than a half-hour.

It just seems criminal to me, that the system isn't set up differently. There should be a separate ER for people-with-colds versus people-bleeding. I don't know. I just don't get it - it doesn't make sense that it should *have* to take so long.

I'm sorry to have whined. I'm just outraged, mostly on behalf of all the people sharing that room with me who have no other alternative for seeing a doctor.

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

^^ oops, that was me in my alter-ego suit. ;)

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

and *hug* - thank you.

(sorry for the 5 million comments. i'm a little scattered from the meds, I think.)

[eiluned.livejournal.com]

That's the kind of experience I've had at almost every ER I've been to, from a small town to a big city. The quickest ER wait I had was about six hours, when I had acute appendicitis. I sat in the ER for over ten hours when I came back a week later with a raging infection. A friend sprained her ankle and was in the least-busy small town ER ever, and she was there for five hours. It's ridiculous.

I'm so sorry you hurt your ankle, though, and on your anniversary! :( Get better soon, hon.

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

That's just insane. I would go on a crusade to fix it if I knew where to start...

Thank you for the well-wishes! :)

[sarafoop.livejournal.com]

We've taken Kaia to the ER twice now and it's always at least a 5 hour ordeal to be seen. We usually try to hit urgent care hours instead whenever possible because the wait is so much less.
I'm sorry you hurt your ankle! I hope it feels better soon. :(

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

That's just ridiculous, especially for a child. I don't remember it taking so long when I was a kid, do you?

I wonder why urgent care is so much faster... The whole thing just doesn't make sense to me. :P

*hug* Thanks. :)

[andolinn.livejournal.com]

Oh Salix, honey. Sometimes life just has a cruel sense of humor. *growls*

I'm so sorry that your wonderful anniversary turned into a painful endurance test. The whole hospital emergency room thing is appalling - you really have to wonder what will happen when we have the next disaster. But you were right to threaten to leave.

I'm thrilled to hear it was only a sprain and that nothing is broken. Let's reschedule Wednesday. I would be more than happy to drive down there, except that I have meetings at 4PM & 6:30PM. Sheesh! But I'll come down soon and treat you to a really gorgeous lunch to make up for the shitty anniversary.

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

I don't even want to think about a major disaster - althgouh you are quite right about what a mess it would be, I think.

I feel bad for ranting, but it's just so *wrong*, more so for all those other people hurt worse than me. I don't know. LIberal guilt, maybe.

Hi, I'm not making sense. Thank you, codeine. :P

Yes - thank you for rescheduling! I hope I'll be on my feet by then, but I don't want to jinx it. No rush - let's do something when we can both relax and enjoy it. :)

[govannen.livejournal.com]

That sounds awful. :( Here in the UK, it can take ages to been seen in A&E if you're unlucky, but that's usually if it's something that's not too serious, and it could wait a few hours at a push. The treatment is generally pretty quick if it's obviously serious though, like if someone's bleeding profusely or something. But maybe you were just unlucky and caught it on a bad day?

Hope you recover soon!

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

It might have been a bad day, you're right. I still think the system needs to be overhauled, since no one gets prompt treatment, it seems, no matter how urgent. I'm appalled at the things people are saying in comments about waiting. Mine was just a sprain, but appendicitis and heart problems - that's just Not RIght.

Sorry, I'm ranting again. More drugs. ;)

Thank you for the well-wishes!

[houseofwhacks.livejournal.com]

ER's suck. Hospitals suck. When I went in last year for my heart attack, the nurse started treatment right away, but I was in the ER for 4 hours before a doctor came in. And it was 12 hours later before I got a room. It all depends on the day of the week/time of day that you get there as to how fast you get seen, I've figured out. I went in one day in the middle of the week with a sprained knee around 3 in the afternoon and was out in less than 2 hours.

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

I know I'm repeating myself, but I just find it *so* wrong that this is what happens in a supposed "emergency" in this country. People who are in *pain* should receive help. I don't understand why things are the way they are, or how to make them ebtter.

*grumps* I think I'm more outraged now that people are sharing their own horror stories.

[heartofslash.livejournal.com]

OMG. It's like we're twins and your body said "Haleth is hurt so I must be hurt too" and now we both get to lie around watching movies and giggling from the painkillers but, and here is where life is really a bitch, we don't live next door to each other so we can't do it together. ARRRRRGGGGG.

We always have long waits at the emergency room here. The only time I didn't have to wait was the time my 2 yr old pulled a bowl of piping hot soup over onto his hand. They made us run to the exam room and started pouring cool strile fluids on it immediately. And one time my heart rate was 140 and had been like that for 5 days. They took me right away that time, too. Other than that, you languish. You look at people with gushing wounds and think "Geez, don't they have like triage or something?"

So, how are you goikng to deal with this now? For tomorrow, I think I'm going to get home from physio around 11:15, pop Velvet Goldmine into the DVD player and wallow in the wonder that is glam rock, sparkly shiny people and Curt Wild's dangly bits. I highly rec it as an excellent foot-injury therapy.

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Well, I have to say, that was a supremely *stupid* way to show my love. ;)

I do like the idea of laying around watching movies together... My laptop gets shockingly hot and although I'd planned to write some of my ficlets, that might not happen. Perhaps after a nap.

Everyone's comments are both cheering me up that it wasn't just me suffering, and enraging me that this is typical in the US, Canada, and UK. It's just *so wrong* and I don't understand how it can be allowed to be like this. I'm going on a crusade once I can walk again, damnit.

I guess I need to call my dr tomorrow and make an appt and/or get a referral to physical therapy. I have "ROuge Trader" to watch, and maybe Trainspotting or LOTR or something... And writing. And reading your screenplay. But I suspect I might find some time for Curt's bits, somehow. :)

8smooch*

[take-this-waltz.livejournal.com]

Awww, poor Salix! *hugs* I hope you feel better soon. *hugs some more*

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

*hug* thank you!

[sarka.livejournal.com]

I dunno about all countries with socialized health care, I can only speak for Iceland... but unless we're talking about a non-threatening life injury on a Friday or Saturday night I don't think the wait here for something like that would be more than two hours. Probably even less, considering it was 3.30, which is not the H-hour for accidents.

Our health care system is better organized, I think. You'd never have gone to a hospital for that in Iceland, only to your local health care centre. And those people are brisk - you'd have been in and out of there in an hour under these circumstances. Just... don't grow old in this country. That's where our system fails.

I'm sorry that your anniversary had to be spent so badly though. It sounds like the waiting room must've been hell and of course you get nervous having to wait, in pain...

*hugs*

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

I think some 3rd world countries' health systems are better organized that ours, at the moment. Of course, I might just be cranky and unrealistic. ;)

Thanks for the sympathy. In a way, it was nice to be with him. He made me laugh, kept me entertained and distracted for seven hours... Let me cry on him when I get upset or it hurt. He's wonderful. *gets sappy*

[wynterhawk.livejournal.com]

oh my lord! you poor thing!

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

*hug* My husband is taking good care of me. Thanks for the sympathy! :)

[janinelearner.livejournal.com]

god, I thought it was only here in the UK that we had such long waits. I once went to the ER with chest pain and breathing difficulties. They took an ECG immediately but when they discovered it wasnt my heart, they left me for 10 hours before I got seen again. I had pleurasy (sp) and they had to admit me in the end. I once had to wait with my 18 month old daughter who had a dangeriously high fever for 6 hours.

Anyway, glad your ankle wasnt broken after that. Hope you recover soon, and Happy Anniversary.

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Good lord. I'd hoped the UK was better than we were, since well, you're better at everything. ;)

I'm going to try and do something about this once I figure out what and how. It's just not right.

I'm glad it was just a sprain, too. Thanks for the well-wishes and we have a do-over planned for the anniversary. *g*

[roshismomma.livejournal.com]

aaack! that sucks :(

*hug*

how does it feel today?

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Hm. Well, I cn't put any weight on it, at all. That said, it's uncomforable, but not actively painful unless I bump it or try to use it for balance when I'm moving around.

I'm crossing my fingers it's walk-on-able in 3 days.

[bitofaspaz.livejournal.com]

*GASP*

OMG! What have you done to yourself??? That's horrible! I'm going to have to pamper you when I get down there. I'm so sorry you hurt yourself.

I can't wait to see you! Only 3 more days!

AM VERY BAD AT WAITING.

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

I am going to be *fine* by the time you are here. 100%. This is non-negotiable.

:P

[lozateazer.livejournal.com]

Oh honey that's so horrible!! I'm so sorry!! *tight tight hugs, and kisses your ankle better*

I would have lots more encouragement, and stuff, but now all I can think about is how in less than a month I'll be without insurance and I hope to god I don't sprain my ankle. *whimper*

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

*hugs back* Thanks, sweetie.

It's scary being without insurance. But apparently you can always go to the ER if you need to. Just bring some food and a book. ;)

[rifleman-s.livejournal.com]

"And now I have crutches. They are not as much fun as I thought they'd be when I was a kid".

Nor what you had to go through to get them!!!!

This is just horrendous. I can't begin to tell you how frustrated it makes me feel - and I wasn't even there!

I truly hope no bones are broken and that you'll be mended very soon, but it seems everything Viggo said in his speech about US health care is so very, very true! (Just sorry it had to be you that experienced it first hand).

*hugs you tight*

[rifleman-s.livejournal.com]

PS. I completely forgot to say (I was so overcome by your mishap and hospital experience!) - I just finished reading "Educational Endeavours" from start to finish - what a wonderful, wonderful read!! It was so very entertaining and such an amazing progression; I was quite captivated!

Thanks for sharing your creativity with us!

[lisagems.livejournal.com]

Several years ago, in a very nice small city, at one of the better hospitals in the area, I waited for 7 hours before being told I had to be admitted for surgery on my broken ankle. I expected to have it set and go home. I didn't call anybody during the wait, cause I was gonna go home and deal with the drama from there, but no. I had to be admitted and hospitalized for *9* expensive fun filled days.

I went in at about 8 am (I had been on my way to my first class of the day). I was admitted at 10 pm. Surgery two days later, tho thay had a plausible reason.

Emergency rooms are horrible. And, unfortunately, for the uninsured, emergency rooms are often the only place to go, because care cannot legally be refused. But you can be made to wait for it.

take much good care of your ankle. Remember, physical therapy is a goodness which can help minimize potential future problems. And no, crutches are not fun.

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Christ! 7 hours and it was actually broken - that's horrible! *hugs*

I called my doctor today to get a referral for PT. I called at 10 - have an appt at 11:30. See, that's how this is *supposed* to work. :P

[soar38.livejournal.com]

Oh, sweetheart *hugs* I sprained my ankle like that once, felt something tear and thought I'd broken it. Make sure you keep it raised and iced.

I think your hospitals have the same problem as ours these days, money pouring into them, people needing treatment, a shortage of doctors and nurses, but the people in charge still keep making people redundant, on the biggest problem is too many admin and managerial staff. *sighs*

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Raised and iced - check. And I saw the doctor today - she thinks I should be able to walk w/o crutches by the end of the week.

I'm still outraged by the situation. No matter how common it is, it's still wrong to keep people waiting. :P

[shrinetolust.livejournal.com]

Wow. I see I'm not the only one. I was recently in the emergency room for seven hours myself. There was a *shift change* I was there so long. Gah.

I understood that they had to take more seriously ill people before me, but the wait is just insane. By the time they got me in for an x-ray, the doctor who reads the results had gone home and they had to email her to get a reading!!

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience, but glad that you turned out not to have anything broken. Do take care, though, don't rush it!

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Good lord, not you too! Yeah, the shif change is so disheartening. It's like "wait, they get to go home but they haven't helped me yet!"

I'm relieved nothing was broken. And I've had a good week so far, getting in to see my doc and to physical therapy right away.

I hope you are doing well too, with wheatever ailed you. *hug*

[araestel.livejournal.com]

*hugs* It sucks. I was once stuf an an ER for 22 hours and had I received medication earlier, the symptoms wouldn't have worsened and made me suffer from them for almost 5 months. It was shingles. And had I received medication sooner, I wouldn't have "the worst case he's seen in 38 years". uh huh.

Glad it was only a sprain--but still--It SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

22 hours! *boggles* That's just inhumane. There is somehting so wrong with this situation that I can't even find words for it. Other than GRRR!

*hug*