Two weeks ago, I suddenly had shooting pain in both of my arms. Taking Tylenol didn't help, so I headed down to the Emergency Room. The doctor there diagnosed a Repetitive Stress Injury, and sent me home with Advil.
Two days after that, I had some severe swelling and pain in both arms and legs, which led to ER Trip #2. The doctor recommended I keep taking Advil, and see my family doctor during the week.
The next night, I had a new type of pain in both arms and legs, which led to ER Trip #3. After a five hour wait in excruciating pain, I finally saw a doctor, who suspected something viral. He sent me home with some really strong painkillers.
I finally saw my Family Doctor a few days later, and he immediately realized that it is a localized allergic reaction to something, and sent me to a Rheumatologist at Toronto General Hospital (TGH).
When I got to TGH, I was told to wait in line at the ER (this is trip #4), and when I finally saw a doctor, who wasn't a Rheumatologist (even though my Family Doctor specifically requested a Rheumatologist). I was sent home again.
The next day, I saw a Dermatologist, who also suspected an allergic reaction. After hearing my (ridiculous) story, she pulled a few strings and got a Rheumatologist to see me immediately. I finally got some proper medication prescribed, which improved my condition drastically right after the first dose. The doctors still don't know what happened, but at least the medication is working.
This is the first time I've been sick enough to need to go to a hospital, and the experience has utterly shaken my faith in our healthcare system. If you don't think medicare is broken, you're a moron.
I have several points:
1 - It's not that we don't have good doctors, we actually have some great ones. It just took too long for the system to get me to the right person.
2 - My brother and I were discussing that it would've been quite expensive if we'd paid for these ER visits out of pocket (I believe each visit costs over $300). On the other hand, I would have been willing to shell out up to a thousand dollars to see the right doctor right away and get treatment faster.
3 - I understand the Triage system in ERs, but the wait times are still ridiculous. This might have something to do with understaffing, because on Trip #3, the doctor who saw me was the only one working in the ER. To his credit, he stayed an extra hour to wait for my test results and prescribed something that actually relieved my pain.
4 - During ER Trips #2 and #3, I had blood tests done. My family doctor does not have automatic access to those results, he has to call the hospital and have them faxed to him. Even more ridiculous is the fact that I, the patient, will not be given those results! After seeing about 8 doctors within a week, it's painfully obvious how important electronic health records are. Any doctor I see now should be able to access my records, prescriptions, and test results from the past week, but they can't.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
how long did you wait to get into the er? when i was taken to the hospital last time, it took me 8 hours to get in. it's quite ridiculous too because i almost died in pain waiting for someone to look over my condition. it was in toronto east btw.
ReplyDeleteI got lucky the first two times, I was at an "Urgent Care Centre" which didn't have a lot of traffic so the wait was about an hour. But the third time (when I was in excruciating pain), it took 5 hours.
ReplyDeleteI have been to Mount Sinai's emergency a couple of times in the weekends/evenings. They've been amazing. I don't think I ever waited more than an hour to see "someone".
ReplyDeleteOne of my friends here is a resident at the hospital here, so it is good fun, informative and scary hearing some of the stories.
Siyam
I don't think I ever waited more than an hour to see "someone".
ReplyDelete