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“Not Letting Patients Get Any Sleep”: 30 Things That Should Not Be Normal In Healthcare, According To Twitter Users
When a person goes to a medical institution, they expect to be treated equally as others, they expect to be heard and provided a solution. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works all the time and patients get disappointed with their healthcare providers.
The reasons can vary: it could be that the healthcare worker has a personal problem with a patient, maybe they worked 24 hours in a row and just want to be finished with their shift, or they don’t devote themselves to their job as much anymore because they’re burnt out.
There are obviously a lot of issues in the medical field that both patients and healthcare professionals have to deal with. And Twitter user @DrBryanLeyva wanted to know what people feel is the problem that is the worst in their eyes. Bryan asked, “What should we denormalize in healthcare?” and people had so much to say.
Image credits: DrBryanLeyva
Image credits: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
More info: Twitter
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#1
Jenn Ryan 4 years ago
It took me until my early 30's to find an OB/GYN who would sterilize me. I have known since I was a kid that I don't want children. I have horrible side affects from birth control, so that wasn't an option. It is absolutely ridiculous.
SBW71 4 years ago
I knew from age 14 I didn't want any kids either and I'm about to turn 50 and still don't want any. Glad I didn't have any. What's the saying? My body my choice.
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Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago (edited)
It's absolutely ridiculous. I had to emphasise that if I accidentally fell pregnant that I will be getting an abortion. I think that made them understand how serious I was about not wanting any more kids. Now I am expecting to have the surgery (salpingectomy) within the next month or so. I'm actually looking forward to it, much less stress and can take my contraception out that causes crappy side effects.
Kay blue 4 years ago
Good luck with your operation, I hope you have a quick recovery.
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Marie 4 years ago
A friend had a cesarean during a high risk pregnancy and they took her uterus OUT and put it beside her while they repaired some damage and even though she said not to put it back (localized anesthetic) the Dr replied "what if one of your kids die"... as if having a replacement kid (sickening idea to start with) was more important than her wish to not have the damaged (unusable anyway) organ returned.
Ivan Aguilar 4 years ago
I knew about this because a friend of mine, single mom of 1, 36yo, was denied from getting the operation, I was shocked because me as a 38yo. single man, no kids, got the vasectomy without any problem. I just don't get it...
Kori Peek 4 years ago
I was in my late 20's, already had twins and was having horrible side pain that would come and go but over time was there every day and was awful. After so many tests, taking out my appendix they realized it was my rt ovary. The ob wouldn't take it out though bc she kept saying "what if you want more kids?" "You're still so young." I didn't care and made that VERY clear plus I'd still hv my left "but it made the chances much smaller". Still made it clear I didn't care just wanted to feel normal again w/out pain. She wouldn't take it out. So for 2 years I put up with horrible pain off and on until one day it was so horrific her colleague finally did an emergency surgery and took it out.(she was out of town) I hadn't had a normal period in almost 4 years until it came out. The pain immediately stopped, and lo and behold 7 months later, I got pregnant. I learned to NEVER let a doctor tell me what's best for my body from that point on.
jtrisn1 4 years ago
I'm about to start requesting to grt my tubes tied. I have irregular periods that need to be medically induced or else I am at risk for cancer. Can't wait to fight everyone and my mother.
V33333P 4 years ago
Check for endo or PCOS, coz tying your tubes won't help with periods :/ good luck! I had endo and it's absolute hell
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Cass Malone 4 years ago
Or you have to have x amount of kids already or you husband has to agree to it. Like wtf?!
Carol Emory 4 years ago
Thank you. I wanted a hysterectomy because I have really bad Endometriosis. The doctor said "no" because I was 29 and I might want to have more kids. My son was 8 and autistic. I was told I had a really good chance of any other kids being even more severely autistic. Why can't I make the decision? It's my body.
Clare E 4 years ago
Hysterectomy is not a cure for endometriosis, only for adenomyosis.
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Kenya Tate 4 years ago (edited)
THIS!! In 98 I had my ob/gyn tell me that I should get an iud and I said NO I want my tubes tied, I kept asking at every appointment until she finally said: you’ve waited too late to request your tubes be tied, it has to be 30 days before estimated delivery?! WTF???
Joanna Werman 4 years ago
I don't understand it either? Can you explain more please.
Load More Replies...Bryan Leyva is a Doctor of Medicine who went to Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and now he is a public health researcher at the University of Minnesota. Bryan focuses his research on “the behavioral and social determinants of health; b) racial and socioeconomic health disparities; c) models, measures, and strategies to improve quality and equity in health care.”
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#2
Dave P 4 years ago
It would cost the US 3.2 trillion dollars a year. Total assets of all billionaires is 4.4 trillion. Just think about it. The solution is simpler. It is estimated that between 70%-80% of all costs in US Health Care are around complying with govt regulations that have nothing to do with patient care or privacy. We can literally slash of heathcare in the US to super cheap anytime we want. But when will a politican ever give up their power.
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Got Myself 4 Dwarves 4 years ago
This isn't normal. It doesn't happen in most countries. Stop believing this s**t is normal and demand change
Vicky Z 4 years ago
I wonder if there are any researches or statistics about how many deaths would have been prevented in the USA if Healthcare was free!
Vicky Zar 4 years ago
Not only deaths. Mental health, bankruptcies, homelessness, .... all resulting from the poor healthcare system
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Iggy 4 years ago
We have to pay per night in Ireland if we don't have a medical card or insurance. It's capped at 10 nights per 12 month period and costs €80 per night. That's for everything. €800 is still a lot of money but when you consider what Americans would have to pay for the same duration, it's an absolute bargain!
Calypso poet 4 years ago
My copay for my colonoscopy was $750 because I'm not 50 so it's not covered under preventative like my husbands was. Oh, and I had a $60 specialist co-pay for my first consultation visit. My Dr. and the facility was fantastic so at least I had decent coverage.
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Tobias Rieper 4 years ago
i think this is an American problem I cant even imagine having to think about how am i going to afford this before deciding to call an ambulance
Joanna Werman 4 years ago
With my insurance if I take an ambulance to the hospital and I'm admitted it's free. But if I take it and I'm discharged I have to pay.
#3
Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
"Psychosomatic" isn't an insult. It means "(of a physical illness or other condition) caused or aggravated by a mental factor such as internal conflict or stress." Anxiety and depression can cause physical symptoms to worsen, and it's necessary to point that out clinically in order to properly treat a patient.
Rissie 4 years ago
The problem is that this real phenomenon is misused because many a doctor just doesn't have a straight answer. So the answer should be "I don't know".
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MagicalUnicorn 4 years ago
last point! when i started suffering random leg pain and after many test nothing showed up i got prescription of antidepressants :D still hurts, i just care less
Romenriel 4 years ago
Antidepressants are the only treatment for some cases of pain, namely ones that are caused by damage of nerves. Don't know if it's your case, though, just saying.
Load More Replies... Pille P 4 years ago
Even my OB/GYN not taking my pain seriously when I told my boobs hurt severely while breastfeeding. Spent months in mild form of Mastitis. And still on antibiotics described, which later due to another condition miraculously healed the boob issue also and oh, suddenly the nearly dead boob produced twice as much milk as the other one.
Vicky Zar 4 years ago
Ha! The overweight thing, lol. I have sleep apnea and the last doc I've seen said it will go away when I loose weight. Funny that I had it since my teens, when I was slim and fit as could be.
Romenriel 4 years ago
You should have told him that and if he's any good, he'd reconsider it. Or not and then it's time for second opinion. I don't think he meant any harm, for many people it's the correct answer, but it isn't for you and he needs all the information so he can come up with correct answer.
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Julie C Rose 4 years ago
Apparently it took ages for women to persuade researchers to study the menstrual side effects of the covid vaccine. The scientific community didn’t mind talking about the other side effects but apparently when we mention one that just affects uteruses, we’re just ~not woke enough~.
Anna Heaslet 4 years ago
Took me 20 years to get a diagnosis of adhesive Arachnoiditis that was caused by doctor error. I've been told for decades that I’m just anxious or depressed... when in reality, of course I was, because I was IN PAIN 24 HOURS A DAY, 7 DAYS A WEEK. That would depress anyone, but, of course, was NOT my main issue. SMH
Biba Little 4 years ago
These happened so many times to me! Especially "just stress" and "it's all in your head".
Calypso poet 4 years ago
Also start making IUD's a bigger part of the birth control conversation. I'm on my 3rd and final one. The past 10 years with only a couple light periods a year has been amazing. First I heard they were dangerous, then Women who've never had children can't get them. My male, Iranian neurologist made me switch from pills to the IUD because of my migraines. It was putting me at higher risk of stroke and an MRI showed evidence of my migraines with Aura. I hard a hard time getting an appointment with my usual on/gyn because only one Dr. would do them once a month for women with no prior pregnancy. My new Gynecologist is older than my previous ones and she thinks IUD's are great. I had such an easier time because she numbed me and explained what she was doing. I kept passing out my first one and had to have my husband help me walk out of the building. This last one while still painful was nowhere near as bad. I have a small cervix so it was still difficult.
Helderder 4 years ago
For me this thing was ok for like 3 years. But then my cervix started to push i
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Sandy D 4 years ago
I wish I could like this one over and over. I'm glad my primary doc is awesome and a woman. I've dealt with some sexist a$$holes along the way and one who blame all on weight. I had to correct a pain mgmt doctor when he blamed pain on weight, even with imaging proof (xrays and mris) of the issues. I raised my voice a bit when I told him, not for the first time, the pain and weight gain got bad while I was walking 3 miles 4 times a week, and swimming about an hour a day 2 or 3 times a week. Pain made me stop. And he was supposed to be a pain specialis! His clinic has pain mgmt in the name, so hubby & I called it pain infliction instead. He was called Dr Dickwad at home! Even told my primary about it and she laughed at the name
He wanted to hear the vox populi and asked “What should we denormalize in healthcare?” which essentially means, what are the biggest problems in the healthcare system that bother people the most.
Both people who were patients and medical professionals joined the conversation and a lot of issues surfaced. Some pointed out that racial and sexual discrimination or applying stereotypes still are existing problems that prevent doctors from giving quality service.
#4
Robert T 4 years ago (edited)
This is no joke. When I was on chemo, they used start it of an evening, and well 4 or 5 bags of fluid has to go somewhere, so I was up all night peeing. You can therefore imagine my delight when someone comes round offering you breakfast at 7.30 in the morning! I won't complain too much though, as I owe my life to them and the care they gave me.
Lydia 4 years ago
Chemo nurse here. Firstoff, congratulations and best wishes. We give a lot of fluids especially with chemos known to be nephrotoxic, or damaging to your kidneys. Peeing is good because your kidneys are working, lol. When your doctor has you go inpatient instead of just dropping my the infusion center during the days, it's usually because you are on chemo that lasts several days or requires very close monitoring. Again, best wishes and hoping you don't have to go through that again!
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alwaysMispelled 4 years ago
As a nurse I hate waking patients up because I know how difficult it is to get sleep in the hospital in the first place. Doctors are the ones who order labs for 4am, and for us to check vital signs every 4 hours, and for medications to be given in the middle of the night.
Calypso poet 4 years ago
The nurses at night are usually the best! I can't sleep in a hospital bed anyway and you're probably bringing a fresh, much needed IV pain drip! I had my gallbladder and then my appendix removed. The only thing that kept me awake was my mom and the roommate. The old lady for my first groaned and moaned all night AND my mom decided to sleep in the chair next to my bed and snore. My husband was with me for the appendix and had to gently force mom to leave after a short visit because she was talking so loud while I tried to sleep and insulted the person sweeping the floor and emptying the trash. So for that at least I had a private room and no one else sleeping. My husband only stuck around during the day to help me do my walks and get to the bathroom.
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NsG 4 years ago
Sleep is one of the best forms of recovery. If I don't sleep I feel worse. I ended up faking feeling better so they would discharge me so I could actually get 7+ hours uninterrupted sleep in a real bed.
Jo Johannsen 4 years ago
Hospital beds are the closest thing to the medieval rack in modern society.
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White Paper Tsuru 4 years ago
Nurse here. I also hate waking people up. The thinking is, these days, if you're sick enough to still be in hospital, then you're sick enough that I need to do vitals and safety checks. I think if I came in to find your mom's breathing has changed or BP had spiked, you'd prefer I discovered that on my 4 am vitals rounds rather than 2 hours later at 6:00 before I leave for the night, or at 8 am when the next shift gets on finishes report and starts rounds. Sleep is so important to healing, but assessment is more important to preventing deterioration of status. When someone gets out of hospital, plan to give them time to catch up on the sleep they missed. They're going to be jet lagged!
Chancey 4 years ago
The vitals, meds and labs aren't even the biggest issue for me. Those are standard and expected. Last time I was inpatient my neurologist did rounds at 5:30 every morning expecting me to wake up and have a coherent conversation after only sleeping for 4 hours or so.
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tuzdayschild 4 years ago
If you need your meds, you need your meds. I rather be woken up than get sicker or worse.
Calypso poet 4 years ago
Exactly! Hurry up and get better so you can go home and rest in your own bed or recliner. Also there are a lot of other patients who may be in worse condition that need more attention and they don't always catch you while you are awake.
Load More Replies... Moodles 4 years ago
When I was in hospital after having my 2nd daughter, our room on the maternity ward was right next to a kitchen, so not only could you hear numerous babies crying all night (obviously expected!) but that was compounded and exacerbated by constant banging of pans, etc all. f-ing. night. Horrendous. I had no sleep (after a long labour) for 36 hours. It was a blessing for both me and my daughter to get home
Anna Malá 4 years ago
That's horrible... whoever thought that placing those things next to each other was a good idea would deserve to be placed on that room. Also what is it with hospitals not respecting mother's sleep after labour? I was hospitalised for over a week with my 1st and I had no sleep at all. I had antibiotics in an IV drip because of all the tearing and infection, had jo help in caring for my baby while barely able to walk, which was hell, and when my baby finally slept a bit the nurse would come to give me an anticoagulant jab into the belly at 4am every day. Like why at that time?? That's one of the more horrible ways to wake somebody up...
Load More Replies... Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago
It really is frustrating but it's important too. You are in hospital for a reason and they need to do your Obs or bloods etc often to make sure your okay. When I took an overdose I had to get bloods done every 6 hours to check my kidney and liver function. And I had to have Obs done every 4 hours.
Paul Davis 4 years ago
There's a term for that: "hospital psychosis" which is caused by the sleep deprivation that patients undergo
KimB 4 years ago
I don't know where you live but no one in the US is staying in the hospital that long to achieve that lol...maybe 50 years ago when you could be kept weeks or even months...nowadays the average length of stay for non critical admission is about 72 hours or less anything longer would likely require a transfer to an extended care facility or skilled nursing home because it's cheaper and your insurance if you have it is going to require that.
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Kirsten Kerkhof 4 years ago
I'm a heavy sleeper with a VERY strict sleep routine. When I sleep I SLEEP! A few years ago when was in hospital and I had had the surgery on my large intestines, I slept through the night and through all the tests they ran. The nurse told me they even checked whether I was actually still alive and really just sleeping.
Helderder 4 years ago
Soo jealous.. If I don't fall a sleep between 22 and 22.30 I'll be awake every 3 hours to pee, or because I hear my cats, or neighbor or boyfriend snoring...
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Jo Choto 4 years ago
This one is crazy. Patients are regularly awakened at 4 or 5 AM, after being prodded and poked half the night. There is no control of noise, especially by staff who seem to chat and laugh and disturb everyone all night long. You're lying in a bed with horrible bright lights on the ceiling that are blinding. They want you to have breakfast at 6 AM in the morning. Everyone knows that rest and sleep and peace are essential to recovery. Hospital seems to be the last place anyone would get well.
#5
Vicky Z 4 years ago
Exactly!!! When a 15 year old is telling you while crying that her quality of life is so bad that she prefers to get rid of everything inside her or to die you don't f*****g tell her that it's normal and you better get used to it cause it's going to be like that for the next 30-40 years!!! (Real dialogue with my first ob!)
No Fox Given 4 years ago
I am still fighting with my doctors to believe me when I say my periods and pain is not normal. Over the past few years (I’m 39 now). I have struggled. I can’t use tampons anymore they leave me in agony. Instead I have to use 4-6 pads at a time and change all of them every half an hour. I have to sleep with mattress protection and 4 towels under me so I won’t ruin the mattress. However doctors tell me this is normal and part of getting old. A week before I start I am nearly crippled in agony. I am physically sick with cramp. My iron levels drop stupidly (blood tests have proven this) yet apparently it all part of being a woman! 🤷🏻♀️
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Foxxy (The Original) 4 years ago (edited)
Actually periods can be painful without any underlying cause. Your uterus contracts to help rid the uterus lining and the contracting can cause pain similar to early labour contractions. It is completely normal for some women. But if they are so painful that they significantly impact your life then of course seek help from a medical professional.
13 4 years ago
True but I don't think it's normal to be doubled over or vomiting because it hurts so much. Also the unlucky few who also get PMDD have No. Quality. Of. Life.
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Ellie Rosser 4 years ago
And so what if it IS a gynecological disease. We do't dismiss cardiomyopathy just because it's only a heart disease!
Something 4 years ago
We don't tell people with brain tumors "don't worry, it's all in your head."
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May 4 years ago
What's this 'supposed to' you speak of? Periods that aren't endometriosis or some other medical condition, can still be extremely painful. I'd get cramps so bad I couldn't stand up, before I got an IUD. So for many, the choice is severe pain, or f*****g with your hormones, with all the risks that comes with that.
Becky Samuel 4 years ago
So why aren't you asking the question of why there is so little interest in or research into this debilitating problem? Do you think that if it affected men they would just send them home and tell them to use a hot water bottle? It's not good enough.
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Brian Bennett 4 years ago
Back in the 60's I had endometriosis - finally got it diagnosed- told me they were going to remove a tube and ovary. I told them to remove everything - I did not want Kids! Did they do it NOPE! Another 10 years of pain (I'm a Nurse) Most Dr.'s don'' t believe woman's pain is real. It has not made any progress in years !
Kise Miarse 3 years ago
28 years it took me to get relief. And I largely had to diagnose myself.
Storm Rise 4 years ago
It took me 40 years to find a doc that would take my pain seriously- and I finally had to find a surgeon on my own as my current doc wouldn't do anything. I finally had the surgery 2 weeks ago- and for the first time in 40 years, I'm pain free... 40. Frikkin'. Years
#6
J Rob 4 years ago
I was at university and broke my pinky finger during the night. I went to Student health first thing in the morning when they opened. They put me in an exam room to wait for next available. I sat in the room for four hours. I thought things were getting very quite. I walked down hallway and everyone had gone to lunch except one attendant at the front desk. He asked me what I was doing! Not a happy day.
Jo Johannsen 4 years ago
Had a similar experience. After an hour in the waiting room, another in the exam room, they sent me to their X-Ray department, then left for two hour lunch.
Load More Replies... Robert T 4 years ago
They do seem to have a desire to get you in a room as quickly as possible, though I've never had them close the door on me. It always seems to be an inordinate amount of time before someone comes in, and is pretty boring if you're on your own. I can't imagine what that would be like for someone with mental health issue. Hospitals are scary places at the best of times.
Ozymandias73 4 years ago
Leaving them in the waiting room for wayyy past the appointment time, then the exam room for longer only to have the doc come in for a 5 minute visit to say "see ya in six months!"
Calypso poet 4 years ago
Sounds like you need to find a new Dr. I made my husband switch Drs when I first met him because they were doing the same thing. He switched to my Dr. and they immediately put him on different asthma meds that helped him tremendously. He used to constantly carry and use a rescue inhaler. He still keeps them handy but they usually expire before he empties one. Talking to your Dr and them listening is important and saves lives.
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TheAnimalLady 4 years ago
There's actually a thing called "White Coat Syndrome". Being sick/hurt is stressful, not knowing is scary, tests & needles can be painful, all of which percolate while you sit waiting... raising your blood pressure abnormally. Then the nurse, followed by the doctor, have you talk about it repeatedly... which raises it a bit more. I recently read a medical paper about how many people are on unnecessary blood pressure medication because no one realized sooner.
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Kate Gardner Ruscio 4 years ago
or being left naked on the edge of your bed by a CNA called away to respond to her her higher ups, leaving a cancer pt. on the edge of her bed for an hour. ... Coming back and asking why I was crying? :(
TheAnimalLady 4 years ago
Or calling me on the phone to tell me that I have cancer (w/o warning) after the doctor already told me I don't. Yep, I feel you 😪
Load More Replies... Jo Choto 4 years ago
If you show up late, your appointment is canceled and/or you are charged a cancelation fee. But the doctors can run as late as they like, and you are just left to sit and wait. Maybe if the fee was reduced for keeping patients waiting, they would schedule fewer patients to begin with, and they would respect patients by keeping on time.
TheAnimalLady 4 years ago
I had a doctor not show back up after lunch for my appointment... they waited for 2hrs to tell me to go home (I was sitting in the waiting room). Yeah, cover my gas, babysitter and time, ri-ight 🙄😒
Load More Replies... Carol Emory 4 years ago
I had a doctor that actually asked me not to come back after I complained about being left in an exam room with my son for an hour and a half. No nurses came in to let me know what was going on. No one asked me if I needed anything. I finally went out and complained and the doctor was there saying "Oh..I'm behind because I had a flat tire. I'm doing the best I can." I said "That's great! I don't have ESP..how am I supposed to know that when no one comes to tell me or check on me? I'm just supposed to sit in there and wait endlessly? I have other appointments and places to be. I'll need to reschedule." After I called his business partner to complain, he sent me a letter telling me I was not allowed back. I called his partner and told him what he did. Seems the partner was the financial backer and told me to ignore the letter, but I never went back.
Riley Quinn 4 years ago
I was told that the doctor's time is too valuable to be waiting for the patient's arrival, so they should be put in the exam to wait. Ok. But could you at least put some magazines in there because those brochures are incredibly boring.
Panda Kicki 4 years ago
It is even worse when they leave the door open. I was left exposed in a gyn seat for a good 30 minutes. Eventually git out and dressed. They came back with a senior doctor who also wanted to look. Gah!
#7
Vicky Z 4 years ago
What's interesting is that noone is asking a pregnant woman if she is sure she wants to keep it cause she might regret it later! It's very possible that there is regret in both situations!
Evil Little Thing 4 years ago
When my friends accidentally fall pregnant, I make sure to tell them that termination is an option. I feel like it's important to hear.
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Kirsten Kerkhof 4 years ago
"But what if your future husband wants kids?" Ah, so you mean that a man I have never met in my life and very likely never will, has more to say about my body than I do? Gotcha.
Enby.Minecraft.Bee. 4 years ago
Honestly i would rather adopt than get pregnant. I would be able to help a kid and give them a better life :)
Viviane 4 years ago
Married, no kids. I was almost never interested in having a baby of my own. I would have been more comfortable as a part-time stepmother. My own child would have felt like an extension of me. A step-child would have felt more like an individual with whom I could build a relationship.
Load More Replies... StrawberryParfait 4 years ago
Sad little truth that no one talks about is that many people who have children regret doing so. People need to give more thought to parenthood. Parenting is not the only option for a grown-up lifestyle, despite what society tries to sell us.
Robert T 4 years ago
I'm in two minds over this, because people do change their minds. Having an operation which will make a permanent and irreversible change is something you can never undo. Before I was started on chemo I was given an appointment at the sperm-bank. I hadn't even thought whether I wanted kids or not. Chemo could easily have destroyed any chance I had. They essentially made the choice for me so that my options would be open to me later in life and I am very glad they did.
Not A Panda 4 years ago
Having a child is permanent and irreversible. No one tells infertile people they won't help them conceive "because you might change your mind later". And in the end, it is better to regret not having had children than to regret having had them.
Load More Replies... Brian Bennett 4 years ago
they treat woman as if they don't know their own minds - I know I would be one shitty mother but try to tell someone even a doctor that and the response once you give birth you will want it! Wanting it and raising it are two different things. We who choose not to have children are not abnormal we know ourselves!
Nizumi 4 years ago
I thought I finished dodging those bullets when I hit menopause - then some genius said to me, "Well you could still adopt or foster." Really?!?!? So from 13 to 51, I was just faking it, diddling about while I made up my mind?
13 4 years ago
My answer has seriously just become "No. The bloodline ends with me." With a really dark look. Stole it off the internet as a joke but by god it WORKS.
Load More Replies... Riley Quinn 4 years ago
Tell me, is it better to get sterilized and regret it down the road when adoption is an option OR have children and regret that decision down the road?
bumble bee 4 years ago
Child free at 55 and never, ever had one regret. Don't get me wrong I like kids, but never found 1 good reason to go through this life altering decision
Metallic Geisha 4 years ago
I dream of a day when women are no longer property, anyone else's business, and valued as much as penis owners.
Others were pointing to the absurd amounts of money they have to pay in order to get the help they need. There were a quite significant number of people who thought that doctors will not believe how much pain patients, especially women, are in.
Miscommunication was also brought up as doctors will not try to explain conditions and illnesses to their patients in a language they would understand.
#8
Riley Quinn 4 years ago
I've lived with chronic pain most of my life and doctors still think I'm there for the narcotics. The last thing I want is narcotics. I want them to take me seriously and find a better alternative.
Valley Girl 4 years ago
Discharging with a script for ibuprofen! I have chronic kidney stones. They did imaging to confirm I currently had stones, but told me they were small enough to not hurt much. I probably request pain meds every 2-3 years for them. $850 worth of deductible to be given IBUPROFEN! I'm an RN for Christ's sake! You don't think if that would help I woulda stayed home and kept my money?
Chris Freeman 4 years ago
I agree. Even documented people in pain now are treated as drug seekers. I am a combat vet with broken pieces of vertebrae 1-3 from the war. I still get treated like a leper and have to go to a special pain doctor who demands I take a urine test to prove "what I take" if I see him. I go less than once a year for 30 percocets when the pain becomes unbearable and treated like a junkie. The pendulum has swung too far. I imagine in the past it was too easy or some doctors abused the system, but when a combat war vet cannot get one prescription a year for chronic pain from a war injury that flares up, I would say we are too severe in giving help people need.
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
True, we don't bung it on to get drugs, but it would be nice if they would prescribe something to take when you have tried the over the counter stuff and you are still in pain.
Brandy Grote 4 years ago (edited)
Had my 2nd spine fusion surgery. Dr prescribed opiod pain meds 6 times a day, but his assistant filled out the prescription for only 30 pills. I ran out, got a prescription for a refill. Pharmacist denied it because "it hadn't been 30 days", reported me to whatever federal bureau is in charge. They didn't care what the label on the prescription said, they could only refill opiods 1 time in 30 days. Dr could do nothing either, except give me even MORE pills on the refill date than on the original prescription. Because I can have any number of pills, but only 1x per month. Like how does that help? I'm not an addict, duh, I have post surgical PAIN. Thankfully, I'm now down to 1 - 3 pills daily as needed - and I have a ton of pills left. Eye roll.
#9
Robert T 4 years ago (edited)
This is sadly one of the drawbacks of the NHS. The healthcare might be free, but it often involves a fair bit of waiting around, meaning more time off work, and if you have driven the to the hospital it can also mean increased parking charges if they are running late. I think we need to start an awareness campaign with fake invoices "if this had been America, this is what you would'be been charged". People might appreciate them more.
Helen Haley 4 years ago
It is the same in the US, without the benefit of NHS
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Shane S 4 years ago
I worked for an eye doctor that insisted we schedule patients starting at 8. But she wouldn’t roll into work until 10-1030. Patients would yell at the staff but be perfectly nice and friendly to her. She was our boss. There was literally nothing we could do about it and it was 100% her fault.
BluEyedSeoulite 4 years ago
Makes so much sense. My mom would schedule me to be the first patient of the day for my ophthalmologist. It was basically so we'd only wait an hour instead of 3+. He was the absolute best in the area but now that I'm older, I assume this is why his office was always running behind 2 hours on average. I never saw anyone yell at the staff, luckily enough.
Load More Replies... Brian Bennett 4 years ago
I sent my doctor a bill for my wait time - time waited after my assigned appointment time - minimum wage in our country - boy did I get s**t! Asked why she thought her time was more valuable than mine - got s**t again!
Marnie 4 years ago
My Dad (in Minnesota, USA) used to call the doctor's office and ask how far behind they were. I wasn't being snarky or trying to make a point or anything. He just was trying to solve a problem. If doctor was running 15 minutes behind, he'd say, "Okay, I'll be there at 10:30" if his appt was originally for 10:15. Seemed legit to me.
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Christie Schmitz 4 years ago
I have been working at a large primary care facility. I really like working with everyone and the doctor I work for. The only problem I have is that the hospital that our practice is associated with determines how long appointments should be. Now imagine a new patient over the age of 65 coming in with a lot of problems...the is more like a 40 minute visit. Needless to say we get behind and patients start getting agitated. Why are people who sot behind a desk making these decisions instead of the doctor?
Riley Quinn 4 years ago
After 15-minutes I leave. Then I send the clinic an invoice. Not that they take it seriously, but it's my way of letting them know that I have self-respect.
Rissie 4 years ago
That has more to do with not structually not leaving enough time in a schedule for emergencies vs planned care. But sometimes the planning was fine and the emergency just came up. So just be happy you are not the emergency and just have to wait an hour in stead of being in need of that emergency care.
Calypso poet 4 years ago
I just said something similar. My Dr ran late because they had to transfer another patient by ambulance to a hospital. I was there for a routine visit and blood work so I was ok not being the emergency and if I (or my husband, mom or dad) am I hope others show compassion and patience. Not this "me first no matter what" attitude we are seeing lately. It's why nurses are quitting and no one wants to work at restaurants.
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Margareta Hagman 4 years ago
if a company acted they way hospitals do they be out of buisness pretty fast ! its awful making sick people wait for hours ! not ok !
Slune 4 years ago
It became my ritual: after 15 minutes waiting, asking how much more time I would have to wait...... After 25 minutes go back, announcing I have to leave and need a new appointment. It works! After the same procedure for 2 times at the same doctor I never have to wait more than 10 minutes.
Viv Foxbury 4 years ago
Quit whining! You think your doctor is doing that just to upset you princess.... doing the best they can. You are a bunch of ungrateful brats....
#10
Riley Quinn 4 years ago
Sleep deprivation not only lowers cognitive decisions, it can also cause delusions. Last thing any of us needs is a delusional medical staff treating us.
survivalrhino 4 years ago
Supposedly getting better, especially in residency-- the idea is similar to combat training, causing massive stressors to weed out the incapable-- still think it's a dumb model-- most docs and nurses ain't combat staff-- and the ones that are, need MORE sleep not less
Jane Alexander 4 years ago
RE Sleep deprivation A guy I knew had a bet about staying awake a hundred hours during which time he had a lot of paperwork to do involving numbers. Well, he thought he did, his body kept moving and the numbers were all in the little boxes, but the numbers were all wrong.
Jane Alexander 4 years ago
We're running short of them and have been. It takes heart, brains and internal fortitude to do that work. Doing the grownup thing just doesn't seem to be all that popular these days. Influncers! That's what we need! Not the dumb 'Look a meee' kind, but like the PA that I see; Great guy! get a few words from him about chalenges and rewards and vid um up on You tube. If you read me thus far, let's influence some worthwhile, shall we?
Medical professionals themselves were mentioning burnout and long shifts as well as disrespect among colleagues. So both sides see problems that need to be fixed and every issue that has been mentioned has to be dealt with individually as there is no one solution that would fit all challenges, so maybe that is why it is so difficult to change the situation.
#11
Caro Caro 4 years ago
My mum was discharged from hospital with meds and wound care supplies. A specialist comes every other day to take care of her wound.
TheAnimalLady 4 years ago
But this is the exact opposite of what we are discussing. (Where are you that you have this totally opposite treatment? )
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Stefan Scheiben 4 years ago
A few weeks ago I broke my leg. Left the ER with crutches, a vacuum cast (which I had been instructed to use) and enough prescription drugs, thrombosis syringes (which I also had been instructed to use) and dressing materials to last for at least a week. The best part: It did not cost me anything. That happens when you have a sensible healthcare system instead of the american way.
Calypso poet 4 years ago
Luckily I'm a clumsy person and always have gauze, tape, iodine, hydrogen peroxide, neosporin...because the little they give you after surgery, if they do, doesn't last long.
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Jo Davies 4 years ago
Someone very close to me, who has addiction issues. Clean for a long while, had a backop and discharged from hospital. No wound advice but 2 months supply of opioids and 6 month script. Luckily, he asked me to find out what they were. They were promptly hidden away (on his request) and only administed when necessary and according to correct dosage. And I went to the pharmacy, explained op wound and they assisted me with advice on how to care for it and which products to use.
Alphabet Soupy 4 years ago
A couple years ago i needed a podiatrist and found a same day appointment close to my house with the doctor for our city’s nba team, I was psyched up thinking it would be top notch. After my consultation I asked the front desk for a copy of my diagnosis and treatment. They said his handwriting is difficult to read. Ok. They just scanned his (short) notes and didn’t translate or elaborate. He just said to buy x brand shoes and use inserts. I ended up needing further care and it took TWO other doctors to actually give me the full picture and treatment options. When I tried going back to the podiatrist, they refused as he only treats problems “below the ankle” but my EXTREMELY flat arches were causing problems in my calves, knees, hips/back. Still can’t believe he basically said “not my problem” when it’s caused by my feet
Calypso poet 4 years ago
Oh no? It wasn't the Crystal Clinic in Cleveland was it? A week before my last and successful surgery a lady saw me on my knee scooter at the zoo. She tried to get me to cancel with guy because her friends sons Dr went to him and he works on famous athletes. So glad I stuck with my 3rd guy. A good foot Dr./ Surgeon is hard to find! I had 1 terrible one- no X-rays but offered me pain pills twice to make sure😳, one was better and finally the third was amazing and I won't likely have to see him again since he fixed everything the 2nd guy missed. All in less than 3 years.
Load More Replies... Paul Davis 4 years ago
Communication is supposed to be at least 1/2 of patient care -- but too many medical professionals simply blow that off or give it only the barest attention.
chrissy goodman 4 years ago
had this happen wen i was 17 no one told me wat to do about my knee injury all they said was i was too young for surgury to fix it and to get physical therapy. no specifics or anything. i have wat they call runner's knee and the hospital didnt tell me that....the first time i went. the first time i went they also didnt tell me no more competetive running so in college (which i got a track and feild full scholarship for) i did track. wat happens? i damage my knee further and may i add physical therapy didnt help it made it worse. but anyways went to a hospital near my college and they were dumbfounded by wat i told them about the first hospital visit wen the injury first happened. they told me specific physical therapy had me do it at the hospital, no more track, told me excercises and stretches to do on my own and how to deal with pain. they also told me i was too young for surgery but watever. so here i m now 31 not even able to jog bc of my knee still to young for surgery and have major knee pain constantly on rainy or cloudy days, stairs r my enemy and slowly waiting for the cartildge in my knee to wear away enough for me to get it fixed. not all hospitals like the first one i went to but i sure m grateful for the 2nd visit id b busting my knee left and right if every hospital was like the 1st one. im pissed at the first hospital bc running was like my pride and joy even just running around my neighborhood for the hell of it brought me happiness but bc of the 2nd knee bust i cant even jog. if they had told me no more competetive running the first time around id still b doing casual running and jogging. my husband is very supportive and wants me to at least jog again. he says he sees the sadness in my eyes wen my track and feild days r brought up in conversation or wen i tell the dog i cant chase after her like he can. hes be looking up ways to get me to jogging point. im no long distance runner always been short distance but if i was able to jog id go for miles. my doctor advises against it but said she will support any ill need. i have her looking into custom fitted knee braces currently cuz thats the first step but bc my right knee is messed up too from years of taking weight off my bad left one ill need 2. sad that in order to get better from an injury that probably started before 17, ive have to basically fix it on my own.
laura edwards 4 years ago
Sometimes you have to ask if the person has running water. Some people don't.
Metallic Geisha 4 years ago
I was discharged once because I was pissed the nurse picked up my used gauze (used to stop bleeding from IV in my inside elbow) from the nasty floor and put it back on me! No one there even cared.
Verena Abt 4 years ago
Happened to me in the UK. Had a fishing hook in my foot. They removed it and sent me off with no bandage or even a band aid (barefoot). NHS. 🤷
#12
Cass Malone 4 years ago
Assuming certain races or "types" of ppl (I.e. metal heads, skaters, ppl who wear hoodies) are after drugs and not actually seeking help!
Nicki 4 years ago
I had this happen to me, I went in because I was in pain in my pelvic area and constantly vomiting. They wouldn't give anything for the pain and kept asking me suspicious questions. Then my husband (who is white) finally arrived from work and demanded that someone get me something and the nurses and doctor listened to him right away. Turns out I had a raging bladder and kidney infection. He was aghast at how I was treated.
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TheAnimalLady 4 years ago (edited)
THIS!!! I naturally look like a Barbie doll and get treated like a "dumb blonde" so it stops doctors "in their tracks" when I start talking in medical jargon. But if they're a man, they still dismiss me as if I'm a trained parrot 🙄😒 I've actually had them give me medicines that I'm allergic to🤢🤮 and send me for testing that I've told them I've been told by Specialists NOT to do... and were unable to when I arrived & found out that they'd sent me for it anyway (instead of a different test like I thought). Such a waste of time, money and pollution (from hours of driving). 😾😤🤬
Vicky Z 4 years ago
That's not a doctor's job anyway that's laziness and bad way of treating patients
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
That is the main way doctors treat patients in my area anyway!
Load More Replies... Riley Quinn 4 years ago
Blue collar workers and BIPOC folx have a higher threshold for pain. Did y'all know this?
Diana 4 years ago (edited)
SO true! I know I am overweight but please stop telling me that is the only explanation for my kneecaps to jump out and in causing me week long pain. I will be here again in 2 weeks (happened to me when i was 12/13). The next orthopedic at least treid and then send me to a specialist. Turns out I have knock knees and was born with a too small and too high kneecap. Which is now forever damaged because the only thing my first doctor saw was my weight. Same with my wrist/tendon. "You play hockey for 4 years you have the wrong position of the wrist while playing". Yeah, I have several conditions like a too short bone that i was born with (and so was my twin). So thanks for ruining 4 years of my life.
Jackie Porter 4 years ago
My physical pain gets ignored due to being overweight. I just get told if I lose weight I wouldn't be in so much pain. But I was still in pain when I was a lot lighter, I find it almost impossible to exercise due to my pain.
#13
Hotdogking 4 years ago (edited)
Fun fact, up until late 19th - early 20th century, most doctors simply diagnosed most women with hysteria when they described their symptoms
StrawberryParfait 4 years ago
The gaslighting of women by the medical profession is downright abusive.
Lydia 4 years ago
This. I developed a heart condition after Covid pneumonia. Went to the ER via ambulance because I almost passed out and wrecked my car while driving home. Was told I was "anxious" and blown off in the ER at the same hospital where I am an experienced charge nurse of an oncology floor. Nearly lost my job from near-blackouts at work. Only got taken seriously when I saw my doctor at the nurse's station during busy morning shift change and demanded a cardiology consultation.
TheAnimalLady 4 years ago
Geez, if YOU are treated like this in your "own" hospital, no wonder the rest of us are so abused and neglected.
Load More Replies... Zozo🤟 4 years ago
I feel this. We looked into the idea that I have anxiety, but we concluded that it is not so. Being anxious sometimes worsens the symptoms, but it isn’t the core reason.
Calypso poet 4 years ago
So sorry you have to experience that. My new Dr noticed my tremors and what they were immediately and sent me to a neurologist. I have a Essential (familial) tremors, mainly my hands and tongue. They got worse as I got older. Anxiety makes them happen more, like if I've been driving for a long time in bad weather. People always ask if I'm nervous. I even had a Canadian Border Patrol agent ask but she was so nice about it! Unfortunately, my mom also has them but denies it. Instead she fiddles with things constantly. Then if we are in a store and I have to sign a receipt or hand my card to a cashier she will loudly say "Why are your hands shaking so much?" My husband has even tried talking to her about it.
Load More Replies... Marie 4 years ago
Historically that would be called "hysteria" for women (men didn't get it according to my research but I could be wrong) and treated by forced orgasms. (How the vibrator was invented)
Becky Samuel 4 years ago
This has been fairly thoroughly debunked. Not the 'hysteria' part, but the vibrwtor thing. It was one author who went out of their way to find any evidence, no matter how meagre, to support a nonsense theory.
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Riley Quinn 4 years ago
Or the opposite. I had been diagnosed/treated for depression for so long that it's frightening. Eventually, I was able to diagnose myself - I'm an existential nihilist, not a chronic/clinical depressed person. Idiots. Dangerous idiots doling out harmful drugs.
Medical professionals are a crucial part of our society as they contain the knowledge of how to heal and survive when you are literally in the process of stepping into a coffin. But if they can't provide the care people need, it is really concerning and admitting that there are problems is already progress towards finding a solution.
So what would you answer to Bryan’s question? Let us know in the comments and also show us what tweets you agree with the most by upvoting them!
#14
Philly Bob Squires 4 years ago
Yup.. right here in the good ol' US of A, Medical greed capital of the world. It's sad.
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Riley Quinn 4 years ago
Winding up homeless because of medical bills should be a national shame. But it isn't. Congress can't be shamed.
Got Myself 4 Dwarves 4 years ago
As I said on the bill for an ambulance entry - this is NOT normal
#15
Jo Johannsen 4 years ago
When you can hear the nursing staff making jokes about you from outside your room in the emergency department. Guys, I am fat, not stupid and deaf.
Vicky Z 4 years ago
Oh my God that's so horrible! What the hell?? They are in a profession that someone would expect from them to have some sensitivity
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Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
Medical science correlates obesity and poor health outcomes. It's not a social judgment; it's a medical one. I'm a heart patient and have multiple chronic pain disorders, all of which would be made much, much worse were I even overweight, never mind obese. You cannot maintain good health while obese; that's an established medical fact. Yes, body positivity. No one should be shamed for their weight. But don't say you can be healthy while obese when medical science says you can't. That's disingenuous and harmful to others.
BoredHuman 4 years ago (edited)
Wow. You really went off the rails there. Try reading what the poster ACTUALLY wrote next time Nikki. Not the first post you have done this with.
Load More Replies... Riley Quinn 4 years ago
My *former* PCP handed me a script for blood pressure medication after "knowing" me for a total of 3-minutes. She said my reading was high. Didn't ask me about my anxiety or my PTSD, which causes my blood pressure to spike, especially in new situations.
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
Maybe just maybe we don't care if we are fat - it is a free country if I want to be fat so be it! If MY fatness has not affected my health - leave me the hell alone!
Jo Johannsen 4 years ago (edited)
Or looking from another perspective: I am NOT an alcoholic who gets behind the wheel, a drug addict who steals to support my habit, a thief, a murderer, a terrorist, a pedophile, a rapist, or a drug dealer - I'm just fat. To many people, that's the worst crime.
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Riley Quinn 4 years ago
Oh, how this attitude has been grossly overused. It extremely difficult to respect a doctor that is that stupid, shallow, and bigoted.
Load More Replies... Viviane 4 years ago (edited)
In Canada, indigenous people are assumed to be drunk. That's lead to deaths. There was finally an inquest after one woman died in agony while nurses insulted her.
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
Viviane - that statement is so true and wrong. And if you have been reading the papers indigenous children were taken from their parents put into "schools" run by Catholics - the graves of these poor kids are just being discovered - and what will happen probably nothing! The Pope won't even apologize!
Load More Replies... MonsterMum 4 years ago
There used to be an awful belief that dark skinned people have higher pain thresholds than white people.
Becky Samuel 4 years ago
Many healthcare professionals still believe this.
Load More Replies... tuzdayschild 4 years ago
I had a cousin who was ignored in an emergency room when he told them he thought he was having a stroke. He really was having a stroke. And because they dismissed him, he wound up with Locked-in Syndrome and had to live 5 years like that until he died.
loopyli 4 years ago
A woman (black) at the hospital I used to work at broke her back and they gave her naproxen!
Carol Emory 4 years ago (edited)
A friend of mine said her Uncle was constantly in pain. He was black. He was old. They just brushed it off as normal pain and the fact that he was a drinker. She said her Aunt came home and found her Uncle dead in his recliner. Turned out he had pancreatic cancer because of over exposure to harsh chemicals from a bad water supply. Had the doctor's taken the time to listen and maybe run a few tests/x-rays...they would have realized the issue fairly quickly.
Biba Little 4 years ago
It's all in your head. You are stressed out. Dude, it freaking hurts! First prove it's nothing THEN we will deal with possible stress.
#17
Robert T 4 years ago
Stop pussy footing around. Make healthcase a universal right which is free to everyone.
Megan The Viking Traveler 4 years ago
It's tough, half the country doesn't believe food is a human right. Healthcare is a luxury item for most.
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Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
Worse, your health insurance company can deny care that your physician has prescribed, and that should not simply be denormalized, it should also be illegal.
Calypso poet 4 years ago
Yes! Opioids for all but no diagnostics or home devices. I had foot surgery and the bone even with pins wasn't healing as fast as the Dr liked so he asked for a Bone stimulator. My insurance refused. Twice. I was still having so much pain a year post surgery so I went to a different Dr. Turns out I also had other issues from a misdiagnosed ankle break when I was 16 and had a second surgery. So that $1500 devise refusal led to an MRI and a $20k surgery, follow ups and physical therapy. But I can finally walk on my own. Mostly.
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Brian Bennett 4 years ago
Sometimes the universal right if health care can be a problem too because the doctors can figure ways of charging you for things that are not covered or that they legally have the right to charge for some things. I know this is true in Canada! If the US ever gets universal health care base it on one of the European systems - I hear some of them are great!
Suutashi 4 years ago
They already do this crap in hospitals. Women are charged for holding their baby after they are born. People are charged for a nurse to stick their head into your hospital room for two seconds.
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Gini Sarver 4 years ago
I seen a trial ad preparing t study smoking and asthma ((something like that)) but they wanted those who have been a smoker…. how can you study the effects of smoking on those who have never smoked??
Romenriel 4 years ago
Our country has a government regulated health insurance. All health insurance companies have to be non-profit. Each citizen is contributing % amount of their income, set by law, while all of them have access to the same services. It is called Bismarck model. Just though someone might find it interesting.
Romenriel 4 years ago
Also, state puts in contributions for people that don't have income, like kids and seniors.
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#18
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago
Ding ding Ding! Anxiety disorder, female, told my crippling pain must be stomach bug, twice turned away from hospital. Third time I went back i was really bad, and it caused a huge amount of surgeries that may have been avoided. I mean jeez if I'm saying it's only one notch below childbirth, pls listen. Anxious doesn't always mean wrong.
Riley Quinn 4 years ago
I also have anxiety disorder. And, I have physical pain. Two separate issues. Wish doctors could make this distinction.
Load More Replies... Riley Quinn 4 years ago
After a week of sudden and bizarre symptoms, I went to the hospital where my symptoms were brushed off. Doctor impatiently said I had a garden-variety influenza, and to go home and rest (like I could afford that!). Months later, a fluke blood test revealed that I had a a very contagious viral infection that would be terminal if I didn't start treatment immediately.
thatmagicgaychick 4 years ago
Sh*t... I am planning to ask about a diagnosis of anxiety at my next doctors appointment, didn't think about how a diagnosis might affect future responses to my medical issues (of which there are many)
Lauren Caswell 4 years ago (edited)
Do not let this dissuade you from looking for help with your anxiety ❤ let them know you are worried about being stigmatised when you are there perhaps? I hope all goes well with your appt good luck!
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Concept-Peter Roosdorp 4 years ago
Medical fatphobia? Since when is it at all healty to be fat? Ofc they think you should loose wieght... The thing is that you allways have something to do to get healthier. Not fat anymore? Good, now stop smoking, drinking, start exercising, etc.. When you are finally running a marathon per day and only drinking healthy smoothies.. Well, then you need to diversify your food intake.
PixxelDust 4 years ago
had a friend quite recently be turned away from hospital with panadol, told that her abdominal pain was just gas (they didn't check). Went back the next day after continuous vomiting and was diagnosed with pancreatitis. don't know much about it, but I've heard it's really painful. also some kind of stone or smth? not kidney stone, i dont really remember. poor thing.
#19
Marie 4 years ago
As a person with several conditions that CAUSE weight gain as a side effect, I'm still classified as obese even as I know that if I wasn't watching every carb (dibeties 2) every cup of water or how much iron I eat(PCOS)(anemia) , or keep up with daily walks (arthritis), I could easily be 300lbs. So being 40lb overweight is NOT the issue.
Rissie 4 years ago (edited)
Weight gain and diet are a vicious cycle. By dieting you experience hunger symptoms, making your body adjust to take it slower. Also your mind is constantly fighting those hormones and signals. And then you start to eat again, with a stomach used to expanding a little too far and a body that has put itself in a preservation state. And you gain weight, start dieting, experience all the same symptoms etc. To people who never had to deal with it, it's hard to imagine it's not just not eating and exercising a little more. You have to prevent your body from going into starvation mode, while not eating to much and firing up the little engine by exercising more. Which in itself is demoralizing and physically harder when you're overweight. So yeah, how's about you help in stead of judge.
Julie C Rose 4 years ago
Yeah, you have to be so careful to balance it so you’re not triggering the starvation response. I paid out of pocket for a dietitian and the first session in particular is expensive.
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Kaitlyn Nagy 4 years ago
This is what killed my nana. They told her to lose weight when she actually had pancreatic cancer. That's how America treats minority patients on Medicare. I'll never forgive our Healthcare system for it.
Scarlett 4 years ago (edited)
Starvation diets are incredibly harmful. I went on one because I thought I needed to lose a little weight (because my doctor’s an @$$hole and said I was overweight at 5’8 and 118 pounds). The starvation diet rapidly turned into anorexia. It’s toxic and it will mess with your head, and the possibility of developing an eating disorder of any kind is quite high.
Calypso poet 4 years ago
Wow! I'm 5' 8" and when I was 130 pounds I was soo skinny. In my wedding pictures I'm 165 pounds and while bigger than I wanted I looked and felt amazing! My boobs grew to a full C cup from a small B and I don't mean fat. I was working out and have always had a big butt so they finally caught up. I starved myself and exercised so much in my teens and 20's my body was a wreck I guess. I was very shocked to hear about fasting diets being promoted by a couple women on The View. The thin one Sarah especially.
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Marika Miettinen 4 years ago
Last autumn a doctor told me to lose weight. Yeah, I don't like being overweight, and I'm trying to be healthier and go out for walks and stuff, and at that point I was trying harder than normally again and I told him what I was doing, and he just told me that I'm not doing enough and I should try harder. After that I felt so bad that I didn't go out for a walk for weeks.
Calypso poet 4 years ago
I'm sorry he made you feel that way. I hope you have tried to find a new Dr., one who will actually listen to what's going on. I need to lose weight, I gained a lot in the 2 years of foot surgeries and a short term thyroid issue (thanks dad and grandma for being tall but no thanks with the thyroid drama). My Dr has been very supportive because not being able to walk or work was depressing. Then my mom got hospitalized, then my dad. I had actually lost a good amount right before the pandemic. As long as my blood results are good, no diabetes, good cholesterol levels and my blood pressure is good she doesn't pressure me. I find too many reasons already not to go for a walk, I don't need my Dr making me feel worse.
Load More Replies... Carol Emory 4 years ago
Or they want to send you to a dietician/nutritionist. I don't need someone to tell me what foods I should be eating and what I shouldn't be eating. I already know. I want someone to tell me why I binge eat at night. Why I crave certain foods all the time. Why I always gravitate towards the unhealthy foods instead of eating the healthy ones. You can teach a child all the math in the world. If you don't teach them how to apply it to real world situations, what use is it? I especially ditched one dietician when she said 1) That I needed to cut all white foods out of my diet [Yeah..like that's not outdated information] and 2) that, as a diabetic, I needed to cut all citrus out of my diet. When I asked why all citrus, she said proudly "Well what do they give diabetic patients when their blood sugar crashes?" I said "yeah..Orange Juice. First, orange juice usually contains 2-3 oranges per 8oz glass plus added sugar. Second, not all citrus fruits are the same." I walked out.
Riley Quinn 4 years ago
I know several overweight/obese people who are in better health than "normal" size people because they are physically active. BTW, when was the last time any of y'alls PCP discussed your diet and methods of improvement? Don't just tell me to eat better. Explain yourself.
Jackie Porter 4 years ago
I'm on several medications which are known to cause weight gain. I am obese and I have pain in my joints. I had pain in my joints before I gained the weight. I'm told to lose weight to relieve my pain.
Assistant to DJ 4 years ago
20yrs docs harped at me to lose weight despite exercise, dieting, even starvation. They refused to check me for anything. 20yrs later a doc does a simple blood test, "Oh, your thyroid is broke, that's why you're overweight". When I was 13 my grandmother took me to the doctor and specifically requested he check my thyroid because i wouldn't lose weight, he actively REFUSED to do it. 20yrs of being fat and freezing my butt off despite the temperature, could've been fixed if a doctor hadn't been so damn arrogant and lazy.
Jo Choto 4 years ago
Any doctor who recommends you lose weight by "eating better and getting some exercise" is not qualified to give advice on the subject. The fact is, if it were that easy, nobody would be overweight. Weight has a combination of physical and psychological influences and people with weight problems won't achieve change without investment into both areas.
#20
White Paper Tsuru 4 years ago
Omg YES I never even thought of this because I'm too busy recovering on my days off and surviving on my days and nights on!
Riley Quinn 4 years ago
This destructive attitude isn't restricted to medical facilities. Our entire nation is burning out, but very few of us have a healthy alternative except to work ourselves to death.
A. Paige Kruger 4 years ago
They don't even do that for their patients, let alone their employees.
#21
Rissie 4 years ago (edited)
Come to The Netherlands. That part is better here. I have spent quite some nights in the hospital and staff was always so helpful. From sleeping in the hospital bed (because a kid's crib was rolled in and well, it's not the physical bed they count) to perfectly fine fold up beds. Always making sure there's clean bedding and providing breakfast. There's enough I can complain about, but not about not providing for parents here. When my oldest was a preschooler we even had fun bathing him in the kid's bath. All of the rooms in the children's ward have sinks in the shape of a big baby bath with baby shampoo next to it (in several hospitals that I know off) and a nice shower for parents too. And yes, also during Covid. The extra stress of not having a parent around does not justify applying covid measures like that.
Carol Emory 4 years ago
My son had to do a sleep study, but I had to remain there because of his age and the fact that he was autistic. Do you think they offered me a place to sleep? NO! I'm like "WTF? You're a sleep clinic!!!"
Rissie 4 years ago
They didn't have a stretcher or anything? I mean, that's just sad. An investment of 50 bucks to act like decent human beings. And no one ever thought of it? Now I know this only works after several visits and many frustration, but I would have brought my camping gear just to show them what the huck.
Load More Replies... Becky Samuel 4 years ago
In the Republic of Ireland they have reopened nightclubs but pregnancy partners are still not allowed to come into the hospital.
Marie 4 years ago
I was lucky that the NICU I was in had a foldout couch, and a plethora of sheets available. They tried to kick me out once because I was not related by blood to the mother so we lied. The way my friend's baby had 24hr watch. The nurses were surprised at our attentiveness since every other +60 babies only got visited once a day or a few times a week (if ever before discharging). It was so depressing!
Rissie 4 years ago
Very smart, because with so many babies, it's almost impossible to catch everything. While when someone who just focusses on their own kid is present, you can catch changes in vitals sooner. The problem is that hospitals don't provide for that presence and there's no space to accomodate an adult 24/7. So people are discouraged to stay too long. Not everywhere though. And I can imagine that it would actually save so much time on basic care and just catching things going wrong sooner, which results in less excessive care.
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Fabian Meresse 4 years ago
My first daughters, as a newborn, had to stay 10 days in mother/children service ( was born a bit too early) Stayed there close to her and my now ex for the whole ten days, sleeping on an inflatable matress. Nurses were ok with that, as I didn't want to miss the first days of our first child. Except one day were a kind of head/ service chief told me that if I wanted to stay there, I will have to be charged 40€ a night to sleep on a reclinable chair. Told her politely to give me a real bed for that price or to go f..k off. Nurses were kind, they came after to tell me they will hide the fact I'm sleeping there and can stay there as long as I'd like. I've been even given free breakfast after that!👍
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
It really is too bad hospitals are not run by doctors and nurses they used to be now we have CEO's who can't tell piss from paint when it comes to patients!
Elizabeth 4 years ago
My brother was about a year old and nearly died from RSV, but because he "wasn’t a baby" my mom wasn’t provided with any type of sleeping arrangements.
Riley Quinn 4 years ago
If this occurred pre-pandemic, that hospital is operated by inhumane creeps. But, with the patients spilling over into hallways, parking lots, and mobile units, I'm surprised you got a chair.
Terilee Bruyere 4 years ago
This could be explained by lack of space available though. I had a private room when both of my children had long stays in a Children's Hospital. The bed was a chair that folded out, but there was barely room for the hospital bed, equipment, bathroom, etc let alone another bed. It's rough but I'd personally prefer care for my child over a comfy bed for myself.
#22
Kookamunga 4 years ago
Well, I believe it depends on what kind of doctor you are there to see and what your medical issue is. I was told at the Ophthalmologist to put my clothes back on. The mammogram lady said I could've kept my pants on. It's very confusing.
Lucy Draper 4 years ago
Speaking as a nurse, often, i don't need an extensive explanation from a patient, i just need to see what the issue is, as a lot of the time, a description of an injury or wound is subjective. It just makes the examination longer to wait for them to finish talking, at the end of which I'm still often none the wiser. I prefer them to get the wound (or whatever it is) out, and let me look and prod it while they're describing what happened. That way i can ask appropriate questions at the same time. As for general conversation, we do that to try and put you at ease as we're well aware that having a stranger staring at and touching your naked body is very intrusive.
LadyHardanger 4 years ago
Is this an American thing again? I've never had to undress before conversation (Norway).
Claudette Austin 4 years ago
Not all over the U.S. I've never experienced it. It could be dependent on which clinic, doctor, or hospital. It seems weird.
Load More Replies... White Paper Tsuru 4 years ago
If it's in a doctors office I agree. If it's in the ER then pop it off, that doctor has so many people to see and if you think they can keep 30 patients straight in their head if they jump back and forth between patients to accommodate history gathering and assessment, you have more faith in humans than I do.
Laurie F. Daut 4 years ago
Once went to Dr. afraid something going on with my breast. Did not remember that several years earlier I had seen him about something else and it hadn't gone well. Anyway, I was undressed, draped, he did a breast exam then stood back and calmly told me that he refused to take me as a patient. I was horrified and humiliated
TheAnimalLady 4 years ago
Sounds like a possible sexual harassment claim in the making, Laurie. Not your fault, he's the as.shole!!! I had my daughter's pediatrician "throw her under the bus" when she'd possibly broken her arm because he was mad our insurance had us change doctors (away from him, years before) before he was demoted to the urgent care (where we ran into him when it happened.) Talk about holding a grudge 🙄😒 she was only 11yrs old 🤬😤🤬
Load More Replies... Riley Quinn 4 years ago
I tend to get naked for every exam, whether it's a pap smear or eye exam. Just makes things easier.
Calypso poet 4 years ago
The nurse comes in at my OB/Gyn and takes my info. Then she has me get undressed from the bottom down before the dr comes in. We chat, the exam starts, the conversation continues. Depending on what I'm wearing she can just pull up my shirt for the breast exam. The ER puts you in a gown ASAP so if they need to put in IVs, do an EKG or an emergency procedure you are already prepped.depending on where your ailments are you might keep on your pants. That's why I always change into yoga pants, and boy short underwear before I visit the Er.
#23
BluEyedSeoulite 4 years ago
Over specialization is an issue for us in Korea. It seems like each specialist only knows about their specialty and nothing about general health or anything related to their field. My husband has bad allergies and weird sinus structure. Not one sinus doctor has offered allergy meds, they just want to do surgery. Finally saw an allergist, still no meds but wants to do expensive immunotherapy to "cure" his moderate allergies for the low cost of $800/year AND getting rid of our pets. Seems like a daily pill would be a lot cheaper...
Mazer 4 years ago
Yep. USA as well over specialization is counter productive to good care and allows physicians to pass on cases they don’t want to deal with
Load More Replies... Riley Quinn 4 years ago
Back in the day, your PCP would take the time necessary for each visit. But then the insurance companies ran visit length through an algorithm and decided 15 minutes is all we need to bring our doctors up to snuff. Insurance companies are pure evil. One more valid reason to make health care free!
Brandy Grote 4 years ago
I was the one to research and diagnose 3 major medical problems. Dr was able to easily verify my info and get me treatment, but it took me decades to discover the info on my own. "Not their job"?
Storm Rise 4 years ago
Went back to my GP with chronic pain issue as the panadol Forte she had perscribed did nothing, and she said "Well what do you want me to do about it?" For gods sake woman! I want you to do your damn job and help figure this out. That's what you're paid to do!
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
I was sent to a specialist from a specialist - to a dumpy little office with no windows - long wait time of course Dr. told me as we were walking down hallway to his office that if I didn't have supplemental insurance he could not help me - I just told him to kiss my ass and walked out very quickly!
#24
BluEyedSeoulite 4 years ago
They are crazy expensive at medical supply stores. I remember seeing what is basically a plastic tube with a draw string at one end and they were like $50
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GirlFriday 4 years ago
1.) Where are they still doing casts on adults? Those are only for children. 2.) You don't have saran wrap where you live? A $3 roll of saran wrap is a perfect water proof covering.
Calypso poet 4 years ago
Yep! That's what I did for my leg after foot surgery. I had a nerve pain ball that was connected above my knee. The temporary 2 week cast was almost to my knee. The stuff they sell is expensive and cumbersome. Buy a shower chair too and you're good to go!
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Aisling Raye 4 years ago
I broke my wrist in 2008 and my cast was waterproof. Just had to blow any excess water out with the cold settling on a hairdryer after you showered. I had no idea the other kind still existed.
Rissie 4 years ago
I don't know about this. In The Netherlands all the supplies you need can be rented or borrowed from seperate parties other than the hospital. If you need crutches, a wheel chair, a bed pan, high/low bed, the works. I like that I can choose to have that or not. Some people opt for other solutions.
Mona 4 years ago
These all pertain to hospitals in America. We know Europe and Canada have better health care already.
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Gerard Neaux 4 years ago
Had my wrist cracked in 2007 and fiber glass cast put on in France. I went to the pool with it.
Calypso poet 4 years ago
I spent a lot of money on Amazon buying medical devices and supplies for my foot surgeries. I didn't realize how many shower chairs there are.
#25
Kookamunga 4 years ago
Gina seems misinformed. Kidneys? Nephrology. Brain issues? Neurology. Cancer? Oncology, etc. There's not exactly a Geriatric One-Stop-Shopping Center for specialists. It would be great if there was, though.
Rissie 4 years ago
I think she means it would be better if it was. Like pediatricians are focused on issues occuring differently in a younger body (to the point of double specialties), geriatric care can actually be a mostly one-stop-shop. Maybe not just the one specialist, but for sure the one department with combined specialties. It would be easier on the patient, many issues in elderly are specific for their age group and it would increase someone's quality of life greatly not having to go to 5 different appointments each month. Geratric specialists do exist though and I know of several hospitals who work that way.
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Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
Everyone has a separate physician for separate issues. I'm not going to see my cardiologist for chronic pain, or expect my rheumatologist to treat my heart disease.
Witchling 4 years ago
True but they really should be coordinated and communicating. I swear I'd get bet treatment if all my docs sat down and chatted. About me!
Load More Replies... Robert T 4 years ago (edited)
I'm not sure I understand your issue with this one. Are you saying so that they don't have to keep moving between different departments and repeating things to different people, most likely in multiple trips? Or are you saying that old age should be just one discipline? If it's the former, then I agree that even just tying up appointments for different issues onto a single day would be a massive help.
Carol Emory 4 years ago
That was another doctor I ditched. The one that if I said my shoulder hurt, she'd check the referral box to a pain management clinic. If I said I was having intestinal issues, check the box for referral to an internal medicine clinic. Rash on my skin, check the box for dermatologist. At one point I wanted to ask her "Are you actually a doctor or an overpaid secretary?"
Tobias Rieper 4 years ago (edited)
this is the same for any patient regardless of age you get specialists depending on the issue
Carol Emory 4 years ago
The problem is there are too many specialists. What happened to good old general diagnostics? Let's figure out the problem with a few basics instead of going to a specialist that wants to charge you double for what the GP could have figured out with a few tests.
Load More Replies... BluEyedSeoulite 4 years ago
Maybe they mean geriatric patients should have one doc that double checks medicine interactions and if certain medicines aren't actually needed anymore? My grandma's general practitioner/family doc did that for her. Bringing in and checking all of her meds was a yearly event. He was kept in the loop for any hospital stays and results from any other specialist.
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
Don't they see a Geriatrician, until/unless they need to be referred to a specialist? They do in Australia. Nursing homes usually have them on staff.
#26
Robert T 4 years ago
Clinical language is used because it is unambiguous, but it really doesn't help the patient. Good doctors will take the time to explain things to the patient (I appreciate that they may not always have time for this).
Rissie 4 years ago
Hardly, it's usually because the doctor just doesn't have the vocab to explain it in plain English or whatever language someone speaks. As a doctor, communication is key and this is just an example of someone who had a hard time explaining that there was an error. Not a big one. But a "false positive" means you worry about something that is actually fine. And many people have a hard time admitting their part in that. If that doctor was confident and had great people skills, and many do or are at least adequate, this would not be a big issue.
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RandomBeing 4 years ago (edited)
If you truly understand something you should be able to explain it simply.
Viviane 4 years ago
It sounds like one would have to record the doctor and then look up the terminology.
Theoretical Empiricist 4 years ago
Or have a translator. Nurses have to do that a lot for their families.
Load More Replies... TheAnimalLady 4 years ago
Unfortunately, they usually then get pissy with you and treat you like an idiot. So unfair, they go to school for years to learn that stuff.
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Abby Parker 4 years ago
I once went to the drs with earache. He checked me out and said I had *insert long words here.* When I didn’t understand what it meant, he sighed, rolled his eyes and said I have an ear infection in a really condescending tone. I was seven.
Riley Quinn 4 years ago
Had a specialist do this. Put my hand up and insisted he speak in layman's terms or find someone else who could communicate this vital info to me.
#27
Riley Quinn 4 years ago
This attitude probably has its roots in some toxic masculinity initiation thing. Rarely do I hear women bragging about their burnout schedule, but it's bragging rights for some men. Very dangerous bragging rights.
Concept-Peter Roosdorp 4 years ago (edited)
I suffered from burnout 2017, still haven't recovered fully. I basically haven't worked since then. It really makes me a deserving and productive part of society. Lucky for me I have my own company and can get a part time wage from doing less than 20 hours of work per month. (company rents out computers and IT infrastructure long term)
#28
Fish Boden 4 years ago
I feel the opposite of this. Where I live benzos are treated like heroin and many, many docs don't want to prescribe them at all. But, they are life saving medications for some people and should be utilised appropriately. This issue drives me nuts.
Brian Bennett 4 years ago
This has happened throughout medical history and we the patients pay for it - thalidomide for example (we all know what that did) or plain old penicillin if it had been prescribed properly we probably would not have MRSAs penicillin resistant drugs!
Riley Quinn 4 years ago
Considering the frequency I was mismedicated because I was misdiagnosed, I'm amazed I'm still alive and functioning. It's terrifying how most doctors only knowledge of a medication is from a pharma rep. pushing their stock.
LiberalDisease 4 years ago
Doctors need more than 1 or 2 classes in nutrition. most are just big pharma pushers
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
These are a controlled substance in Australia, very hard to get a prescription for them.
Concept-Peter Roosdorp 4 years ago
It is taught in medical school, and in my country doctors allmost never perscribe it. I have had sleeping issues most of my life and been on strong benzos at times. I know the risks, but the option is that nothing else works.
Marika Miettinen 4 years ago
I had a psychiatrist that kept pushing all kinds of random pills to me every time I met her, and I always refused. She wanted to take me in when I was trying to get assessed for ADHD, and then she refused to let me get assessed, and instead kept trying to make me take all kinds of pills. Last time I met her 2 years ago she diagnosed me as psychotic based on very common ADHD symptoms and told me that I should take antipsychotic meds. I ran out of the room crying and slammed the door behind me. She tried to prescribe me antipsychotic meds for my sleeping problems before, and she tried to get me to take antidepressants and anti anxiety meds and who knows what else. Then one time she asked why none of her ADHD patients are willing to take any of the meds she's trying to prescribe to us. Because she doesn't want to treat ADHD, that's why!
Rider 4 years ago
My cousin had a therapist who was pill happy, the interactions of the meds literally made him psychotic. He tried to stabbed his mom and a neighbor at one point. They had to put him in rehab to detox from the prescriptions. It took several months after that to receive a proper diagnosis. He's fine now but it was a long journey that could have been avoided with correct care instead of a pill pusher.
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White Paper Tsuru 4 years ago
My hospital calls it "failure to thrive". I like that better. Means, might be surviving, but quality of life could be improved if we can find the source of what's slowing you down/troubling you. And maybe we can help you be more you with some supports.
Sarah 4 years ago
"failure to thrive" is a very specific thing though: "Children are diagnosed with failure to thrive when their weight or rate of weight gain is significantly below that of other children of similar age and sex."
Load More Replies... Brian Bennett 4 years ago
Years ago we used to get kids in pediatrics - with a diagnose of failure to thrive - the child would not eat - ate Okay in hospital tell DR. He tells you mother won't feed it!
Caro Caro 4 years ago
The wrong words. Why not just say Mum won't feed it in the 1st place. Maaan.
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#30
Vicky Z 4 years ago (edited)
I don't get what he means.... the term is quite specific in med books and it's a phrase that is used a lot when you are studying the patient's everyday life! Does he mean they use it wrong?
Theoretical Empiricist 4 years ago
The only person who can dictate what constitutes an "acceptable quality of life" is the patient.
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Natalia A 4 years ago
I think people are confused about this. QoL questionnaires are validated measures which capture how patients feel about, well, their quality of life. QoL measures are usually repeated over time to assess how a patient's quality of life is changing (if at all). They do not denote a one-size-fits-all. They are helpful because they enable patients to share how they are doing in different areas of their lives, as opposed to talking in general terms.
Patrick O'Harris 4 years ago
After my grandma developed an auto-immune disease, her skin was dissolving. After bringing her to hospital, the doctor said "Well, she's at a blessed age". Yeah, she is 89. Doesnt she deserve treatment?!
Marika Miettinen 4 years ago
A psychiatrist told me that I can't have ADHD because I've done too well in life. I've been homeless, dropped out of 5 schools, didn't stay at jobs for long periods of time, all of my relationships have been short, I'm in debt, and there's so many other issues too. The same psychiatrist did once admit that I meet the diagnostic requirements for ADHD, but she didn't want to diagnose me "so that you don't just become lazy and use it as an excuse for not getting things done". Now I'm seeing somebody else though, and he was against the diagnosis at first too, based on what the other 2 psychiatrists had written about me, but now I'm getting the diagnosis and soon I should be able to get some meds to see if they'll help!
TheAnimalLady 4 years ago
Another one to add to the list... doctors who only listen to each other (instead of including the patient) perpetuating the problem and making it exponentially worse, even killing people that way. (Examples in previous comment threads of this article.)
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#31
Rissie 4 years ago
Don't make it politically correct, please. It's meant to describe an issue that was present in utero and that will make life in this world a little challenging. In that sense it's a defective property. A birth defect doesn't describe the whole person, just a tiny part of someone. Don't sugar coat things.
Monday 4 years ago
Exactly. Defect is not some weird insult, it just means something isn't working or appearing the way it should.
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snipergun 4 years ago
I did think that this term was used to describe like defective part of body, like undeveloped arm or some organ which is in fact defective for whatever reason. Did anyone connect defective and baby together? Surely agree different or challanged babies are not defective and should never be described that way.
Marie 4 years ago
They are. Anything not deemed as normally perfect and"healthy" is a defect. It gives no real indication of actual health or life.
Load More Replies... smugdruggler 4 years ago
Um...yes, they are. Like others have pointed out, it's a description, not an insult.
Tobias Rieper 4 years ago
Ironic calling people snowflakes when you're the one getting annoyed by other peoples views
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NoneYa41 4 years ago
people don't magically know others' pronouns. it's not like they have signs on their shirts.
Monday 4 years ago
Exactly. If I see someone who looks like a woman I'm going to address them as "she" or "her". If that person then tells me "actually I'm a guy, I'm just stuck in the wrong body", I'll apologize and address them as "him" or "he" or "they" or "them" or whatever this particular person prefers. But the fact is this doesn't happen frequently enough for my language usage to actually change.
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Rissie 4 years ago
Oh go huck yourself. The one place where your gender is very, very important you can deal with it.
Theoretical Empiricist 4 years ago
Indeed - a person's sex can make a huge difference in differential diagnosis, lab normal ranges, appropriate drug doses, and so on.
Load More Replies... snipergun 4 years ago (edited)
If your doctor is not your close friend it's stupid to expect them to address you by some of the special new terms. No matter how many times you say that, they probably saw 10 patients within hour before you and countless number of different specialists, nurses, calls, etc. So, forget it. I assume they check when they pull up your record what is your official gender on your id/insurance record. If there is male/female you can be unicorn, but you're either male unicorn or female unicorn, done. If there's anything else, lucky you, doctor should excuse themselves if they are not used to that language and focus on... I don't know... Medicine???
Marie 4 years ago
English uses pronouns, people who want one used need to say so, they should NOT assume a stranger is supposed to guess. Medically, a Dr needs to know what physical parts they are dealing with not what gender a person wants to be. (Yes it is a ingrained and unchangable personal desire, not a DNA based physical one which is what the Dr cares about).
Tobias Rieper 4 years ago
I agree there are some treatments that will only work based on a persons biological sex i fully support someones right to be referred to how they want but it can put lives in danger if you get the wrong treatment because you say your male but your biological sex is female for example
Load More Replies... Cass Malone 4 years ago
Everything on this list except this one. Look, I get the thought but it's not reasonable. The bodies of someone born male and someone born female are different and people need to know for medical reasons what your sex at birth was.
Dave 4 years ago
This one is utter bullshit. If a person looks like a male, I will use the said pronoun, if they look like a female, again, she is a girl/woman for me unless otherwise corrected by them. If they do it in a normal way, no problem. If they do it in the "I am offended because you cannot read my mind after never seeing me before this time" way, then they can go f**k themselves. I do not do privilaged woke bullshit and it does not excuse the pretentious "I am offended" attitude in any shape or form.
White Paper Tsuru 4 years ago
Ummm in direct conversation I think people should just say 'can I call you 'John' 'Mary' whatever the given name is which is what I've was taught to do 15 years ago. When not in direct conversation I'm not sure I understand how the pronoun used affects the patient. Also, work with a lot of English second language nurses who don't have 'he/she' in their original vocabulary and constantly mix up the terms when referring to patients in report. I've learned to just go by name, and usually just the last name with no suffix. "Smith in 324 bed 2 with the hip." It's a bit impersonal, but it means the correct information is being shared about the correct person.
Victoria Pitt 4 years ago
::Eye roll:: This sounds more like a personal issue. If I'm in need of medical treatment, the doctor can refer to me as a banana for all I care, as long as they help me with my ailment.
lenka 4 years ago
Unless you say otherwise, how are we supposed to assign pronouns? You see a patient in the waiting room... they present as female so you call them she, her, whether they are transgender or not. It is absolutely your personal right to tell people your personal pronouns and have others respect that - but people and doctors are not mind readers. It's the doctors job to treat your health and/or physical condition, not to concern themselves with your gender identity (unless that is related to your treatment).
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What do you think ?
Shane S 4 years ago
Shaming doctors for making medical mistakes. I know it sounds logical and deserved in theory, but what it really means is that healthcare providers hide their mistakes and healthcare provider employers find excuses and reasons to blame the patient. We can’t have good healthcare if we don’t allow providers to admit when they’ve made a mistake and not risk their entire career. Doctors are human. Humans make mistakes.
Monday 4 years ago
This does depend on the mistake though. If a doctor makes an incorrect diagnosis because a patient's symptoms were vague that's just a normal, human mistake, but if a doctor amputates the wrong leg that's something they should be shamed for.
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Jerry Mathers 4 years ago
(US) think many of these problems could be changed by moving from a "for-profit" healthcare system to a universal healthcare one. The profit side pushes doctors to maximize the number of patients they see. Insurance companies demand as little testing as possible. What I have been seeing lately is doctors will only see you for 1 problem at a time. That wastes time, is expensive, and makes for poorer healthcare overall.
Shane S 4 years ago
Thank you for having a holistic view of this issue. I completely agree. It’s so easy to blame the insurance industry but the truth is that everyone is out to make money on your health in the US. Hospitals are owned by large companies that are publicly traded on the stock market and pay dividends to shareholders. Physicians who do great work are paid a whole lot more in this country than they are other countries. Hence why we have a lot of foreign doctors that come over here to start their careers versus their home countries. And yes insurance is certainly not getting off scot free either. That doesn’t even touch pharmacy and medical supply cost issues. It’s a broken system and there’s not just one responsible party.
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Adira Bennett 4 years ago
Let's add: having people in outpatient with complex illnesses bear the full burden of managing their care. I don't think doctors realize that when you've got a patient with multisystemic issues, that patient -- already sicker than most -- is slammed with a lot of very stressful work. Organize your many medications, spend hours on the phone with medical receptionists, medical records departments, the insurance company, the pharmacy. Get your sick body to and from all your appointments on time. It's a second job for someone probably struggling to keep their actual paid job, or who is on disability because they CAN'T perform a job. And it's a recipe for disaster. You're asking someone who is ILL to navigate systems they're not familiar with, oversee communication between systems that are not designed to communicate with each other... of COURSE medications will be forgotten. Of COURSE important follow-up won't happen. Chronically ill patients, and patients with complex multisystemic issues, need wraparound support even after they leave the hospital, and there should be a component of healthcare that addresses this gap.
Mari 4 years ago
For my husband it is like a second job. Multiple doctor visits in a week, hours and hours in the waiting room, examinations,... it takes a lot of time and it causes so much stress
Load More Replies... Stoopham McFernybabes 4 years ago (edited)
Denormalise Caesarians. They are surgical procedures: women need different recovery expectations, different management for future pregnancies and psychological support where birth of their baby has not gone according to plan. They need to not be whipped into theatre at the drop of a hat.
Roadkill The Brave 4 years ago
I've been in a fight to get a hysterectomy. Despite family history or issues that I am currently going through, and that I've chosen not to have children, they refuse to reclassify the surgery as needed. No it's Elective. Due to that insurance won't pay for it. How do they want to 'fix' me? IUD. I'm already on iron pills daily because I'm losing so much blood every month its made me anemic. They're not even sure if it will fix this, I have a 60% chance of success. They refuse to do the surgery until my uterus puts me in the hospital. This has been the same experience with the other main medical provider in my city. They may have gotten rid of the law where a man, boyfriend or husband, has to give me permission to get it removed, but they've taken every step they can to block me from having the surgery.
Kise Miarse 3 years ago
I hope this got sorted for you. I had a similar experience. Though I don't think there was any argument of necessity, the "but what about kids," argument was such a roadblock. Best wishes to you.
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Lovin' Life 4 years ago (edited)
In the US... I was having a necessary surgery and didnt have healthcare. My cost without insurance was $6900 and had to be paid upfront. I was lucky enough to get health care before the procedure. They charged my insurance $49000 because I had insurance. REALLY.!!! Why could it be done cheaper without insurance? It's the exact same surgery!!!! And that is why the US has such extreme cost in health care.
Lyone Fein 4 years ago
The way that the elderly are treated, and the entire aging process is viewed as a disease. We stow our older relatives away from sight in institutions where they are treated as prisoners to languish in boredom and loneliness. As if aging is unusual and won't happen to us.
Monday 4 years ago
It's not always so clear cut. Let's say my mother cannot live by herself anymore. Her mind is still sharp but her body just can't keep up because of the normal aging process. She needs someone with her because she can no longer walk safely by herself. I work all day and cannot be with her to help her no matter how much I want to. I can't quit my job or take time off because I wouldn't be able to pay my bills if I did that. I can't find a new job that gives any better benefits. I can't afford to hire someone to stay with my mother for the time I am at work...but I can just barely afford to put her in an old age home. So that's what I do. Now she isn't alone and if something happens there's someone there to help. Is it ideal? No. Is it better than leaving her alone at home all day where she might fall, break a hip and be left lying alone on the floor until I get home in 6 hours? Yes. And yet people will still judge me for "stowing her away" rather than looking after her myself.
Load More Replies... Jo Choto 4 years ago
Doctors need to 1) Listen to the nurses. They see everything and they know at least as much as the doctors, sometimes more. 2) Listen to the patients. The vast majority are giving an honest and accurate account of their experiences. Let them guide assessment. 3) Listen to the patient's family or advocate. They are not there for fun. My daughter came within hours of losing her life because none of the above happened. I had to fight and argue and be incredibly forceful and aggressive with several doctors in order to save her life, which they were happy to admit after the fact. But that doesn't compensate for the fact that if I hadn't, she would be dead.
Shane S 4 years ago
Shaming doctors for making medical mistakes. I know it sounds logical and deserved in theory, but what it really means is that healthcare providers hide their mistakes and healthcare provider employers find excuses and reasons to blame the patient. We can’t have good healthcare if we don’t allow providers to admit when they’ve made a mistake and not risk their entire career. Doctors are human. Humans make mistakes.
Monday 4 years ago
This does depend on the mistake though. If a doctor makes an incorrect diagnosis because a patient's symptoms were vague that's just a normal, human mistake, but if a doctor amputates the wrong leg that's something they should be shamed for.
Load More Replies... Jerry Mathers 4 years ago
(US) think many of these problems could be changed by moving from a "for-profit" healthcare system to a universal healthcare one. The profit side pushes doctors to maximize the number of patients they see. Insurance companies demand as little testing as possible. What I have been seeing lately is doctors will only see you for 1 problem at a time. That wastes time, is expensive, and makes for poorer healthcare overall.
Shane S 4 years ago
Thank you for having a holistic view of this issue. I completely agree. It’s so easy to blame the insurance industry but the truth is that everyone is out to make money on your health in the US. Hospitals are owned by large companies that are publicly traded on the stock market and pay dividends to shareholders. Physicians who do great work are paid a whole lot more in this country than they are other countries. Hence why we have a lot of foreign doctors that come over here to start their careers versus their home countries. And yes insurance is certainly not getting off scot free either. That doesn’t even touch pharmacy and medical supply cost issues. It’s a broken system and there’s not just one responsible party.
Load More Replies... Adira Bennett 4 years ago
Let's add: having people in outpatient with complex illnesses bear the full burden of managing their care. I don't think doctors realize that when you've got a patient with multisystemic issues, that patient -- already sicker than most -- is slammed with a lot of very stressful work. Organize your many medications, spend hours on the phone with medical receptionists, medical records departments, the insurance company, the pharmacy. Get your sick body to and from all your appointments on time. It's a second job for someone probably struggling to keep their actual paid job, or who is on disability because they CAN'T perform a job. And it's a recipe for disaster. You're asking someone who is ILL to navigate systems they're not familiar with, oversee communication between systems that are not designed to communicate with each other... of COURSE medications will be forgotten. Of COURSE important follow-up won't happen. Chronically ill patients, and patients with complex multisystemic issues, need wraparound support even after they leave the hospital, and there should be a component of healthcare that addresses this gap.
Mari 4 years ago
For my husband it is like a second job. Multiple doctor visits in a week, hours and hours in the waiting room, examinations,... it takes a lot of time and it causes so much stress
Load More Replies... Stoopham McFernybabes 4 years ago (edited)
Denormalise Caesarians. They are surgical procedures: women need different recovery expectations, different management for future pregnancies and psychological support where birth of their baby has not gone according to plan. They need to not be whipped into theatre at the drop of a hat.
Roadkill The Brave 4 years ago
I've been in a fight to get a hysterectomy. Despite family history or issues that I am currently going through, and that I've chosen not to have children, they refuse to reclassify the surgery as needed. No it's Elective. Due to that insurance won't pay for it. How do they want to 'fix' me? IUD. I'm already on iron pills daily because I'm losing so much blood every month its made me anemic. They're not even sure if it will fix this, I have a 60% chance of success. They refuse to do the surgery until my uterus puts me in the hospital. This has been the same experience with the other main medical provider in my city. They may have gotten rid of the law where a man, boyfriend or husband, has to give me permission to get it removed, but they've taken every step they can to block me from having the surgery.
Kise Miarse 3 years ago
I hope this got sorted for you. I had a similar experience. Though I don't think there was any argument of necessity, the "but what about kids," argument was such a roadblock. Best wishes to you.
Load More Replies... Lovin' Life 4 years ago (edited)
In the US... I was having a necessary surgery and didnt have healthcare. My cost without insurance was $6900 and had to be paid upfront. I was lucky enough to get health care before the procedure. They charged my insurance $49000 because I had insurance. REALLY.!!! Why could it be done cheaper without insurance? It's the exact same surgery!!!! And that is why the US has such extreme cost in health care.
Lyone Fein 4 years ago
The way that the elderly are treated, and the entire aging process is viewed as a disease. We stow our older relatives away from sight in institutions where they are treated as prisoners to languish in boredom and loneliness. As if aging is unusual and won't happen to us.
Monday 4 years ago
It's not always so clear cut. Let's say my mother cannot live by herself anymore. Her mind is still sharp but her body just can't keep up because of the normal aging process. She needs someone with her because she can no longer walk safely by herself. I work all day and cannot be with her to help her no matter how much I want to. I can't quit my job or take time off because I wouldn't be able to pay my bills if I did that. I can't find a new job that gives any better benefits. I can't afford to hire someone to stay with my mother for the time I am at work...but I can just barely afford to put her in an old age home. So that's what I do. Now she isn't alone and if something happens there's someone there to help. Is it ideal? No. Is it better than leaving her alone at home all day where she might fall, break a hip and be left lying alone on the floor until I get home in 6 hours? Yes. And yet people will still judge me for "stowing her away" rather than looking after her myself.
Load More Replies... Jo Choto 4 years ago
Doctors need to 1) Listen to the nurses. They see everything and they know at least as much as the doctors, sometimes more. 2) Listen to the patients. The vast majority are giving an honest and accurate account of their experiences. Let them guide assessment. 3) Listen to the patient's family or advocate. They are not there for fun. My daughter came within hours of losing her life because none of the above happened. I had to fight and argue and be incredibly forceful and aggressive with several doctors in order to save her life, which they were happy to admit after the fact. But that doesn't compensate for the fact that if I hadn't, she would be dead.
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