Friday, March 6, 2009

ava's tummy hurt. now mommy's head hurts.

ava: i went to the doctors house. my tummy hurt. they checked my ears and my tummy. i had juice and water and watched harry potter. harry potter is scary. (mother's note: i did not approve the movie, ryan did. and he said nothing else was on. and he was desperate for her to stop crying. please cut us some slack, it was a long night.)

so, we had quite the night the other night.

ava went to the emergency room due to some serious stomach aches that magically disappeared when she puked. i joked with the nurse that we took her to the er so she wouldn't puke in the house, but the nurse didn't laugh. you know what else? she didn't even crack a smile. unforgivable, if you ask me. we need to do something about the healthcare in this country.

you know what else needs to be done about the healthcare in this country? we need to somehow fix the gaping hole that is making everything awful for everyone else. there we were, two young parents with a child who'd had severe abdominal pain and we couldn't get a straight answer from anyone with a medical degree. they just wanted us to do tests. and tests. and tests and tests and...

when they suggested a unrine test which included a catheter i interupted, "you think that's necessary? she seems calmer now."

"well you said she seemed like she was in a lot of pain."

i paused, not know what to do. i was weighing the pros and cons. the pros, as far as i know them are nonexistant unless she has something scary. the cons? well that's easy: do you want to hold your screaming two-year-old down while some stranger inserts a catheter? yeah, i thought so. i look at ryan for back up and he shrugs "well..." i start. then i end in a shrug, too.

"it all depends on what you want us to do." says the nurse.

well, that's helpful. did i mention that i studied literature and cultural anthropology in college? there is very little medical anything covered in those subjects. so why is she asking me what i want to do? why doesn't someone in that hospital man up and tell me what they think is going on?

because my fellow americans sued them to death. and then a bunch of other fellow americans never paid for their medical care. so i'm stuck with a nurse who is so busy trying to cover her own rear end she hasn't noticed that i can't properly understand the importance of this urine test because when i went to college i wanted to talk about how that short story could be about war. or sex. or war and sex.

so we watch ava drink a styrofoam cup of apple juice and notice that it has no effect on her, we sign some papers and leave with a teddy bear named casey (ava's delighted with him) and a HUGE hospital bill. because we drank their juice and watched five minutes of harry potter. and talked to a nurse who wouldn't even use her medical expertise to help me understand what was best for this situation.

on top of that, taxes are being raised and ryan and i are already poor. or broke. or whatever you people are calling it these days. we have very little money. and now, we'll have less because a bunch of idiots can't stop spending money they don't have and keep asking me for more. in fact, california is keeping our tax return because they don't know how to stick to a freaking budget!

i'm so over humankind right now.

10 comments:

Amber Marie said...

amen, amen oh and AMEN! We had the exact same experience with my medical problems this last year. What is even more frustrating are all the people sitting in the ER who are there for freakin free but who whine that they don't have healthcare...uh duh, you do because I just paid for you, me and whoever else is in here because of a stupid sinus infection (which by the way is not an emergency). We also had a Dr ask us, "so what do you want to do?"...wait, isn't that why I am paying you $500 for this 7 minute procedure??

So I feel your pain. We are seriously poor but not poor enough for medicare- doesn't help that our income is dependent on the stock market. and we all know how that has been going this year!

We have been trying to think of places to move...any suggestions?

Amber Marie said...

oh and i am very glad ava feels better. i guess in the end, that is all that matters right? :)

Jennifer said...

I'm glad she's feeling better. And I completely understand being poor. Being a college student, I'm already automatically poor. Then it doesn't help when the economy hurts my parents pretty badly. The only thing getting us through is our faith. And that's how it should be.

tara said...

And you know what else? Healthcare is just going to get WORSE.

I myself once went to the ER on the verge of death, and I had to wait behind illegals with stuffy noses. Whom I then had to pay for.

I am starting to hyperventilate just thinking about it.l

Hernan+ said...

I am always extra cautious "out there" and I am always afraid that that I, for some reason, must have to go to the hospital...

One visit to the hospital would mean disastrous consequences in my life, regardless if they find something wrong on me or not.

cara lou said...

Don't even get me started on the medical business.

Glad Ava feels better though and that it was nothing serious!

Nicole said...

such a true blog!!! The healthcare is just going to get worse becuase we are catering to people who can't pay. Don't even get me started on taxes I could go on all day. Now we have the pleasure of paying $9000 for 2008 because we made "too much" ???? We are middle class people, this country is backwards. Our accountant told us for next year we both have to claim zero. Seems wierd to me since we have 3 kids, tithing, and 2 houses....

Anonymous said...

Oh men ... what a bad expiriance for you ...
I hope, Ava is much better now ...
Once I had the honor to spent some time at the ER of Thousand Oaks. After that I swore to myself - never ever again.

Before I came to the USA I always thought health care is top there. I don´t understand the system ... I always thought you pay your (private) insurance and when you go to hospital (or to the doctor´s) you give them your insureance card and that´s it.
That´s how it works here in Europe.
And - another big difference: in Thousand Oaks was just one ER! Is it like that just in small holpitals or everywhere?
Here (in Austria) every case has it´s own ER: one for kids, one for pregnant, one for everything what happenes in your abdomen (can´t find the word), one for eyes, ... and one just for accidents.
And the answers you got (or not got) Miriam! I´m so sorry for you ...

I really like the USA, it´s a beautiful country, but this land really needs help for the social system and the health care systhem (and some other things).
It´s no like that that in Austria is everything fine. But NOBODY has to pay at the doctor´s or at a hospital and YES, the haelth care quality is better (than in Thousand Oaks).

I can´t belive what you all are writing. I´m speakless.
It deeply hurts me to read your story Miriam. I wish I could help.

Liz said...

Oh I am SO with you. We're drowning in debt and all our "leaders" can think to do is tax the Hell out of us. Well, they can have my Hell. I'm not too fond of it. But I sure would like to keep my money.

Wouldn't it be nice if they could come up with a solution that really would get the Hell out of everyone? Eradicate our bad spending habits? Eviscerate laziness? Eliminate government dependency and foster responsibility?

Everybody has dreams....

Aria said...

This post makes me mad. Tommy and I have had countless experiences just like this. We've learned to avoid the doctor as much as we can because they NEVER end up helping us in any way, although we end up handing over hundreds of dollars each time. Argh. I'm frustrated with our medical system.