A Rant about Health Care

EvilCat Breath wrote:I went through mine a couple of years ago.  I had a pain in my big toe.  The doctor was out so his assistant sent me to urgent care.  Urgent care had not the slightest idea of what might be wrong and told me to immediately go to the hospital ER.  The pain in my toe, advanced into my foot and up my leg.  The emergency room said there was nothing they could do.  I needed a podiatrist.  Waited I until my doctor came back.  He said I might have a toenail fungus.  I needed a podiatrist.  The insurance company would not authorize the specialist.  By now the pain was blinding and red lines were bulging in my foot and leg.  They could not give me anything for the pain. I could hardly breathe and couldn't sleep. I ended up screaming into the phone that I needed a specialist.

I did get an appointment at 4pm on a Friday.  I hobbled into his office.  Without even looking he took off the toenail that he said had the fungus.  It didn't help.  My toe, foot and leg had swollen and was developing purple bruises.  I begged for help.  I was in the worst pain of my life.  No doctor would give me anything.  The podiatrist suggested aspirin and benadryl.  I took it.  Why not.  What is wrong with my foot, my leg?  The coloration, the pain.  This can't be a toenail fungus.

I tried to get a disabled placke from the DMV and got turned down.   Eventually it did resolve.  The swelling went down, the pain subsided but the toe was left deformed.  

The last time I went to this podiatrist, I told him that my experience didn't sound like any fungus I ever heard of.  He said and I quote
"You never had any fungus.  You had a blood clot.  The aspirin eventually just dissolved it."  

A blood clot.  Why didn't he do something?  Tell my doctor.   I could have died, had a stroke, a heart attack.  I was in agony.  

Really, no one cares about others.  You can't even pay them to care.

EvilCat Breath wrote:I went through mine a couple of years ago.  I had a pain in my big toe.  The doctor was out so his assistant sent me to urgent care.  Urgent care had not the slightest idea of what might be wrong and told me to immediately go to the hospital ER.  The pain in my toe, advanced into my foot and up my leg.  The emergency room said there was nothing they could do.  I needed a podiatrist.  Waited I until my doctor came back.  He said I might have a toenail fungus.  I needed a podiatrist.  The insurance company would not authorize the specialist.  By now the pain was blinding and red lines were bulging in my foot and leg.  They could not give me anything for the pain. I could hardly breathe and couldn't sleep. I ended up screaming into the phone that I needed a specialist.

I did get an appointment at 4pm on a Friday.  I hobbled into his office.  Without even looking he took off the toenail that he said had the fungus.  It didn't help.  My toe, foot and leg had swollen and was developing purple bruises.  I begged for help.  I was in the worst pain of my life.  No doctor would give me anything.  The podiatrist suggested aspirin and benadryl.  I took it.  Why not.  What is wrong with my foot, my leg?  The coloration, the pain.  This can't be a toenail fungus.

I tried to get a disabled placke from the DMV and got turned down.   Eventually it did resolve.  The swelling went down, the pain subsided but the toe was left deformed.  

The last time I went to this podiatrist, I told him that my experience didn't sound like any fungus I ever heard of.  He said and I quote
"You never had any fungus.  You had a blood clot.  The aspirin eventually just dissolved it."  

A blood clot.  Why didn't he do something?  Tell my doctor.   I could have died, had a stroke, a heart attack.  I was in agony.  

Really, no one cares about others.  You can't even pay them to care.

EvilCat Breath wrote:I went through mine a couple of years ago.  I had a pain in my big toe.  The doctor was out so his assistant sent me to urgent care.  Urgent care had not the slightest idea of what might be wrong and told me to immediately go to the hospital ER.  The pain in my toe, advanced into my foot and up my leg.  The emergency room said there was nothing they could do.  I needed a podiatrist.  Waited I until my doctor came back.  He said I might have a toenail fungus.  I needed a podiatrist.  The insurance company would not authorize the specialist.  By now the pain was blinding and red lines were bulging in my foot and leg.  They could not give me anything for the pain. I could hardly breathe and couldn't sleep. I ended up screaming into the phone that I needed a specialist.

I did get an appointment at 4pm on a Friday.  I hobbled into his office.  Without even looking he took off the toenail that he said had the fungus.  It didn't help.  My toe, foot and leg had swollen and was developing purple bruises.  I begged for help.  I was in the worst pain of my life.  No doctor would give me anything.  The podiatrist suggested aspirin and benadryl.  I took it.  Why not.  What is wrong with my foot, my leg?  The coloration, the pain.  This can't be a toenail fungus.

I tried to get a disabled placke from the DMV and got turned down.   Eventually it did resolve.  The swelling went down, the pain subsided but the toe was left deformed.  

The last time I went to this podiatrist, I told him that my experience didn't sound like any fungus I ever heard of.  He said and I quote
"You never had any fungus.  You had a blood clot.  The aspirin eventually just dissolved it."  

A blood clot.  Why didn't he do something?  Tell my doctor.   I could have died, had a stroke, a heart attack.  I was in agony.  

Really, no one cares about others.  You can't even pay them to care.

Lummy wrote:You gave yourself an MRI?!

Red Lily wrote:Hopefully he'll come home with an appointment time but it's a shame he has to drive all that way to sort things out.