March 13 - Checking Out the Health Care system

While last week I was in hospital following my surgery, this week I have had an opportunity to check out our health care system from a different angle. When I went to have my staples removed, I mentioned to the doctor that I had become increasingly breathless. In fact, when I spoke with my sister on the phone, she said that it sounded as if I had just run a marathon. Of course, she knew that this was an impossibility and I knew that I had only walked four steps to answer her call.

On Tuesday, my first trip outside the house since my operation, the day regressed from a half hour drive in the sunshine to a twelve-hour test of physical endurance. We drove from the doctor’s office to the emergency at the local hospital. From there it was a blood test to determine that I did indeed have a blood clot somewhere in my system. What followed was an x-ray, a CT scan, admission to the emergency room in a larger hospital, an ambulance ride, and a sleepless night back in the local hospital. I am now on a daily regimen of blood thinners in an attempt to dissolve the two blood clots in my right lung.  The whole experience was an eye opener to both the efficiencies and inefficiencies of our health care system.

I was appalled by the waiting time in ER.  Had the staff been busy with other emergencies I might have understood. Instead, the issue was with a malfunctioning printer. I had checked in at the front desk as required, but the paper work, which needed to be transferred electronically from there to the emergency desk didn’t come. I listened in pain and frustration while personnel walked the twenty or thirty steps back and forth in front of me in order to fix the problem. By the time I finally saw a real person I was in a state of collapse and needed to be taken in a wheelchair to an available bed. Although the experience in the larger hospital was similar in wait time, I was already in a wheelchair. The problem there was that it seemed necessary to repeat at least three or four more times my medical history from a tonsillectomy at age four to my recent pelvic surgery. I have forgotten how many times I have repeated this same history within the past ten days. Surely there must be a better way to record this same information from one department to another.  I wonder if anyone has ever thought of a standard form that could travel with the patient!

We really need to pump more dollars into our health care system. I have seen expensive equipment ranging from a CT scanner to a fancy patient lift chair sitting idle. There simply didn’t seem to be the staff around who were trained to operate available equipment. I noticed this especially when my roommate at the hospital needed to go to the x-ray department. He was unable to get out of bed by himself. Nevertheless it took nearly half an hour until a staff member who could operate the lift was found. Not only do we need more dollars given to health care but we need them to go to appropriate places. We need to have trained staff available so that the equipment and resources that are already in place can be used efficiently.

That’s all on the negative side. On the positive side I am extremely grateful to my personal physician and his quick action in getting my problems diagnosed. He is the doctor around town who is known as the one who, when it is necessary, can make things happen. I am grateful for the kindness and professionalism of most of the health care workers I encountered. They do their best under sometimes stressful conditions. I am thankful for many friends and family who have kept me in their prayers. Lyle and I are reliant on this.