Cheers or Jeers to our Healthcare System?

The healthcare system is something we will all need at some point in our life. If you haven’t had to go to a hospital or doctor in a long time then consider yourself very lucky! I have written about the healthcare system in past post, and unfortunately I am reliving my nightmare all over again! So here my story goes.

In my lifetime I have had some pretty crazy health issues. The first time I went in was because I was having lower abdominal pain. The pain continued to get worse throughout the year. I went from doctor to doctor and even the hospital a couple of times with no luck. The doctors diagnosed me with depression, said the pain was just in my head, and all my test came back normal. I finally found a doctor that listened to my symptoms, ran a few more test, and discovered I had a tumor on my ovary. He thought I had stage 4 cancer so I was rushed into emergency surgery. It turned out that it was a benign teratoma tumor that resulted in me having to have a complete hysterectomy in 2012. I was not happy about the hysterectomy, but once I completely healed I had no more abdominal pain. I went through over a year of pain before I found a good doctor that took the time to listen and find a proper diagnosis.

The second time I started visiting doctors was in 2019. I was again having lower abdominal pain only this time I also had nausea with it. I went to several doctors throughout the year, tried over the counter pain meds, heating pads, cold compresses, and found nothing working. I was again diagnosed with depression, accused of making up the pain, and was completely brushed off. I finally found a nurse practitioner that referred me to a gynecologists’. She told me, “Don’t worry, we will be your power team and make sure you are feeling better soon!” I visited the gynecologists’ who ran more test and still could not discover what was wrong. So he said, “This is not normal, but I believe you when you say you are hurting, so I’m recommending we do exploratory surgery. I don’t do looksies….I do fixies.” I had nothing to lose at this point so I said let’s do it! When I came out of surgery he told me that was the best decision we could have made. He said my appendix was flipped upside down and pressing into something in my abdomen and was inflamed, infected and he could not believe it hadn’t ruptured yet. In addition, I had a ton of scar tissue build up as well as endometriosis. None of this came up on any testing or scans. He was able to remove most of the scar tissue, 20% of the endometriosis, and my appendix. On top of that, he found my kidney was damaged and referred me to a kidney doctor. The kidney doctor diagnosed me with kidney disease. He said I have had so many kidney infections that were misdiagnosed it caused my kidney to die on the left side. He put me on an low dosage antibiotic that I will take for the rest of my life. However, I have not had a kidney infection in over a year now!

Now it’s round three. I started having trouble breathing. It was mild at first. I would get winded when I got up from a chair or did minor activities. Over the last 6 months it has gotten worse. I went to the doctor twice and they did blood test and a chest xray. It has always come back fine, so they prescribe me steroids and antibiotics and send me on my way. Lately, it has gotten progressively worse. I struggle even talking, my chest hurts all the time and even hurts to touch it, I am nauseated, headache, have sharp pains in my legs and arms, I am weak, sometimes my heart races, and I have a dry cough. Yes, we are in the middle of a pandemic, so I have been tested for COVID-19 three times now and tested negative every time. I went to the hospital, spent over $3,000, and they sent me home with no answers. I also went to CareNow. They did a COVID test (negative), and diagnosed me with obesity resulting in my labored breathing. Really? I’m the same weight now that I was after my hysterectomy in 2012. Why would I just now be having trouble breathing? Not to mention, I would hardly classify myself as obese!

So, the time finally came when I could see the cardiologist. They are typically booked out pretty far, and we also had a snow storm that delayed the appointment. I waited on hour and a half to see him and he spent less than 10 minutes with me. He said “Tell me what’s going on.” As I begin to go through it he was saying Uh huh, Uh huh over and over interrupting me and making me feel rushed. Then he cut me off and said, “Do you have more stress going on right now?” I said, “No, not more than usual.” He said, “Really? Women are known to stress more than men so you might need to consider an antidepressant.” I said, “It’s funny you say that because in all the times I’ve gone to the doctor that is always their first go to before they actually take the time to figure out what is going on. I am not depressed I am hurting. I am here for answers” He said, “Well don’t get your hopes up it’s a heart issue because it’s probably not.” I replied, “Seriously? You think I want this to be a heart issue? Hell no! This is called process of elimination to find out what is going on, but I can assure you the last thing I want it to be is my heart! So, if it’s not my heart what are the next steps?” He replied, “You probably need to go on a diet and eat better.” I shit you not…every single time I have gone to a doctor in the past they have diagnosed me with depression and obesity before they ever took the time to actually listen and run any test. I am 5’4″ and I weight 169. I’m not skinny, but I’m certainly not obese! What in the hell is wrong with these doctors? We are not a herd of cattle…we are people. We don’t go to you so that you can guess what is wrong with us we go to you because you are the expert that can help us get answers. However, you first have to take time to listen so you can properly diagnose us. We didn’t take time off work, spend gas money to get to you, and spend our hard earned money paying your fees so that you can brush us off. For the love of God, DO YOUR JOB or find one you will be happier doing! I am not clinically depressed because I’m a woman and my weight is not the issue, although I might become depressed after dealing with these ignorant doctors!

So, I do not have an end to this story yet. However, I will keep you updated. If you are reading this then one piece of advice I can give you is that you know your body better than anyone else. Don’t let the doctors brush you off, misdiagnose you, or treat you like a herd of cattle. Don’t give up. Find the doctor that is right for you. I will update this post once I have answers.