The British Health Service (or: my foot hurts and I'm cranky)

[GilesGuthrie]

Turbo-Ranter: on boost...

As the thread title says, my foot hurts. This isn't the first time that it's happened, and it won't be the last. But it hurts a lot, and I'm cranky. Not because my foot hurts, but because I can't get an appointment to see a doctor, and when I do, he "does tests" which are "fine".

No, no they're not fine. The tests have not found anything, yet there is clearly something wrong with me, so the tests are pretty damn not-fine. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The problem is that there's some sort of internal swelling around the bones in my feet. It happens about every 9 months, coming on slowly to a crescendo of pain unlike anything I've ever experienced. I know that at this point all the mothers will laugh in a derisory manner, but frankly it hurts so much it's difficult to maintain consciousness. And as The Verve said so memorably, the drugs don't work. It lasts three to five days, and at it's peak I'm completely immobile.

And here's the rub... In Edinburgh, it takes 10 days to get an appointment to see the doctor, by which time the pain's gone away. "Yes yes, but it really really hurt yesterday" sounds fairly weak. If you DEMAND an appointment, you get to sit in the surgery waiting for a cancellation, which is pretty much for the whole day then, even though I only live half a mile away and could get a cab and be there in 5 minutes IF ONLY THEY'D CALL ME!!

So I have to put up with all this pain. Or, I go to Casualty (or E.R.). The first time I took this to casualty, I spent an hour and a half convincing the nurse that it wasn't a drinking injury (the fact that I'd driven myself there in an automatic should have given them a clue). Since it was 4 a.m. I was seen to straight away. The second time, the nurse was very nice, but pretty much told me that there was nothing they could do save basically cutting my feet off (there's no commonality to the symptoms except feet, extreme pain), and that the next time it happens I should see my local doctor (see appointments rant, above).

So I'm in this position where the hospital is unwilling to help me and the local doctor won't even see me. And if he will, I'll usually get a lecture about being overweight and drinking too much, rather than actually doing something innovative like dealing with the matter at hand (or foot). After exceptional bullying on my part, some more ineffective blood tests get done and I'm back where I started. Oh, and this is if you can actually get a doctor, because they're all so busy getting their capitation fee that if you don't see them every three months they strike you off their register, so you have no doctor, and you have to apply to get back on, and that takes two weeks yada yada yada.

So the question is:

Why the hell am I paying my taxes?

Thanks for listening. I know this is a bit of a rant, respond to any part of it that interests you.

 

[Der Alta]

I can feel for you. Over this side of the pond, the waiting list is jstu as long, and the doctor's prefer to treat the symptom (not the cause).

In the only operation I volunteered for, I did the consult in early August. The doctor informed me that it was a simple procedure, and lasted less than 45 minutes. Great, fantastic, when can I get in and have this done.

"Well, it looks like we can schedule you for Mid January." Needless to say I was quite vocal about his ability to schedule.

Have you jump started the process, and skimmed www.webmd.com looking for something that would cause this. Have you checked with mom/dad if something like this ever came up in Family History? I'd do as much research as I can, narrow it down to what you think is wrong, then take a trip into the ER when it happens next. Don't ask them to diagnose it, but rather ask them to prove you wrong.

When you state that you found all the info on the web, they'll immmediately take the offense.

Break out the digicam and snap off a number of shots. Correlate with other things that are going on in life. One of my old co-workers had a metal plate in her leg. After years of abuse at the hands of her dentist, after which she'd get incredibly sick, they found out that the small pieces of plak that didn't get washed out of her mouth, would seek out the metal plate, and start an infection. She would have to take antibiotics for days afterwards to combat the sickness. Now, she takes them before her dental visits to ramp up her immune system.

Sorry to hear about the pain and discomfort. and I hope the next trip to see the Doc goes better.

Good Luck

AO

 

[Duke]

So far I have read nothing but the title of this thread. I'm going to go back and read all that, but before I do, let me say this:

Socialized Medicine is the idea that it's better for nobody to have decent healthcare instead of only rich people having decent healthcare.

Edit: OK, I went back and read it, and I stand by my statement. Giles, I feel very sorry for you and your condition.

Off the top of my head, I'd say it sounds like gout, which is a buildup of minerals in the joints, particularly of the feet. It can be very painful and hobbling. It's often caused by drinking and eating rich foods. As AO suggested, do some (more) research and see what turns up. Good luck, my friend.

 

[sn00pie]

Your doctor won't see you?! That's ridiculous! I mean... can he do that?

Maybe you should go see a specialist, an ortho-guy or a physiotherapist.

 

[made in holland]

A couple of years ago, my grandfather complained about pain in his throat. He called the doctor and made an appointment.... for two weeks later. Every day the pain got worse and worse, up to the point where he couldn't swallow pain-free.

The doctor couldn't find anything, so he gave him some mild painkillers and sent him home. But the pain got even worse, so he went to the hospital. They couldn't find anything either.

After a full year of visiting doctors, hospitals and dozens of "specialists", they still couldn't find anything. And all that time my grandfather had pain with every swallow. Then those medical geniuses come with the conclusion that it is all in his head!

Then, more or less by accident, my granddad visits a German doctor just over the Dutch/German border. He didn't need an appointment, and after a 30 minute consult, he had an idea of what it could be. He sent him back to the Dutch hospital with a little note with his ideas, and it turned out to be exactly right!

So after a year of wrong prognoses, hospitalvisits and a lot of bills, he was finally saved by a German! doctor. Needless to say he now absolutly hates everything that calles himself a doctor or specialist

I've never seen my grandfather so friendly against a German

 

[sn00pie]

Haha!

In fact, I've had better experiences with Belgian doctors as opposed to Dutch too...

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by GilesGuthrie


So the question is:

Why the hell am I paying my taxes?

Thanks for listening. I know this is a bit of a rant, respond to any part of it that interests you.

I was at my brother's place in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday. His power went out early Saturday morning and wasn't on again until Sunday night at 9 PM (well after I left). He was certainly asking the same question. Sometimes I really question whether I get what I'm paying for.

 

[vat_man]

Geez, M5 - you got a couple of weeks of non-stop war coverage. What else do you want? Education and basic services?!?

 

[boombexus]

Originally posted by M5Power
I was at my brother's place in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday. His power went out early Saturday morning and wasn't on again until Sunday night at 9 PM (well after I left). He was certainly asking the same question. Sometimes I really question whether I get what I'm paying for.

Yeah, but take into account the 10-20 inches of snow they got that day.
As a matter of fact, I was in Denver that day as well. I was just a little upset at the fact that it snowed. Could have met up too Doug.

Anyway, Giles, I hope that all works out for you. Pay particular attention to your drinking though, it can cause a whole slew of problems, trust me, I know.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Originally posted by boombexus
Anyway, Giles, I hope that all works out for you. Pay particular attention to your drinking though, it can cause a whole slew of problems, trust me, I know.

Thanks, yeah I am. But it doesn't matter how much you do, the doctor still has a go about it... I usually let them get five minutes into the "you smoke too much" rant before I tell them that I don't smoke...

 

[milefile]

I hope you get it ironed out soon. I've been getting these sharp and rather excruciating pains in the bottom of my feet for about a two weeks now. It might be a cramp but I don't perceive any muscle tension. They only last a few seconds, vary in intensity from very bad to mild, and come on with no warning. It really sucks when I'm driving.

As far as medical office red tape, the UK doesn't sound any different from here. The last time I was sick I called the doctor's office and they told me it'd be three to four weeks for an appointment. I made a huge deal out of it and pointed out that I probably wouldn't be sick in a month. I eventually got in but only after I'd gone around with them on the phone so many times I was almost embarassed to go in.

My sister has a medical condition that is fairly serious and chronic and she needs to see specialists. It took her three months to get an appointment and then another four to get her outpatient surgery. It's a mess all over. The least they could do is make it conveneint and effective as long as you're paying for it.

One last side note which you may or may not already know. In East Asia doctors were paid until the patient got sick. Then the doctor was not paid until the patient was well again. It's the opposite perspective of western medicine which would rather sew you back together or fill you with chemicals than keep you well to begin with. We maintain our cars better than our bodies.

 

[1X83Z]

Originally posted by boombexus
Yeah, but take into account the 10-20 inches of snow they got that day.
As a matter of fact, I was in Denver that day as well. I was just a little upset at the fact that it snowed. Could have met up too Doug.

Bobby (my brother) had just seven inches at his house. The picture of the Camry in the auto forum was taken Saturday afternoon - most of it was already gone. His phones came and went, too. He says that any minor storm simply knocks out Qwest and whatever the power company is.