The Hospital!

[MToolen]

So my wife and I spent the day yesterday at the hospital, which I can't say was the awesomest way to spend a day.

She was woken up by a pain in her lower left side and was dizzy. This wasn't the first day this had happened (the third, really) and so we decided to put comfortable things on (shorts here in It's-Not-The-Heat-It's-the-Humidity-Oh-Wait-It's-Both, USA) and visit the ER to see if they could help out.

Getting there was a pain, which I should've seen as a warning. First, I had memorized directions to the wrong hospital, and then the first two entrances we came to were being redone and were thus closed. But the third time's a charm and we found a nice spot (Emily, my wife, was out of her seatbelt and in a fetal position at this point) and went inside.

We looked like retards trying to register, going to the wrong desk too early and then not putting our form into the right spot. Em was standing as much as she could since sitting made the pain worse. When we got called in to a preliminary exam, she tested fine for blood oxygen and heart rate levels and was admitted to the long-term ER room.

It was a nice 71.4 degrees F in her room and so she got a blanket. I got a small plastic chair. After killing her iPod's battery playing Plants vs. Zombies (a four hour feat), she had an IV of pain meds put in and two samples of bodily fluids taken for tests.

I'm not sure I like TV shows' portrayals of hospitals anymore. Between the small bits of development there's waiting. And waiting some more, and oh yeah, more waiting. It was at least half an hour between each word from the nurses or doctor and I realize there are bigger cases that actually have insurance to pay (newlywed lack of insurance woo), but it still felt like forever.

Finally, having been in a freezing room for five hours with little to eat, Emily got a CT scan which, a few hours later, came back clear, as did the aforementioned tests. So seven hours in, we get a shrug from the doctor and a prescription for Vicodin (along with, I assume, a hefty bill to be delivered later).

Now she's back at work and doing fine with the meds and I'm glad we were taken care of by my parents and in-laws the whole way, but I'm sure you guys have scarier stories than I.

Have you had good experiences at a hospital? Any bad ones?

[Heald]

I went to the hospital for a minor surgical procedure today. I arrived 10 minutes early, had to pay £2 for parking (which is effectively just a tax on getting sick) and signed in. I was seen 5 minutes before my actual appointment, the procedure was relatively painless and the staff were friendly and polite. Took about 10 minutes and I left. On my way out of the car park, I gave my pay and display parking ticket to an arriving elderly couple and they thanked me, and I was back at work before my hour lunch break was over.

So, all in all, relatively simple and painless.

Although Fox News might have you believe that the UK health system is terrible and will say I actually died of 7 kinds of cancer whilst on a 50-month waiting list for an MRI scan.

[Lady Vulpix]

Heh. I don't know what your healthcare system is like, but I'm glad everything went well for you.

Luckily, I haven't been in hospital myself many times. I went to visit others, but I've only had to see doctors a few times myself (not counting my parents). My worst experience at a hospital was when I had to wait for 2 hours to see a specialist only to be told after all that time that she wasn't coming. But then I was given her phone number and I arranged to see her later that week.

[abunaidesu]

I recently had a Pap smear.

[Blademaster]

I have a cold right now that I'm considering going to the hospital for. It must have heard my plans to eradicate it last night, so it went into an all-out war in my sleep.

EVERYTHING aches.

It hurts to walk. It hurts to stand. It hurts to sit. It hurts to lie down. It hurts to tilt my head back. It hurts to stretch my forearms out. It hurts to yawn. It hurts to swallow. It hurts to sniffle. I've been up since daybreak do to the onslaught raging in my immune system after getting to bed at almost 3am. I'm too bored to stay awake, in too much pain to go to sleep, and the only things I can do unassisted are use the bathroom and maybe get a drink. I can't even go make my spicy soup of death now, I'm so dizzy and lightheaded. Or rather, heavy-headed. I can hear my damn heart beating through my TEMPLES.

And the closest doctor to my house isn't in until tomorrow.

Someone, for the love of God, bludgeon me into unconsciousness so I can escape this shit for a while.

[Roy Karrde]

My last experience at the hospital I do not remember much of it, meningitis will do that to you. I know I had my blood drawn every 8 hours, and that for the first day they put the IV in my left arm and it numbed up to the point I had to pick it up and move it since I couldn't feel it anymore. Oh and of course the horrible horrible migraine that is the best part of meningitis meant that even the tiniest bit of light or the tiniest bit of sound gave me horrible pain.

But then again I don't really remember too much from it, just flashes from the 5 days I was in there.

[Heald]

You had meningitis? Shit brah, sounds like it really sucked. It's high on my 'shit I really do not want to get ever' list.

[Asilynne]

I hate hospitals... SO MUCH. I only go to the doctor if Im practically dying, and even then only if someone makes me :P I dont like to be poked and prodded by strangers even if theyre just trying to "help" >.>

[Zak]

Dammit MToolen, I actually just had a whole surgical procedure done this past week and was actually going to post a thread about it yesterday, but now I guess I don't need to.

I've had a huge cyst in my right wrist for I don't know how long, but first became noticeable seven years ago... but now I finally decided to get it removed, and that happened just last week. It wasn't really hurting or giving me any trouble and I could have just done nothing, but it was getting really big and gross-looking.
I was actually more freaked out about getting knocked out, than the surgery itself, after all it's just my right hand.

But now I kind of regret it, because this past week (and the next two weeks, but no more splint anymore) I gotta wear stuff which practically renders my right hand useless, and I'm a righty. So... no piano playing (kinda got used to that), video games, and... other stuff. At least as of today I can finally take showers without having to wear a plastic bag over my right hand (not to mention using shampoo is difficult with one hand alone),

Whatever, I'm sure it'll be worthwhile in the end. As for the hospital's service, it's excellent here, never have to wait more than five minutes. Except the lady doing the "phone-screening" process was kind of a bitch. After asking only two questions she started to give an impatient attitude... Also at one point I was getting a bad reception and asked her to repeat a question, and she was like "do you need an interpreter"? At least she didn't give attitude there, she was sounding all sweet, but still, let me ask that at least three or four times before jumping to conclusions.
I mean, what's the point of asking "do you have any questions" or being any sort of service if they're gonna act like that. Well it wasn't a big deal to me but my parents were pretty ticked about that, but then the hospital people apologized on behalf of her the next day anyway, and then she called and apologized herself. It wasn't such a big deal to me, but I guess they felt obligated to do that after I mentioned it after they asked for an evaluation of the service the next day.

By the way Blademaster do you keep a blog? Because it seems like you need one.

[RedStarWarrior]

Last time I was at the hospital, it was for a bb in my elbow. They recommended I see a specialty surgeon to have it removed. It's still there...lol.

[Crystal Mew]

thats going to be one nasty medical bill for you!

um, I haven't really needed to go to the hospital lately except a couple years ago when I got into a car accident. so glad it wasn't my fault because the er visit was at least $1500 and so the other people's car insurance had to pay for all that.

before that it was when my grandpa died :(

[Deadwood_Zen]

I have not ever been to a Hospital since I was born. Don't get shots, never broken or dislocated anything I couldn't fix myself :/

My brother was born with a cleft pallet, and some other minor defects(due to our meth smoking/dealing bio daddy) and spent a year at Renown. They fucked him up soooooooooo much, including performing two surgeries, then halfway through releazing they cut open the wrong part of the body. His stomach has a 6-inch scar, and quite a few 'accidental' burn marks from the doctors still, and this is 14 years later. So we've learned to not like doctors too much, in addition to other reasons...

But one of the staff here at the Boys and Girls Club where I go to, her 10 year old daughter's appendix exploded last week, and it took them 4 days to realize it.

There's my 2 copper pieces.

[Telume]

We can't afford to go to a hospital, we go to one and we'd be slapped with a bill big enough to buy a damn car. We'd probably end up having to file for bankruptcy.

I've NEVER been to hospital but, my parents have and let me tell ya, even for the small shit... it's NOT cheap.

[Zak]

We can't afford to go to a hospital, we go to one and we'd be slapped with a bill big enough to buy a damn car. We'd probably end up having to file for bankruptcy.

I've NEVER been to hospital but, my parents have and let me tell ya, even for the small shit... it's NOT cheap.

Eh there is this thing called insurance...

[Kurosakura]

Insurance is utter crap. They hound you for even the smallest of details, and you still need to fork over at least $20 for a check-up. Prescription medicine seems to average around $50. I KNOW you people in the UK pay about £10 for that kind of stuff. Plus we have insurance payments on top of that. Oh joy.

Anyway, for my first and only stay in a US hospital since birth, it was because I had suicidal thoughts, and I admitted that I needed help (totally regretting that now). My school guidance counselor had my mom drive me to a local hospital, and apparently I was admitted to the emergency room, which looked like an emergency WAITING ROOM. I don't know how long I had to wait, it was for over 2 hours and I woke up with my head on my mom's lap. The nurse had me change into a hospital gown and wait in one of the rooms inside this giant waiting room for way too long, because by the time I woke up, it was around 6 or 7 PM and dinner was being served.

After THAT fiasco, they finally tell me there's no room for me here and they needed to transfer me to another hospital. THIS wait took another 2 hours or so, because they needed to get me an ambulance. If I had a heart attack, I would've died. GOOD JOB GUYS. Anyway, by the time I got to the other hospital and everything was settled, it was 12:30 AM. I don't even want to type about my stay in the mental ward here.

Epic. Freaking. Fail.

[Telume]

Eh there is this thing called insurance...

There is a thing called, we can't afford that either.

[Deadwood_Zen]

My mom gets Insurance from her work(since she works for the state now), otherwise we'd have no money for it. It still doesn't do shit.

Last summer, my brother dislocated his knee a full 90 degrees at the Club(I was at Band Camp), and they had to send him to the ER with my mom(she worked next door at the time). They had to wait an hour and a half before someone would even come a look at it. Another hour later a doctor came, and in his office, he just snapped it back in. They were in the office for no more then a few minutes, to do something he could've done himself, and we're still paying it off.
He did it again a last month at the roller rink, and we might not be able to go to Warped Tour this year since it costs so much. We can have Christmas, or Vans Warped Tour, that's our position.

[Heald]

We have socialised medicine. I've never had to wait, pay or otherwise suffer unreasonably for getting ill (apart from paying a minor fee for parking).

Sure, we get thousands of health tourists, but it's honestly a small price to pay for not having to worry about breaking the bank for getting ill.

[MToolen]

Like I've said, we don't have insurance, but we do have two awesome sets of parents that have taught us the value of having a job and savings for this kind of thing. Furthermore, since we did pay sort of a down payment before she was even admitted, the hospital let us know about a service for lowering and chopping up our bill into little monthly installments, which will probably help in the long run. Emily's still got a bit of recovery, but today we're both off work so it's a rest day for sure.

[Katie]

I passed out drunk and was unresponsive so my friends took me to the ER.

$4,500 for a fucking saline IV, and they cut up my dress and bra (cost ~$100 together) so they could put little stickers on my shoulders to hold the IV tubes in place.

Plus a giant headache from the insurance company and hospital unable to rub two braincells together and get coordinated with each other.

Fuck I would kill for SOCIALISTOBAMACARE!!! in America.

[Blademaster]

By the way Blademaster do you keep a blog? Because it seems like you need one.

Do you keep a slap across the mouth? Because it seems like you need one.

Anyway, just got back from the local "hospital" about... I dunno, maybe an hour ago. Evidently I have a nasty sinus infection as well as pharyngitis AND laryngitis. Got a shitload of scripts, painkillers, and other shit I can't remember because I'm really drowsy right now.

Also, if you want something more juicy, I've had my left eye scooped out twice because it's a piece of nonfunctional shit and it never works.

[ChobiChibi]

I've been three times that I can remember. First I broke my wrist. I can't really remember much about the day itself, but I went back every couple of weeks for x-rays because they couldn't tell how severely i'd broken it, or in fact WHERE it was broken... Eventually I had a radiation scan (oh lol, needles ><) that basically just showed where it was broken... 8 weeks in plaster compared to the normal 6.

Second was a few years ago. Was in chemistry doing some kind of ammonia reaction. My teacher told me just to tip it down the sink (a hand wash only sink mind) and I ended up inhaling ammonia... Couldn't breathe properly so ended up going to hospital where I spent a couple of hours waiting to be seen, a little longer waiting to be put on a ward and then a few more just being monitored... I was fine though.

Lastly, I scratched my eye. I think I was one of the more... unusual... cases of the day... Since it had snowed that day and most other people were in for broken limbs :3

But yeah... I love the NHS... Monday was the first time I've ever had to pay for a prescription, that's only because it's antibiotics and I'm over 18 now... Good times.

[classy_cat18]

Anyway, for my first and only stay in a US hospital since birth, it was because I had suicidal thoughts, and I admitted that I needed help (totally regretting that now). My school guidance counselor had my mom drive me to a local hospital, and apparently I was admitted to the emergency room, which looked like an emergency WAITING ROOM. I don't know how long I had to wait, it was for over 2 hours and I woke up with my head on my mom's lap. The nurse had me change into a hospital gown and wait in one of the rooms inside this giant waiting room for way too long, because by the time I woke up, it was around 6 or 7 PM and dinner was being served.

After THAT fiasco, they finally tell me there's no room for me here and they needed to transfer me to another hospital. THIS wait took another 2 hours or so, because they needed to get me an ambulance. If I had a heart attack, I would've died. GOOD JOB GUYS. Anyway, by the time I got to the other hospital and everything was settled, it was 12:30 AM. I don't even want to type about my stay in the mental ward here.

Epic. Freaking. Fail.

That happened to you too? I spat out that confession to my psychiatrist back in sixth grade and they did the same to me. I actually started taking it back, so Mom probably thinks I was faking it. Even now I wonder if I was actually thinking it, but I sure didn't know what else to do, since kids at school were saying that no one liked me and I had to share a classroom with them. Dammit, six weeks! My classmates sent cards but I wonder if half of them meant what they said.

Tied in first place was a few years ago, when my clumsy self broke my foot by tripping. That time I had no insurance so we had to go to this crummy city hospital (where I do volunteer work at now), where broke people and immigrants go when they can't afford care. I went in early afternoon, and didn't get back home until after midnight. I was cold, surrounded by sick folks and crackheads, and uncomfortable the whole time. Oh, and did I mention this is the hospital they send inmates to when they need hospital care? Just thought I should throw that in.

[Zak]

It appears the number one rule is: Never mention suicide to a "psychologist" that works within a big place such as a school or somewhere else you're a part of, as in basically a non-private one, unless you absolutely mean it. They'll act all sweet and then breach the "confidentiality contract".

Of course, they'd probably breach it as well if you said you wanted to hurt someone, but that's a bit more justified.

[Deadwood_Zen]

That's why I don't trust psychologists and refuse to check myself into West Hills. They'll just drug you up, and brainwash you. I refuse to take part in that, and due my poor genes from my mom's side of the family, I am uber-sensitive to most drugs. Advil doesn't do anything for me, and a single tablet of Dayquil gets me high for hours. No joke DX

[midnightangel]

The only two times I ever went to the hospital was:

(1) When I thought I was having chest pain, only to find out that my stomach was giving me grief. At least the hospital I went to was quick and got me from the waiting area to the back in record time. (The hospital has the rep for being slow as shit :P)

(2) When my right leg swelled up and was red and inflamed and hurting me. The same hospital did tests to rule out a possible clot in the leg. Turns out it was an infection, and I stayed a couple of nights because they wanted me to have IV antibiotics, then switched me to oral medication when I was discharged.

And Blade, sinus infections are no joke, so I feel for ya. Been there recently, don't want to go back.

[Little_Pikachu]

Wow, this topic makes me all the more glad of the UK's free health care.

I've never had a terrible experience like that. Once I twisted my ankle and couldn't walk so I went to the A&E and gave up after like 5 hours of waiting to be seen while they rushed around attedning to babies because they're crying, but it wasn't like I was dying of anything.

My best experiences of stupid health care have come from my GP's.

A while ago I had a trapped nerve in my leg, I'd guessed that's what it was, but I went to get it seen to. After asking my symptoms the doctor also suggested it was a trapped nerve and instead of telling me how to deal with it he then span his chair towards his computer screen and Googled it!

Sometime later I'd come down with a sort of rash on my face. The doctor asked the usual, when did it start, doing anything out the ordinary, changes in washing powder etc. Then he asked "so what do you think it is?"...
Sorry, but isn't it YOUR job to tell ME that??

I don't have a load of faith...

[Telume]

Wow, this topic makes me all the more glad of the UK's free health care.

I've never had a terrible experience like that. Once I twisted my ankle and couldn't walk so I went to the A&E and gave up after like 5 hours of waiting to be seen while they rushed around attedning to babies because they're crying, but it wasn't like I was dying of anything.

My best experiences of stupid health care have come from my GP's.

A while ago I had a trapped nerve in my leg, I'd guessed that's what it was, but I went to get it seen to. After asking my symptoms the doctor also suggested it was a trapped nerve and instead of telling me how to deal with it he then span his chair towards his computer screen and Googled it!

Sometime later I'd come down with a sort of rash on my face. The doctor asked the usual, when did it start, doing anything out the ordinary, changes in washing powder etc. Then he asked "so what do you think it is?"...
Sorry, but isn't it YOUR job to tell ME that??

I don't have a load of faith...

And it's hard to get free healthcare going here because the GOP will start airing a bunch of commercials about how bad the situations are in Canada with people waiting years to get stuff and blah blah blah... it's ridiculous.

[Shadow Wolf]

...and apparently I was admitted to the emergency room, which looked like an emergency WAITING ROOM....

Ahh, the pain of taking care of your health...

I remember a few month ago... there was this 48-hour virus with stomach pain as the principal symptom. These pains could leave you screaming for 30 seconds everytime (considering you could have easily 4-6 consecutive stomach pains everytime, and this would happen at least twice a day)

Anyway, I had this virus twice. And on the second time, the pain spread into my chest, so I went to the hospital. Entering the emergency room...

1:30pm: the waiting begins. A few paperwork, my smptoms, etc.
2:30pm: I feel a little better, but I'm still waiting
3:00pm: The shift is over for one doctor. The next one arrives at 3:15pm
4:30pm: Blood sample
5:30pm: Something to eat (since I was afraid of another stomach pain, I ate a honey bun with water and prayed for no more pains)
7:00pm: Results of blood analysis, a few scripts, "drink a lot of water", blah blah blah

Considering that I live 30 mins away from the hospital, from 1:00pm to 7:30pm... an emergency took 6 1/2 hours to solve...

Oh, did I forgot to mention that, apparently, that was the "fastest" hospital when it comes to emerencies...

[Pichu Luver]

Me and hospitals are acquainted with each other. ¬¬'

Bad:
The first one was when I was 11. I fell in our old gravel driveway and got a very bad gash just below my left knee cap (the scar I have now is about 2 and half inches long, half an inch wide). My friend got my mother and we buggered off to the hospital.

It ended up looking worse then it was cause it stopped bleeding while my mom got the keys and my sis. I got there to the Emergency at around 9 pm. They looked at me pretty quick 'cause it was rather gruesome, but 'cause it had stopped bleeding I guess I was ok to wait. Anyway I must have waited a couple hours before a doctor saw me stuck as many pain numbing stuff into my knee as was legal and stitched me up. I got home around 1 am. As far as I know, my parents didn't pay anything for this.

Wait time: About 3 1/2 hours.

Good:
I got bucked off a horse in mid April 2007. Horse decided I was to be his kicking toy. Left me with a severely bruised right thigh, broken right hand and broken err... face (I was wearing a helmet). I had a broken nose, cracked left eye socket and shattered left cheekbones.

A trip in an ambulance later I got to the hospital a little before 2pm I guess. I had two x-rays, and an MRI scan for my head to make sure my brain was tickity-boo and see the breaks clearly (the brain was a-okay, and MRI's are LOUD). They knocked me out to fix my hand, and stitched up some cuts to my face. I got home around six, but I was unconscious for a while so wait time was minimal. Maybe a half an hour before I was being pushed around to various machinery/doctors (however they did tell me I got a lucky day because there was very few people in emergency). On a side note, hospitals have mirrors on the ceiling, so I got to see my spectacular visage while being wheeled around :round:.

Wait time: 1/2 an hour.

I came back four days later to get pins in my hand (the cast didn't work) and fix my nose. That wait to be knocked unconscious took nearly 2 hours. FUN times. The other hospital visits were mostly check ups (every two weeks) and I never waited too long, the last one in August took a hour and a half tho.

I'm left with some scars and funky nerves in my face, but it could have been a lot worse. Total cost to me was about $115 for the ambulance ride, cast I ended up not using, and hand brace after I got the pins. Yeah the wait in Canada can suck sometimes, but that bill rocked. And I'm very glad I live in the 21st century.

[Mikachu Yukitatsu]

My lastest three times as a patient were in a Finnish mental hospital. Awful.

The first phase began in August 2004 in army, lasting to January 2006. Then I went to Kuntoutuskoti, a place where you are trained for your independent life, and I thought I wouldn't have to visit mental hospital ever again. I got back TPM, Pokemon and videogames, held two Japanese courses, until in May 2009 I was arranging a fair half-perforce. I became stressed out and had to return to the mental hospital for 2 weeks. I was happy to be let go so early, and I had the best summer for some years with new friends and stuff. But then it happened, my sense of reality collapsed and right on the day after my first third Japanese course lesson I went to the hospital for 5 months!

It's not easy to be an anime fan and a videogame player, let alone a Pokemon fan or a TPMer in a Finnish mental hospital. The nurses, especiallly male ones, were practically pissing off all the ill-conditioned patients, including myself. Their plan seemed to be I should quit Pokemon, anime and TPM altogether. My hunger for my pastimes was so great I talked about it everywhere, and that resulted on more medicine and more pissing-off. And comments like 'There must be a lot of other people with that kind of problems in TPM'.

But now I'm back to Kuntoutuskoti and have got back my hobbies and they are doctor-approved as well. I'm taking medicine more than ever right now, Absenol, Abilify and Zyprexa. Quite happy with the current situation.

[Shadow Wolf]

...And comments like 'There must be a lot of other people with that kind of problems in TPM'...

Jajajajajajajaja

I can't do anything else but laugh here. Why? Because I really believe that, when we speak about what we like is when we show our true selves; and if that means being "crazy", then I prefer to be a crazy, TPM fan, and unique, than a not-crazy-be-what-others-want-you-to-be idiot.

Like I read somewhere: "I'm not going crazy, I'm going sane in a crazy world."

Back to topic: I was laughing a few days ago, since Dad told me that he woke up early (4:00am) to go to the hospital to get some papers and he found himself being number 41 in line...

[MToolen]

Like I read somewhere: "I'm not going crazy, I'm going sane in a crazy world."

That's The Tick, one of my favorite farcical superheroes. Also, your stomach flu timeline is eerily close to that of my wife's visit.

The meds are treating her fine, in case anyone's wondering. Another doctor visit also saw an all-clear, so frustration's a symptom now more than anything.

[Telume]

My lastest three times as a patient were in a Finnish mental hospital. Awful.

The first phase began in August 2004 in army, lasting to January 2006. Then I went to Kuntoutuskoti, a place where you are trained for your independent life, and I thought I wouldn't have to visit mental hospital ever again. I got back TPM, Pokemon and videogames, held two Japanese courses, until in May 2009 I was arranging a fair half-perforce. I became stressed out and had to return to the mental hospital for 2 weeks. I was happy to be let go so early, and I had the best summer for some years with new friends and stuff. But then it happened, my sense of reality collapsed and right on the day after my first third Japanese course lesson I went to the hospital for 5 months!

It's not easy to be an anime fan and a videogame player, let alone a Pokemon fan or a TPMer in a Finnish mental hospital. The nurses, especiallly male ones, were practically pissing off all the ill-conditioned patients, including myself. Their plan seemed to be I should quit Pokemon, anime and TPM altogether. My hunger for my pastimes was so great I talked about it everywhere, and that resulted on more medicine and more pissing-off. And comments like 'There must be a lot of other people with that kind of problems in TPM'.

But now I'm back to Kuntoutuskoti and have got back my hobbies and they are doctor-approved as well. I'm taking medicine more than ever right now, Absenol, Abilify and Zyprexa. Quite happy with the current situation.

That sounds like all the fat nurses here, they're TRYING to get you/keep you in a hospital.

[RedStarWarrior]

We have socialised medicine. I've never had to wait, pay or otherwise suffer unreasonably for getting ill (apart from paying a minor fee for parking).

Sure, we get thousands of health tourists, but it's honestly a small price to pay for not having to worry about breaking the bank for getting ill.
Pfft.

Socialized medicine hurts you in the long run. Just ask poor Canada with their shortage of doctors.

[Oslo]

Pfft.

Socialized medicine hurts you in the long run. Just ask poor Canada with their shortage of doctors.

Mhm, but I'm not sure we can blame the lack of doctors solely or even primarily on universal health care, since Canada has significantly fewer doctors per capita than just about all other countries with socialized medicine. I know that some provinces such as Saskatchewan were already suffering doctor shortages even before our current health care system was implemented.

[Heald]

Pfft.

Socialized medicine hurts you in the long run. Just ask poor Canada with their shortage of doctors.
We've had it for over 60 years and a doctor shortage has never been a problem. The pay a doctor receives encourages many domestic Britons to pursue a career in medicine, as well as an influx of doctors from other countries, especially from Asia. If anything we're hurting countries like India because we're stealing all their doctors.

[Deadwood_Zen]

That's The Tick, one of my favorite farcical superheroes.
SPOOOOOOOOON!!! :D

[shazza]

I have not been admitted to hospital since I was 6 in 1995. I was in hospital for 4 months as, on my left shoulder, something called a barnsdale boil was growing where you usually have a needle. If it was not operated on I would not have my left arm. That wouldn't be fun. To this day the doctors have never worked out the origins of how it developed; some say there was dirt on the needle and others say it was from some polluted water. I am in a medical book, too!

I have visited hospitals occasionally since then. My mother passed away in 2001 where hospital visits were rather frequent. My Grandad passed in 2007. There have been a few friends in and out and all that. I'm not a big fan.

EDIT: And I just tried Googling it and no results. :(

[Samchu]

Most of my hospital experiences actually revolve the wonderfully specialised 'eye hospital'. I can't remember when I started going there but I do remember a lot of my first four years of school were spent getting pulled out of classes early to go to appointments which were basically just your standard eye tests but in a room that looked like a converted ward. They got me to use everything: eyes patches, eye drops, etc to try and strengthen my left eye so that it would compensate for the weaknesses in my right. When I was about 10 they told me I wouldn't need to go anymore and would be fine. 2 years later a school-organised sight test sends me to the eye ward of the local hospital and it's short-sightedness and glasses from there on out.

As far as I remember I've only been to an actual hospital once. In middle school. Some kid thought it would be a great idea to punch me in my spine. My dad gets called in and we drive to the hospital. The pain comes and goes. We wait for 6 hours. We get called into a room and the doctor tells me to do stretches. He asks me if it hurts and I say no. He sends us off with orders to see the doctor if I still have problems. Within the next twelve months I saw 3 different GPs. Despite telling them the pain is irregular (and varies from uncomfortable to agonising) they still make me do a stretch and then send me away because it doesn't hurt. It's been about ten years since then. I still have problems with it.

So yeah...no really BAD experiences. Just ones that don't inspire me much.

[Blademaster]

I have not been admitted to hospital since I was 6 in 1995. I was in hospital for 4 months as, on my left shoulder, something called a barnsdale boil was growing where you usually have a needle. If it was not operated on I would not have my left arm. That wouldn't be fun. To this day the doctors have never worked out the origins of how it developed; some say there was dirt on the needle and others say it was from some polluted water. I am in a medical book, too!

EDIT: And I just tried Googling it and no results. :(

Hm? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buruli_ulcer)

[shazza]

Hm? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buruli_ulcer)

Thank you! :)

[Blademaster]

Oh, shit, I was right. :o

I mean, yeah. Glad to help.

[crown34]

Hm? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buruli_ulcer)

That was disgusting.

[Deadwood_Zen]

My brother(being the medical liability he is), cut open his whole hand on a glas bottle while skating. Had to be send to UrgentCare(the only ER within an hour of us), and was there for a few hours. Cost wasn't too much, though they only took the glass out of one of his hands(since that's all the insurance covered). Had some stitches, and was prescribed Vicatin. Funny part, however, is that my mom won't let him have ANY because it's a 'controlled substance'(even though he was prescribed it), and she's taking it herself. She's turning out a like my meth-head bio-daddy and my brother's having to take Advil to stop the pain, since he keeps breaking the stitches 'cause he's a fucking dumbass.

Meanwhile, I have never been to a hospital since I was 4. I don't trust doctors :P

[Blademaster]

Vicatin? If you mean that stuff that makes you too tired to feel pain, that's Vicodin.

Trust me, living in my house, you learn a LOT about pharmaceuticals... :sweat:

[Deadwood_Zen]

Yeah, Vicodin then. Huge painkiller, and makes good bucks on the streets. That's all I know,