So I have an ulcer. I dry heave at least once a day and I haven't eaten in 21 days. (Please do not give me advice, I hate it, I don't want medical advice from people over the internet. At best, if you do, I'll respond with a "thanks.")
I'm in a somewhat smaller town, not really small, about 80,000 people maybe. There is exactly one gastroenterologist in this town. I went to him when I hadn't eaten in 6 days. For a $50 copay, he said to take some Mylanta along with the Protonix I was already taking and call him in two weeks if I wasn't better. So I call him yesterday. I talk to the nurse. I tell her all my symptoms, none of which have changed. She sounds very concerned.
I hear nothing all day. This morning, I call again. The doctor hasn't even gotten to my information. So the nurse sends a message that I called again, which he probably also won't see.
I have tried to get a second opinion, or just another prescription for something, but there is not a single gastroenterologist within a 90 minute drive that would see me within three months. I'm pretty sure if I don't eat for three months, I'll be pretty dead. I mean, I'm living on Ensure and Gatorade, but I doubt that will get me to three more months.
Oh, and this is the second time this has happened. The first time, I had to take a bunch of tests like a CT scan and an X-Ray and a blood panel and they found nothing. I had a scheduled colonoscopy anyway, so they just went down my throat as well and that's when they found the ulcer. No one even suggested an ulcer before that.
Why am I saying all of this? I'm not even complaining about all of this. I'm complaining about the fact that this has cost me almost $2000 already and I feel lucky because I have good insurance. I'm not poor, but I don't really have $2000 to spare. I'm paying it off in installments, but god damn, I have to pay all of this money and they have stopped even giving a shit about me.
What would someone in my position without insurance even do? Die? That's what conservatives fucking want.
We need universal healthcare and a complete overhaul of the healthcare system now.
And any time you hear someone complain about how long a wait you have in Canada or the UK to see someone to help you and how America has the best healthcare system in the world and how people from other countries come here for treatment, send them to this post before telling them to get fucked.
TL;DR No one gives a shit about you in American healthcare except maybe the nurses and all they do is suck money out of your bank account.
Sorry to hear about everything you're going through and how much it costs for no treatment. I think a lot of doctors do care but they are overworked and have to constantly battle hospitals and insurance companies. A lot of them seem to be seeing less patients which is not going to be good, and many are retiring or burning out. There are also now more seniors than people under 17, the seniors require more care. Article on the doctor shortage: https://time.com/6199666/physician-shortage-challenges-solutions/
Thanks. I understand what you're saying, but when I tell a doctor I'm not eating twice and he says to me keep taking your pills before you eat, I don't think he gives a fuck. He seems like a nice enough guy, but he's apparently a terrible doctor. And I don't have anyone else I can go to. I mean I know why. This is one of the shittiest towns in the country, Terre Haute, Indiana, but still...
Yeah that doctor definitely is not doing their job. What do you call the person that finishes LAST in medical school? Doctor.
I was concerned when I first met him. The guy has terrible teeth. That alone is not a good sign of a doctor. A doctor that doesn't care about his own health?
Yikes. He doesn’t sound like the guy for the job.
Is there any way you can see a doctor near Indianapolis, or maybe one of the towns between you and there? I know that places a burden on you, which should not be necessary. However, one unfortunate aspect of our healthcare system is that you often must advocate for yourself to get decent results. This is even true (especially true) of mental health, which doesn’t exactly make a ton of sense.
My PCP and a treatment center I go to for one of my medications are both about a half hour away, because I don’t want to change away from them. If you can make a one-hour drive to a new doctor happen, it may be worth it for your health and sanity.
I've called those doctors and none of them have time to see me. No one within a 90 minute drive. Although I'm wondering if I just go to an ER in Indy and demand to see a gastroenterologist if that would work.
Jeez. At this point I might just make appointments anywhere I could get them, even further away, and see if I like the first ones to get me seen. Granted, that’s easier said than done.
The ER route might have some potential as first step too. A legitimate one ass well. I mean this sounds to me like an emergency that is threatening your health in the short term.
I just don't know if the ER route would work and it would end up with another huge bill.
I’m not in any medical field, but compared with some of the shit they see at the ER I have to think they’d pay attention when you say you have a messed up stomach and haven’t eaten in three weeks.
The financial shit show is something else entirely. It will depend on whatever deductibles, coinsurance, and copays you have in your plan, assuming you do have insurance. Such a mess. But it might get to the point of choosing between your life and your money. Which of course is bullshit, but in the short term that’s the system we were born into.
My wife's cousin is a GP. We're going to call him and see what he thinks about the ER thing.
Sounds like an excellent plan. Maybe you’ll get lucky and he will have some thoughts? Maybe not, lol, but good luck!
I sure hope so. Thanks!