Socialized Medicine

This was originally posted on another blog of mine (Simplicity —  Small & Cheap).   I consolidated all blogs to simplify my life.   – Jen 6/19/09

Lil’ Bit has been sick this last week.   Really sick.   Running a 104 degree temperature for most of the day.

We’re from a small town in north MI.   We have doctors.    We’re familiar with the hospital and all the urgent cares.     We are in North Fort Myers.    My in-laws are new to the area (i.e. haven’t needed emergency care yet).    We are just starting to move to Florida.   Our experience with the medical system here almost caused us to leave the state–luckily, we are ultimately going to the Keys which is smaller and we know people who know where to go.

We were told by urgent care clinics that because Lil’ Bit was under a year old, they wouldn’t see her.   We ended up going to the E.R. at Cape Corral Hospital.    We arrived at 1:30pm.    We went to triage & registration shortly after arriving and were told that because of her age and temperature we would be at the top of the list.   We FINALLY got in at 6:30pm.    We had 2 tests run and only got to see a nurse practitioner after waiting FIVE hours for a baby with a fever.

She was diagnosed as having a UTI & and we were told to follow up with a particular pediatrician since we were from out of town.   We called that clinic today and spent 20 minutes arguing with them.   They wouldn’t take her on a weekend because she was not an established patient.  She spent last night vomiting & couldn’t keep anything down.    And the POLICY was that they couldn’t take her because she was new.    We were sure the antibiotic was causing her to vomit and be lethargic.   And no one would see her.

Something must have changed their mind (a legal obligation, perhaps?).   Anyway, the pedi was not convinced that the antibiotic was the problem, nor was he convinced that she actually has a UTI.    He thinks she might just have a virus.

This nightmare is a regular occurance in big cities.    Socialized medicine would be worse than yesterday’s nightmare.    What in the world are these people thinking!   I’m in America and could not get an actual doctor to see my sick daughter for cash.    WTF?!?     That was the most terrifying thing to happen since I became a parent.