296. When Things Go Wrong
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| A local hospital that saved my hearing |
When things go wrong
someone pays the price as I did by risking to lose my hearing- and still risk
losing it in part.
This is a blog I
never would have wanted to write but I am doing so as to prevent this kind of
thing happening again, to anyone else, ever. I have always been an advocate for the medical
service and still am, but like I said when things go wrong, the price some one
pays is high indeed.
It seems incredible
that in a civilized country like Italy which can boast for one of the best
health systems around, it had not been possible for me in 13 days, from 14th
December to 27th to see a local doctor. And here’s why:
Friday 14th December: I
phone the local surgery where there is an association of doctors of which my GP
is a member and are paid extra in order to be of assistance to patients of
other doctors who at the time are not present at the surgery. I asked for assistance as I was still
recovering from flu but I now also had earache.
They gave me an appointment with my GP for Tuesday 20th at 17.15
Sunday 18th December: being
almost completely deaf and therefore not being able to drive I asked my sister
to take me, since it was Sunday, to the “guardia
medica” (an emergency doctor for out of hours service) who confirmed that
the sandy coloured liquid coming from both my ears was in fact otitis. Later I also found out I had a perforated
eardrum. The guardia medica told me it was fundamental that the next day ,
Monday, I should see my doctor. I told
him that the surgery I go to one could not see a doctor without an appointment
and as my appointment was for Tuesday I had no other choice. He was not in the least agreeable to that and
gave me a prescription for some medicines, among which antibiotics.
Monday 19th December (afternoon) one of the surgery clerks phoned me telling
me that my doctor was not available and therefore changed my appointment from Tuesday 20 December to Thursday 22 December
at 10.15. I explained to the clerk
with great difficulty because of my hearing problem, what the guardia medica had told me and she asked
me if I wanted to speak to the doctor.
So I waited to be connected to the doctor but this did not occur. The clerk told me she could not understand
why the connection failed.
Tuesday 20th December : early morning I get abdominal spasms and cramps followed
by diarrhoea, I knew this was due to the antibiotic. I went to the surgery where another clerk
(not the one I spoke to on the phone) who to my request for seeing a doctor
asked me who my doctor was. When I tell
her that my doctor was not present, and anyway she knew full well who my doctor
was, she told me I could not see my doctor because my doctor was not here. This was all said with great difficulty due
to my hearing problem. I answered saying
that not being totally stupid yet, I knew I could not see my doctor because
he/she was not here, however I did need to see a doctor, I insisted. At this point the clerk asked me WHEN I needed to see a doctor. Feeling that she was taking the Mickey out of
me I said that, next century would be fine.
Having raised my voice somewhat the clerk picked up the phone and called
someone, then told me to sit in the waiting-room.
Half an hour later or so, a nurse calls me and tells me that she will refer
everything to one of the doctors on duty.
I told her I needed to change the antibiotic and that the guardia medica had told me I had to see
a doctor ASAP. She goes to tell the
doctor, I presume.
Later, the nurse
returns with a prescription of another antibiotic in which there are only 5
capsules, which would last me until 24th
December. And after that, what shall
I do? I managed to still have the sense
to ask. No answer, they (the clerk and
the nurse) just changed my appointment from Thursday 22 December to Tuesday 27 December. I complained about this because as the
antibiotic would only last me till Christmas Eve, what was I going to do for 3
days till the other appointment on the 27th? This did not seem to
matter to either of them and they just shook their shoulders. Naturally, not having the strength and
excruciating earache, I was not able to react as I would have liked and as I
was not able to figure out what the nurse and the clerk were saying to each
other, I just gave up trying, went home and sought help.
Friday 24th December: (afternoon) my
sister takes me to the surgery and this time she did the talking and explained
that I needed a prescription for another box of antibiotics which would cover
me until my appointment on 27th December. This was yet another clerk and more human
since she could not understand why they had not given me an earlier appointment
with my own doctor. Perhaps realizing
she had been critical of her colleagues she justified the situation by saying
that maybe my doctor’s schedule had been too full to insert me before the 27th.
However, even this clerk was not able to
get me to see one of the doctors on duty but did manage to get the prescription
for antibiotics for me.
I go to the chemist and
ask the pharmacist if the antibiotic was suitable for my state, he/she
explained to me that the antibiotic was not very strong and it would have been
better to take something more suitable such as cortisone but was not able to
give me without a prescription. As in
the past I had taken cortisone and an anti-inflammatory drug I had two tablets
left which I decided to take by splitting them in half.
Tuesday 27th December : My doctor was not present but there was a replacement who
immediately made out a prescription for an emergency visit to the local eye-throat
and ear hospital. Thanks to this visit
where I was prescribed an aggressive and efficacious emergency therapy, I have
been able to save my hearing. Even
though I can’t hear as clearly as before I hope in time this will return and
that the damage caused by careless and unthinking health systems will not leave
me impaired.
Of course, in due course I changed doctor and cut myself
off completely from this surgery and their staff.
