Last few days, I was very busy... busy sneezing, coughing, being drowsy and blowing my nose. My family and close friends have pestered me endlessly to see a doctor about it, berating me for my stubborn reluctance to actually consult one.
I guess majority of my reluctance stem from personal experience anyway.
1. When they don't know
I recall when I was in my high school, I fell sick every month cun-cun one week before my menstrual. Once, I even cooked up a huge fever. By then my attendance in school can beat that of the student ranked last in class, which happened to sit right beside me in class. My jie jie then recommended me Elken Spirulina, a kind of marine based protein which boost overall health. But my dad wasn't convince since it comes with quite a hefty price, so he brought me to see his friend, the doctor.
After examining me for a few minutes and listening to me recounting how often I fell sick, always one week prior to menstrual, he tilted his head to one side. And then began to ask me whether I have some difficulties in school?
Yeah, my difficulty is that I can't go to school! DUH...
Then began recounting that there is NO such thing as lower immune system one week prior to menstrual, and that I must be facing with some difficulties in school, that I must be a naughty kid and this was my way of escaping school. With each sentence, the thundercloud on my dad's face was palpable. I was surprised that the doctor could be so blind as to continue on. The thing was I wasn't asking for medical leave every single month, I just wanted to GET BETTER! Something we (me and my dad) just couldn't get past his thick skull. I didn't get any good advise from him that day, but the good thing was that my dad went straight to purchasing Elken's Spirulina for me thus ending my sick spell.
And I try not to do it, but I consulted Dr Google after the consultation and a LOT of females complained of being weak or sick one week prior to menstrual.
2. When they don't know 2
The second case was when rashes started developing all over my face, I freaked out. And the following dialogue happened after waiting a few damn days just to see a doctor in Curtin Perth!!
Me : (Freaking out coz it is my FACE!!) Doc, take a look at this patch of itchy rashes! Last few days it was just a small dot on my lymph node and then it spread everywhere!
Doc : (Glance but not bothering to touch it incase it is contagious and spoils his perfect skin) Hmm...
Me : What is it?
Doc : Well... It could be fungi.
Me : (Omg... I am dirty!) *gasp* Couldn't it be allergy? (I am not that dirty bah!)
Doc : Well, it could be...
Me : *confused* then?
Doc : Hmm... I can't tell...
Me : (Top secret meh? Don't know mah say don't know la... ). Har? Totally NO ways of testing like maybe slice a small sample and test?
Doc : I can't tell...
Me : Freaking stupid doc!
Of course, I didn't say that la. But I get charged like $76 for such a consult without even recommendations for ointment or meds!?! Man, I could have cia my best friend to dinner in ciao Italia and we could binge on those tiramisu, chilli mussels and spaghetti and still have enough to tip that cute waiter! I just bet that doc won't even tip him coz he is cuter than him! Or just use that money to buy some major concealer and conceal it, for goodness sake! And in Malaysia, $75 x 3 would have been enough for me to do a blood test and then cia the doctor to lunch! I was outraged... Anyway afterwards, my hubby then pop me an allergy med and the rash disappeared real fast.
Note to docs : Menstrual and facial skin is very important to girls. I know I am not a dire patients in these examples, but I pay you all the same for your consult and I just expect maybe a small tub of respect for my discomfort.
3. They are human, after all...
In my third case, my friend who is obese and had an unhealthy attitude towards posture one day hurt his back. It wasn't the mild backache, those that are triggered by weather change and all that. His spine had in fact shifted and sometimes it can hurt like hell. When I helped him into the car, he was cursing and swearing like I was the devil. Though I couldn't fathom how much this was hurting him, I could imagine from his ashen face and cold sweat.
Initially, I bought him to an acupuncture clinic. The acupuncturist examine and was quick to pick up the abnormality of his spine and suggested remedial actions. But my friend wasn't too keen on chinese medicine so he ordered me to bring him to a proper clinic. So I did.
One step into the clinic though and we were both disappointed, don't get me wrong. The doc was so friendly. Before we even sat down, she was already talking about her experience with backaches. Like how when the weather changes, her joints hurt... bla bla bla... I was gritting my teeth, Shut up bitch! If you are in pain, go see a doctor! I didn't want to lose my temper then becoz I know how much my friend was hurting and that would be like the last thing he could handle. But we found ourselves dismissed really quick without the doc even touching him or examining his back, and get this, we didn't even get to SIT DOWN! Her advice : Get panadeine, painkiller.
Little need be said at this point, I drove him back to the acupuncturist.
4. Docs don't know everything, and it is WRONG to build a system that thinks they do.
This is sincerely my opinion. And this is with regards to my previous
blog about my friend who was admitted into the hospital. In that experience, the doctor or nurse who did the ultrasound on her wasn't the one who explained her situation to us. Everything was written on the chart, but is it?
In her case, after the ultrasound, she overheard the nurse mention to another nurse that there seems to be a huge cyst in the ovary. But this information was not relayed to us, instead the doc said 'we don't know why the ovary flipped over'.
Me : But why?
Doc : This things happened.
Then after the surgery, the nurse told us the operation was a success and that they removed a blood filled cyst which they found there. I was like 'har?' coz they didn't tell there was a cyst there in the first place! A lot of questions lingered in our heads until I recounted the event to my aunt, who happened to be a retired medical officer in Msia. She then went on to explain that cyst is a very normal occurrence. Only when the cyst grew to be too big in size that the ovary may be twisted, pulling and hurting the nerve and veins surrounding the ovary hence the abdominal pain. Normal ovaries don't go do somersaults like that.
How come these doctors and nurse was not able to recount to us the whole incident le? It is scary to think that they schedule a surgery without knowing what is going on (as indicated by the GP) and even scarier to think that a GP was the one explaining these things instead of the one performing the operation. Is this normal? Is it not scary to think that they made us sign the agreement to surgery without the surgeon telling us and showing us the ultrasound pic? I know the whole surgery is free under medicare and all that, is it that free equals bad system? Free equals not needing to up the system?
Anyway, the main lesson for me is prevention is better than cure. Taking better care of my health right now is better than complaining about some random docs. So I am still all about getting enough rest, drinking enough fluids and not taking any spicy and fried stuff.
But still, it is hard for me to simply trust a doc even in Oz. but if you have any good docs or clinic in Perth to recommend, pls drop me a comment below~! A good doc that doesn't necessary means better qualification and Mr know-it-all but one who is attentive, humble and observant. I do realize that doctors meet maybe hundreds of patients a day, but please don't treat everyone as one and the same.
