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Man I Hate Being Statesian (lemmygrad.ml)
submitted 1 week ago by to c/comradeship@lemmygrad.ml
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The healthcare here is so awful people have developed a cultural conditioning to be afraid of medical care. I've had a handful of experiences in the last month and I can never imagine how miserable it must be to go through it constantly if you're infirmed or disabled. And I'm supposed to have 'good' health insurance.

Recently I had an old injury in my wrist flare up and it has kept me from doing any form of actual physical activity that keeps me in shape. All the orthopedics in the area are either never able to pick up the phone despite making $300k+ per year, or are out of network entirely. If I'm gonna get it looked at, I better get it looked at soon because we paid our deductible this year after my father almost lost his hand.

Aside from the wrist pain, I've recently wanted to get tested for a couple mental conditions. Everyone who's ever been close to me (other than my parents) kind of believes I'm neurodivergent of some sort. My ex girlfriend, current girlfriend, sister, and closest friends are pretty much convinced I have ASD. I involuntarily stim by rocking back and forth, whispering my words back to myself, and flicking my hands, if I'm not looking for it, I don't understand sarcasm, and when I was a kid all I ever wanted to talk about was bugs, sharks, and science. I took the RAADS-R and CAT-Q tests online and my results were essentially so high I've been considering getting tested for some time now. I also have ADHD in my family history. Problem is, my family wouldn't be so thrilled about me getting an exam for Autism, so I tried to soften the blow by asking for an ADHD exam, hoping that I could communicate my issue to the test practitioner and get them to subtly 'recommend' an autism exam for me. For like three or four days my mom was trying to discourage me from 'getting on medication' and repeatedly explained why she believed it was unlikely for me to have ADHD until I dropped the issue.

I tried to get around having to go through their insurance by asking my college to see if I could get diagnosed through the school because they'd never see that charge. When I finally got into the psychology department and asked the front desk about examinations, they said it'd cost me $300 and it would take several months to get off the waitlist. In no world can I afford that, so I decided I'll just live in ignorance for now.

Christ, add this last week to the mile long list of reasons why, if I could change one thing about the past, I'd drill a damn hole into Columbus' boat. I can't wait till I move out of here.

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[–] 22 points 1 week ago (6 children)

Medical treatment is just an absolute scam and racket and I've never met a doctor who actually cares about their patients. It took them nearly 4 years to diagnose my cancer because they kept refusing to do tests, telling me I was just depressed or just a hypochondriac. The only reason I got diagnosed in the end was because my employer paid for me to get tested at a private hospital. That's just the tip of the iceberg. It took 17 years, yes SEVENTEEN years of begging before they sent me for tests to find out what is wrong with my bladder and I'm still on the waiting list for surgery for that, god knows how many years I will have to wait. And don't even get me started on physiotherapy, years of this nonsense hasn't made a difference, I still can't walk properly or do basic things after my stroke. Everything got so bad I made a suicide attempt, I was in intensive care for 5 days, then discharged with no further help, asked for therapy and ended up on the waiting list for 5 years before being given 8 sessions of absolute nonsense therapy then discharged. Then the government wonders why there are so many incapacitated people who can't work.

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  • [–] 13 points 6 days ago* (3 children)

    My theory is every doctor is given more patients than they can possibly care about, so they become as alienated from their work as any factory worker. Healthcare is an assembly line. They care as much about their patients as I care about the car parts I make.

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  • [–] 12 points 6 days ago (2 children)

    My theory is that people don't go into medicine because they care but for the status of the job, or because their parents pressured them into it.

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  • [–] 10 points 6 days ago (1 child)

    That definitely plays a role, but it really depends on where they work and what they're specialized in. They can work incredibly long hours because hospitals want to have as few workers on staff as possible in order to minimize costs. Almost no one in medicine is working as little as 40 hours a week, most are working 49-58 hours on average and some are working up to 80 hours a week. In those conditions, where's the room for care? You're a car part on an assembly line to them.

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  • [–] [S] 10 points 6 days ago* (1 child)

    That's awful, but I guess what's new for the healthcare systems of the West? I've known people who've been denied pain meds for hours because the doctors think they're just 'junkies' looking for a 'fix' instead of real people in real pain. The lack of care doctors have for their patients is a real issue everywhere that doctors are minted, especially in the US where the average salary is hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. By virtue of being around many members of the petty-bourgeoisie during my upbringing, I've known many of them decide to go to med school — not for fulfillment or to save or improve lives, but rather for nothing more than greed. Like seriously, most of these people have no aspirations, no interest in a 'valuable' field like engineering or something. Instead, they'd rather go into medicine solely for money. The way some of these people talk about playing with peoples lives like it's an investment decision is honestly disgusting. That's who these doctors are.

    I know it's not much of a consolation, but I couldn't imagine where I could find the strength to keep going if I had to deal with half of the shit you put up with in that comment. Stay strong comrade, we are here for you <3.

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  • [–] 12 points 6 days ago

    When I was having my stroke, I was sitting in the hospital ward's waiting room all day long. During that time my period started, and despite asking multiple doctors and nurses, none brought me paracetamol or a pad. So I was sitting there all day, having a stroke, drenched in my own blood and in horrible pain, being totally ignored. They just do not care at all. It's the tip of the iceberg, so much other stuff like this happened.

    Thanks for the moral support, this is the only place I find any.

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