hi friends ,up date on my broken wrist , 8:30 Monday morning I arrived at hospital for x ray ,sat waiting for hours left at 11:30 , went to Dr's office sat waiting to be squeezed in 1pm saw DR and was sent to specialist same story had to sit waiting [ was told not to eat or drink , in case I was sent straight to theatre , so also hadn't had any medication] saw specialist at around 2pm, was told I needed to have wrist pulled and a cast put on , told I would have to be booked into hospital but has there were no beds available , I would have to sit at reception and wait , after much whining on my part , the DR agreed I could go home and have a banana and some juice , and the hospital would phone me when a bed was ready , sat waiting till 7pm decided I really had , had enough and made supper , a lovely coffee and pain medication , because I had been in agony all day , climbed into bed at around 8:15 exhausted , the hospital phoned at 8:30 pm and said they now have a bed available , at which time I threw all my toys out of the cot and told them , I wasn't prepared to be jerked around anymore thank you very much. short story , the Specialist phoned me the next day at 4:30 and told me he was really worried and if I came to his office he could put a cast on , when I got there his receptionist gave me a prescription to take to the hospital pharmacy , for the cast , go to pharmacy and was told they were out of stock , and that I would have to go to casualty and be booked in , but would have to wait for a bed !,well friends you have no idea what a volcano of anger erupted from me ! normally a very easy going lady , got ushered through to casualty and a cast was put on in 15min flat. got a phone call today from reception at specialist , asked how my wrist was feeling and also they don't except medical aids so could I come in and pay the R350. which I came claim back from my medical aid. 4 days to get a cast , 5 min to get the bill.

omg! You poor thing! I thought it was bad here but when I broke my wrist this past September, the ER took me right in and I waited about 45 minutes for the specialist. He set it right there and put the cast on. Then I went home with instructions for followup care. It was about 3-4 hours total and I was exhausted. I can't imagine going through all that you did. Good for you that you finally lost patience and erupted! I wouldn't have waited that long myself. I'm so glad that experience is behind you now. Time for healing, rest and comfort. I'll keep you in my prayers as I know how painful a broken wrist is. Take care and please keep us posted!
Meri

OMG That was a nightmare!! I can't believe how bad it is getting here. The future medical scenario in SA terrifies me. Anyway, hang-in there and get better soon.

Oh my that is terrible i am so blessed to live in Canada !!Hugs and prayers for you Carolyn

They should have paid YOU for all you went thru... so sorry for your bad painful days... flowers to all

You should be given a Medal for keeping calm for as long as you did, i'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to stay cool and calm for that long. I hope you give the doctor an earful as well seeing he didn't even put the cast on..

Wow! Unfortunately. I am not surprised. I have heard way too many stories. You have every excuse to just take it easy for a few minutes, hours or days... whatever it takes to get you back to full function.

I know that you live in SA - I cannot believe you were treated so badly and totally without feeling. No wonder you lost your rag and quite right too. Hope all of this is behind you soon. Just rest and get well. Hugs Sarah.

UNBELIEVABLE ! I am afraid I would have lost my cool a lot sooner. Pain makes me a raven lunatic.

2 comments

by dennis999 14 Mar 2014

Come on now, Angie..........I can't believe that of you......lol

by crafter2243 15 Mar 2014

Believe it. Ha, ha

I am so sorry that you had such a terrible time. Has your medical treatment always been this difficult or has it just gotten worse over time?

I am so sorry about that. I know what you have gone thru. I hope you feel better soon. Hugs DeVon

I can only offer condolences and hugs. That was such an ordeal!

Wow! Lesley, what an absolute debacle! I am so sorry you had to wait such an inordinate length of time to get properly seen to. I'm afraid we have too little staff and not enough money spent on health care and as we all age it's going to get worse. And Ann is right (ribblev) we have a good Medicare system here in Australia, but!!!! Love Chris

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I am so sorry to learn of your distressing treatment and wish you a speedy and full recovery. Others have rightly commented that we should expect so much more, living in developed countries as we do but the sad reality is that we each appear to be facing an ever-worsening service. Here in the UK, we have had a series of truly appalling institutional standards of care that have come to light in recent years and across virtually all regional health authorities. A day does not go by without another stone being turned and more coming to light. My mother-in-law passed away a few years back as a direct result of her consultant not bothering to study the scans he had ordered on her.
We do have to stand our ground and fight these people. I would certainly take issue with the charges being levied in this particular case when clearly they were not fit for purpose.
Rant over............................and wishing you well.

Oh my goodness, I am so sorry the way they treated you! I would have been livid too, good luck with your wrist and hope you heal as fast as possible.

My goodness, how's your blood pressure?. I'm surprised you aren't up on a murder charge after that run around. Whatever is happening to our health systems around the 'developed' countries, we fork out good money for years only to find when you need the services the goal posts have been moved yet again. Hope you feel better for letting off steam about your experiences, each country seems to be having problems......and we have Medicare here in Australia!!!............Ann

That whole thing is TOTALLY ridiculous and uncalled for----and you STILL HAD TO PAY FOR IT...God bless and heal you TOTALLY:):):)

This one is covered by what I tried to teach my teenaged sons (way back when). ''Life is weird and then you die." I'm sorry you got treated so badly and met such an unfortunate series of circumstances. Maybe in ten years, you will have reframed it into a funny story?

I cringe hearing your story. I know it will be like this in the US all too soon. What a shame you were shoved all over for so long for a procedure that could have been done quickly and not put you at risk for further injury.

1 comment

by osueo 13 Mar 2014

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO my---did you say THAT!!!!!!!!!!!
My husband spent 20 years in the Marine Corps and was promised FREE MEDICAL CARE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE AND ME TOO!!!!That stopped through NO fault of his or mine---politics, power, money, broken promises, you name it or call it whatever you want!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And now that I have vented-------God bless y'all from the Commonwealth!!!

oh dear, what a story. Hope it helps you can vent here at Cute...
have a good healing process, big hug for you )))

What a nightmare! I think you were a model of patience. I don't know how you lasted as long as you did. Although, the procedure that you are describing in the U.S. would have been over $1000.00 which converts to approximately R10801.
I'm afraid that our medical care is going to come to that soon in the U.S. Right now, I know my doctor personally, although he's about to retire, and that will change things also. As we age, it's going to be worse and worse, I fear.

2 comments

by katydid 13 Mar 2014

What country does she live in? We are headed for this same type treatment here in USA. I have had 3 Drs retire because of upcoming medical regulations. One Dr. turned her patients medical records over to another Dr and He refuses to take medicare as medicare does not pay the Dr enough for them to waste their time with such small reimbursements and paper work nightmares. Kay

by jrob 14 Mar 2014

She is in South Africa. I'm afraid of what is going to happen here.

forgot to say , only sat on bed while they put the cast on!

Oh my gosh!!! This sounds as bad as what happens with Dr.s, hospital and billing in the USA. I am in health care as an RN/patient advocate. I know and understand your justifiable anger. Prayers going up for your wrist AND your blood pressure. Blessings.