My son was caught between the devil and the deep blue sea in the last 24 hours. He messaged me to say heād been bedridden for 48 hours with a throat infection. 6 hours later he messaged to say heād taken himself to a nearby hospital Emergency Department. His glands had swollen, he had difficulty speaking and he was short of breath. He was pretty stressed and his experience over the next 6 to 7 hours only compounded his stress.
This is a rundown of the events.
The receptionist became frustrated with him because she couldnāt understand him. She told him to ātell the doctor!ā that he had recently arrived from overseas despite the sign indicating that you should advise the receptionist.
The nurse who triaged him didnāt examine him. Aware that he was a foreigner he was advised by the nurse that the cost of seeing him would be around $1,000. I canāt help but think that this was to discourage him from seeking assistance.
He was then left sitting in the waiting area for a number of hours.
Eventually a nurse examined him and advised him that his airway was so swollen that it was almost closed. He knew that because he was having difficulty breathing. This nurse gave him some āmouth washā to gargle as well as some pain relief. He was told there were people ahead of him and he would not be admitted but treated in emergency.
This was around 5 hours after arrival. It provided him with some relief. About an hour or so later he got sick of waiting and left the hospital satisfied he was still hours away from being seen.
He messaged me to say he was going to a nearby GP clinic to seek assistance. He told me later that he was treated with more care as a result. He has a really severe case of tonsillitis which was my google researched diagnosis.
It cost him $170 for the consultation and $32 for the medication. He was given a course of penicillin to treat the condition. Why? As an Australian living in Canada it takes 48 hours to get approval to prescribe antibiotics!
Not only is my son really ill he is really shaken by his experience. He wants to come home. Hopefully his mood will improve as his condition resolves itself with rest and treatment.
Itās not great feeling as helpless as the family did over the past 24 hours.
This is a rundown of the events.
The receptionist became frustrated with him because she couldnāt understand him. She told him to ātell the doctor!ā that he had recently arrived from overseas despite the sign indicating that you should advise the receptionist.
The nurse who triaged him didnāt examine him. Aware that he was a foreigner he was advised by the nurse that the cost of seeing him would be around $1,000. I canāt help but think that this was to discourage him from seeking assistance.
He was then left sitting in the waiting area for a number of hours.
Eventually a nurse examined him and advised him that his airway was so swollen that it was almost closed. He knew that because he was having difficulty breathing. This nurse gave him some āmouth washā to gargle as well as some pain relief. He was told there were people ahead of him and he would not be admitted but treated in emergency.
This was around 5 hours after arrival. It provided him with some relief. About an hour or so later he got sick of waiting and left the hospital satisfied he was still hours away from being seen.
He messaged me to say he was going to a nearby GP clinic to seek assistance. He told me later that he was treated with more care as a result. He has a really severe case of tonsillitis which was my google researched diagnosis.
It cost him $170 for the consultation and $32 for the medication. He was given a course of penicillin to treat the condition. Why? As an Australian living in Canada it takes 48 hours to get approval to prescribe antibiotics!
Not only is my son really ill he is really shaken by his experience. He wants to come home. Hopefully his mood will improve as his condition resolves itself with rest and treatment.
Itās not great feeling as helpless as the family did over the past 24 hours.
