La versión en español está después de la versión en inglés.
Today has been quite a crappy day. I had to go to the lab to have blood drawn. I also had to deliver my pee that I collected for 24 hours. A little over a litre. I could go to the lab at the hospital, a 20-minute drive or the lab here in town, a 5-minute drive. San Geraldo dropped me off at the lab in town at 8:30 and I planned to have a nice walk back to Mesón Salvador where we would meet for breakfast. I took a number and waited 20 minutes to be called to the check-in desk where I would get another number for the lab.
The desk staff at the hospital are always pleasant. The desk staff at the center here in town are usually not. I got one of the always haughty ones. She took my information, spent a few minutes on the computer and then looked at me and said, “The lab doesn’t accept your insurance anymore.” “My insurance?” I asked. “Well, Sanitas,” she said, “since a few days ago.” “Can I pay?” I asked. “No.” “Well, how am I supposed to get my lab work done for my doctor at the hospital?” “You can get it done at the hospital.” I asked if she knew why things had changed and she said she didn’t.
I took my litre of pee off the counter, phoned San Geraldo who came and picked me up, and we drove to Benalmádena to start over. Everyone there was very pleasant. I gave the nurse the pee jug and she gave me a cup. She needed another sample. I wondered why she couldn’t just pour off a little. I was in a foul mood when we returned home and I finally had breakfast at 11:00. I went back to bed at 12:30 and got up for lunch at 1:30.
After lunch, I walked to the pharmacy to fill all my prescriptions. I’ll be out of a couple of things tomorrow. I got the one mostly unhelpful, personality-less technician in our large pharmacy. I gave him my public health card and said I wanted to get whatever I had available. He took my card and said, “I don’t think you have anything available.” “Excuse me?” “It won’t come up,” he said as he pointed to his computer screen. “My card or your system?” I asked. “The computer,” he said and added, “Try later.”
I left and walked up the hill to another pharmacy. My legs were not enjoying the walk today, but I pushed myself. When I stepped up to the counter with my card, the technician said, “I’m so sorry. The entire system is down everywhere. It should be up in an hour or so.” Ah.
I made a side trip to the Scandinavian market to pick up some more Ocean Spray sugar-free cranberry juice. They were all out. “Maybe it will come in tomorrow’s delivery. Maybe not.”
I bought a chocolate bar.
By the way, sorry I failed to mention that I’m supposed to be scheduled for a kidney biopsy. I knew before I left the hospital but I think I wasn’t much in the mood to go into more detail by that point. Also, if this is all I have to complain about, I should probably just shut up and eat my chocolate.
Hoy ha sido un día bastante malo. Tuve que ir al laboratorio para que me sacaran sangre. También tuve que entregar mi pipí que recogí durante 24 horas. Un poco más de un litro. Podría ir al laboratorio del hospital, a 20 minutos en auto, o al laboratorio aquí en la ciudad, a 5 minutos en auto. San Geraldo me dejó en el laboratorio de la ciudad a las 8:30 y planeé dar una agradable caminata de regreso al Mesón Salvador donde nos encontraríamos para desayunar. Tomé un número y esperé 20 minutos hasta que me llamaron al mostrador de facturación, donde conseguirían otro número para el laboratorio.
El personal de recepción del hospital siempre es agradable. El personal de recepción del centro aquí en la ciudad normalmente no lo es. Me quedé con uno de los siempre altivos. Ella tomó mi información, pasó unos minutos en la computadora y luego me miró y dijo: “El laboratorio ya no acepta su seguro”. “¿Mi seguro?” yo pregunté. “Pues Sanitas”, dijo, “desde hace unos días”. “¿Puedo pagar?” yo pregunté. “No”. “Bueno, ¿cómo se supone que debo hacerle los análisis de laboratorio a mi médico en el hospital?” “Puedes hacerlo en el hospital”.
Cogí mi litro de pis, llamé a San Geraldo que vino a recogerme y nos fuimos a Benalmádena para empezar de nuevo. Todos allí fueron muy agradables. Le di a la enfermera la jarra para orinar y ella me dio una taza. Necesitaba otra muestra. Me pregunté por qué no podía simplemente desahogarse un poco, pero no discutí. Estaba de mal humor cuando regresamos a casa y finalmente desayuné a las 11:00. Me volví a acostar a las 12:30 y me levanté para almorzar a la 1:30.
Después del almuerzo, caminé hasta la farmacia para surtir todas mis recetas. Mañana me quedaré sin un par de cosas. Conseguí al único técnico, en su mayoría inútil y sin personalidad, en nuestra gran farmacia con una multitud de excelente personal. Le entregué mi tarjeta sanitaria pública y le dije que quería conseguir todo lo que tuviera disponible. Tomó mi tarjeta y dijo: “No creo que tengas nada disponible”. “¿Perdon?” “No aparece”, dijo mientras señalaba la pantalla de su computadora. “¿Mi tarjeta o su sistema?” yo pregunté. “El ordenador”, dijo y agregó, “Inténtalo más tarde”.
Salí y subí la colina hasta otra farmacia. Mis piernas no disfrutaban la caminata hoy, pero me esforcé. Cuando me acerqué al mostrador con mi tarjeta, el técnico dijo: “Lo siento mucho. Todo el sistema está caído. Debería estar listo en aproximadamente una hora”. Ah.
Hice un viaje al mercado escandinavo para comprar más jugo de arándano sin azúcar Ocean Spray. Estaban todos fuera. “Tal vez llegue en la entrega de mañana. Tal vez no.”
Compré una barra de chocolate.
By the way, sorry I failed to mention that I’m supposed to be scheduled for a kidney biopsy. I knew before I left the hospital but I think I wasn’t much in the mood to go into more detail by that point. Also, if this is all I have to complain about, I should probably just shut up and eat my chocolate.
Dr boud agreeing some days are like that. Much effort to little avail.
Boud:
It DID finally become comical.
Oh ONE OF THOSE DAYS!!
Sorry you had to go through that, Mitchell.
More rest always helps…….at least around here anyway.
Jim:
I’m tired of resting, but it did help yesterday.
Feel free to scream at the wind. You can complain all you want. And your health, is your health, share what you want, and not what you don’t. Hugs from Barcelona.
David:
Thanks.
On a positive note, I love the photo you shared with this post. Those memes are some of the best!
Kelly:
I have a collection of memes sent to me by my late and great friend, Susan. Every so often one just jumps out at me.
Scoot, are you sure you weren’t actually at the DMV? How on earth did you manage to get over a liter of pee in 24 hours? What are you drinking and how often? Just thinking out loud, no need to answer. Hugs.
Deedles:
I am currently one big water balloon! I normally drink 3+ litres of water a day.
Why are there no backup plans when computers go down? Most of what you described wouldn’t have even involved a computer a few decades ago.
Kirk:
This was actually at minimum a region-wide problem. The pharmacies couldn’t connect to the central public health system which is where the prescriptions are managed.
Message me , I want details
finlaygray:
No details yet. Nephrologic syndrome. I’ll know more Friday when I see nephrologist again. Argh!
It’s always something, unless it’s always a lot!
Oy, what a day … I’d have crawled back in bed, too, and pulled the covers over my head!
Bob:
And I suppose if that’s the worst life is giving me right now, I’m extremely lucky. Still… why is it…
Some days, it just ain’t worth getting out of bed, and Mondays seem to be very prominent in that category, LOL! I’ve generally found Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays to be the most conducive to getting stuff done, be it medical, errands or dealing with government employees…
Tundra:
I have to walk over to the pharmacy again shortly. If that same tech is the one I get, I’ll wait for the next one. My only unpleasant chore today is phoning KB’s office about his phone… oh and his ID which he said expired in February. Uf!
Note to self: don’t get ill in Spain. Jx
Jon:
Is the National Health better?
Oh, Mitch! That’s a terrible set of really annoying occurrences, and you have every right to complain and be frustrated!
Judy
Judy C:
By last night, it was laughable.
I think we all had one of those days. I don’t know why I didn’t follow my own advice and stay in bed with a Bloody Mary, a South Americans and my inhalation beads and call it a metal health day.
Mistress Borghese:
I could have stayed in bed with a Spaniard. Easy to find. That would have done the trick.
YOU DESERVE THAT CHOCOLATE BAR! Some days are just one long aggravating waste of time.
Debra:
It’s good chocolate, too!
Hi Mitch, I think you’ll understand that I don’t push the “like”-button today…! Stay OK and greetz from Perth.
Jan from Perth:
Thanks for popping in. Yeah, “like” is an awkward selection some days.
Anonymous was Jan from Perth.
Ugh. “Mama said there’d be days like this,” as the song goes. It’s kind of weirdly funny that you were carrying around a liter of pee and they still needed you to give another sample. Maybe they wanted it fresh?
Is Sanitas private insurance or a government plan? I wonder why the clinic no longer accepts it?
If these things happened to us here we’d blame it on Brexit, but I guess you don’t have that excuse. 🙂
Steve:
I laughed when the nurse gave me the cup. I told her I didn’t have any more. Sanitas is exceptional private insurance. I was told Sanitas no longer accepts the clinic. I have no clue. The person at the hospital didn’t know and thought maybe Sanitas didn’t want the extra work, but that doesn’t make much sense. I plan to phone Sanitas and find out what’s going on. Although I’m grateful for the care I’ve received at the hospital and medical center, I’m much more impressed in general with Sanitas than I am with Vithas (the centers). Vithas doesn’t think through processes and communications efficiently and can make everything much more confusing than it needs to be.
That SUCKS! I’m sorry Mitchell. You certainly deserved your chocolate!
Jennifer:
And SG got to enjoy it, too!
Seems like pharmacies around the world are having issues with communicating (i.e. hacks) these days. And nasty and unhelpful employees…also a universal issue.
As for the meme at the top, it looks very similar to a mouse pad I had in my office (at a religious organization) which I kept somewhat hidden on my under-desk keyboard tray. It read, “And they call me a bitch likes its a bad thing.”
One always needs humor to keep upright…as your day proved all too well. Thinking of you.
Mary
Mary:
All was well at the pharmacy today and I got one of the very pleasant, helpful, and professional staff this time. My friend Susan sent me that meme (and many others) and I’ve been saving it for just the right time. Susan also sent me “they call me a bitch like it’s a bad thing,” and she was the administrator of a Lutheran church.
Having health issues is only part of it…having to navigate a health system fraught with uncaring or uncouth humans just compounds it. I often find myself wishing my ailments on those who treat me poorly for having the audacity to get sick and need help.
Sassybear:
Our niece is currently having a serious health issue. She was diagnosed months ago and is still waiting to discuss next steps and to begin treatment. Her long awaited appointment just got rescheduled to June. Infuriating.
It’s gotten to the point for me that when I do encounter really good and caring health care on any level from receptionist to practitioner, I praise them as much as I feel can be done appropriately. It is not an easy field to work in but it seems to me that it’s mostly systems and not people who are at fault. Sometimes though…it’s the people. I’m sorry you had such a suck of a day that involved both being a mess.
I have one of those meme magnets that says, “Has anyone seen my hormones?”
Ms. Moon
MsMoon:
I agree with you about the systems being at fault. In the case of our medical center, the problem is also leadership. Someone is not setting a standard for staff nor encouraging them. It seems often to be a free-for-all. Clearly management at the hospital have made expectations clear and are helping staff to meet those expectations. The staff seem happy and to get along well with each other. It’s busy, hectic, can feel overwhelming, but staff are always patient (and oh do they need patience), professional, and pleasant. I’ve never seen the hormones meme!
Navigating the fragmented health care system in the USA is just as much a challenge…or perhaps even more so. Or is the real issue as we age fragmented health?
I don’t know why I’m anonymous!
Frank:
Fragmented healthcare. Absolutely!
I think complain all you like Mitchell – crappy day…
bodhisattvaintraining:
I could have really let loose, but just describing the day made it less unpleasant.