Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The 'world's greatest health care system' and Winslow hospital are failing my daughter

My 13 year old went to Winslow hospital on Monday because she is experiencing flu-like symptoms.

Did they actually bother to test her? No.

They said that the CDC has told them not to bother with the blood work but that people should 'assume' it is the swine flu and drink plenty of fluids. UPDATE: AS OF TODAY (OCT. 15) THE STATE FLU LAB IS REFUSING TO TEST ANY MORE SAMPLES except for people who have already died or who are very very sick. They can't keep up with the demand.

Did they admit her? No.

They said she should just stay home and sent her away.

Did they give her any medicine? No.

What happened to all that Tamiflu that was supposed to be being stockpiled for when people actually need it? I know that Senator Collins cut the pandemic preparedness funding out of the stimulus, but the least they could do would be to give her a prescription that we could shop around for it.

They told her to follow up with her doctor. But the doctor's office is overwhelmed, and they can't get her in until Thursday.

So is what they told her to do working? No.

Despite taking tylenol and ibuprofen, her fever has gone up, last night it was at 103 degrees. This morning she was coughing and having trouble just breathing.

So this is how the World's Best Health Care System is supposed to function (and by the way, we DO have health insurance) ???

6 comments:

Kyle Huwer said...

As I understand it, influenza is not curable. Sure, you can lessen it, but you can't snuff it out of existence. So do you think it is safe to say that we are going to have to deal with the flu for a wile?

According to this site here (http://ezinearticles.com/?Dreaded-Incurable-Diseases-List&id=1193637)
Influenza: Millions of people across the world get affected with this disease. Also known as flu or grippe, influenza is an acute respiratory tract infection caused by a virus that belongs to the orthomyxoviridae family of viruses. Influenza viruses present the biggest challenge to the medical world as these viruses are capable of undergoing frequent evolutionary changes, a process better known as antigenic drift and shift. As a result, one set of influenza virus is drastically different from another. Hence, it is becoming increasingly impossible to device vaccines or develop drugs that can counter this infection.

It seems to clearly indicate that it is impossible to develop drugs/vaccines to counter the flu.

So if your daughter is sick and the doctors standard response is to tell her to get rest and drink fluids, do you doubt their expertise?

Eli Blake said...

Kyle,

Cure? no. Treat? yes.

There are antiviral drugs that they were supposedly stockpiling just for this occasion. Where are they?

sandyh said...

Perhaps the epidemic is hitting before the medical community expected? Or perhaps they are expecting a lot more cases and are trying to determine with these first cases how much treatment is really necessary?

There is a real concern that we have used anti-biotics too much especially with children in the last generation and that a bug will come along soon that doesn't respond to anything.

But I don't see the wisdom in letting too many young people get so sick they end up in the ICU instead of giving them milder treatment when the disease has obviously progressed to a certain point. It doesn't help that we all end up in crowded emergency rooms either.

Who knows what normal is any longer. The world's population is so large that these viruses mutate faster than we can keep up with them. The way some of these viruses are crossing species is more than a little disturbing.

I hope your daughter has turned the bend and is getting stronger.

Vivi said...

Wow Kyle, question a doctor's expertise? Because they are all Gods right? As has already been stated, there are methods for dealing with the flu, and it sound's like Eli's daughter had a lazy Dr. I don't know her age, but it would appear to me, as seen in recent weeks, that young people should be extremely cautious and have a higher rate of fatality if it is indeed N1H1. Hope she is doing better.

By they way, I've added your blog to my Google reader after following your comments on Rum, Romanism and Rebellion. ;)

Anonymous said...

@Vivi: If I doctor says something to you you can either take their word for granted or get another opinion. As the OP'er took their word at value and that is their decision. Right?

If they wanted to, they could have obtained a second opinion - but they did not. I'm not faulting blogger here, I am simply saying that I am not sure we can say that this is an example of a bad health care system as the blogger implied of this incident.

Either way, the responsibility of what you do or do not do with your body is still your responsibility, right?

Eli, I do hope your daughter is better!

Eli Blake said...

Thanks for the sentiment.

She is better. As far as a 'second opinion,' if you read through the post you will see where I pointed out that while she went in on Monday last week she could not get into the doctor until Thursday (the sheer number of cases is overwhelming.) Luckily she survived on her own but you can't get a 'second opinion' unless they schedule you (I suppose we could have driven an hour further down the road to the next ER in Flagstaff, but that's hardly a way to get a 'second opinion.')