Burned my hand on the stove. Went to the ER. Wasnāt even taken in. I was taken into a side room where they put a simple burn cream on my fingers that we later got at the store for $5, then they wrapped it in gauze, which again we later bought for $5, then was told thereās nothing else they can do because the burns arenāt that bad because theyāre 2nd degree burns so it just hurts and sent me home. Received a bill for $3000 dollars. For $5 dollar cream and $5 dollar bandages. Fuck the healthcare system.
Then a few months later, I went in for severe abdominal pain. It had been going on for about 3 days and I hate hospitals so I was stubborn about going. Got to the point that I couldnāt take the pain anymore. My mom took me in and after like 2 hours they brought me in for the doctor to walk up to my bed and say itās my mentrual cramps. I insisted that it wasnāt. There was no way it was my cramps. I know what my cramps feel like. This was 1000% worse and was constantly increasing. The doctor tried to lecture me saying that sometimes theyāre irregular and vary in pain and that there was nothing wrong with me. He did this for 30 minutes, refusing to listen to me.
My mom was fed up by that point. She was letting me do the talking because she knows Iām responsible enough to handle this and I was the one feeling the pain and could describe it better than she could but she could tell that the doctor saw me as a dumb 17 year old girl who needed to be taught a lesson or something. She could see the doctor didnāt respect me so spoke up and said āIf my daughter says itās not her cramps then itās not her cramps. You havenāt done any tests on her. All thatās happened was she listed her symptoms at reception where she was made to wait for 2 hours in extreme pain while there was only 3 other people in the waiting room with mild concerns who were seen before her. You walked in a minute after she was brought back here and decided it was her cramps based off of nothing. You havenāt even examined her yet.ā The doctor insisted there wasnāt a need to because it was just my cramps. I was in so much pain that I threatened to stab him with my moms knitting needle if he didnāt do something to help me. Still nothing. So then my mom said āYou have 30 seconds to order some tests, examine her, and give her something for the pain or else Iām going to call our lawyer.ā
That made him do something. He ordered testing and bloodwork and gave me something for my pain. When the nurse showed up to take me to my first test this doctor had the nerve to say āTake her in for a CT. Itās just her menstrual cramps but theyāre insisting.ā After all the tests were done I was waiting for another hour simply because the doctor didnāt want to face me. We could him just standing at the nursing station. He hadnāt moved from there the whole time after receiving the results. Not even to see other patients. So my mom complained to a nurse. The head ER doctor had to drag him over to me where he then sheepishly explained that it was indeed not my cramps and that I had a large growth on my ovary that needed to be removed within two weeks or I might not survive.
He then denied me surgery. I didnāt have insurance and the gyno had left for the night already. I told him to bring in the on call so we could get this done. He refused. I reminded him that in cases of emergency, lack of insurance is required to be overlook and surgery has to be performed regardless. He still refused saying it wasnāt an emergency. āYou said I have two weeks to live. How is that not an emergency?ā He ultimately refused me life saving surgery and sent me home to die just because his pride was hurt. My mom had to take me to the childrenās hospital a few hours after we got home.
They immediately saw me and did a test. After which they came in and said that I require emergency surgery and that I was to be taken to my own room upstairs and that I had the first surgery spot in the morning at 9am. My mom mentioned my lack of insurance. The doctor said that wasnāt a problem. This was an emergency situation, therefore they had to perform the surgery by law. And the doctor had submitted my case to administration where I was immediately granted to receive help from the childrenās foundation at the hospital so the operation was paid for. My left ovary and left Fallopian tube both had to be removed. We only got a bill from the childrenās hospital for $1000 which was all that was left to pay out of the $65,000 for the surgery because the foundation paid for most of it. The nurse had helped my mom set me up for Obamacare while we were there so I was given insurance which paid another large portion of it. $1000 was all that was left for us to take care of.
A month later we received a bill from the first hospital, the one that denied me life saving emergency surgery after the doctor insisted that I just had menstrual cramps. It was $20,000. My mom called and explained what had happened there and that we wouldnāt pay. They insisted that we had to. So my mom said they had two options. Either they cancel the bill or we would call our lawyers and sue them for malpractice because first they misdiagnosed me after not even bothering to examine me, then denied me emergency surgery because the doctorās ego was damaged. They cancelled the bill. I will never go to that hospital and ever again. I still use the childrenās hospital even though Iām an adult now because they have a section for adults.