#healthcare: a rant

[encryptedlunacy]

Healthcare Professionals Actually Suck: ✨️~An Experience~✨️

Storytime because this is actually insane-

So quick summary: yesterday I had my first appointment with my physio therapist who, to put it mildly, was a complete prick.

(It says on my file that I'm restricted to gentle excercise only because I'm only just starting out with my treatment/medication and they've confirmed deterioration of my joints in xrays)

So when my physio therapist asks me to do something, even though it is causing me pain, I figure that these directions and orders are something I should follow - because he's the professional right? - so this guy is checking my extensions and mechanics, running physical strength tests, etc, and says that I can over-extend my knees and elbows, etc:

Me: Yeah a few doctors recently have mentioned that I might have hypermobility-

Physio: NO, you AREN'T HYPERMOBILE, I'm just stating the difference between your two knees!

(Now I have never been diagnosed as double-jointed, etc, so I just believe him and try and ignore the fact he's just yelled at me and keep doing as he's asked)

Eventually he assigns me this excercise because my "shoulders are weak" - his words - and he has me use this elastic band to go over my hands to stretch out and pull my arms upwards, which basically makes my elbow shriek like the devil and I have to stop.

Me: is it supposed to hurt?

Physio: Well of course your muscles will ache when you're excercising!

Me, having built up strength on another doctor's orders and knowing damn well what the difference is: No, I mean is it supposed to hurt my joints? Like my elbow, I mean.

Physio, exasperated and condescending: well will it hurt all day?

Me: yes

Physio, throws his arms up in the air, grabs the band off of me and tosses it on to his desk as he slumps into his chair and starts typing furiously into his computer: Well forget it then!

- and then he said my body and joints were fine and I didn't need any physio therapy whatsoever because there was nothing wrong with me 🙃

AND HERE'S WHAT GETS ME-

I had another appointment today with a pediatrist and he did some mechanics and extensions tests, etc.

Pediatrist: Hey, you have hypermobility! You're double-jointed, and since you're already at risk of osteoarthritis because of your RA, this could cause you some serious problems in the future!

Me: What? But the physiotherapist yesterday said I didn't and dismissed me from physiotherapy?

Pediatrist: He did what-

- Anyway, I'm now getting rockerbottom shoes to protect my already damaged joints from aggravating themselves further, and launching a formal complaint because that physiotherapist also told me I shouldn't be using my stick on the side that provides me with the most balance and support because he thinks what's best for me is using it on the other side, which I've tried and tested and does not work, and this launched a 15 minute argument. Don't wanna go with the "he started it" thing but I was not the one yelling in that office...

TLDR; I got dismissed from physio cos a therapist 1. didn't read my file and 2. had a temper tantrum when his uninformed opinion didn't work. My pediatrist set the record straight for me the next day.

What a fun week I'm having, and it's only Tuesday!

[yrrtyrrtwhenihrrthrrt]

In light of Brian Thompson being shot dead on my birthday (🎉🥳🎂) I'd like to share a personal story about UnitedHealthcare.

During the peak of COVID, my family all got sick. I couldn't be on my parents' insurance because they were both older and on Medicare. So, I had insurance through my University: UnitedHealthcare.

For some reason, rather than roll-over each year, I got a new plan each year that ended after May and didn't start until August, so I was uninsured for the summer months, but it was a weird situation that the university denied, and told us we were supposed to be insured year-round, it was messy.

Both of my parents went to the hospital, and I got sick too. I had to take care of my pets, and myself, and try to stay alive and keep my pets alive when I was so weak I could hardly move. When my parents came home, my condition got dramatically worse (I think my body knew it couldn't give out, because there was nobody to take care of me, so once my parents were okay, it completely crashed and failed.)

I started experiencing emergency symptoms. It was a bit hard to breathe, my chest hurt, and I was extremely delirious. I wanted to call my insurance to see if I was covered (this was during the summer) and I was connected to some nice person, probably making minimum wage, who told me with caution in her voice that my plan was expired. I had no active insurance, but she urged me to go to an emergency room. I remember saying something to the effect of "You just told me I don't have insurance, I can't go to the hospital, I can't afford it."

She sounded so genuinely worried and scared. I remember she said "You really don't sound good, you sound really sick, please call 9-1-1" and I think I just said "I can't afford it without insurance, don't worry, I think I'll be okay."

And she paused and said "I don't want to hang up the phone with you like this." And it sounded like she was holding back tears. And I don't remember what I said, I think that I would be okay, and I hung up.

I still think about her. I wonder if that phone call haunted her, or if she had dozens of calls like that a day. I wonder if she thinks about it at all, if she wonders if I died after she told me I didn't have insurance and therefore couldn't go to the hospital without incurring a tremendous financial burden. I wonder if she feels guilt or blame-- of course she shouldn't, it wouldn't have been her fault if anything had happened to me. Maybe it's self-centered to wonder if she thinks about it. I'm not the main character and it was just her job. But, still.

I think about how evil it was that we were put in that situation. Because offering year-long continuous coverage through the university plan would maybe cut into profits, maybe not benefit shareholders enough, maybe cut into Thompson's $10 million salary. While his minimum wage administrators have to feel afraid to hang up the phone, because on the other line someone might be dying, and they wouldn't know. While his patients hang up and decide to take their chances rather than put their family through that trauma.

This is UnitedHealthcare. This is Brian Thompson's legacy. This is why, understandably, an entire nation is jubilant that he was gunned down like the vermin he was. I don't care about his widow. I feel pity for his children, despite the fact that they will inherit millions, but I feel more pity for the children of his victims patients who are gone because they didn't want THEIR children to inherit crippling debt. Brian Thompson got what he fucking deserved. I pray that he not be the only one. I pray for continued safety, peace , and anonymity for his killer.

American healthcare is a disease.

[gingersnapwolves]

You know what since I’ve got a ton of new followers because my post on puberty blockers took off and people apparently want to see me rant, I’m gonna get up on my soapbox for a PSA for tumblr’s aging userbase.

Do not! Get! A Medicare Advantage plan!

Tell your parents not to get one. Tell your aunts and uncles not to get one. Tell your friends not to get one.

Why is that, you might say? Kouri, what is a Medicare Advantage plan, you might say?

tl;dr Medicare is the government healthcare plan for Americans of a certain age or with certain disabilities. It is owned, administered, and operated by the government. You are entitled, if you wish, to outsource your Medicare and have your policy run by a commercial group, such as United HealthCare, Cigna, Aetna, et cetera.

Here’s how it works: For everyone who signs up for, say, a plan that rhymes with Figna Medicare Advantage, Medicare gives Figna a certain amount of money and says ‘use this to take care of this patient’.

You can see where this is going, right? Figna says ‘sure boss! *wink nudge*’ and then shoves as much of that money into their own pockets as possible, and they do that by finding excuses to NOT pay for your medical care.

Medicare Advantage plans are pushed and marketed heavily. They’ll call you. They’ll set up stands in your PCP office to try to encourage you to buy in. They will say things like ‘with Medicare, you have to pay a 20% coinsurance, but with us you only have a 10% coinsurance’ and completely neglect to tell you that having a smaller coinsurance only matters if they approve the fucking care that you need, which often they won’t (while Medicare would have) and if your doctors are willing to accept it, which often they don’t (while they do accept Medicare).

Is Medicare perfect? Absolutely not! I've got my share of bones to pick with them. But simply put:

Medicare is government administered. It is a service. It costs the government money, which is why the GOP is always trying to cut funding to it. Medicare Advantage is corporately administered. It is supposed to make money. Which gives them incentives to deny your care and fuck you over that Medicare simply does not have.

Do not. Get. A Medicare Advantage Plan.

[netscapenavigator-official]

“Luigi Mangione disappeared from headlines once the media realized people loved him.”

Bitch, his trial got delayed until mid-February because Prosecutors requested it, and his lawyer accepted. That’s it. That’s why there haven’t been any updates: There aren’t any updates. It’s not that deep.

Also, thinking Mangione was universally beloved is very much a Tumblr echo chamber thing. According to a survey done by YouGov, the ONLY demographics which have Favorable views of Mangione are people aged 18-29, and people who self-described their politics as “Very Liberal.” That’s it.

39% of under 30s had a Favorable opinion of him. 32% "Don't Know," and 29% had an Unfavorable opinion of him. Every other age demographic saw "Unfavorable" surpass "Favorable".

47% of “Very Liberal” individuals had a Favorable opinion of him. 22% "Don't Know," and 31% had an Unfavorable opinion of him. Every other political leaning category (including “Liberal” and “Moderate”) had their "Don't Know" and "Unfavorable" categories exceed their "Favorable" one.

For the average U.S. Adult, the survey concluded that 21% viewed Mangione in a "Favorable" manner, 37% "Don't Know" how to feel about him, and 43% viewed him in an "Unfavorable" manner.

So no. This isn’t a case of media manipulation. This is a case of A: There quite literally being nothing new to report on, and B: Mangione not being as bipartisan-ly popular as most of you think.

[renniferno]

actually the second most enraging thing about the ceo death (the first one is the corporate response of trying to hide and cry about being afraid for their safety as if disabled americans don't live in daily fear that they'll get sick and die because they can't afford treatment) is the cop response. really showing who they're here to protect and serve, you never see this level of investigation for hate crimes or when minorities are murdered,

i hope the shooter never gets caught. i hope ceos realize that their money is absolutely completely saturated with blood and that the people will never, ever forgive or forget. i hope the people make a point to the cops and the law that this was always going to be the only way this ends and there's nothing that they can do to stop it, and i wish all people who disagree a very pleasant pee your pants.

[thequeenofsastiel]

Decided to watch "Who is Luigi Mangione" on MAX, despite my reluctance given the fact that I believe in "innocent until proven guilty", and it was one of the most irresponsible pieces of propaganda I've ever seen. The whole thing was clearly an attempt to carry water for the prosecution. They had people go on and on about what a "good man" Brian Thompson was and all the good he could do in life. They very briefly touched on the fact that he was being investigated for insider trading and that UHC had the highest denial rate among "health" insurance companies, before going back to talking about how wonderful he and his family were. They didn't mention once that when he became CEO his actions shot up the number of denial claims, to the point that the company went from making $12 billion dollars in profit to $16 billion in four years. A small amount of time was spent on people discussing the harms of the "health" insurance industry, but it amounted to maybe two minutes of the 42 minute episode. They acted like killing Brian Thompson was completely irrational and that he was a mere scapegoat, instead of what he actually was, which was one of the biggest examples of corporate greed in the "health" insurance system in the United States.

When it comes to Luigi, they not only portrayed him as unequivocally guilty(though they had a couple of people throw in the word "alleged" with heavy sarcasm), but they also did their best to portray him as mentally unstable, calling him a narcissist. The show also didn't bother to question the evidence, such as the backpack that was supposedly left in Central Park full of monopoly money, but also happened to be with Luigi when he was arrested?? Or the different jacket?

They also didn't mention how fucked up it is that so much media and governmental attention was paid to this one murder simply because the guy was rich and powerful. People are shot dead in the streets all the time in this country. But because it was a rich, white CEO, everyone has fallen all over themselves to bring attention to it.

It was disgusting, and clearly only got created in a ploy to influence potential jurors. It's hard, because free speech is a thing in this country, but it feels like that sort of propaganda designed to convict a possibly innocent man shouldn't be allowed.

*Sigh*

Then again, there have been plenty of jokes about it on YouTube and TikTok, and lots of social media posts pointing out everything I'm saying. Still, none of those things have gotten the backing of a huge media company. Which shouldn't be astonishing, rich people like to look out for other rich people during a peasant revolt.

It's just all garbage.

[guavagyal]

it is nice to see Americans support Luigi and bring up how evil our healthcare system is, I think it will fall on deaf ears with the next administration. Americans need to decide if our current healthcare needs to change or stay the same. so far, a lot of people in this country are squeamish about socialized healthcare.

I don't think Americans have it in them to unite & fight against the elite like it's Les Mis. we let the police & feds attack us while peacefully sitting down in a designated free speech zone. how does a revolution start with that and the fact that a lot of groups have no strong leaders or are unorganized?

a majority of people in this country simp for rich people like they're gods and don't realize that those rich people see them as human cattle. it's not to sound hopeless (but I am a little apathetic), I'm just realistic about how Americans are. face it, us Americans mobilize quicker for Stanley Cups & getting angry over pronouns than our rights. our individualism will lead to our downfall.

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

Clinical studies be like

1 billion random boys were tested. results show that 0% of girls are autistic* 👍

1 billion autistic males were tested. results show that 0% of autistics are female* 👍

1 billion minors were tested. results show ADHD stops at age 18, often to be replaced by plain laziness* 👍

*certified😎 totally credible source✨ we are pros🤓 with coats🥼

[silvermoon424]

The way these ghouls keep doubling down is crazy. They’re terrified of the plebs now, but instead of using their vast hoards of wealth to hire their own goon squads they want the taxpayers to pay for it. And the government is all too happy to offer that. Embarrassing country.

[victusinveritas]

I've said this before and I'll say it again:

I've had whooping cough, and even with the vaccine, even with prompt treatment because I knew I'd been exposed, it sucked ass. The sickest I've ever been in my life including Covid, including double pneumonia that lasted for a month of spiking fevers. Get a TDaP vaccine now and get protected from tetanus (also very, very, very bad), diphtheria (another one you don't want), and pertussis (whooping cough).

Consider this your reminder to get your kids vaccinated or have their child-sized coffin measurements on file at your local undertaker--say you're an antivaxer and they'll give you a repeat customer discount.

Like, it's a damn shame if your crotch spawn died of measles, but I'll only actually feel bad if they were vaccinated and got it anyway and still died, because that means that some fucking antivaxer's little bastards passed it on to them (in that case, I'll genuinely shed a tear). If your kid dies from an illness that you could have gotten them vaccinated against, that's not God taking them home, that's not anything other than your stupidity leading to the death of an innocent who depended on you for protection that you failed to provide. It's death by neglect. I mourn for the kids lost to these things, but for the (legal if not mental) adults in their lives, I hold nothing but scorn.

[confeethoughts]

Moderate Your Site Tumblr

The crazy thing about the complete shitshow of medical bots flooding Tumblr tags is that it demonstrates just how awful Tumblr's policies are.

Relying on users to report bots and spam only works when you are dealing with maybe one or two blogs every now and again. I think I have reported and blocked over 200 in three days now.

Moderation is a job. Asking your users to moderate your site for free while you refuse to look deeper than the accounts being reported to you is an insane route to take for staff. Maybe deal with the issues that make your site unusable.

Edit: Very good point we should tag them - @staff telling your users to just report them is crazy when almost 1K posts in health and wellness tags seem to be just spam bots

[ontheoutside-lookingin]

Clinical misdiagnosis is more common than self misdiagnosis. Just for the record, in case anyone is still skeptical of self diagnosis :) it’s not up for debate btw

[renniferno]

"try to tie evidence to man in custody" so they're just admitting that they try to pin it on someone to make it go away? they're trying to take the evidence they have and manipulate it to fit the narrative they want to present? that it's not about the actual facts the evidence presents but making it fit what you want it to???

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

Can we go ahead and normalize medicine? Taking pills in front of people? Taking pills in public and not getting weird looks? Using alternative medicines or anything other than pills and not being treated like a novelty? Fucking please because first of all literally everyone takes medicine of some kind at some point in life okay and second of all people need medicine to live it’s a thing it’s pretty common and people need to be in public for a lot of reasons actually so can we please

[silvermoon424]

The USA is absolutely disgusting and dystopian and I fucking hate living here. I fucking hate everyone who insists this is a good country. Send tweet.

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Outbreak Pt 3 (LU in Healthcare)

(Content warning, this is a plague fic, it will likely hit close to home, and there’s dark humor and character death in this part)

It started off as a whisper, but the whisper became a chatter, a groan, constant and disturbing and growing ever closer.

Cases were on the rise in the city, though the surrounding area seemed unaffected still, for now. City officials were growing concerned, and restrictions were starting to be enacted. People were asked to stay home, if possible. As for the hospital and squads…

Hyrule squinted at his email. "Wait. Didn't... didn't they say we could use alcohol wipes to clean the equipment?"

"Yeah," Mo called from the kitchenette in the station.

"Now it says we can only use bleach wipes."

Mo groaned. "Isn't that like the third policy change this week?"

"I'm still trying to figure out if we're doing a specific isolation truck or not anymore," Aurora mumbled. "Like we just had one truck dedicated to the high risk iso cases, and now we're getting so many calls for it that it's a moot point anyway."

"I think the last email said put plastic over everything for Arfy patients and then wipe everything down that you use," Mo replied.

"Wait, which email?"

Hyrule sighed. This was getting ridiculous. And he was getting just a little nervous. “When in doubt, just bleach everything, I guess.”

Aurora huffed. “Did you see the email about the respirators?”

“Which email?” Mo threw his hands in the air, exasperated. “I’ve got twenty new emails!”

“I suppose that means you’ll actually have to read them now,” Aurora noted with a snort.

“Do you all think it’ll get worse before it gets better?” Dawn asked, wringing her hands worriedly. “The OMD made it sound like that would be the case.”

“Our medical director knows more than I do,” Hyrule shrugged. “If he says it’s going to get worse—”

“No, he didn’t just say that, he said ‘it’s not a matter of if the wave hits us, but when,’” Aurora quoted, standing. “He scared the hell out of Dawn.”

“They’re pretty foreboding words,” Hyrule commented darkly, looking away. It was the main reason he was getting nervous. But he was also steeling himself. If they were in for a fight, he would face it head on.

“Okay, but what does any of this have to do with the email about the respirators?” Mo asked as he scrolled frantically through his email.

“Oh, we’re supposed to wear N95s now,” Aurora answered with a wave of her hand.

Hyrule blinked. “Wait. Aren’t—aren’t we supposed to get fit tested for those?”

“Oh, yeah,” Aurora nodded, rolling her eyes. “Here’s your official fit test: pick a mask that fits.”

“We’re all going to die, aren’t we?” Dawn questioned worriedly, hugging herself.

“Nobody’s died from Arfy yet, I don’t think,” Mo noted. “At least not here.”

“People have died,” Aurora corrected.

“Well, maybe we’ll die, then,” Mo amended.

Hyrule laughed while Aurora swatted his partner. Well… at least they’d die fighting. But he really hoped it wouldn’t get to that point.

While the rescue squads struggled to keep up with policies and slapped shoddy safety regulations into place, the hospital clamped down even further. Visitor policies had officially been revoked as of today, and it made all the providers somewhat uneasy.

In some aspects, it was helpful. In others, it made things that much harder.

Arfy patients were medical patients. Which meant the medical floor and ICU was quickly filling up while other parts of the hospital either maintained their quota or decreased as people stayed home. More and more, Four found himself floating to his friend’s ICU, and he felt fairly out of his depths about it. The one good thing was that he got to spend time with Dot. But as cases rose, so did the stress, the worry, and the heartache.

The ICU felt less like a unit where critically ill people got better and more like a place to go to die.

Four and Dot had the same patient assignment for four days in a row. It was the same assignment because nothing had changed with the patients. Intubated, sedated, paralyzed, some proned. The amount of sedation required to keep their patients under was far more than Four was used to, and it was insane how little it would take for their oxygen saturation to drop. Any semblance of activity in the body increased oxygen demand, and the instant oxygen demand increased, no amount of intervention from the ventilator seemed to help. ECMO was a word Four had hardly heard in his trauma ICU, but he heard it on a near daily basis now, being considered at rounds, being initiated with someone else’s patient.

Four was exhausted. His face was breaking out from wearing a respirator for twelve hours at a time. His feet and knees and hips hurt from standing in isolation rooms for three to four hours at a time trying to cluster all his care. And now, with the visitor restriction enacted…

Visitors were hit or miss, particularly in Four’s world. Trauma precipitated drama, and while family could be infinitely helpful and supportive, he’d also seen things go awry, had to deescalate fights or call security. In some aspects, he was thankful there were no visitors while all of this was happening; he was tired of having to explain that yes, you have to wear this gown and gloves and mask, no you can’t kiss your loved one while they’re intubated and sedated with a contagious disease… but still. He couldn’t imagine how hard it was on the family - the patients were sedated to the point that they shouldn’t be aware of anything, but the family had to agonize over the matter at home.

He didn’t like it. He understand the logic. But he didn’t like it.

And so here he sat, holding a patient’s hand while they withdrew care. Here he sat, being the only witness to someone’s last breaths while their family mourned from afar.

Four watched the heart rate steadily drop. He watched the oxygen saturation plummet. He muted the red alarms as the monitor screamed that his patient was dying, that something should be done, like an accusation and call to arms when Four knew this particular fight was over.

He wasn’t a particularly religious person, but he said a prayer for the patient and the family either way. He found himself praying a lot these days, honestly.

While the visitor policy took its toll inside the frame of work, the restrictions both inside and outside the hospital were causing further stress on everyone. Warriors had basically banned Wind from seeing him, opting to stay with Time and Malon instead, leaving the kid in the apartment. He brought food deliveries to the door, asked if Wind needed anything, but he always did so when Wind wasn’t awake - the teenager had swore up and down that if anybody got Arfy he’d take care of them, and Warriors was terrified of that promise as it was basically a threat. Time agreed that Wind didn’t need to get involved, much to the teenager’s chagrin, and Wind found himself already struggling from the loneliness and the frustration of trying to study for classes online when nobody knew what they were doing or how long this would last.

Meanwhile, Wild sat in his room, fingers aimlessly tracing over each other, the smell of bleach so fresh in his nose from scrubbing everything relentlessly for hours on end that he might as well have inhaled a bottle of it. His chest hurt. Not to mention that new disinfectant they were told to use made him cough a lot.

And he worried. Because… it had been a few days since he’d seen his father. Legend had given him updates through his sister (and made Wild swear not to tell anyone about her), and it had sounded like he was improving as expected. But now, he… the rest of the family…

It felt like a blessing and a curse. It was a guarantee that Wild couldn’t run into his mother or sister by accident, but it was also a situation that his mind screamed that he address.

He couldn’t just… he couldn’t just leave his father isolated and alone recovering in the hospital in the midst of an outbreak. He couldn’t.

But what if visiting him made things so much worse? What if it stressed his father’s recovering heart? What if it triggered more traumatic memories for Wild? He was terrified of getting anywhere near the man while he was awake, but his heart screamed that he go to him.

Wild refused to be a coward. And he refused to be heartless, despite how anxious this entire situation made him, despite how his mind screamed he keep away. So that night, when he got on to work, he took a delivery to the cardiovascular ICU and paused in front of a doorway, looking hopefully for a familiar nurse.

“Link? Wild?”

Jumping, Wild turned around to see the nurse in question, watching him scrutinously. She smiled (or at least, he assumed she did, based on how her eye crinkled above her mask) in recognition. “I thought it was you. You here to see your dad?”

Wild swallowed and nodded.

“Good, because the drama I’ve been trying to avoid has been driving me insane,” Legend’s sister said lightheartedly, but despite the casualness of her tone, the words sank into Wild’s stomach like a stone.

“Drama?” He questioned quietly.

“Nothing like… bad, I suppose, but still,” the nurse explained. “I’d be in there taking care of him and overhear him talking to his wife and he’d mention that he swore he saw you. I’m not entirely sure she’s convinced. She seems hopeful, though. But I figured it was best not to bring it up myself since I, ah, don’t know what’s going on.”

Wild felt his blood freeze. His father remembered? And he’d told his mother?

Great. This was… this was just great.

“Go see him,” Legend’s sister prompted gently. “I can tell he loves you very much and just wants to know you’re ok.”

Wild’s eyes unexpectedly burned with tears in an instant, and he was grateful he was wearing a mask to hide his expression. He nodded, hesitantly making his way towards the room.

It all seemed so normal, seeing his father sitting in a recliner looking at his phone. Wild wasn’t even entirely sure he’d recovered memories of his father like that, but somehow it seemed familiar. Abel hadn’t noticed him yet, engrossed in whatever he was looking at, brow slightly furrowed. That expression drew memories, a familiar scrutiny that he would often give Wild himself or his sister, a quiet concern and sternness that made Wild want to stiffen up and simultaneously run to him.

Damn it all, he’d missed him.

Wild swallowed his fears and stepped forward, hoping that this wouldn’t be a disaster. He knocked on the door, initially so quietly that his father didn’t hear him over the chatter of the news on the television. He knocked again.

His father looked up. Stared a moment. Went a shade paler.

Wild hastily stepped forward. “W-wait, don’t get worked up—”

His father stood, seeming mostly steady on his feet, and tried to walk to him, heedless of the cords and oxygen tubing attached, and Wild hastily met him part of the way before he ripped everything out of the wall. Abel immediately pulled him to his chest in the tightest hug Wild had ever felt, and…

And Link sank into the embrace, crying.