Leprosy

Described in the Oxford dictionary as:

A contagious disease that affects the skin, mucous membranes, and nerves, causing discolouration and lumps on the skin and, in severe cases, disfigurement and deformities. Leprosy is now mainly confined to tropical Africa and Asia.

But they're wrong. No the correct definition is in the AMA manual. That's right the Australian Medical Association, defines leprosy as “He who doth not have medical insurance.”

Sorry Doc, if you take money from Medicare to treat or consult him / her, then you treat that patient as you would any other. I have been consulting Macquarie Neurosurgery for a number of years, in relation to a spine injury sustained in a car accident.

I have always considered surgery a last resort, for when the pain became so severe, even the horror stories associated with spinal surgery, can’t be any worse. That day has come, following the five abdominal surgeries in two years, I no longer have the core strength to sustain the spine injury.

The surgeon I have been seeing does not operate under the public system. I saw him last back in May, clearly in pain. Long story short, nothing we spoke about at that meeting happened. After repeated calls, emails, finally losing my temper and becoming unpleasant a referral to Royal North Shore was sent. Except RNS didn’t have it, more detective work, a few more days, oops, gone to the wrong practice.

Nobody seems to care, after all, even a Surgeon can’t bill Medicare for a patient he’s handed over to the public system. It finally got there last Tuesday. Yesterday, Thursday, I got a phone call from the Hospital, having expected to wait 6 weeks for just a phone call, they call in 48 hours. I was stunned and made sure they understood how grateful I am. “That’s OK, we can see you need help.”

I am so pleased that I have been offered an appointment next Wednesday, the 28^th. Don’t know how long I will have to wait for the operation, but I at least have something to aim at.

I seem to have had a lot of trouble with Doctors, and Surgeons of late, I remain unimpressed with our health service especially out Minister, one Greg Hunt, who is missing in action, arrogant, narcissistic, little prick.