Well, Erika and I got back from the hospital a little while ago. She woke up this morning suffering from severe waves of pain in her stomach (I started thinking of you Gabe). She said it had happened before though so she still went to work (she's kind of stubborn like that). About an hour later after we were both working she called me and told me that she was definitely going to the h0spital and asked if I would come with her. My supervisor was gracious enough to let me go so I packed everything away and met up with my aching girlfriend a few tube stops down the line.
We eventually found the
The thing about this little adventure is that we were so worried the hospital wouldn't want to treat Erika because she was not a British citizen and we didn't have much money. Low and behold, the National Health System (NHS) is colorblind (or nationality-blind?) to its patrons. We were able to simply sign in like everyone else and they took care of Erika like anyone else. The best part of it is - all of Erika's care was FREE (except for a small, 6 pound charge for her meds)! Yep, they pretty much don't charge for anything short of elective surgery here...no matter who you are. Go
So all in all, even though we were dreading both the results of the trip and the process itself, it ended up being as pleasant as a hospital trip can be. I know people take a much bigger blow in the form of taxes when it comes to funding this health care system, but it sure did work out for us in the end. Cheers.
Friday, 16 February 2007
Our Adventure, Of Sorts
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5 comments:
So glad Erika is okay. Scary to be sick or hurt outside the U.S. even if it's not a third world country. Re the national health care system; I spoke to a Brit on the phone just this week and had to listen to an earful of how much it costs him in taxes and how poorly the system had served him and his family. I remember saying that it may be flawed but that at least everyone had it and he sooo disagreed with me. I have to assume he knows it better than I, but am glad it worked as well for you guys as it did for me after my accident over there years ago. Were the pills Donatal? RitaB
Whoa, mom, you know all the stomach muscle relaxing meds on the market? Anyway, as I know quite well, stomach pain can be terrible. I'm glad things worked out. As fiscally conservative as I once was, I've completed reversed my position on socialized health care. Did they do anything funny in the hospital? Did they keep correcting you for saying "in the hospital" instead of "in hospital"?
Gabriel
Bren, I remember vividly how frantically I biked home to take Gabriel to the hospital when I heard Gabriel groaning in pain on the other end of the phone. I'm glad she didn't have to have surgery after all, but it was honestly better to just KNOW what was going on and have to do the surgery than just have unexplained belly pain. Hope she stays better!
i know this was probably a long time ago, so i'm sure the ailment has since passed--but in any case, i hope you and erika are both healthy and happy!! and yes europe may have great health care and be an all-in-all much more equal opportunity society than this "land of dreams" we call america, but when contemplating your return to the states, please remember that even if they do have a great health care system and a bunch of men dressed like birds, europe has NO cinnamon toast crunch. (right?)
-do you even have to ask? (shaw)
[THIS IS BREN]
THIS BLOG CONTINUES AT A DIFFERENT URL:
LeftHandedTiger.blogspot
SEE YOU THERE,
-Brendan
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