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About three years ago, my colonoscopy found some polyps they burned off.
That changed the colonoscopy schedule from a five to a three year interval.
No biggie.
Except:
The VA requires that I have a negative Wu Ping Cough test not more than three days before the procedure now.
They only do four such tests a day at my nearby clinic, by appointment only.
Because you need a negative test for ANY procedure, those appointments are booked for the foreseeable future.
My other options are to drive the fifty miles to the main hospital for the test or to come in two hours early on the day of the procedure.
That fifty mile drive is a two hour drive, by the way.
I'm not allowed to drive myself on the day of, so I've got to find a friend who is willing to sit an extra two hours in the holding area reserved for drivers of patients.
And with all the other "show up early" requirements, puts us getting the test at 0630 for an 1130 procedure.
I just can't.
I don't have a four hour block of time to drive down there for the nose swab, let alone want to expend the fuel and wear and tear on my car.
I don't want to ask a friend to pick me up at 0430 to get me down there and then be stick at Bay Pines until 1500 and get home at 1700. It's too much to ask.
I am fed up with the VA not giving a crap, and not just not caring but making a profession of not giving a shit and hiding behind "there'snoreasonit'sjustourpolicy".
So I am going to have untreated colon cancer and die, thanks to the VA's inability to schedule realistically.
Take the bus or maybe an Uber?
ReplyDeleteAnother item in the there'snoreasonit'sjustourpolicy is a requirement for the driver to sit in the designated waiting area until the probe is complete. So you cannot use a bus, taxi, uber or even a chauffeured limousine.
DeleteYou could at least do the poop in a box test.
ReplyDeleteYeah its a pain in the ass (see what i did there?) but get the real test.
In 2020 they caught mine just in time and now i'm cancer free.
If i were closer i'd drive you.
By an amazing coincidence, I've been going at it over on FB with someone who keeps howling that government health care is what this country needs. I think those people have spent too much time in Europe (or Japan or Canada).
ReplyDeleteI know a fair number of people from Canada. My parents used to winter down in the RGV, and the place they stayed at there were large numbers of Canadians. They would all tell you that Canadian healthcare isn't all that libtards in the US think it is. The reality is, it's rationed and a lot of things that most US health plans cover are not covered by the Canadian system. A lot of elective procedures are hard to get and have really long waiting periods. People don't have a lot of control over picking their doctors or where they have to go to have things done. So what many Canadians do is pay for a US policy and they drive into the US for health care.
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