Do we have one I ask, says she who was told to organise herself for her major surgery for 10th March.
Well in I went on 9th drowned myself in 5 litres of emptying yukky stuff as I am having bowel operated on as well as tummy stuff and 2 Drs are working together on me! Great - up all night on 9th till early hours of morning till only clear fluids coming from bodily functions if you know what I mean! Yeow what a way to loose weight!
Two canulars in arms, Hepron injections in tummy all showered with that betadine stuff pulling my fluid trolley into shower with me.
Knock! Knock on the shower door- are you in there Mrs Brown? I say where the hell else would I be after all this? Will be out in a sec ok?
No rush Mrs Brown, we won't be operating today there has been an emergency!
The floor almost fades from beneath me as my weak dehydrated body scrambles for the shower door to see who is speaking such horrible words to me.
Must surely be a joke? But NO!
Oh well I'll just have to wait till morning. Will I change out of my operating gown into my nightie? No not yet just sit a minute.

Oh great- now I am sitting in the ward  waiting again for directions, after about an hour a nurse rushes in you are going to have your op after all- you haven't drank anything have you?
No I reply oh great ring hubby now and daughters and sisters all over Australia its on! I'm having it now!
Well you could have knocked me down and covered me in feathers next minute another nurse comes in and says I'm so very very sorry we are not doing it now the other Dr has now been called away, they all hug me and apologise I'm sitting stunned again not knowing what to do next.
Oh hell quick ring hubby and daughters and sisters again tell them its not on again.
In comes one of the Drs sits down and apologise profusely, I being nice and forgiving and understanding say Oh Ok in the morning is not too long to wait, I understand, these things happen.
But wait theres more!
Mrs Brown I'm sorry to tell you this say the Dr it won't be able to be done for 2 or 3 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Your Joking"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I here myself say trying to keep my weak self together but I'v had all this prep and injections and drank all that and so on and so on.
I must again apologise Mrs Brown you can go home this afternoon and we will send you a letter when it will be on again.
I ring my daughter to come pick me up still stunned- after waiting some one and a half hours for them to remove my canulars and sign me out we were on our way back home.

Rang the Registrar 2 days later only to find out one of the operating Drs is on holidays all of April so I probably won't be getting done until about May.

I had also hired staff to take my place while I was off. Hows that for Public Health.
What Public Health- There is None, I wonder just what Kevin Rudd would say about the health system if it was his mother treated like this.
SorrY for the length of this but I needed to vent.
I'M BACK AT WORK UNTIL NEXT GO- WISH ME LUCK. Cheers Dawn

That sucks, Dawn. Big time!

Thats rough Dawn, I've had that stuff and ended up so dehydrated I had a vile migraine from it.You have my sympathy for sure. 

I guess Kevin Rudd may remind us that its a legacy from  the past decade in which the health system  has had profound under- funding from the previous person along with the education system both of which are now being addressed .
In reality could any of us turn around two such monolithic systems within one term more quickly? I very seriously doubt it..I wouldn't want the job, the complexities are horrendous. 

I'm in no way saying you were treated in an acceptable manner.....but hey...lucky we aren't in Africa! or dare I say, in America, ye old land of the free ...where you are also free to die on the streets!!.............we have a very good health system  which is broken from  neglect ...to force folks into private funding...and which is groaning under the weight of demand . I haven't even mentioned the staff ...who do their very best to deliver in these circumstances!!

Hang on, here's an idea....why don't we put Wilson Tuckey or good old Barnaby in to do it......
@@@ help us!! 

Sorry, venting a decade of feeling like a stranger in a country which I couldn't recognise any more and I was increasingly ashamed of. Kevin isn't perfect, anyone out there who is?

I think perspective is the thing...in every way that matters, this is the best place on the planet to live.  Its easy to lose sight of this at times.. 

@@@ I love a good rant......its the Irish you know...

Dawn you have my sympathy, I in no way diminish your experience...its very distressing for all. And worst of all...you'll have to take the yucky stuff all over again!!!
 
Cheers   Denise :)

Oh, dear, dear Dawn, I do share your frustration. What a mess this state's health system is. Which hospital stuffed you around within minutes of each piece of advice. You're in. You're out. No you're in again. Sorry, you're out. I can tell you one floor of the PA Hospital knows not what the other floor and department doeth. I was under the care of 2 departments - hypertension and endocronology, but do you think they could get their acts together for MY benefit - THE patent? Oh no! I was stuff around from Cairns - which involved planning flights, cancelling flights and plannning flights with the travel officer at the Patient Transport office - 3 times. I feel very sorry for that poor woman. My surgery was only cancelled once, the dates were changed 3 times, and there was only a 3 day delay from the cancellation to rescheduled surgery. The airline, usually Virgin, does not refund the flights, AND they charge cancellation fees. Taxpayers' money. To have you all prepped and mentally ready for your surgery, and then cancel last minute is absolutely disgusting - even abusive. I can only hug you from here. Damn that makes me wild! I can only slightly imagine how you must have felt. I have written to the state Health Minister, the Fed Health Min and the Medical Director of Qld to explain what really happens and what's involved to cancel surgery. No excuse will ever make me understand and let them off the hook. There are too many admin staff wandering around the corridors looking busy doing nothing, while the medical staff from nurses up to specialised surgeons go wanting. eg My surgeon only did surgery at this public hospital 1 day a month - That's 1 day a month. So having surgery is similar to winning lotto - the luck of the draw. I'm heading to PA next Sunday for a week of tests. I only need a bed, no surgeons or theatre, so there are no complications YET. Standing by. My thoughts are really with you. If you life near Brissy you could visit me. Take care in the mean time. Cheers Chris

Thanks for your responses Catweazle, Denise & Chris. Well I,m back at work now still awaiting another date to be scheduled, god knows when that will be as they tell me one of the surgeons is on holidayd all of April so probably wont be till end of May. HOPEFULLY this year I say not 2025! My husband was due to go in for pre-op on the day I WAS to have the op on 10th so they cancelled that so we wouldnt be in hospital together. I rang to find out now what was going to happen to his hernia operation- Oh he rang and said he couldnt come, **!!dy hell I know it was me who rang you and explained why and you advised we reshedule his operation!!!!!!!!!!! Well the phone rang at the office later that day, er Mrs Brown if your hubby wants to have his op on 27th April he can have a cancellation( I thought to myself- some poor bugger probably died waiting to get in!) Yes we will take that date thank you. Heres hoping now my dates are as we were told - end of May oh to hell with it- if we are both laid up together we will be- can't afford to keep putting it off. I do believe though we are still in the best of the worst countries whn it comes to health. How hard is it to get this organised no matter who stuffed it up in the first place. If you can't do it give the job up and let somebody who can fix it do it and stop blaming the last party who were there. Every time we have a crisis like a earthquake or sunami we find the money from some pot in government. I do not begrudge this at all but surely if this pot is there can't we use some to fix our own country up at least a bit? Oh well another vent I feel fine again. By the way I handed in my resignation for 20th May won't be going back to work weather I have op or not, so one good thing has come from this. Cheers all catch up later Dawn

This whole country's medical industry is in such a mess. Now the 2 major parties are debating each other, haggling and arguing against each other. In a matter as important as this it would be ideal if they could all sit in the same room and discuss it, to decide what is best for the whole country for the next 10 years, and agree. From then on it would need to be reviewed every year to ensure it stays on track in line with the population distribution and needs. Not in my life time unfortunately.

Update on my situation! Had my operation on 16th June- 6 1/2 hours on table- was hoping for good response-NOT! I feel I am sounding like a winger now- but the truth of the matter is the operation didn't work for bowel or bladder in fact bladder is worse. Well the positive of it is this- I tried, waited patiently through the system, they did what they could, I retired to get on the road when better so thats what I will do! Learn to live with it the best I can. Both houses are up for sale our van is in the driveway ready to go so bring it on! Life on the road will make everything seem so much better I know so come on house sales, one is under contract and other one almost there. On the road soon now!

Dawn, you will find that once you are on the road everything takes on a new perspective.  It is amazing what you can cope with when the stress of work and "home" are only a memory.   I know how I felt.

We are home now after 5 months away and the next trip can't come quick enough.  Would go tomorrow if it were possible.  Retirement was meant to be emjoyed in my book so you GET OUT THERE AND ENJOY IT GIRL.

Thanks Ma will do.

I am glad that you finally had the chance to go and get the op.....sorry it wasn't as good as it should have been. Did hubby have his? and how is he going? It sounds like the health system in Qld is about the same as NSW.... state government....ha. All the best for your future tripping around. Cheers Allara