The Broken, Uncaring Health System – My Horrific Year in Health
By Marvin Pirila

About a year ago, while removing ceiling tiles, I was overcome with horrendous stomach pain.  I managed to scurry hunched over upstairs to my residence.  There I fell to the floor and groaned in horrible pain.  After roughly 15 minutes, it passed and I was okay.  Feeling that it was an anomaly, I thought nothing of it.  A few weeks passed and I had another attack, then a short time later, another one.

After four or five attacks, I decided to see a doctor.  He concluded I had heartburn and prescribed Prevacid for acid.  I thought that was it, but a few weeks later I had another attack.  I wanted to believe it was still the heartburn and that the Prevacid would take care of it.

The attacks became more routine, ultimately settling down to an attack every two to three days.  It would probably have been more frequent but after an attack I would eat little to nothing the next 24 hours.  I equated the pain to the gall stone attacks I had before having my gall bladder removed in 2007.  While the pain was similar, the duration of the new attacks were longer and had lingering pain.  I endured, having attacks virtually everywhere I went (work, driving, home, etc.).

In August, I attended an editor-publisher conference and felt it come to a full head.  I was chewing antacids like crazy trying to get my stomach to settle but it was making it worse.  I was overcome with stomach pain and now had chest pain in addition.  The antacids had made me worse.

I tried Urgent Care to avoid the cost of an Emergency room visit.  I paid them my $30 copay just to have them tell me they didn’t have the proper equipment to assist me and send me to the ER.  My $30 went about 30 seconds.

The ER ran an IV, did an EKG, and routine blood tests.  The blood tests showed only a slight anomaly in liver function.  The rest of the tests returned normal.  Any question of dehydration was addressed with the fluids from the IV.  I was discharged not knowing anything more than I did going in.

I started paying close attention to my eating habits.  I tried avoiding out milk, limiting soda, staying away from greasy foods, eating bland, cutting spices, etc. and found no pattern.  Regardless of how I ate or drank, I was having attacks.  The only connection was that they came if I ate or drank, but when I ate nothing and drank little I was getting by, but barely.  I couldn’t go anywhere because the attacks were unpredictable.  I tried taking my daughter to visit colleges, fell sick and had to return.  The same thing happened on a getaway with my wife.  It was running my life.  Worse yet, the constant attacks, and inability to eat regularly led to lost weight and exhaustion.

I saw the doctor again and they scoped my intestinal tract, finding nothing but some irritation in my stomach from what they said was “too much Ibuprofen use.”  The findings seemed unusual for the problems I was complaining of, but they prescribed some medication that would line my stomach and help reduce irritation.  This did not work and the attacks continued.

I saw the doctor again, stressing the same problem, pinpointing the two to three inch area of my stomach that I felt seemed blocked.  I said they had done the scope and didn’t find anything only to hear him say that they only scoped the upper tract.  I was dumbfounded because they had not gone anywhere near the area where I had specified.  I had to get back to endoscopy for a scope, ultrasound, and colonoscopy.  The doctor in the endoscopy unit half-heartedly discussed my situation and said the soonest available time was a couple of weeks out.  By this time, I had endured 40-45 attacks and was worn out in the process.  The idea of waiting for any period of time was disheartening to say the least, particularly when I could expect at least one attack every two days.

Her coldness, coupled with my frustration, welled up in me.  I asked if there was an earlier appointment because I didn’t want to continue having attacks.  She lectured me on the many people with at least equal problems that have been waiting to get scoped.  I guess I didn’t understand how miniscule my attacks were and I could just wait some more.  Waiting gave me the opportunity to enjoy more attacks and that’s exactly what I did every two days.  I went back to my routine of eating one day, having an attack, then not eating.  If I had interpreted her words correctly, everyone that had been waiting was enduring this same or worse situation.  If I was 20 years older or had a heart condition I’m certain I would not have survived these attacks.

Finally, the day of the colonoscopy and intestinal scoping came.  I must’ve been a little unhappy going in, because when they found a stone and polyps, the doctor told my wife he felt he should take them out that day.  I awoke to find that they had removed three polyps from my colon, two of which were tubular adenomas (precancerous polyps).  They had also discovered two cysts on my pancreas.  The big find that surprised them was the olive sized stone in my intestinal tract that was impeding the transport of fluid and food presumably causing the attacks.  The doctor was surprised that none of the tests suggested a stone, but if they had truly listened to me, the patient, they may have proceeded with additional tests much earlier.  And here I had started thinking I was a hypochondriac and imagined this whole ordeal.  Who would think an olive sized stone in a small passage way would cause so many problems?  Yes, sarcasm.

Great, at least it was behind me and I could start living again.  That very night the pain in my upper left part of my back got so painful I could not sleep on it.  I got up, went to the reclining chair, going all night without sleep.  I went to Urgent Care thinking I could avoid ER again and save some money.  Wrong.  I paid my $30 copay and waited while patients with less urgent problems were ushered in.  I went into a full blown attack and was doubled over.  The admissions person saw me in horrific pain and did nothing.

When I was called in I was on the floor reeling in pain the doctor decided they didn’t have the equipment to help me and I’d have to go to ER.  They told me a wheelchair would come to get me.  As the minutes wore on I got impatient and stood in the doorway waiting.  The attack was still ongoing and the wheelchair was nowhere to be found.  Two nurses were shooting the bull at the station and told me to wait inside the room and they would be there soon.  I tried, but I wanted to get some relief for the pain fast.  A couple of minutes later, I was back at the door, and still not seeing a wheelchair asked if I could walk there myself.  The one, visibly annoyed with me, said the hospital’s policy frowned on it.  I contemplated what would happen if I just went anyway.  Would they jump me, call security, what?  They cared less that I was in extreme pain and more about some obscure hospital policy.  What was wrong with either of them grabbing a wheelchair and escorting me to ER?  During the time they shot the bull they could have had me over there.  And if there wasn’t a chair available, for whatever reason, why couldn’t one assist me?  In a desperate call for help, they were cold and callused, leaving one to wonder why they even chose this profession.  Eventually the wheelchair came and I was ushered to ER.

ER checked me in, taking a few minutes that I disagree with, given my pain.  If this is policy, it is a poor one.  Once I was called though, I met two wonderful nurses that professionally and courteously helped me.  The doctor was incredible as well, taking immediate steps to alleviate my pain.  When the fluid from the IV hit me, I felt immediate relief.  Hours of pain were suddenly gone and I was exhausted.  I had a couple of X-rays that found I was passing a 10 mm kidney stone.  I was discharged and passed the stone two days later.  The back pain still persisted, and a couple of days later I passed yet another stone.  This was the icing on the cake.  In about 10 1/2 months of 2014, I had close to 50 stone related attacks.

Now there will be routine checks to measure the cysts on my pancreas to see if they grow and the five year colonoscopy to stay on top of the polyps.

A few days after passing my second kidney stone I received a phone survey on behalf of Essentia Health.  I rated the doctor as a zero for her coldness and the additional attacks I had to endure.  The surveyor asked if I had used the patient advocate to address my complaints and I said I had not.  I told her that after the hospital took several months to properly take care of my health issue I felt they had been playing with my life.  “I wonder how many people have died waiting for treatment,” I told her.  “I’m not interested in hearing from a patient advocate, I want to hear from the Board of Directors.”  Now, weeks later, I’ve heard from no one.

The several months it took the doctors to find my problem resulted in dozens of attacks that could have been avoided.  I wondered how many people were dying every day from the neglect of hospitals, especially when they do the bare minimum each time, send you out and make you return over and over again.  Each time you are forced to take time off work, pay to go there, pay for parking, copays, coinsurance, and uncovered medical expenses.

The inefficiency of the health care system leaves one to think about how much it could be improved.  Wouldn’t it be nice if the hospital did every test needed to determine your problem on one visit?  Take the blood and urine tests, analyze them and move on to further steps until the problem is found and a gainful solution is determined.  Yes it takes more time initially, but it cuts out the multiple visits and their costs which include:

• Registration time (one time versus many)
• Nurse time (escorting you back, taking vitals, etc.)
• Multiple mailings of test results
• One billing versus several making it more difficult to understand
• Wear and tear of items incurring greater use (equipment, carpeting, furniture, etc.)

Furthermore, the problem is solved and the patient can resume life again.  Isn’t this what the health profession is supposed to be about?

In the process, copays would be cut dramatically; time would be saved (registration, accounts, and nurse time), and overall health costs could be cut.  The costs to the taxpayer are further reduced by fewer trips for those on medical assistance, particularly those requiring publicly funded drivers.  The health care systems should be conforming to the needs of its patients, not vice versa.