I've had ovarian cysts before and they hurt like hell.

Imagine your insides being twisted and squeezed and jabbed with hot pokers... almost being torn out but not giving you the satisfaction of letting the experience end.

It's times like these that I remember how much I both love and hate the canadian health care system.

I decided on Saturday, when the pain first started, to try and let it run its course. Sometimes it goes away on its own. By Sunday morning I could bear it no longer and knowing that it was *probably* a cyst and not appendicitis but not knowing for certain, I thought it better to have the diagnosis confirmed... lest I become one of those case studies of someone who dies in a first world country from appendicitis for the mere fact that she didn't seek health care attention.

So, after 4 hours in urgent care and after many tests including poking and prodding... (and tears, let's not forget the tears that were caused by all the poking and prodding) it was *almost* confirmed.

I love my health care system because I didn't even have to think whether or not I could afford the various tests I needed done - no one asked me for an insurance card when I showed up at the hospital (other than my OHIP card). No one had to get any procedure or test pre-approved by my payor. The best care was just assumed as the appropriate course for me.

At the end of it all, the doctor decided to put me on a course of antibiotics. Strong ones. Normally I would object but considering the state of pain I was in, if ANYTHING could possibly help with the pain, I was willing to do it. If he'd asked me to walk a line of hot coals, I probably would have agreed to it.

But why the antibiotics? Because, and this is my own somewhat educated conspiracy theory, because he needed to give me a discharge diagnosis for the hospital to be reimbursed at a higher rate for my visit... and since they don't do ultrasounds on the weekend and an ultrasound would be needed to confirm the diagnosis of an ovarian cyst - he chose to go with a very weak possibility of me having Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) - as the source of my pain.

WTF?

The only known ways a person can get PID is through a sexually transmitted infection OR by insertion of an IUD - and almost always PID will present itself within a month of inserting an IUD (yes, I have one, but have had it about 8 months). WTFFFFFFF!!!!!

BUT, because I was (and still am) scared enough of even remotely possibly having PID (super nasty side effects if not properly treated right away... including infertility, chronic pelvic pain, spread of the infection to the liver, etc)... I am taking the antibiotics.

But guess what!? Because I am on such an intense course of antibiotics AND I'm taking T3s for the pain... my stomach is all angry at me and givning me all sorts of incredibly painful indigestion ON TOP of the ovary pain.

But let's back up... the next day I had to go back to the hospital for my ultrasound. They told me to show up 15 minutes early so I could re-register in the urgent care system. I was there half an hour early because I know my health care system well enough to know that 15 minutes is not nearly enough time to account for our inefficiencies and hospital beaurocracies:
"fill out the screening form,"
"but I did that yesterday,"
"doesn't matter, fill it out again, then you'll need to be seen by the triage nurse"
"but I'm here for an appointment and my vitals and presenting concern haven't changed in the last 12 hours"
"doesn't matter,"
"Ok, but where's the triage nurse?"
"On her break,"
"But I have my ultrasound appointment at 1:00pm"
"doesn't matter, you're going to have to wait"

So, after I finally got registered and made it to my appointment (10 minutes late)... they tell me no one ever booked my appointment in their system. The secretary calls around to confirm that I should be seen and squeezes me in... This means I have to share an ultrasound room with another woman (but not to worry, we had a curtain between us, how nice).

Then I went back down to urgent care where I had to wait another hour to see a doctor who could tell me the results of my ultrasound which confirmed what I suspected in the first place 2 days before... an ovarian cyst... (thanks)...

The doctor wouldn't give me any more than 2 minutes of his time and wouldn't give me a straight answer on next steps to getting rid of the pain... and leaned on the statement "I'm going with what the doctor diagnosed yesterday" (yeah, same one that diagnosed me with a disease I probably don't have" and then tells me, "But I'm sending you to a gynecolegist for follow-up." thanks?

So now I get to wait for the gynecolegist to return my call to give me an appointment where I am guessing (guessing!) that we will talk about possibly surgically removing the cyst. Or maybe we'll just have a little chitty chat and I'll be told to come back in 3 months for another ultrasound to monitor the cyst and I'll have to tolerate the pain in the meantime. Who knows.

So yes, a great reminder of why I also HATE my health care system. At least if they saw me as a human paying CUSTOMER they might actually give me some time out of their day and treat me with a little compassion and not just another OHIP number that needs a diagnosis code in order for the hospital to be reimbursed at a higher rate for my visit. Thanks.

Peeved? Totally.