August15 navigating 

Ok, Em reckons I’m whinging . Getting to the doctor isn’t easy. A week after seeing the nurse at the minute clinic ( a nurse who treats basic complaints like cold and flew and minor infections) I just saw the doctor about my continuing ear infection . Finding the doctor is the tricky bit .There is no medi care and most major employers have health plans with insurance companys that will have a set of doctors that you are to see . You have to log onto their site to find which professional is matched to the area you live in .Of course the site is set up to Emma’s card number and password so I have to wait for her to get home and find it for me .With details in hand I ring the doctors reception to book in ,but no I’m told that my insurance has a set of options attached to it and I must relay those details to them . In the end I decided to walk down with my card . I had a choice of 3 doctors ; the 1st was now taking no new patients has he had an ongoing full quota (wtf!), so I settled on a woman as I thought this would be good for Emma down the track . All happy , I was told that Dr. Nicole Lee could see me on September 2, wtffff!’That ain’t gonna work I might be mute by then ‘, I replied.’Pardon sir’…….   ‘never mind what about the last guy ‘. You could see him in one hour , or else next Monday. ‘Lock it in ‘, I replied.So after going through a thorough questionnaire and physical exam by a nurse the  Doctor checked my ear. In under 2 minutes he’s decided that this is to be seen by a specialist . Bang ! No resolution , just a name and number for me to ring . Em rings straight after and I tell her I’m going to ring this specialist up. She then says is he on our list of professionals? ‘Fuckd if I know’ , I reply . Ok you better wait till I get home and i’l log on and see if he’s one of the otolaryngologist on  our providers list . Are you kidding?  ‘Darl it’s no different to Australia…… ..     Oh geeezus can’t I even have a bit of a bitch ,I’m almost totally deaf as my good ear is blocked and my bad ear when last tested (5 yrs ago) had 68%. And I still can’t go in the water until I see some specialist in who knows when?One things for sure I know automatically what my heart beat per minute is as I can hear it swooshing through my head at all times . Cmon it’s better in Australia , say it is , please .