44) A Frightening experience
For three years Jonny and I criss-crossed the area delivering groceries and making many friends. We were busy and happy even if we were not making a fortune. But then we had a rather frightening experience. While doing a delivery up a high flight of steps Jonny started coughing up blood. He tried to hide it from me but he soon realised that I needed to know and with the amount of blood he was loosing there was no way that he could hide it for long.
Obviously it was very worrying. The bleeding was very heavy and seemed to be worst when Jonny had been climbing a high flight of steps or carrying heavy loads. His doctor sent us straight to a specialist who said Jonny needed to have some blood tests, a scan and a gastroscopy. The blood tests and the scan were not too much of a problem as we had some idea what they would cost. We explained to the specialist that we did not have a Medicare card so would have to pay for the treatment ourselves and we needed to know how much a gastroscopy would cost us. He had no idea of the costs but said that he would get his secretary to find out.
When we went to make an appointment to have the scan done the first vacancy that they had was about a week away and we made that booking. During that week we tried to get the blood tests done but because the laboratories needed the samples to be taken at particular times of the day and delivered within a certain time we found that we could not manage to comply and did not have those tests done at that time. Jonny was still working and he had a number of heavy bleeding cessions during the day and we had to travel with bottles of water and large quantities of paper towels to clean up. He also bled quite a few times at night. For the last few days before he was due to have the scan he did not bleed at all and was feeling much better so was not keen to have the test done. When we arrived for his appointment the receptionist told us that they had been trying all day to contact us, as the scanning machine was broken and they could not do the test. We could not understand why they had not got hold of us as I had our mobile phone on me all day. It turned out that they had got our number wrong. They wanted us to make another appointment but as Jonny was feeling so much better and had not bled for a few days he decided not to bother.
For about a fortnight there was no bleeding and we felt sure that what ever the problem had been it was cured and we just thanked God for the healing. Then one Sunday in church Jonny started to cough and bleed once again. It was a particularly bad attack and one of our friends from the church, a young woman who is a doctor, tried to help him and asked him if he had been to a doctor and wanted to know what treatment he had had. We told her that we had been going to have a scan but that the machine had broken and we had just not gone back. We realised that the scan had to be done and planned to make an appointment when the offices opened on Monday morning. On Sunday evening we got a telephone call from the lady doctor to tell us that she had been at a meeting that afternoon and been talking to another member of our church who was a radiographer. She had told the radiographer that we did not have any medical assistance and she offered to do the scan free for Jonny. We were told to ring her the next day to make an appointment and she would let us know what the cost would be. She could do her part free of charge but the report would have to be done by the radiologist and he would have to say how much he would be charging. When we rang and spoke to the radiographer she told us that she had spoken to the radiologist and he had said that if she was giving her service for free he would do the same. So the whole thing would not cost us a penny. We were so grateful; we have been blessed by many kind people. So many good Australian people who hardly know us who have been generous and helpful to us.
Once the scan had been done we went back to see the specialist and he told us that the mark on Jonny’s lung that has shown up when he had the last scan was now smaller so that was good news. He still had no answer for us as to what had caused the bleeding and was not prepared to say that he was sure that it was not cancer. He still wanted to do the gastroscopy before he would commit himself. We once again told him that we would consider it if he could tell us how much it was going to cost. As it turned out the bleeding that Jonny had had in church was the last one he ever had. No one could actually tell us the cause of it but it has never reoccurred so we are just grateful for that
A couple of weeks later Jonny got a letter from the specialist saying that he had not been able to find out the complete price of the gastroscopy but he has found out that the use of the treatment room for about 2 hours in the local public hospital was $850. That did not include the actual test, the technician’s fee or the doctor’s report, so $850 was just to lay on their bed for a couple of hours. As Jonny was so much better we decided not to bother with that test that was three years ago and there has been no reoccurrence of the problem
$850 for the use of a bed for 2 hours is just incredible. I am beginning to feel that the medical profession and not the mining sector or the sheep farmers power the economy of Australia.
Obviously it was very worrying. The bleeding was very heavy and seemed to be worst when Jonny had been climbing a high flight of steps or carrying heavy loads. His doctor sent us straight to a specialist who said Jonny needed to have some blood tests, a scan and a gastroscopy. The blood tests and the scan were not too much of a problem as we had some idea what they would cost. We explained to the specialist that we did not have a Medicare card so would have to pay for the treatment ourselves and we needed to know how much a gastroscopy would cost us. He had no idea of the costs but said that he would get his secretary to find out.
When we went to make an appointment to have the scan done the first vacancy that they had was about a week away and we made that booking. During that week we tried to get the blood tests done but because the laboratories needed the samples to be taken at particular times of the day and delivered within a certain time we found that we could not manage to comply and did not have those tests done at that time. Jonny was still working and he had a number of heavy bleeding cessions during the day and we had to travel with bottles of water and large quantities of paper towels to clean up. He also bled quite a few times at night. For the last few days before he was due to have the scan he did not bleed at all and was feeling much better so was not keen to have the test done. When we arrived for his appointment the receptionist told us that they had been trying all day to contact us, as the scanning machine was broken and they could not do the test. We could not understand why they had not got hold of us as I had our mobile phone on me all day. It turned out that they had got our number wrong. They wanted us to make another appointment but as Jonny was feeling so much better and had not bled for a few days he decided not to bother.
For about a fortnight there was no bleeding and we felt sure that what ever the problem had been it was cured and we just thanked God for the healing. Then one Sunday in church Jonny started to cough and bleed once again. It was a particularly bad attack and one of our friends from the church, a young woman who is a doctor, tried to help him and asked him if he had been to a doctor and wanted to know what treatment he had had. We told her that we had been going to have a scan but that the machine had broken and we had just not gone back. We realised that the scan had to be done and planned to make an appointment when the offices opened on Monday morning. On Sunday evening we got a telephone call from the lady doctor to tell us that she had been at a meeting that afternoon and been talking to another member of our church who was a radiographer. She had told the radiographer that we did not have any medical assistance and she offered to do the scan free for Jonny. We were told to ring her the next day to make an appointment and she would let us know what the cost would be. She could do her part free of charge but the report would have to be done by the radiologist and he would have to say how much he would be charging. When we rang and spoke to the radiographer she told us that she had spoken to the radiologist and he had said that if she was giving her service for free he would do the same. So the whole thing would not cost us a penny. We were so grateful; we have been blessed by many kind people. So many good Australian people who hardly know us who have been generous and helpful to us.
Once the scan had been done we went back to see the specialist and he told us that the mark on Jonny’s lung that has shown up when he had the last scan was now smaller so that was good news. He still had no answer for us as to what had caused the bleeding and was not prepared to say that he was sure that it was not cancer. He still wanted to do the gastroscopy before he would commit himself. We once again told him that we would consider it if he could tell us how much it was going to cost. As it turned out the bleeding that Jonny had had in church was the last one he ever had. No one could actually tell us the cause of it but it has never reoccurred so we are just grateful for that
A couple of weeks later Jonny got a letter from the specialist saying that he had not been able to find out the complete price of the gastroscopy but he has found out that the use of the treatment room for about 2 hours in the local public hospital was $850. That did not include the actual test, the technician’s fee or the doctor’s report, so $850 was just to lay on their bed for a couple of hours. As Jonny was so much better we decided not to bother with that test that was three years ago and there has been no reoccurrence of the problem
$850 for the use of a bed for 2 hours is just incredible. I am beginning to feel that the medical profession and not the mining sector or the sheep farmers power the economy of Australia.
posted by MC @ 4:26 PM
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