Well, perhaps not so exciting.
I was in Washington a couple of weeks ago for the AGU Chapman conference on the East Asian Monsoon. My trip there was long enough that I needed a dialysis session, which I had tentatively arranged through Fresenius. I had identified a clinic near the conference, and had received word that they would schedule me in for either the Tuesday or the Wednesday that I was there. Unfortunately, my phone was not working properly, so I needed to have them contact me via the hotel. There was also a brief hang-up over the transfer of necessary medical records from Canada, but everything seemed to be in order by lunchtime Tuesday--I had been introduced to my coordinator and was advised to wait for their call.
This meant that I had to run back to the hotel lobby during every break (of which there were several) to see if the clinic had called. Making matters worse, I was never given any direct number to call the clinic directly, so I had to go through the company's national switchboard each time, and deal with a different operator who had to locate my file and see how things were going. Every time I was advised to await their call.
It was the same thing on Wednesday. Await their call. And by evening, it seemed clear I was not going to get dialysis--I was flying back on Thursday afternoon, and would have a session in Toronto on the Friday. No explanation, or indeed any attempt a communication, seems to have been made. I have to add that the situation at the hotel was mildly chaotic as well, as the hotel had just been bought by a new operator and was undergoing transformation to a European-style hostel, and their phone system was a little bit erratic. It was impossible to call out, for instance. I thought it possible that a call from the clinic might have been missed . . . except whenever I called, they told me they hadn't called yet.
By Thursday, the fluid levels were high enough that I had a little trouble breathing, but luckily my potassium levels stayed below the point where it triggers heart attacks (the main worry of the nurses back home) and I was able to survive until Friday.
I don't officially know the reason I was ultimately rejected for dialysis. I suspect it was that I may have triggered a poverty alert--no phone, and staying at a hostel (it wasn't actually a hostel yet, but the hotel was listing itself as such). I gather that under the US rules, if a poor person somehow tricks a medical clinic into providing some medical care, and then can't afford to pay, the clinic has no real recourse. Having a national operator is one more way of heading off poor people before they get in the door. They were willing to let me die because they thought I might not be able to pay a $200 bill.
I was in Washington a couple of weeks ago for the AGU Chapman conference on the East Asian Monsoon. My trip there was long enough that I needed a dialysis session, which I had tentatively arranged through Fresenius. I had identified a clinic near the conference, and had received word that they would schedule me in for either the Tuesday or the Wednesday that I was there. Unfortunately, my phone was not working properly, so I needed to have them contact me via the hotel. There was also a brief hang-up over the transfer of necessary medical records from Canada, but everything seemed to be in order by lunchtime Tuesday--I had been introduced to my coordinator and was advised to wait for their call.
This meant that I had to run back to the hotel lobby during every break (of which there were several) to see if the clinic had called. Making matters worse, I was never given any direct number to call the clinic directly, so I had to go through the company's national switchboard each time, and deal with a different operator who had to locate my file and see how things were going. Every time I was advised to await their call.
It was the same thing on Wednesday. Await their call. And by evening, it seemed clear I was not going to get dialysis--I was flying back on Thursday afternoon, and would have a session in Toronto on the Friday. No explanation, or indeed any attempt a communication, seems to have been made. I have to add that the situation at the hotel was mildly chaotic as well, as the hotel had just been bought by a new operator and was undergoing transformation to a European-style hostel, and their phone system was a little bit erratic. It was impossible to call out, for instance. I thought it possible that a call from the clinic might have been missed . . . except whenever I called, they told me they hadn't called yet.
By Thursday, the fluid levels were high enough that I had a little trouble breathing, but luckily my potassium levels stayed below the point where it triggers heart attacks (the main worry of the nurses back home) and I was able to survive until Friday.
I don't officially know the reason I was ultimately rejected for dialysis. I suspect it was that I may have triggered a poverty alert--no phone, and staying at a hostel (it wasn't actually a hostel yet, but the hotel was listing itself as such). I gather that under the US rules, if a poor person somehow tricks a medical clinic into providing some medical care, and then can't afford to pay, the clinic has no real recourse. Having a national operator is one more way of heading off poor people before they get in the door. They were willing to let me die because they thought I might not be able to pay a $200 bill.
It's a mad, mad, mad world
