Take a Panodil and stop pestering us!

I am one of those people who is a bit hard to get to the doctor. It is not that I do not trust them, I do. It is just that I do not want to go to the doctor until it is absolutely necessary.
 

Something started to brew in my head in the middle of July. I started getting the weird feeling of pressure (not headache) in my head and I started to feel like I have low grade fever but all of it was coming and going. After three days of that I decided to take the COVID-19 test. Just as I have made the decision all the symptoms vanished. Week later they came back but stronger. At that point I decided that it is the time to call the doctor.
 

That first phone call was at least weird. After I have described the symptoms, I got two questions, did I go for a COVID-19 test and what do I think is wrong with me. I said that I did but that I still didn't get the results. The lady on the phone responded that they can't consult me until I get the results back and until then I should just take a Panodil. Panodil is the universal "magical" cure for everything in Denmark just like Andol is in Croatia. That was just so frustrating, I am not feeling well and they do not want to help me and they are asking me to self-diagnose myself. That goes against everything I was taught and that is one feels unwell, one should contact the doctor, describe the symptoms and receive help. What one shouldn't do is to try and self-diagnose! And they are telling me to do just that.
 

It has gotten worse the next day. The pressure in the head and the feeling of low grade fever was combined with dizziness. Fortunately for me, test result for COVID-19 came back negative, so I was hopeful that now I will get proper medical help. So I started calling again. My doctor, the one I called yesterday went for holiday so the answering machine was instructing me to call the service called "medical-assistance". So I did after work, I described all the symptoms in detail and two hours later they called me back and said that I should take antibiotics and if it doesn't get better that I should call my doctor on Monday.
 

I got a bit better between Thursday and Sunday morning but on Sunday afternoon dizziness came back in full swing. And in accordance to doctors instructions, I called in my regular doctor and told that I am getting worse and that COVID-19 test results came back negative. Despite that, she was dismissive and condescending. She refused to take me in with two explanations. Firstly, I need to give antibiotics some time to work until Wednesday and secondly, even though I have a negative COVID-19 test result I might have contracted it in the mean time and they have a strict rules for patient care (or patient non-care) during COVID-19 times. 

 

Wednesday came and there was no improvement, so I called on Thursday morning. This time, finally I was talking to the doctor who wasn't trying to get rid of me but she explained for how long can I expect the dizziness to last and that I should get a time at ear, nose and throat specialist and she will take me in for a blood test.
 

The dizziness persisted but at least now I was more at peace because I knew what to expect, because the doctor finally took me seriously and because something was being done about it and it took a week to get there.
 

By the end of the next week dizziness slowly subsided, I got a nasal spray for my breathing problems and blood test showed that there was an infection going on but nothing else.
 

But I didn't write this because of my health issues but because of the treatment that I got from the medical personnel. Why was I being dismissed at the beginning? Why did it take them a week? Why was I asked to self-diagnose myself?
 

My boss was curious about my experience with the doctors and she shared a similar story. On multiple occasions when she needed proper medical help, the doctors were dismissive and they were not taking her seriously. I heard more of almost identical stories.
 

Why is it like that? It is a public health care system and the doctors did swore on the Hippocratic out that in one part says the following: "I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required..."
 

Until doctors remember this maybe all people who are sick should apologize to them for their condition and the inconvenience they are causing to them.
 

I think this type of attitude from the side of the doctors is at least unprofessional. People don't contact them because it is a fun activity but because something is going on and they need help. Croatian health care system has its own problems and it can take moths if you need some specialized medical check up like MRI but if you need help from your family doctor they will find time to help you. If something is seriously wrong suddenly and you need an ER, you will get an ER. I was never in my life treated with such an attitude from a medical professional and I don't think anyone should. What if there was something seriously wrong and not just some benign sinus infection?


P. S. I will appologize to all the doctors who are commited to their job and patient care.

Now is the time to panic and freak out

In the last couple of weeks the whole world is united in a panic caused by the Coronavirus. First confirmed case of Coronavirus in Denmark was on 27th February. A man from Roskilde returned from his skiing trip in northern Italy. From that day on, every day, there has been reports about new cases. But life went on - more or less uninterrupted - until last Wednesday. On Wednesday, 11th of March, Denmark issued a warning for people who plan to travel outside of the country. But it was just a call for taking precausionary measures if people are traveling to countries with some reported cases of the virus. On the next day, 12th of March Denmark decided to shut down all public institutions and educational institutions from Monday the 16th of March - and has issued a recommendation to people to stay and work from home, if they can. At the same time there was a press release for people not to panic and to stay home if they can. Yesterday on March 14th Denmark decided to close all borders for at least a month, with the exception of heavy traffic. Also, all non essentials stores will be closed off from Monday 16th of March with the exceptions of supermarkets and drug stores.

Of course the panic started on Thursday 12th March. How will people not start to panic when the country is basically shuting down!? It is a clear sign of an extraordinary situation and that things from now on will not run as intended. That was the message that Danish government sent with the decision to close all public institutions. People will not wait until Monday to start panicking, they will start panicking immediately. 

And it has been/still is quite a panic indeed. People started hoarding hand dezinfection gel, toilet paper, meat and vegetables. Despite the calls from supermarkets and the goverment that there is no need for hoarding, that the supply lines will be open and the stores will keep working and as long as people continue shopping as they usually do, nobody will be hungry and all assess will be clean. It didn't help. Videos of people fighting in the stores, empty shelves in the supermarkets, reports of thefts of face masks and hand disinfectants from hospitals... At the same time the financial sector, labour unions and employer organizations started preparing for the economy grinding to a halt. So yea, bussiness as usuall... not.

But that is only the beginning. There is still a lot of unknowns... How hard will the economy be hit, how long will it last, how many companies will go bust and how many people will lose their jobs? There is also the question: how does a nation of workaholics handle a lockdown? How will people identified by working handle not working? Yesterday I saw a serious article written by a couple therapist with tips for couples on how to handle the coronacrisis. Because, imagine, people will have to spend a lot of time together and with their children. The sad thing is that they don't know how to, because they are used to spending a bit of time together in between work and all the other obligations that they have while children are taken care of by the professionals. At least it seems so, if it is necessary for the couple therapist giving instructions on how to handle your partner and kids when you are all trapped under the same roof. The horror!

It is interesting times we live in and maybe coronacrisis will bring some longterm benefits with it. Maybe it will remind some of us how to just be with our loved ones, how to define ourselves with something that does not include work. Maybe it will also remind us how fragile our whole modern lifestyle is, if you consider that it is threatened by a simple virus that is a bit more dangerous than a flu.