Wednesday, April 15, 2009

fanfare



No need to fret my lovelies, just letting you know I went to the doctor yesterday. Yes, we do go to doctors when there is nothing apparently wrong. This lets us check up on our general health, and catch problems before they become, er, problematic. So I saw Doctor Dimitri (fee for consultation: $AUD 0.00). He ordered some blood rests - 8 to be exact. (Fee for 8 tests: $AUD 0.00). He had some concerns regarding a persistent sore shoulder. So he ordered some X-rays and an ultra-sound. (4 X-rays $AUD 0.00, 1 ultrasound $AUD 0.00). In addition, at my request, he wrote me a referral to my osteopath for 5 visits. (5 visits to Wendy the Osteopath $AUD 0.00.)

Now, we Australians eschew the fanfare, so i won't go on and on. There is much to criticise in my country, culturally, politically, fiscally. But the Medicare system worked for me yesterday. It did cost me time - I was at the Medical Centre from 8.45 til after 1, I have to return for my ultrasound, and also for more blood to be taken as my arm was empty, apparently. While I have an appointment time for the ultrasound, I will have to take a number & queue up again for blood-letting. Yesterday, my wait at Pathology was over an hour. Still, I had a book and the time passed not unpleasantly.

Man goes to the doctor for a physical examination.
Doctor says to the Man "You have got to stop masturbating".
Man says "Why?"
Doctor says "Because I am trying to give you a physical examination".

11 comments:

Joey Polanski said...

Are you sure th doc dint say, "Because thats what givd ya th sore shouldr." ?

Phoebe Fay said...

Not having any blood would seem to explain why those blood tests are so cheap.

Cissy Strutt said...

Joey: Is that your differential?

pheebs: You've cracked it.

Malach the Merciless said...

I hate the US medical system

Forrest Proper said...

Now I know what the currency exchange rate is-

$AUD 0.00 = $USD $175.00.

And we wait just as long to pay more.

Hope your shoulder feels better soon. Have you tried putting vegemite on it?

Cissy Strutt said...

colonel: Thanks. Maybe it's an old shelving injury.

anaglyph said...

VT and I laffed heartily at the joke.

And of course, you know I have nothing but very high praise indeed for our medical system, and nothing but contempt for our former government which attempted numerous times to dismantle it.

anaglyph said...

Oh - and did they test you for BRAINS!

Cissy Strutt said...

anaglyph: My brains resonate on a frequency which is expanded from ... er ... and the crystals are ... it's sciencey, you wouldn't understand

anaglyph said...

No, I apologise for my ignorance.

But I DO know that E=M3/4. So does everyone, I guess.

Sara Sue said...

(sigh) Why can't this country take a clue from yours??