Tuesday, May 22, 2007

A flaw in the system (medical exams)

A quick history:

Next month we will have been living in Iceland for one full year.

One month ago we received our residence permits, pending medical exams.

And here are the problems:

1. Kasper's exam was booked but the soonest he could get in was a month away.

2. I got an appointment in less then 24 hours for my exam.

3. When I saw the doctor she had no idea what kind of medical certificate I would need, could not find a test for TB, but sent me for X-Rays. I got the X-Rays the next day. Three days and a pile of money later, I was given a certificate of good health. (I question how any doctor can say anyone is healthy by not asking any questions and only looking at an x-ray)

4. Last Monday Kasper went for his appointment. They weighed, measured, checked reflexes and breathing. Gathered medical information. You know, the basics. Then they tell me the nurse who does the rest of the tests could not make it in today, so I would have to bring him back next week.

5. This week I bring him back, the nurse gets a urine sample, takes 6, that's right 6, tubes of blood from the little guy and stabs him with a TB test. She, the nurse, said I will have to bring him back in three days to complete the test. She also tells me of some test I will have to do at home. This is the next great thing.

6. Over the next two weeks I get to collect stool samples. Is that not great? I asked if this was a joke. No, No. I was given three test tubes with spoons attached to the lids. Every three to four days Kasper needs to 'go' on a piece of plastic spread out on the bathroom floor. Then I get to get three or four spoonfuls and put them in the test tube then bring them to the hospital. (After cleaning the floor) The nurse made this sound so simple.

I feel sick....

It is one thing to change the diaper of a little baby, but a totally different thing to be spooning it around. And he is not a little baby....

So Kasper is fully vaccinated, what on earth do they think he has that they have to do so many tests? I told the nurse that there was in fact a decent health care system in Canada and I was sure his health was fine. She thinks you can never be to careful.

I am not sure what all they are testing for but the home sampling is to test for parasites. Davið called the hospital to find out for me.

So here is a note to my fellow filthy and diseased Canadians:
ICELAND IS ON TO US! NO LONGER CAN WE HIDE OUR TICKS, FLEAS AND PARASITES!

And here is the best:

7. Only Kasper gets such a medical exam. No body really even looked at me for mine. Davið does not need one because he is an Icelander, and neither does Stefan because he is registered as an Icelander as well.

We all live in the same house. We have all lived in Iceland for a year, I would have thought that if Kasper had some parasite or terrible disease, he would have infected a fair amount of people by now. Stefan was born and has lived most of his life in Canada, the same as Kasper. No one has asked about Stefan's immunizations. They have a record of Kasper's. We all live in the same apartment, but only Kasper is tested.

My health tests cost a lot of money, when no real tests were carried out. Kasper's are all free because children are entitled to free health care. At least this is what I was told, but this rule does not work when you have a regular doctors appointment.
It looks to me like if you have Icelandic blood you are immune to such health problems, and the health of adults does not matter.

Actually I do not know what top think of this. The entire situation makes no sense to me.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous2:48 PM

    Picture me: amazed. This is all total bureaucracy.

    ReplyDelete