Medical Madness and why we are all Medical Hypocrites.

It has been, 27 years now that the Sydney Children’s Hospital changed my life and gave me a different perspective for Humankind and Hospitals. Since the age of 16 I was a regular patient of RPA (Royal Prince Alfred) and honestly was so over being prodded, poked and operated on. I did not like the place but I also know I did not have the respect I guess, towards the nurses as I do now.

We are so quick to judge and to contribute to the many opinions of bureaucrats and social media Keyboard Gurus’ 

My son was 5 years of age when he was diagnosed with a disease or ailment that athletes would normally endure. Muscle Burnout more simply translated from a description that sounded like a textbook explanation to raise funds! I say that because I support many Charities and have heard and seen so many tactics used to make things sound more dramatic. I can now say that there are no tactics and every illness deserves attention because it deals with multiple lives and not only the patient. We can criticize all we want but the truth is the same. Funding is needed to keep the many people who dedicate their existence to assist doctors during the most traumatic time of a human’s life. The Nurses and everyone behind the scenes that ensure we are cared for not only talking about the patient either!

My own experience as a teenager to now a mother of a child facing the fight of his life! From a frustrating beginning and what I now call an unnecessary delay (due to human interference and I don’t mean the medial profession), we ended up in Sydney Children Hospital in Randwick. My son was rushed by ambulance and the expertise of the paramedics saved my son during the transportation. His body near death and then the miracle of life; only to arrive at the hospital and rushed into emergency as he began to lose his fight.

That emotional rollercoaster (as depicted in the verbal confusion above) causing your heart to stop beating and the air in your lungs to harden like cement making your organs too heavy to be carried by a failing body. You age instantly and your life is now a blur as you see the future of your child race passed. Snippets of his life featured skimmed experienced of potential happiness and achievements –school-love-moments-triumphs and his own future family. I witnessed them all as I waited in a cold waiting room.

Being a Parent isn’t easy at the best of times, being a mum was challenging enough without this drama, but as parents we all deal with-

- Stress, Fear, Helplessness,  Grief,  Expectation  Guilt, Blame Entitlement 

Everyone goes through their own experiences but they all generally fall in one or more of the above categories.

My son’s muscles were dying and because of this the Bad blood was flowing through the Kidney’s making it hard to diagnose. So I apologized to the first hospital for my outburst at the time. How dare I when I am not even qualified! It was an obvious assumption to name it Renal Failure because of the symptoms. As parents we believe we know better, or is it that we cannot trust another human being’s opinion?

His tiny 5-year-old body swelled up to appear as though he was a 12-year-old boy.

There was nothing that could be done but to allow the swelling to subside before making any attempt to treat the unknown cause of what was killing off his muscles. Six weeks in ICU and 2 operations later we would spend 3 months in the Hospital from a bandaged up boy resembling an ancient mummy. The first operation was a Fasciotomy (the thin layer of tissue that holds our muscles were left open to allow the muscle to swell to its capacity) and the second to remove the dead muscle. We then lived in the Parent Huts in preparation for life in a Wheelchair to the miracle of walking again. That’s it in a nutshell and I am making it light as the experience left scars and many more challenges that are vivid memories now.

The story above is to explain that I get it and not simply writing another article or story from something researched without heart. Hospital researchers, staff and all others have witnessed and experienced first hand the devastation caused by the unknown and unexpected. We are fortunate to have them and to have our Medical system in Australia. While there are many countries Germany, USA and UK perhaps others (I have experienced the ones mentioned) that are all great in comparison; our actual facilities and systems are extremely beneficial to us all. Private or Public and we have choices…so perhaps it is about time we stop and think about the men and women who work in these fields. Not a Specialist or Doctor but an important part of a necessity that gives back so much more than we can ever pay them for. Instead of judging and criticizing our system we need to consider the actual spend towards the staffing of the hospitals. 

When do all the political and financial agendas end? The falsehood of entitlement created by groups who appear to have agendas that ignore the Ugly Truth of the situation and finally when do we all take responsibility for our actions towards the Medical System? 

Every parent’s nightmare is facing the unknown of illness and the vulnerability of placing the life of your child in the hands of another human being. It is an unnecessary evil and at the time we take for granted that these people have their own lives and probably their own children etc.

Human make mistakes under pressure and we can all find blame when things go wrong but we all forget when things go right.

We walk away and God willing your child, your loved one or you end up on a path of recovery while the nurses and staff get a “Thank you” and face more shifts and demands due to staff shortages and administration obligations, for pays that do not justify the return for service. They face daily risks due to a world of entitlement and blame, those who threaten them and command a respect they sometimes do not deserve. They face the same discrimination as we all do in the workplace and more, they deal with things we don’t want to or can’t (emotionally or physically) as we walk away from a nursing home or palliative care.

Consider these things and put yourself in the worn shoes of hospital staff before criticizing and commenting on the building, the cleanliness and the service we have all done it at some stage. 

Whilst I appreciate the improvements and renovations at the Children’s Hospitals it wouldn’t have made a difference if the staff were not a dedicated to my son, my family and especially to me during those months when all I wanted to was curl up and die many times over.

Respect everyone you meet and stop commenting on issues you would not understand unless you are in the Medical profession.

I challenged a person once to spend the day with a nurse and in hospital rather than make comments and attempt to run for Government with policies that were meaningless…didn’t do it and didn’t run because all the intent was to receive a guaranteed retirement and perks. Perhaps that is one way of improving the system and hypocritical government spending a public behaviour?

Feel free to comment we all do regardless, especially around election time when every politician is seeking out the burning topics that pull heartstrings and are easy targets. All opinions are welcomed, perhaps that way we can find solutions instead of hypocritically making policies and funding that call for criticism of anyone involved in the Medical profession. 

Like anything in life nothing is 100% and nothing is perfect, things can and will go wrong, especially because humans are involved. Majority of the time situations turn out positively and they are not always reported, they are drowned out by the numerous circumstances where there were medical upheaval and mistakes. A lot of which revert back to policing and regulatory monitoring, such as;

-  The ability for a person to act like a medical practitioner - Cosmetic Surgery performed by unqualified business owners - Beauticians acting like doctors- Naturopaths or Pharmaceutical claims not verified yet allowed to operate within retail facilities - Online presence of healers and medicinal replacements - Medical Centre’s operating without professional procedures and policy implementation.

The news is full of these stories and yes there are the reports of malpractice and in some cases carelessness. Could the reasoning be due to the overworked staff making up for administration cut backs or the lack of incentives for young people to take up nursing?

Or are we that litigious and we know that the hospital is the larger institution; rather than to seek compensation from the backyard guru that claimed to save them from Cancer. You try it, out of hope and if it fails you can blame the hospital; they should have saved your child during the last few months. You wasted money and time on a remedy from someone that looked amazing on Social Media, but you learn they have no backing and were able to manipulate the system to place them into Voluntary Administration.

So why not blame the entire Medical System to wipe out the good they do and highlight the mistakes.

If I was to compare the mistakes of the Medical institutions as appose to the Financial institutions, all relevant to monitoring of Human beings the damage is minimal and they are both dealing with the lives of many.

We need to stop our hypocrisy and keep every institution and regulator accountable and stop vilifying the individual who do an outstanding job to ensure the well being of everyone.

Leave your comments if you dare to be honest with #TheUglyTruth about LIFE

Disclosure: The Ugly Truth about LIFE is the title of my new Book and tales of controversial events are penned. It provides the RAW facts and how to deal with the unknowns so that everyone is accountable for their actions.

It is the only way to ensure a safe and viable future for all.

Mel xo