Lesson #1 from the weekend from hell--The Healthcare System in the US is a Joke

I had an awful weekend. It was exhausting, it was emotional, it was costly on every level.

So instead of dwelling on the ridiculousness of it, I am going to try and learn some lessons from it, because I believe they are there. And in the coming days I will put down these lessons here.

Today is Lesson #1--The Healthcare System in the US is a Joke.

I am so sick of the almighty dollar running the healthcare industry. This is not something new. But when you're an out-of-towner trying to get some straightforward advice on what could be a life-threatening medical issue, you'd better just pack your bags up and call it a day, because it just ain't going to happen. It's a sad lesson, but it's true. There are certain standards of accountability that should be in place in the medical profession that just aren't and the lack of those standards makes for an insurmountable challenge when you least have the energy to tackle it. And the sad part of my medical experiences this weekend is the total lack of communication notwithstanding the fact that there is more technology in place to facilitate such a dialog than ever. You would think that this technology would help us do something special--like find a solution to a problem more quickly, provide better quality of care, or just plain make things faster. The fact of the matter is that it's doing just the opposite. People are getting improper diagnoses and a general lack of attention that's due to them as a human being.

I am too exhausted to put my words into something coherent at this point, but I will be writing a strongly-worded letter about this soon.

Strongly worded.