The Health Care System

Yesterday I saw my ear, nose and throat doctor.

This was at her request. She wanted to see me before refilling my medication. I'm taking Zyrtec and Singulair for this weird problem I have with my ear.

My ear gets a full feeling and sometimes I have vertigo. I suffer from motion sickness a lot, and sometimes just a movement of my head can make me feel like I've been riding for hours in the mountains of West Virginia.

The allergy medications help but are no cure. When this first hit me back in February, I went through a series of doctors before this ENT finally gave me a steroid shot and the allergy meds. The other ENTs were all content to say, "you've got something wrong with your ear" and send me home.

But then the ENT I ended up with has been practicing medicine on me since March 31 without seeing me. She saw me one time and then everything else has been over the phone. From a financial standpoint that hasn't been so bad but I have not felt like I've gotten very good care.

What has happened is that no one has looked for any cause or bothered to attempt to explain to me what may or may not be going on. When I tell them that the entire left side of my head, where my ear hurts, has problems with the sinuses staying inflamed, they act as if none of it is connected.

But I think it is all connected. I think that I have some inflammation in my sinuses that is causing swelling that is affecting my ear. That is my theory. But no one will even bother to tell me if such a thing is possible or impossible, scientifically. I am no doctor. I don't know.

It seems to be beyond the medical doctors these days to actually take the time to explain anything. I asked questions and received a blank look. I asked if there could be a connection between my sinuses and my balance and received another blank look. I asked if they could X-ray my sinuses. She said she could do a CAT Scan; did I want sinus surgery? She seldom recommends sinus surgery for an ear problem, she said. I must've looked very confused, because I said, "Wouldn't that depend on what the X-rays show?" I didn't think that sinus surgery was even a point of conversation at that point.

I just want to know if I do have some major inflammation in my sinuses because I think if I can get that calmed down it would help the ear problem. Surely it wouldn't hurt to get it calmed down. Don't you think?

She did not explain what a CAT scan is and since I asked about sinus X-Rays I assumed it was some kind of X-ray. After I left her office I found out it might require some kind of contract dye injection, and I am not going to allow anything to be injected in me. I am having enough troubles without adding stuff that doesn't belong in my body.

I called back and asked her nurse if the dye stuff is necessary; she didn't know. I have to talk to the people at the hospital where they do the testing, she said.

I wish I had an option when I saw the doctor that would allow me to tell my insurance company not to pay them because of poor performance. I think I would use that a lot. Although maybe if doctors knew they weren't going to get paid unless they actually practiced medicine as opposed to capitalistic health care, maybe there would be no need to use that option.

I am pretty fed up and am considering canceling this X-ray thing. I just wish it wasn't scheduled so soon (it's Monday) so I'd have more time to consider all the options.