Today, in Brazil, I was hit by a car. I'm so grateful we have universal healthcare
My first memory after leaving the house to cycle was being taken by the ambulance to the hospital. I was evaluated by several medical professionals. One of them spent two hours stitching my mouth and forehead back into something that resembles a human being.
Brazilian SUS is not perfect by any means. It's unorganized and some procedures and operations can take a long time to happen. There's lots of corruption with doctors that work in multiple places at the same time.
But, a lot of the time, it freaking works. The paramedics were gentle, affectionate, and competent. Some in the street knew my mother so they when to my house and called her--she accompanied me in the ambulance.
The hospital was not pretty by any standard. There were burn victims screaming bloody hell and I'm pretty sure I saw a woman die--but hey, that's a hospital, people die there!
An actual orthopedist made sure I did not have any fracture. An actual neurologist made sure I have no neural damage. A surgeon stitched my mouth and forehead back together into something that doesn't look like a character out of Frankenstein. It still looks bad, but it'll improve with time. A very nice nurse cleaned up all my bruises and have me aftercare orientations.
On several occasions, we had to manually seek people and procedures that were supposed to happen automatically. The operation itself was a mess, but the doctors and nurses were extremely caring, competent, and dedicated.
This all cost me exactly zero dollars. I didn't even had to fulfill any absurd form or provide an excess of documentation: just my national registry (RG), something almost every citizen has unless they're a very specific kind of homeless.
This is in a very poor unstable country. It is absolutely not perfect, but on many occasions, it kinda works!
Oh man, right after your post about being in love! You really hit the highs and lows today.
Glad to hear you're okay, no concussion or anything to worry about? Did you notice any big effects on the hospital from coronavirus?
The hospital was operating normally from my view since they clearly reserved an entire ward just for corona.
Being fucked up won't make me any less in love hahaha
But I will prioritize voice-only conversations for the time being. I look like Frankenstein's monster.
It's really remarkable what good plastic reconstruction can achieve; you won't look like Frankenstein's monster for long. Just do exactly what the doctor tells you as far as wound care, and keep any residual scars protected with sunblock.
I'm just glad you're mostly in one piece. Bike accidents are terrifying - you're likely hitting pavement at 20+ km/hr, and in shock for a while.
Don't be surprised if you suddenly start feeling much worse, just be sure to go back to the doctor for anything that's persistently painful after a couple of days. A week after my worst crash, the outpatient clinic found a couple of fractures that hadn't shown up in ER-quality X-rays.
I'm mightily envious of non-U.S. healthcare; that same accident cost me $2,000 with insurance.
I'm actually not a modern Frankenstein,I just have a penchant for drama. I'll look fine in no time ;)
Sure just rub it in why don't you.
I kid, I'm glad you're ok and sounds like nothing major was broken?
I did not break any bones. My face was/is fucked-up though. But it will heal.
It's good to know you're all patched up and on the road to recovery! It's a pity you can't remember how you had the accident. Or maybe that's a good thing?
I had a similar healthcare experience a few years ago. I fell and fractured my elbow. My friend took me to hospital. I was admitted that night. I had X-rays and MRI scans. Two days later, I was operated on. After three days, I was released from hospital. And that all cost me zero dollars. I'm so grateful for Australia's Medicare healthcare system.
I believe so. Not the kinda thing I want on my mind!
It’s just sensible. How can expect people to pay for something that’s involuntary and unpredictable by nature?
Ouch. Hopes from here for a fast and easy recovery! Good luck!
I'm just ugly as shit, but my beauty will recover hahahah
> tfw a poor developing country outdoes the richest country in the world :(
Sorry for the noise, reading this is just kind of depressing for me as an American. Glad you're doing well though :).
We have our share of problems, just not this very specific one.
Healthcare should not be a neoliberal policy. It just shouldn’t!
I hope you have a speedy recovery! I was in the ER last night, and I'm just waiting for the bill to drop. Wish the US would follow Brazil's example here!
Ouch! I've been casually following some of your posts about meeting your current girlfriend during quarantine. Unfortunate luck but I'm glad you're doing well and recovering!
We’re actually pretty well. When things are in the right place, problems bring people together. We now have a full blown relationship and it’s pretty nice.
I'm so sorry that happened to you but so happy you're okay.
Melhoras para você e que bom que o SUS funcionou bem e deu tudo certo.
O SUS pode ser terrível para certas coisas e ótimo para outras. De todo modo, é melhor que ele exista!
Hope you are doing ok, not hurting too bad, and you will quickly recover (hopefully not looking like a monster haha)! That is so weird to have a gap in your memory like that. Did you get hit by a car? Or do you not know what happened?
Also - I agree, public healthcare rules :).
I’ll have to wait for the police report to tell me what happened but I doubt it’ll be conclusive.
I'm glad to know you're still intact and already on the mend, and also thankful that you'd share the experience. Have you been discharged already? Will you need to take time off work, and what are those provisions usually like? Anything I/we can do to send you a smile (and probably make your face hurt lol)?
I have been discharged and I’m quite alright phisically. I can’t say that same psychologically I’m much worse. I heard many burn wounds crying for their mammas and a woman died in front of me. I was also unaware of my state so I thought I might die, get intelectual disabilities or lose the movement of my legs.
Today I cried very heavily in the bathroom for about half an hour. Most because of the suffering of all those people in much worse conditions than I was. 100% third degree burns is not something I desire to my worst enemy.
This experience definitely convinced me to never buy a motorcycle.
I indent to keep cycling but I’ll be much safer and wear all the protective gear. My helmet was 5 years old and split in half — this irresponsibility could have gave a serious intelectual disability.
"Yeouch!"
This is why we have welfare and leftism. So that when we need it the most, it will be there for us.
Has anyone given you any timeframe to taking the stitches off?
Fom the mouth: they'll leave naturally.
From the face: manually removed in 7 days.
Oof. I, with my mom have also used the public system here recently as I've described in my comment here and the stories coming from people under US Healthcare are really sad.
Só vi agora o tópico. Como ta a recuperação? Melhoras!
Considerando o que aconteceu estou ótimo! Minha bela cara tá praticamente igual nesse ponto. Não tive fraturas ou danos neurológicos. Tudo bem quando acaba bem