Oh well, so much for the A+++++ I gave Rome the other day. Today I give Rome a C-----!
Today I had an appointment with an orthopedist at a public hospital to figure out what is wrong with my knee that's been aching for months (time to put me out to pasture, huh?). But wait, before I start rambling about today's appointment, let me tell you about the steps I had to take to reach this point: First I go to my primary care physician (free visit) and explain the problem to him, then he wrote an official request for an MRI. I had to call the CUP toll-free number to book an appointment for the MRI (51 euro) in one of Rome's public clinics. I totally lucked out and got an appointment in a week's time ONLY because someone had cancelled their appointment, otherwise I would've had to wait till SEPTEMBER or pay more and use a private clinic. Miraculously I got an appointment quickly but the only downside was: the clinic was hella far. I managed to get a ride out there and assumed I would be given the test results immediately. HAHAHA, little did I know that it took 4-5 business days which meant I had to go back to the clinic in bumblefuck Rome in order to pick them up the next week. I actually asked the technician if they could email me the results or send them with a courier, he laughed at me and said "Come back in 4-5 days".
ANYWAY, once I picked up those test results I had to bring them back to my primary care physician (free visit) who then wrote out a request for a specialized visit with an orthopedist. I called the CUP toll-free number again to book this appointment and lucked out again, I was scheduled to see a knee specialist at a public hospital in San Giovanni in a week's time. Yay!
Now back to today. I go to San Giovanni, and manage to pay for the visit (25 euro) after waiting only 15 minutes! I go upstairs to the sports medicine section and within 10 minutes they called my number. NICE! I go in and the doctor asks what my problem is. I start explaining the various types of pain I've been feeling in my knee all these months and he chuckles saying "Oh, sounds like the end of the world!" I smile politely, not entirely sure what he meant by that, and continued explaining the situation. I hand over my MRI results -which although written in medical mumbo-jumbo, specifically state that the meniscus and the ACL are intact- and he says "Let me check your meniscus and ACL". Uh, okay. He starts bending my knee and says he hears it clicking, I inform him that my knee has ALWAYS clicked. He bends the other knee (the one that is perfectly healthy) and points out the clicking sound. Uh, okay... Diagnosis: he says my kneecaps are congenitally defective because they tilt outwards. Okay, but why do I have immense pain in one knee and just recently? He mumbles and bumbles all sort of stuff and ends by saying I need to strengthen my quad muscles, undergo a treatment of anti-inflammatory drugs, and if it still doesn't get better I need to have an operation.
I am sitting there in a daze, so blown away by his brusque manners, his eagerness to get rid of me, his approximate diagnosis, his lack of in-depth explanations, his unwillingness to discuss or answer the few questions I had, his wise-ass attitude when I asked him to write down the specific name of the muscle group he said I needed to strengthen, in fact I'm so blown away by this ridiculous and surreal situation that my mind goes blank and I freeze up. I stop asking questions, I just stop speaking. He hands me back my test results, paperwork, and this scrap of paper which simply reads "potenziamento vasto mediale" (strengthen the Vastus Medialis), and says "You can leave now". I felt just like Ralphie in this scene.
I walk out of the room in a daze, walk all the way to the bus stop in a daze, get on the bus in a daze and after 5 minutes my head goes into overdrive with all the questions I wanted to ask. Does "muscle strengthening" mean I have to go to physical therapy? If so, for how long? Why didn't he say physical therapy then? What the fuck does anti-inflammatory treatment mean? Do I just take some ibuprofen? Do I need injections in my swollen knee? Do I need to take steroidal meds or cortisone? And for how long? Why has my knee suddenly started hurting? Are there any activities I should avoid? The list of questions whirling in my mind is endless but unfortunately, I can't go back and even if I did, I have a feeling the doctor would brush me off and just try to rush me out of the door again.
Incredible, I don't know what happened to me, I am usually always on guard and prepared to dig until I get what I need but this time I was so taken aback by his flippant behavior that I just shut down. Unbelievable.
Well, at this point, I'm going to do what most Italians do: use connections. A friend of mine knows a good knee specialist who could sneak me in during his public hospital visits, so instead of going back to my primary care physician and getting another request for an orthopedist visit, and then calling the CUP to schedule an appointment, I'm just going slide right under that red tape limbo bar and do as the Romans do.
Damn, maybe my experience the other day was a dream as Italian Postcards wrote. In fact, my tonsils don't hurt any more. Hummm.....
Showing posts with label public (lack of) service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label public (lack of) service. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
suicide mission
Armed with a book, a bottle of water, and a pack of Nutter Butter (YES, I brought them back with me from USA because I love them and they are somewhat nutritious since they contain peanut butter), I headed off this morning on a suicide mission: Anagrafe AND Acea in one day! I know, I know, pure craziness but I figured it was best to dive right in and ruin one day instead of two or more.
I hadn't been to the Anagrafe in years, I must say it hasn't changed one bit. Still chaotic, still plagued with bad signage, still slow as fuck. I waited over TWO hours to get my ID renewed. The actually renewal process took all of 60 seconds, the rest of the time was spent waiting in line. Note for all you legal foreigners- we will never be allowed to have the small, plastic ID cards because we weren't born in Italy. As punishment we'll have to haul around a giant scrap of ragged paper, also known as carta d'identità, until the end of time... or until they change the rule.
After that, I scurried to the Acea office hoping I wouldn't have to wait as long. Luckily, I only spent 30 minutes in line. But I left there feeling less than triumphant. See, a few years ago Acea sent me a refund check because they overcharged me by 300+ euro... Yeah, Acea approximates what they think you're consuming in electricity, charges you for it, then comes around once a year to check the meter and ends up sending beefy refund checks. For all you smartypants out there, YES I know I could check the meter every few months and inform Acea of the actual reading, but I'm not always here, it slips my mind, etc etc. Back to the story: I got a nice phat refund check but due to a series of odd/annoying circumstances that I cannot get into now, the check got lost. I filed a police report and was expecting a new check, but 2 years have gone by and nothing has come of it. A few weeks ago, after I returned from USA, I went to the Carabinieri to check up on my case and they flippantly told me to go to Acea because there was nothing they could do. According to them I had filed the report, so now Acea had to reissue the check. Too good to be true of course! Today, I went to Acea and they told me to go back to the Carabinieri. And so I did. I waited for 25 minutes and finally got to speak to the Maresciallo who was actually pleasant (not in a skanky way like most of the men in that office) and helpful. He pulled out my file and told me what I had been waiting to hear for 2 years: the check was cashed by someone who made a fake ID with my name and their picture, then forged the signature and cashed the check. The Carabinieri tried to trace the ID number but of course they couldn't because it was FAKE. Essentially, I've been robbed of 300+ euro and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it. I'm still confused as to why the Carabinieri never contacted me when the investigation was over (quite some time ago, as I discovered today) AND why, when I went to the Carabinieri a few weeks ago, they shooed me off telling me to take it up with Acea instead of actually looking at my case, which had long since been closed. Worst thing is, there's no recourse. The Maresciallo himself said the only "option" is going to court, but we both chuckled as soon as those words came out of his mouth. I've already had one experience with the Italian judicial system (don't get me started on that!) and it taught me to steer clear of it. I would end up forking out money and never getting back what is rightfully mine.
Say it with me, "ciao ciao 300+ euro".
I hadn't been to the Anagrafe in years, I must say it hasn't changed one bit. Still chaotic, still plagued with bad signage, still slow as fuck. I waited over TWO hours to get my ID renewed. The actually renewal process took all of 60 seconds, the rest of the time was spent waiting in line. Note for all you legal foreigners- we will never be allowed to have the small, plastic ID cards because we weren't born in Italy. As punishment we'll have to haul around a giant scrap of ragged paper, also known as carta d'identità, until the end of time... or until they change the rule.
After that, I scurried to the Acea office hoping I wouldn't have to wait as long. Luckily, I only spent 30 minutes in line. But I left there feeling less than triumphant. See, a few years ago Acea sent me a refund check because they overcharged me by 300+ euro... Yeah, Acea approximates what they think you're consuming in electricity, charges you for it, then comes around once a year to check the meter and ends up sending beefy refund checks. For all you smartypants out there, YES I know I could check the meter every few months and inform Acea of the actual reading, but I'm not always here, it slips my mind, etc etc. Back to the story: I got a nice phat refund check but due to a series of odd/annoying circumstances that I cannot get into now, the check got lost. I filed a police report and was expecting a new check, but 2 years have gone by and nothing has come of it. A few weeks ago, after I returned from USA, I went to the Carabinieri to check up on my case and they flippantly told me to go to Acea because there was nothing they could do. According to them I had filed the report, so now Acea had to reissue the check. Too good to be true of course! Today, I went to Acea and they told me to go back to the Carabinieri. And so I did. I waited for 25 minutes and finally got to speak to the Maresciallo who was actually pleasant (not in a skanky way like most of the men in that office) and helpful. He pulled out my file and told me what I had been waiting to hear for 2 years: the check was cashed by someone who made a fake ID with my name and their picture, then forged the signature and cashed the check. The Carabinieri tried to trace the ID number but of course they couldn't because it was FAKE. Essentially, I've been robbed of 300+ euro and there isn't a damn thing I can do about it. I'm still confused as to why the Carabinieri never contacted me when the investigation was over (quite some time ago, as I discovered today) AND why, when I went to the Carabinieri a few weeks ago, they shooed me off telling me to take it up with Acea instead of actually looking at my case, which had long since been closed. Worst thing is, there's no recourse. The Maresciallo himself said the only "option" is going to court, but we both chuckled as soon as those words came out of his mouth. I've already had one experience with the Italian judicial system (don't get me started on that!) and it taught me to steer clear of it. I would end up forking out money and never getting back what is rightfully mine.
Say it with me, "ciao ciao 300+ euro".
Monday, March 22, 2010
the downfall of Rome
Ah, a lovely morning stroll through Trastevere.
Every time I walk past this building I sigh... Many years ago, there was no fence in between the columns of this building's entrance. But homeless people started sleeping inside of the arches, by the front door so the building put up a fence. THEN the homeless people started sleeping inside the brick triangular structures (which, for the record, used to be flower beds with real flowers), so they fenced in the flower beds as well. Now they've even put up a net on the fence because people kept throwing trash and needles inside. I feel for the residents of this building, I would be irate if I'd been forced to fence myself in because people are become less and less civilized as time goes on. This is just one of the many examples of the downfall of Rome...
This is another example which makes my blood boil. The entrance to the church of S. Cosimato. It's not the first time I've complained about the fact that the city/neighborhood allows this precious monument to be treated like a dormitory and urinal (the stench coming from that space is unbearable). Only in Italy can something this important be totally neglected.
Every time I walk past this building I sigh... Many years ago, there was no fence in between the columns of this building's entrance. But homeless people started sleeping inside of the arches, by the front door so the building put up a fence. THEN the homeless people started sleeping inside the brick triangular structures (which, for the record, used to be flower beds with real flowers), so they fenced in the flower beds as well. Now they've even put up a net on the fence because people kept throwing trash and needles inside. I feel for the residents of this building, I would be irate if I'd been forced to fence myself in because people are become less and less civilized as time goes on. This is just one of the many examples of the downfall of Rome...
This is another example which makes my blood boil. The entrance to the church of S. Cosimato. It's not the first time I've complained about the fact that the city/neighborhood allows this precious monument to be treated like a dormitory and urinal (the stench coming from that space is unbearable). Only in Italy can something this important be totally neglected.
Monday, October 15, 2007
A day in the life...
Oh the joys of Italian healthcare.
According to Michael Moore's film Sicko, Italy's healthcare system is considered to be the second best in the world. I beg to differ, Mr. Moore. Why, you ask? Well, I'll answer that by describing a day in the life of Italian healthcare:
I need to get a kidney ultrasound. I go to my general practitioner (medico ASL) and wait 1 hour to see him (it's on a first come first serve basis, appointments are impossible to come by), which is actually not bad considering I've waited 2+ hours before and at times have not been able to see him at all. He gives me the "prescription" (ricetta) for said procedure and suggests I do it as soon as possible to make sure all is well. Easier said than done.
Next step. They've set up a toll-free number (CUP) you can call to schedule appointments for specialized visits and services at public clinics in Italy. Cool, huh? You can even do it online, but when I tried this service was out-of-order. I call the toll-free number about 15 times throughout the course of the day, only to hear the same message over and over again "All operators are busy, please call back later", and then they hang up. Holding the line is not an option apparently.
Okay, time for Plan B- I'm lucky enough to have a hospital within walking distance so I stroll over there hoping to be able to make an appointment there or through their network. I walk in, wait in line for 25 minutes (again- very good for Italian standards) and ask them to schedule my kidney ultrasound. The guy scans the computer for what seems like ages and then tells me the first appointment available in ALL OF ROME is in mid-February. Say what?! Come on, if there were something wrong with my kidneys, they'd fall out by then! He tells me to try calling the toll-free number because they might have more options open. Thanks for the tip, buddy!
At this point, my only goal is to get the damn ultrasound, so I call a private clinic in my neighborhood which has relatively low prices. They schedule me for Thursday, THIS Thursday! And the cost is only 9.00 euro more than what the public health clinic charges. So, what do you think I did? Naturally I'll pay the extra 9.00 euro and get an appointment in real time as opposed to waiting around till next year and hoping my kidneys don't rot.
BTW: I called the toll-free number again a few minutes ago, just to double check, and I actually got through! Unfortunately, the first available appointment they could find is also in February.
All in all, a happy ending, right? But why the hell am I paying taxes for a healthcare system I can rarely ever use because it's SO inefficient?!
According to Michael Moore's film Sicko, Italy's healthcare system is considered to be the second best in the world. I beg to differ, Mr. Moore. Why, you ask? Well, I'll answer that by describing a day in the life of Italian healthcare:
I need to get a kidney ultrasound. I go to my general practitioner (medico ASL) and wait 1 hour to see him (it's on a first come first serve basis, appointments are impossible to come by), which is actually not bad considering I've waited 2+ hours before and at times have not been able to see him at all. He gives me the "prescription" (ricetta) for said procedure and suggests I do it as soon as possible to make sure all is well. Easier said than done.
Next step. They've set up a toll-free number (CUP) you can call to schedule appointments for specialized visits and services at public clinics in Italy. Cool, huh? You can even do it online, but when I tried this service was out-of-order. I call the toll-free number about 15 times throughout the course of the day, only to hear the same message over and over again "All operators are busy, please call back later", and then they hang up. Holding the line is not an option apparently.
Okay, time for Plan B- I'm lucky enough to have a hospital within walking distance so I stroll over there hoping to be able to make an appointment there or through their network. I walk in, wait in line for 25 minutes (again- very good for Italian standards) and ask them to schedule my kidney ultrasound. The guy scans the computer for what seems like ages and then tells me the first appointment available in ALL OF ROME is in mid-February. Say what?! Come on, if there were something wrong with my kidneys, they'd fall out by then! He tells me to try calling the toll-free number because they might have more options open. Thanks for the tip, buddy!
At this point, my only goal is to get the damn ultrasound, so I call a private clinic in my neighborhood which has relatively low prices. They schedule me for Thursday, THIS Thursday! And the cost is only 9.00 euro more than what the public health clinic charges. So, what do you think I did? Naturally I'll pay the extra 9.00 euro and get an appointment in real time as opposed to waiting around till next year and hoping my kidneys don't rot.
BTW: I called the toll-free number again a few minutes ago, just to double check, and I actually got through! Unfortunately, the first available appointment they could find is also in February.
All in all, a happy ending, right? But why the hell am I paying taxes for a healthcare system I can rarely ever use because it's SO inefficient?!
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