Changing Attitude

Mari* came to the Netherlands 11 years ago from a small town in Spain. She contacted me because she read my blog and saw that none of the stories I’ve posted so far were positive or showed possible solutions to be more successful with the system. After all, we live in this country and have to try to make the best out of it… So she told me: “I would like to talk about the way we can make things better and make peace with the healthcare system”. Of course I wanted to hear about it!

In our enjoyable Skype session, she started by saying: “What made me suffer more about moving to this country was indeed the healthcare system. Specially the infamous ’10 min. Gespreek’ (10 min. Appointment). First of all, because I didn’t know about it so I couldn’t understand why my doctor (huisarts) got upset if I tried to speak a bit longer. And secondly, because in these 10 minutes I was only allowed to talk about one health problem. Whenever I tried to talk about some other (painful) problem, the doctor would ask me to make a double appointment (20 minutes?) which also probably means you have to pay double. I frequently felt upset and was with the feeling that the doctor didn’t care and didn’t do enough…

I had a really bad experience with my daughter. She was 7 months old when she started coughing day and night and reached 40 degrees Celsius of fever. I ended up going to the doctor every week to hear the same message: 40 degrees was normal and we simply had to wait for the cough to disappear by itself. Two months later, I went on vacations to Spain and when my mom saw my daughter, she told me that I had to take her immediately to the hospital. There, they found out that my daughter had an extremely dangerous virus and they couldn’t understand why the Dutch doctors didn’t act faster….

Since then I avoid to go to the doctor as much as possible… and if I go, I prepare myself well in advance to make sure I get really what I want. The only problem is that I didn’t study medicine and consequently, I don’t always know what I need…

Yes, I used to live upset with the doctors but I learned that the best option is to change the attitude. Perhaps it is because I come from a small town where doctors know you since you were born and are almost part of the family… Summarizing, I was used to be treated like a patient and not like a client. Furthermore, in my culture it’s also possible to complain immediately if there is something you don’t like. Here, being demanding and complaining in the style I was used to, doesn’t work. Here they make me feel that I am just a bit hysterical because even when you complain, it’s not really polite to do it without smiling… So I learned that I had to smile more than I was used to, and by the way, in the process I also learned that a smile, while asking something, has its advantages…

I also think the language is a barrier. They will add “aub., maar, even” (please, but, as) in situations in which we can use the imperative more directly “Ik wil” (I want) without meaning we are being impolite.

Therefore I think that it is important that we have some training when we come to this country regarding of the healthcare system and how it works. We expats have other expectations and need information about it… If somebody would have explained to me all these things in advance, I would have probably been less frustrated and more successful…

Finally, I also believe that the doctor’s attitude is mainly due to the stress the system imposes upon them. Because I think that economical issues, time, but also prevention, are not considered part of the “health equation”… but these are bigger problems that we can probably that about another day…

*Fictitious name

“(Dutch) Healthcare or health in the normaal (normal) system”

There are two girls from South America (I am still trying to find out from where exactly due to the accent), Mildred and Andrea, that have an information program over Dutch culture and the chapters from that program are in Youtube.com.

Unfortunately for my readers the program is in Spanish.  A friend of mine shared with me the chapter No. 6 from that program with the title:  “(Dutch) Healthcare or health in the normaal (normal) system”. 

You can find the video at this link:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAK_xzqIPO8&feature=related

And it starts like this:  Andrea is trying to hang a painting and she falls.  She then tries to call the doctor and she makes a strange face.  Mildred and Andrea explain at that point that when you call the doctor you get an answering machine with many options before you can actually reach the doctor’s assistant.  They also mention that you can skip all that by dialing zero and then you can get direct contact to the assistant.

In the next scene they show us how it works by means of a role play.  Mildred is the one trying to make an appointment and Andrea playing the role of the assistant.  Mildred tries to make the appointment for the same day and Andrea says that it’s already after 10 in the morning so it’s not possible.   Andrea checks the doctor’s timetable and says:  “Sorry but you can make an appointment on the day after tomorrow or in a week because the doctor goes on holiday”.  After hearing this Mildred says that she is calling because she is feeling really bad.  Andrea asks: “what is wrong with you?”  Mildred answers:  “I fell, I broke something (the leg) and I am bleeding”.  Andrea asks:  “How much blood?” Mildred answers: “Well, I think about a liter of blood, more and less”. So Andrea answers: “Don’t worry, that is so normal, a body can loose around 4 to 5 liters per day, do not worry about it”.  Then Andrea asks how deep the cut is and whether she can see the bone.  Mildred answers that she can’t.   Andrea replies:  “Don’t worry, I’ll tell you what to do. Are you alone?”  Mildred answers: “yes, I am alone”.  Andrea replies: “Better, because you have to go to bed, put the leg up, tide it up, and by doing that the blood stops and if you have pain, please take three times a day Paracetamol”  Mildred replies:  “ But I would like to make the appointment with the doctor”.  Andrea replies:  “No, don’t worry, this is not an emergency but if you have high fever, the pain is not bearable for three different nights, then you can make the appointment”.

Mildred concludes this part by mentioning that the assistant already made a prescription.  She also mentions that maybe assistants take some courses that can allow them, by hearing the tone of your voice (aura, energy they said as a joke) what your sickness is.  Both of them mention that it’s like people that read the Tarot or they probably have a magic ball to see you.   They conclude this part by saying that the assistant is the first wall that you will find when trying to make a doctor’s appointment.  She is the first person that you have to talk to and she has the authority to give you a prescription and everything else.  She is the first impediment to see the doctor.

After this explanation, they show in the video the mechanics to make the appointment with the doctor.  First you skip all the steps from the answering machine by dialing zero.  Mildred starts by giving her name, birth date and address.  Then she starts crying and she says: “I am calling because I am 4 days already with a terrible fever that doesn’t go down, it’s 40 degrees, I am dehydrated, and have diarrhea, its horrible! I think that happened because…” Then Andrea interrupts her and says: “You know what Madam, there’s no need for more, come immediately to see the doctor, you will go straight to the doctor when you come, and don’t forget your insurance card”.  

Mildred and Andrea conclude the previous story by saying that this is what you need to do: it’s very important to say that you have fever, that you have it already for more than three days, not less.  Better even if its 40 degrees and you can add that you have diarrhea to put more emotion and intensity to your pain.  Ah yes, and also tell them that you already took the famous Paracetamol and that it didn’t work. 

And then on the second part of the video Andrea is playing the role of the patient at the doctor’s appointment, and she is very emotional because of the sickness and you can see in the video that Mildred and Andrea capture the coldness by which the doctor greets the patient.  First he interrupts the patient’s story by asking name, address, insurance number. Mildred and Andrea add:  “If you already gave this information to the other…stupid woman.  Why do you need to give it to the doctor again?” They advise you to prepare various papers with all that information and to hand them to the assistant and doctor because the doctor’s appointment must have a maximum of 10 minutes.  On those 10 minutes you can only talk about one problem, not more.

Mildred and Andrea recommend the viewers to make the appointment by saying that there is fever because of falling from the stairs and that there is pain in the head, the shoulder, the legs, and even the ear.  Just to cover all the body to allow you to speak about all other pains that you may have.   

There is something else that Mildred and Andrea point out about the doctor’s appointment.  They say that by listening to the  symptoms the doctor looks  up online what it is that you may have to be able to make a diagnose and a prescription and to see whether the medicines match each other (this is so true!!) 

In the video the “doctor” (Mildred) checks Andrea and after a few breaths the “doctor” says that she doesn’t have anything.  Then the doctor says:  “I think that what you have is psychological. Tell me about your house situation…”  At the end the doctor concludes that she fell because she is stressed due to living in the Netherlands: the husband works a lot, and she is sitting alone at home.  So he prescribes her Paracetamol which will work for the diarrhea, fever, pain. (Andrea adds:  For the eyes, for the wrinkles, for the cellulites…for everything!”

Mildred asks herself how the doctor can make a correct diagnose when in a doctor’s practice there is no proper equipment. Equipment such as an X ray or blood test.  In order to get that you must go somewhere else where these tests will be made and the results will come around after two months or when the infection already ate the whole kidney (exaggerating a bit, but it takes long).   Then once you are that sick they will say:  “You didn’t come before, you allowed this to happen”.   

In the next part of the video they say:  “You went to the doctor on the first place because you didn’t want the sickness to advance.  You didn’t go there because you had lice”.

Then they give some further advice to the viewers:  “When the doctor prescribes this (Paracetamol) and you already had it and it didn’t help you need to take action.  You need to pretend that you are an actress and you have to perform your role for the doctor, for the mother in law and for the Gementee (city hall) and this should be the best performance of your life!”.

They continue saying: “When you go to the general doctor (huisarts) he will tell you that he will only be able to answer two questions.  So better think your questions before you go. You must have a question that is general: “Doctor, tell me what it is that I have”  You can take advantage by saying:  “Listen doctor, my Dutch is not very good, so I need to tell my husband how my appointment was, please write here what it is that I have”.    “He will then have to give you a written diagnose. Otherwise he will say:  It’s normal, the body needs to recover naturally, create defenses”.

There are another six minutes from this video talking about pregnancy but I am not going talk about it here.

I will just conclude this story by saying that Mildred and Andrea are right.  Raise your hand if you haven’t experienced any frustration when you went to the doctor, tried to explain the best you could what you had and he sent you back to home with a Paracetamol?  It happened to me, to my Italian neighbor, to my Maltese roommate, to my Portuguese colleague, to my English friend, etc.

If we go to the doctor, we don’t want to come back with a simple Paracetamol, we can buy that for one euro at Ethos and prescribe it for anything because Paracetamol is good for every symptoms, sicknesses and diseases according to the huisarts (general doctor).  

I must say as well that sometimes a barrier for Expats is the language.  My doctor is around 60 years old and his English is terrible.  Before I go to an appointment I research all my symptoms in the  Dutch language and practice what will I say with my Dutch boyfriend.  When the doctor answers me in a way that I cannot understand then I ask him to write it.  If I am really, really sick, my Dutch boyfriend has to ask for some time off from work to go with me to make sure that the doctor understands all my symptoms and that I am very sick.  

Why do we need to go to these extremes when a Doctor’s appointment should be simply a way to help you to find a solution to your sickness?  You are (in a way of speaking) putting your life on the hands of this person.  This person has to help you to get better, to be healthy again, to be normal again.  So why should we have to go and beg him to get a test done, why do we need to beg for another medicine than Paracetamol or to beg to get a referral to go to the specialist?

I believe that we have to take the advice from Mildred and Andrea and be actors and make the best performances of our lives.  Maybe by this way, we can finally get the cure we are looking for and have a happy normal life.

You can find more about Mildred and Andrea at this link: http://www.culturaholandesa.eu/

Twisted hand

 

This is the last story I have for Paracetamolland,.  As I said before, this blog is an experiment to see if expats really wanted to complain about their experiences with the health system in the Netherlands.  Unfortunately I haven’t found more stories nor collaborators that can help me to continue posting stories. 

So I guess it will stop here for now.  It all depends on you. 

As for me, it has been a nice experience but I must say I feel more comfortable writing in Spanish.  As a Spanish native, writing in another language became complicated.

Thank you for reading and specially thanks to my friends for their support.  If I come across another story, I will post it.  Who knows when though…

For now, I leave you with the last story:

This time I didn’t have an interview and this time the story came from one of my friends. We were having a drink on a nice “plein” (square) with three of my friends. One of them, Roberto*, hadn’t heard about Paracetamolland until my other friends started to talk about it.

He immediately said:  “I have a story for your blog”.  Right there and then he started to share his story:

“I had a car accident in Portugal and they needed to put a metal pin on my wrist. As I had it for six weeks it got tight next to the bone. Since I was living in the Netherlands, at the time that it needed to be removed, I had to make an appointment with a Dutch doctor.  When I got to the hospital (to have it removed), there was no doctor, just one nurse. She told me that she was going to pull out the metal pin.  I asked her if I was going to get anesthesia but she said that it was not necessary. As one of the points from the metal pin was out of my skin, she got tweezers and started pulling out the metal pin. It was so painful that I was screaming in pain.  As I was restless she called two other nurses to assist: one of them was holding me, another one was holding my arm, and the last one pulled out the metal pin.  Throughout the whole procedure I was screaming in pain as it REALLY hurt so much. I’ve never felt so much pain in my life”.

At this point my friends and I were just imagining it and we laughed loudly.  Roberto was not amused at our reaction:

“It’s not funny when you are in this situation! The nurse continued pulling the metal pin and I was screaming like a crazy animal!  It hurt so much! Coincidentally, one of my close colleagues happened to be in the adjacent room for something else and he recognized my voice through the walls! He was feeling really sorry for me.”

I asked him how long did his suffering last and he said that it was for about an hour.  At this point I felt bad about laughing about it:

“I have a trauma from it and I wish I had it done in Portugal instead of here.   Few days later when I showed my wrist without the metal pin, I was told that my wrist was going to remain a little bit twisted for the rest of my life.  As I was worried, I called the doctor in Portugal to confirm this and he said that it was not true.  See how my arm is now? –he said this by showing his wrist to me in circular movements: “Like nothing ever happened!.”

* Roberto is a fictitious name

Before my vacations

Dear all,

I really wanted to write one last story before my vacations but is impossible.  Too many little things to do in so short time.

I just wanted to let you know that this blog is an experiment.  I write much better in Spanish than in English and because of that I apoligize for my hundred of grammar mistakes.

The stories I wrote till now are all true.  I make interviews and after I write the stories.  When I finish to write a story I show it to the person that told me the story to ultimate details.  After that I have (since a short time) an editor who checks my grammar.  And then, the story is published.

Because I depend totally on your stories this blog is an experiment.  Some persons find it useful and some others find it stupid.  I don't mind.  I just wanted a space were we could communicate our frustrations because we are many frustrated persons regarding the Dutch healthcare system.

For now, I will leave the blog to rest.  Please feel free to show it to friends, family, etc.  and please, if you do have a story to share, send me an email and we can have an interview by telephone, skype or in person.

I will be on vacations from August 3rd till September 4th.  Will publish the next story on the week from September 5th till 11th.

Good vacations to everyone!  and don't get sick. 

Cheers,

Silvia
Email:  paracetamolland@gmail.com

Appe, Peri and Morphi

I had a Skype conference with Topacio*.  Topacio used to live in Holland and she’s been living in Spain for the past three years but still she wanted to tell her story for Paracetamolland.  After we greeted each other, she began with her story:

“I woke up one morning with abdominal pain and I was puking.  I went to the “huisarts” (General Doctor) and he diagnosed Gastroenteritis so he gave me Paracetamol.  After one day, I was not feeling better so I went to the Emergency Department at the hospital.  They took a long time to see me and when they did, they examined me by touching my abdomen and they took a blood test.  They did not take any ultrasound or any other kind of test. 

They told me that I had some infection parameters and they let me go with antibiotics.  What the antibiotics did was to disguise the symptoms.  I was at home with abdominal pain.  After three days I went back to work but I was not feeling much better.  The pain persisted and I was not able to walk straight anymore.  When I finished work, I was in the bus going backing home and this bus line has a stop next to one of the biggest hospitals in Amsterdam.  I don’t know what got into me but I stepped out of the bus and went to the Emergency Department at the hospital.  I was walking very slowly and bending from the pain.  They wanted to make the same kind of tests that they had already done three days ago.  I told them that those tests were already performed so I requested an ultrasound.  When they got the results from the ultrasound they could see that I had Appendicitis.  They told me that they were not going to operate but they were going to give me some antibiotics and they were going to keep me there for observation”.

WHAT?  They were not going to operate you?  That is the first thing that needs to be done!  Where on Earth do they not operate you if there is Appendicitis?

“Well, in that hospital in Amsterdam!  As I had just come from work, I was with my working clothes and they didn’t even give me a pajama or something to sleep on.  I slept on my own clothes! As it was late I couldn’t even ask my roommate to bring me some till the next day. I was getting the antibiotics intravenously. I called my parents who were living in Spain; my mother was very worried.  I was still in a lot of pain.  The second night I spent at the hospital I woke up at around two or three in the morning with a pain that I cannot even describe.  I believe pregnant women get the same pain when they are delivering the baby.  I’m almost sure it is from when my Appendix got perforated. And this is when my addiction to morphine started!”

Topacio said these last words with an ironic tone, frustrated and laughing at the same time.  I just cannot imagine how you must feel on situations like this one.

“When my mom heard that I was getting morphine she booked immediately a flight to Amsterdam. In Spain they give morphine to terminal patients, here it seems to be a common practice.  They made a CT-Scan to see why had the pain increased on that night and they couldn’t find anything. They just continued giving me antibiotics and controlling the fever.  Each day I had a different doctor.  Each day I had to tell my story to a new doctor with a bunch of students following him around.  It was so tiring.  As I didn’t have enough fever they were not doing much more than what it had been done.  In the meantime I was feeling very bad, I was not hungry and the abdominal pain increased and spread.  My mother told me that in order to get some attention I must make some drama, so the next time a doctor passed by with his students I cried and complained a lot.  He told me that they were going to make another CT-scan-as a favor to me- as my fever was only 37.5 and not high enough.

When they made the CT-scan, they found out that my abdomen was infected but they didn’t know what had been the cause of the infection.  By abdomen I mean my intestines, ovaries, stomach, etc.  As they didn’t know what had caused the infection, they were going to perform an Emergency surgery.  My mother, who is normally a sweet person and who doesn’t say much, got really angry and started to shout in Spanish.  She was angry on how I was being treated and why they hadn’t taken any action before.  She said that she would only allow the operation on two conditions:  That the head of the Surgery Department was the one to perform the surgery and that they had to make a pre-operation plan.  Of course, I had to translate all this while I was weak and in pain.  There was also a friend’s husband, who is Dutch, and he was also translating and talking to them in their language.  I believe that helped a lot to get what my mother demanded”. 

I was in shock to hear all this.  How can that be possible?  Was it because she was not Dutch that she had a different treatment or what?

“I had the surgery and it was a success.  They realized that I had Peritonitis. The appendix had been perforated, and as a result I had infected fluid in my abdomen. Luckily, none of my organs had been infected. They left me with a horrible big scar.  In the surgery they took a sample from the infected fluid and found out that I had some rests of E. Coli. They isolated me for ten more days after surgery because it could be contagious.   In total I spent almost three weeks with antibiotics and I lost seven kilos.  You know what they told me?  That it was an atypical case of Appendicitis”.

Atypical case?  All of these could have been avoided if they would have had performed the surgery on the first place! What’s atypical is NOT to perform surgery when a person has Appendicitis!

 "I got three teddy bears at the hospital from my friends.  Even though this was really tough for me my friends tried their best to make me feel comfortable and loved.  We named the teddy bears:  Appe (for Appendicitis), Peri (from Peritonitis) and Morphi (from Morphine).  I still have them in my room”.

She laughs nervously and nostalgic.  She dissimulates a little bit the irony from the teddy bears names.

“And guess what?  I went afterwards to Spain to rest and to be with my family.  I needed it.  When I was there I got problems and went to the hospital again.  I had something called abdominal adhesions.  Basically when I was operated the intestines moved from their original position and it was painful when they were trying to put themselves back into the correct position.  I was on a diet and observation for a few days in order to see if the intestines could position themselves correctly. Luckily, they did it for themselves, but otherwise I would have needed to go again into surgery…”

There was a question that was at my head when I was listening to this story and I needed to ask:  Did you move to Spain because of this?  She responded:

“Yes, part of it was that.  I had enough from Holland and I had some rejection to the country after this experience.  But partly is because in the meantime I had a very good job offer in Madrid which made me take the decision.  If I wouldn’t have had that job offer probably I would still be there.  Who knows?”

I would like to thank Topacio for sharing this story even tough she doesn’t live in the Netherlands anymore.

I also would like to thank Caterina for helping me to correct my so faulty English.

*Topacio is a fictitious name.

IUS OUCH MY GOD MIRENA!!!

I met with Jaqueline* on a cozy restaurant from the Kerkstraat.  She comes from Perú and tells me about her experience:

“In Perú we can go to the Gynecologist that we choose.  Sometimes is the same Gynecologist that helped my mother to give birth.  Normally is somebody that we trust and have all our record from the first period.  At the moment that we need to choose a contraceptive method (birth control), he or she guides us on which one is the best.  We can choose condoms, IUD, contraceptive injection, anticonceptive pill, etc.

I chose one called IUS Mirena (spiraal Mirena of spiraaltje) which contains an hormone.  My Gynecologist told me that my periods will be shorter, lighter and pain-free.   I tried it and she was right.  I was so happy using it without any issues.  I even forgot that I had it.

I came to the Netherlands with my Dutch husband about five years ago.  After a few months on getting used to eat Gouda kaas (cheese from Gouda), Broodje Kroket (Bread with a kroket) and Karnemelk (buttermilk), I needed to go to the Gynecologist”.

We get our drinks and I somehow have the feeling that this is going to be another interesting story.  For the record: I hate Karnemelk.  How can the Dutch drink it?

“I needed to get an IUS (Mirena).  The “huisarts” (general doctor) asked me the reason why I wanted that.  He told me that in the Netherlands they recommended the use of a IUS to persons with the Down Syndrome.  Persons who could forget to take the anticonceptive pill.  He wanted me to take the pill.  As I have hormon problems I told him that I preferred to use an IUS.  I felt more confortable with it.  It didn’t give me any pain and I didn’t even notice I had one.  So as I was so determined to use it, he pointed me with the Gynecologist at the hospital.

I went to the appointment with my husband.  He was waiting for me outside.  The Gynecologist told me that I was going to feel some pain and it was not going to be comfortable.

As I was used to that in Perú it was just a little pain I didn’t give it a second thought.  I was laying with my legs open just waiting for him to put the device.  When he did, the pain was so much that I was shouting with all my heart!  He was moving the IUS from one side to the other and telling me:  ‘Just a little more, don’t worry’.  I was crying and shouting so much that my husband came into the room and asked what was going on.  As my husband came in, the Gynecologist finished and said:  ‘Everything is ok’.  I was shaking from head to feet.  My tears were rolling down my sheeks and I was shivering from the pain.  My husband had to carry me out all the way to the car.”

I was in shock when I’ve heard this.  Her husband had to carry her out?  Is that normal?  I’ve asked her if this kind of procedure needed anesthesia and she responded:

“No anesthesia at all!  And to be honest, it doesn’t suppose to be that painful.  I got home and my husband carried me to the bed as I was still sobbing from the pain.  For the next seven days I had menstrual cramps, was bleeding even more than in my normal period and was limping.  I’ve called them after a couple of weeks because I was bleeding so much.  I had aswell pain on my hips. 

The person that attended me by telephone told me that I needed to wait till I had my next appointment which was four weeks away. 

The date from the appointment arrived and another Gynecologyst attended me. He checked me and told me that at the moment that the IUS was inserted it made a little wound and was missplaced.  He said that he could remove it and put it again properly.”

At this point I had my hands in between my legs just thinking on how painful.  A wound?  Ouch!  I wouldn’t let him put it again!  I’ve  asked her if she had doubts about it and she responded:

“I did have doubts.  But he is a Gynecologyst.  I thought that he knew better than me.  So I trusted him.  He removed the IUS and immediately after he put a new one again.  And again I was shouting and crying from the pain.  He was telling me:  ‘I don’t know why this doesn’t work.  Maybe you are too streched for an European IUS. A small percentage of women cannot use it’. But why I didn’t have issues with it at Perú? I’ve asked him to remove it. I couldn’t handle it anymore.

And I was left again shivering,  with a lot of pain and tears.  He left me alone and it was so painful to put the underwear.  This time I was with my mother in law so my husband wasn’t there to carry me.  I was walking helping myself with the wall.  I had to take some Paracetamol for the pain”. 

The risk of not getting the IUS properly set up is that the person may get pregnant.  Another risk is that an operation may be needed for removal.  Jaqueline had to changed to the anticonceptive pill. Two months later she received two bills: From the two times that IUS got inserted and the two times it got removed.  Her insurance did not cover it.

I did some research and found hundreds of cases like this one in the Netherlands.  Below the links for your information.

*Jaqueline is a fictitious name.

PLEASE SEND YOUR STORY, I NEED MORE STORIES TO KEEP THIS BLOG.  THANK YOU.

The IUS Mirena information:  http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/sex_relationships/facts/contraceptive_ius_000244.htm

Klachten over Mirena spiraal?  http://www.zwangerschapspagina.nl/anticonceptie/262008-klachten-door-mirena-spiraal.html

Mirena Spiraal http://forum.www.trosradar.nl/viewtopic.php?t=98000

Klachten Mirena  http://www.medischforum.nl/onderwerp/4526/60/

Weer een Mirena Mystery http://forum.viva.nl/forum/list_message/2168065

Mirena hormoonspiraal: bijwerkingen http://forum.www.trosradar.nl/viewtopic.php?t=59476

Mirena Forum:  http://mirena.forum2go.nl/het-bayer-rapport-de-vertaling-van-alle-bijwerkingen-t29.html

My Experience: Mirena IUD Birth Control

http://hubpages.com/hub/Mirena-IUD-Birth-Control-Contraceptive

Baby Born, bloody hell!

WE NEED STORIES TO KEEP THIS BLOG.  PLEASE CONTACT ME TO TELL ME YOUR STORY.

I met Vanessa* for lunch time in Amstelveen Centrum. After ordering some lunch, she started to tell me her story: 

“Never have kids in Holland.  Try to have them at your own country”.   

Why?  I asked with curiosity. And then her story begins: 

“I was 41 years old when I had my second child. That was in 2008.  Of course, because of my age, I needed extra care.  I come from Italy and in Italy if the water breaks or you have pain, you are transported immediately to the hospital and receive urgent attention.  Here in the Netherlands that is not the case.    

When you are pregnant you have to go to a “verloskundige vrouw” (Midwife).  She checks you in all your pregnancy.  The Dutch women prefer to deliver at home.  That was not what I wanted.  My first kid was delivered in the hospital and I wanted the second one to be delivered there as well.  I felt more comfortable knowing that. 

On a cold day in October, one week before the delivery date, the water broke. It was around 19:30 Hrs.  I called the midwife and told her about it.  Do you know what did she asked me?”

I have no idea!  I said...somehow I knew the story was going to get interesting.   

“She asked me what color the water was”.  What? Was it because maybe it was blood? I couldn’t believe it! 

“I was wearing a black sport pants and blue underwear.   How did I know the color didn’t get mixed up?  She told me not to worry, that nothing was going to happened at least till next day.   I had cramps, but no contractions. I’ve called her another time after dinner but she told me not to worry.  Later at night I couldn’t sleep.  My husband called her again and told her what I was feeling.  My body was asking me to push.  I had the sensation that I wanted to go to the toilet.  She finally show up around 3:00 in the morning.  

The funny thing is that I was sitting at the toilet.  I just felt that I had to shit.  Till now I didn’t have any contractions, just felt bad and had cramps.  She told me to get the hell out of the toilet.  The baby’s head was already showing and I didn’t know.  I almost had him at the toilet!” 

I couldn’t stop laughing when I heard this, I wonder why she didn’t have the normal contractions. I asked her to continue her story: 

“The Midwife told me that I couldn’t deliver at the hospital.  It was almost delivery time and if I was going to the hospital probably I will deliver at the car.  The thing is:  I wasn’t prepare to deliver at home. I had the luggage ready to go. My insurance company sent a package a few months earlier to deliver at home  and I didn’t have any idea where I left it.  We had to call the neighbor to help since my other kid was there as well.  So in less than ten minutes we got everything ready to deliver at home. It was so crazy!  I had to push three times and PLUCK!  There he was.” 

I’ve noticed that Vanessa didn’t called the Midwife by her name.  Apparently there was no connection?  Is there a good connection between Midwives and patients around the Netherlands I wonder?  I guess I have to get pregnant to figure it out. 

“But the story doesn’t end here.  My baby was born but the Placenta remained inside.  And that is when I started to have the contractions. I was pushing and pushing and after fifteen minutes the Midwife called the Ambulance.  I was at my bedroom at the second floor.  When the ambulance came, they couldn’t get the stretcher upstairs.  I was loosing a lot of blood and had to walk downstairs to be able to go to the hospital.  I had so much pain at my belly and all around that area.” 

Was the Placenta still inside after you walked? I asked.  She replied: 

“Yes, it was still inside.  Did you know the doctors only work till 17:00 Hrs in the Netherlands?”  

No, I guess not all of them, right? 

“Well, there was no doctor at the hospital to attend me.  I was there around 4:15 in the morning.  There was this nurse that I hated with all my heart.  She started to push really hard on my belly leaving me without breath.  I was so weak because I was still loosing a lot of blood.  My belly was hurting so much. She continued pushing and pushing and in one moment she wanted me to hold the baby while she continued pushing. What the fuck?  I don’t want to hold no baby!  Leave me alone!  She told me:  “Poor baby, he needs to eat” I was bleeding so much, she was pushing so hard, and still wanted me to breast feed my baby?  There was a moment I couldn’t anymore and I shouted:  Genoeg is Genoeg! (Enough is Enough!).  

Then the doctor came and checked me. He said that they will try with one more push and if the Placenta didn’t come out by then, he had to operate.  After that last push I was rush to the operation room.  All this time I had my glasses on.  The horrible nurse wanted to remove them as I was going to be put to sleep while I was operated.  I was so annoyed that I said:  Leave the glasses on! And she did.

It was a fast operation.  I woke up around 5:15 Hrs and  immediately after went to sleep a couple of hours more.  They gave me a probe to avoid going to the toilet.  They gave me a painkiller, something stronger than Paracetamol.  The doctor came and told me that they needed to make a blood transfusion because I’ve lost a lot of blood.  I answered:  As long as is tested I don’t have any problem.” 

I’ve asked about the baby.  She responded: 

“He was coming and going. I couldn’t take care or breast feed him.  Do you want to know what happened next?  They made the blood transfusion and immediately after I had fever.  They were putting a thermometer on my ass every half of hour.  The fever didn’t dissapeared.  They gave me some antibiotics and some kind of liquid coming from the blood.  My blood pressure went down.  After sometime they told me  that I had an infection, probably from moving from my house to the hospital.  They didn’t know exactly why.  They took a sample and sent it to the laboratory. 

The doctor came and told me that I needed another blood transfusion (from the same donor).  I was suspicious that the blood was the one that provoked the infection.  The doctor said: ‘I assure you that in the Netherlands everything is checked and cleaned’.  I requested the doctor a nurse to stay with me when the second infusion was done. I was scared that something happen to me and nobody was there to rescue me.  

The second blood transfusion was done.  Sometime after I wanted to walk a little.  I was laying in the bed for three days and was tired of it.  I told the nurse (which was different than the first one) to remove the probe as I was going to try to pee on my own.  I went slowly to the toilet while she was busy doing something with the probe and some other stuff.  When I came out from the toilet she was gone.  It took me a long time to go back to the bed.  When she came back I was upset.  I’ve asked her: ‘How could you leave me alone when you know I am weak and walking for the first time in days?  Couldn’t you wait?  What about if I fainted or something else happened?’. 

I was a little bit concerned about the nurses.  Did Vanessa only had bad experiences with them? I have asked her and she responded: 

“No, not all of them were bad.  There were some of them that really showed sympathy and came to ask me how I was.  Some of them even had a coffee while chatting with me.  The first nurse that was pushing my belly so hard at the first day came to apologize.  I guess the doctor told her to do so. 

I stayed there for a week.  There were sometimes I was feeling really hot and I thought I had fever again.  The nurses told me that I needed to sleep, to rest.  On Saturday, six days after the delivery, they told me that I could go.  They had had the results of the sample and everything was okay.  They didn’t tell me the reason why I had the infection and since I just wanted to go home I didn’t ask.

In the meantime, I was weak but recovering very slowly.  I have lost a lot of weight and people told me I looked very pale.   

Forty days after being in the hospital I went for a check.  They had me waiting for a very long time. When they finally attended me, they told me that they lost my file.  I’ve found it a bit weird but what could I do?  They asked me how I felt and if I was feeling better.  As I was, they sent me home. 

Four days later, I’ve received a phone call.  It was Saturday around 17:00 Hrs  and I was having a chat with a friend of mine.  It was a nurse from the hospital.  She apologized for loosing my file and said: ‘We have found the reason why you had the infection.  The first blood transfusion that we performed was infected by a virus.  Probably that day the donor had something because the second blood transfusion from the same donor didn’t have it and help to stabilize you. We apologize for any inconvenience caused’. 

I got so angry after this phone call.  They’ve told me many times that probably it was my fault.  Why they were not honest with me when I was at the appointment and tell me on my face?  Was that too hard to do?”

Few months after, Vanessa’s health and weight was back to normal.  The baby was always in good health and growing up strong.  Many persons advised Vanessa to sue the hospital but she didn’t feel like doing it.   

Vanessa read this article before it was published.  She told me the Midwife’s name which I will keep for myself.  During her pregnancy midwives were rotated for her consultations. 

*Vanessa is a fictitious name.

LINK:  Blood Transfusion:  Knowing your options http://www.bloodtransfusion.com/