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/

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

Do you know what is the worst job from the World?

“Do you know what is the worst job from the World?” Asked me Sarah* on a terrace in Prinsengracht while she puts some sugar to her coffee.  It was a sunny day from August 2010.

I replied: “I think it is being a diver on black waters”.  She said: “Naah, that is nothing!  I tell you:  Is being a practitioner on a Colonoscopy test”.   I have no idea what is she talking about, so when she saw my puzzled expression, she began with her story:

“I became really sick in June 2009.  I was already feeling extremely tired for days.  I thought it was because I was working so hard and I had some personal issues which got me stressed out.   I’ve tried to be less stressed by going to the gym but that only made me more tired.  Then one Saturday of June, I was enjoying a boat trip when I felt like I couldn’t stay awake anymore.  I made a real effort to stay at the boat till the end.  When the boat trip finished around 19:00 Hrs., I just went straight to bed and slept for about 20 hours.  My boyfriend is the type of person that feels that sleeping is a waste of your time, so he woke me up and I’ve made the big effort to stay awake.  This was already Sunday afternoon.  I just lasted for one hour awake and went straight to bed.  On Monday morning I couldn’t get myself out of the bed.

I’ve called the “huisarts” (general doctor) to make an appointment and the assistant told me that the first appointment available was for next Friday.  I told her that I needed medicine soon as I couldn’t be in bed waiting for one week as I had important things to do at my job.  She told me: “Have a Paracetamol in the morning and another one in the afternoon”.   That was it...I didn’t know what to do”.

I asked: “Did you wait till Friday? “.  Sarah responded: “Hell NO!  I was working on a special project at work so I couldn’t really wait that long”.  I replied:  “What did you do then?”.  She gave me this mischievous look and answered: “I went to the doctor on Tuesday morning on the inloop spreekuur (walk-in hour)”.

After a sip of her coffee, she continues her story:  “Probably that is wrong but I couldn’t wait for a week!  So I get there, told the doctor my symptoms and told him I didn’t want any Paracetamol.  I knew why the way I was feeling that it was much more than taking a stupid little pill.  He sent me a handful tests from a scan to a gynecology test, blood test, urine test, etc.  Of course, in between test to test past a period of three weeks.  You make a test appointment and it always take 2 to 3 days to take it and other 5 to get the results.  In the meantime I got some strength back and even if I was still feeling weak I went to work.  There were days that I was so sick that I have to tell my supervisor if I could go home earlier.  My supervisor was very nice and understood that I was not 100% healthy.

One day all the tests results where back and they couldn’t find anything.  Then the doctor told me: “For sure you have an Irritated Bowel Syndrome (IBS)”.  He gave me a powder called Movicolon and sent me home with a page written in Dutch over what IBS was all about.   As I never doubted my doctor’s diagnose, I just simply started to gather information about that sickness.  I got some books, articles, stories, etc.  Some of the symptoms were comparable to mine:  bloating, sometimes diarrhea, flatulence. I couldn’t eat everything.  But there were other symptoms which I couldn’t really read anywhere and that was the constant feeling of being exhausted, sometimes I had blood on my stool or urine, irritability, stomach pain that came and left.

The Movicolon powder instead of helping made me have much more diarrhea. I stopped with it.  Went back to the doctor and told him that I was not that sure that I had IBS.  Told him everything what I’ve read about it and what I was feeling.  Asked him some questions.  He just looked at me with that face like: “I don’t know what to do with this woman?” and told me that he was going to give me a medicine called Duspatal which was going to help me with the pain.  It didn’t.

I continued reading about IBS and read one article that said if I wanted to be completely sure about it, I needed to have a Colonoscopy test.  This is the worse test a human being can do!  You lay there while your ass is exposed to strangers (not exactly on a pleasant way) and you get a tube at it all the way in!.  Believe me, I thought very much if wanted to do that test for at least two months!  How could I do that to myself?”

I burst in laughter.  I mean:  Really?  Sarah was going to do that just to prove the doctor that she didn’t have IBS?

“But I did it anyway.  I just wanted to make sure about the doctor’s diagnose. I went to have the Colonoscopy test around December.  It was already six and half months after the diagnose and instead of feeling better I felt worse.  I was not able to eat properly and I couldn’t have a normal life.  Was skipping seeing friends and socialize because I didn’t have the energy to do it.  I just simply couldn’t.  Going to work drained most of my energy and I was even feeling sorry for my boyfriend.  He was very supportive but I couldn’t go everywhere he wanted me to. 

So as I told you at the beginning, a Colonoscopy test is the worst job of the world!  There were four individuals all looking like doctors but they weren’t. One of these individuals was about 20 years old and he made me change my clothes and put an hospital gown.  You know how they are:  with a hole at your back.  They made me get into this white room with a huge machine and one stretcher.  These four individuals looked important with their notes and pens talking softly and looking serious.  They asked me to lay on my left side and, of course, expose my ass.  The 20 years old kid told me that I was going to feel cramps and have the feeling of farting but that was normal.  Okey, normal maybe for him but not for me! Farting in front of strangers...God!

I lay there and noticed a TV screen and realize that they were going to see inside my intestines and have a show about it.  I mean...really?  Do they need to have that big screen?  I just decided to close my eyes and think of something nice:  beach, next vacation, flowers, nice food.

While I try to disconnect myself mentally, a tube was getting into my ass.   Suddenly I start to feel the cramps which were quite painful.  I’ve heard the four individuals changing words about it.  I am not understand and don’t want to understand <flowers, beach, next vacation>.  Then the feeling of farting comes and I am making a superhuman effort not to do so <mountains, summer, nice food>. While I am finally getting into the disconnected mood, the 20 years old kiddo says:  “Please look at the screen”.  And I looked and saw the most horrible thing:  Looked like a big pink warm with some dirt.  Then I realize is inside my intestine.  He talked some none sense words to me about it and then he told me that he needed my permission to get a sample.  I replied: “get whatever you want but don’t make me watch!”.  Closed my eyes again <flowers, beach, MY INTESTINE!, summer, next vacation, THAT WAS INSIDE MY INTESTINE!, nice food, beach, SHIT! WAS THAT SHIT?...>”.

At this point I was even crying of laughter.  How horrible experience!  I couldn’t believe that it was only to prove the doctor wrong.  I ‘ve asked Sarah why she considered a Colonoscopy test the worst job?.  She answered:

“After the tube was finally out of my ass, I had the feeling that I was raped.  I stood up feeling a bit shame.  I asked the 20 years old kiddo how many of those tests they made during the day.  The 20 year old kid replied:  “It depends:  sometimes 10 sometimes up to 20”. Can you imagine seeing inside 10 intestines a day?  Can you imagine this 20 years old kid’s answer to a girl he wants to date, about what kind of job he does?”

The result of Sarah Colonoscopy proved that she didn’t have IBS but the doctor was still on denial about it.  He gave her some other pills.  As Sarah was about to go to a vacation in Bali after the test <beach, summer, vacation> she decided to take the pills afterward.  At the vacation she considered the possibility to go to her country in America to get some good doctor or diagnose there.  When Sarah came back from vacations, she was trying the pill that the doctor gave her but no with no results.  After a week trying the pain that she had on her lower abdomen changed to the right kidney.  In one day time she couldn’t walk from the pain.  That day she was wrongly diagnosed with Kidney Stones.  As next day she had fever and fainted the doctor realize that what she had was Pyelonephritis.

Pyelonephritis is a kidney infection caused by the bacteria E. Coli.  E. Coli had caused all those mix symptoms since June 2009 till January 2010 when it finally exposed itself with the kidney infection.  At that moment the doctor finally realise that Sarah didn't have IBS.  After one month treatment with the strongest antibiotic to combat it, she finally started to feel better. It took her other six months to recover.  Now Sarah lives a normal life like any other person.  No IBS symptoms after this.

*Sarah is a fictitious name.