Vial of Air: The Healthcare Crisis
When the healers are used up.
Once upon a dry stick of hope,
When empathy is gone,
Told to cope with pains and falls
Until we snap under bricks
Meant to keep us safe from uncertainty.
*
Our health is held up high
By a tent of no replies.
Where are the nurses, doctors, surgeons?
Those who seem to be awfully kind?
“Do you think it’s my bladder?
Something pressing down?
The capacity is low.”
“It’s not our job to go and pry.”
Using a dipstick
To find the answers:
The cheapest, inaccurate exit.
Nothing will be prescribed
When symptoms are consistent.
We are a clinician to the blind;
We are the patient they want to help
But don’t ever want to see.
There is no hope
When the system is in a state of freeze,
Diagnosed by severity,
Waiting until it’s too late,
Voice recording the slow celerity.
*
But nurses are used,
We are told.
Doctors abused,
We all know.
Surgeons exploited
By their bosses.
Our appointments they withhold;
Our appointments they delay;
They spend you from day to day
This is how they were all trained.
They’ve been sharpened by their knowledge
But used until they are useless vials of air.
About the Creator
Caitlin Charlton
Noir Writer & Close Reader. Spotting the elements of Eloquence.
Survivor. Reclaiming my own territory.
Let us read each other and leave the page free. 🖋️🔥👠
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Comments (20)
On fire and relatable and preach that girl. Truth 💜 And yes this is top story congratulations 💜
Congratulations
Preach, Caitlin, preach!! Excellent work, and as an immunocompromised person, I certainly could tell you a tale or two. Thanks for drawing attention to this matter and congratulations on your top story! 💖
Back to say congratulations on your Top Story! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
TRUTH … now, these days. WTH is happening?? Good job, Caitlin. Congratulations on TS!!🎊🎊🎊
I'm sure this piece was born out of a personal tragedy unfortunately. You knew the facts, and enjoyed the delivery.
Well written. I have A LOT of problems with the healthcare system. When I broke my ankle a couple of years ago I figured out the problem. Doctors aren't healers anymore, except for surgeons. Doctors aren't taught how to help people anymore. I have injured myself many times, so when I heard the snap and blacked out, I knew that my ankle was broken. I put the walking boot I already had on and went to the ER in the morning. The doctor I saw directly told me she didn't think it was broken without even so much as a visual inspection of the area. Whem I said I didn't want pain meds, she really said to me, "then why are you here?" The answer I will need physical therapy after my bone heals, which my insurance will not pay for if I am not properly diagnosed, seemed to shock her. So I got a trip to the x-ray escorted by 3 armed guards. When the radio tech saw the break, they actually exclaimed, "OH my god, it really is broken!" Something they are not supposed to do. They are only trained to hand out pain pills. That IS the treatment for most things.
I've just been in hospital this week, nothing serious, but it was a complete stuff around, to say it politely, for me lol. Your words capture the exhaustion and despair in the healthcare system so vividly 💔
Here in the US, healthcare is a joke. We can travel to Mexico and get dental work for a fraction of what it cost here in the US. Our healthcare system is broken, and they are doing nothing about it.
It's a shame when healthcare has come to this. It's gotten so impersonal. They don't even doctor anymore, they have AI programs that diagnose for them.
This is amazing. Such fantastic commentary! Healthcare and the system surrounding it such a complex topic and frustrating to everyone who isn't mega rich honestly. The system certainly doesn't feel bad about using up its employees and patients alike. I hate what it's become in the US especially with the health insurance. Anyway, fantastic, nuanced poem!
I have lost all respect for doctors and nurses. They no longer about patients and they don’t listen to you as an individual. They only try to put you in a box, and prescribe according to what the book says for that box. They don’t care and truly act like automats. If I had the option of a robot I would take it. At least the knowledge part would be covered. The empathy level would be just like the human doctors and nurses today. Great writing, Caitlin.
WOW . We have a terrible system
This beautifully and evocatively written, Caitlin. Healthcare aught to be so much better than this!
This was a lovely commentary on the healthcare system. You very cleverly conveyed your frustration with doctors and nurses who don't take the time to care and then turned them into the victims of a system that has turned them into these empty vials of air. I think we can all relate to this. Very well done, Caitlin!
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I don't even go to the doctor anymore. They don't listen and seem to always make things worse. Without exposing my issues completely, I opted out of a dangerous but lucrative procedure that is always done on people who have the same thing I do.. with the consequence of organ damage and sometimes failure.. When I did that, they wouldn't return my calls. They also refused to refill my pain medication (I was prescribed 10 Vicodin for the issue but only received 4 from the pharmacy because they were out) so I suffered immensely for the next 15 days waiting for the issue to pass and not knowing if it would or could on its own. In my experience, they won't listen to what is actually wrong or how you feel, they will just run inconclusive tests and recommend expensive procedures. Also, for context, I rarely ever use any kind of prescription medicine and will even do anything else before taking Tylenol for even a headache... So me asking for the pain meds wasn't something I'd normally do but it was THAT bad and they just ignored me. I literally thought I was going to die.
It's the same fate here too for our healthcare workers and patients. It's such a sad reality 🥺
Healthcare is a knotty issue. The system is backlogged, hence the "tent of no replies." The imagery is powerful, especially dry stick of hope." Love the lanjuaje and metaphor, Caitlin.
When it comes to health care, we’re definitely luckier by comparison here. I can’t imagine what’s it’s like in the US, especially now. Beautifully written ❤️