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Old 08-29-2012, 02:55 AM
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I started not feeling well the day after we returned from the visit to Russia. I assumed the 5 mile walk in the rain had wiped me out. Then I ran a fever of 101.5 accompanied by the most horrendous stomach pains and aches from head to toe. I felt so bad for three days that Alex convinced me to go to the local emergency room, where care is issued for 3.20 euros (around $5). He can't accompany me so I took a taxi and went by myself.

I have been in that hospital many times and generally it scares me. At least the fresh interior paint has helped remove the snake pit appearance. And I know the emergency room staff from all the times I have been there with Alex, and they're pretty good.

But it's the patient wards that I wanted to avoid. First - the nurses don't change gloves between patients. I personally witnessed one nursing assistant going from bed to bed with the same gloves on, and then enter another room and do the same thing. Only when she got back to her station, did she take off the gloves. I saw the nurse give Alex an IV without using gloves at all and when I reminded her that Estonia has the fastest growing rate of HIV in Europe and the highest rate of Hepatitis B in the world, she laughed and told Alex, "Well, I won't lick you."


We have a friend, also in a wheelchair, who suffered a serious burn to his leg and the next day fell and broke it. It was he that we were visiting when I saw the nurse assistant not changing gloves. He was in a ward with three other patients. He left that hospital and went to Tallinn, only to be told he might lose the leg altogether, but they were able to repair the bad setting and clean up the burn better.

The entire hospital has one toilet chair and it took a half day and an administrative intervention to get it. The patient rooms have no TV and no telephone. If you need a nurse, you'd better be able to holler for one. The patient food is delivered on a cart filled with giant stainless steel buckets. Some sort of gruel is ladled out by the floor nurse, accompanied by a piece of black bread and rhubarb tea, or whatever tea is in season. Lunch is a liver patty, mashed potatoes and pureed carrots or another kind of mystery patty. For everone.

So, I was afraid to be admitted. But I must say the emergency staff took excellent care of me. I got blood and urine tests, a sonogram, a visit to the gynecologist, and a pain shot, in less than two hours. I was treated kindly and like a celebrity, everyone practicing their English and looking at an American passport.

Afterwards, I had pages of test results and a handwritten note in Russian to Alex from the gynecologist, with a big exclamation point at the end of the note. I was convinced I was going to die but it turns out they discovered a couple of 2cm fibroids, which are not really a big deal and I can take care of it when I return.

But I still feel хуёво because I probably do have the flu.

Last edited by BarbC; 08-29-2012 at 03:02 AM.
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Old 08-29-2012, 03:05 AM
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Being sick is always a drag, even more so if Hospitals are involved.

Here's hoping you get well soon Barb!
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Old 08-29-2012, 03:16 AM
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BarbC, after reading your post, I really wonder why Americans complain about everything here at home.

Been overseas myself, and have seen real poverty and suffering.

Hope all goes well with you.
You surely are doing great things with your life, God Bless You.
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Old 08-29-2012, 05:21 AM
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" I felt so bad for three days that Alex convinced me to go to the local emergency room, where care is issued for 3.20 euros (around $5). "

Sounds like you were overcharged! Thank God you got out of there OK
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Old 08-29-2012, 05:52 AM
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You take care now, and here are my best wishes and prayers for you.
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Old 08-29-2012, 07:04 AM
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Take care Barb. Glad you are feeling better.
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Old 08-29-2012, 07:14 AM
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I hope you get well soon, Barb! God bless.
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Old 08-29-2012, 08:29 AM
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Maybe im a little sadistic or whatnot but at times i miss the old Soviet style healthcare. (Granted there was almost no such thing as AIDS back then). Pretty much consisted of Sit down, Shut up, Walk it off. :what: There was no pampering, no one was made to feel special. It was a little more cold. "Here's what we're doing, and heres what you'll feel" There is a part of me that misses that! :screwy: Hospitals were usually a last resort, when its something serious. Here it seems that the parents take Johnny to the hospital when he has a hiccup.

I remember my mom telling me how she had to get a route canal done when she was in her late teens (this was about 1975). No pain killers, no nothing just a warning "you'll feel some pain for a second"

Barb, my dad always said that if you feel xyova it means youre still alive. Start checking pulses if you dont feel anything for a few days.

Hope you feel better.
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Old 08-29-2012, 08:50 AM
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I remember my mom telling me how she had to get a route canal done when she was in her late teens (this was about 1975). No pain killers, no nothing just a warning "you'll feel some pain for a second"
Arik, that's how they're still doing dental work - no xray, no novocaine, just "hold still". I watched my friend get a root canal and a filling done that way. Apparently, many of the people here prefer to simply have the tooth pulled.

People are still using the old medicines as well, the type the FDA issues warnings about. I guess they're a tougher breed of people - eigther you'll get better or you won't!
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Old 08-29-2012, 08:58 AM
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Hoping you get better real fast!

Go to Dilbert Website, Elbonia make you laugh, you feel better!
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Old 08-29-2012, 10:44 AM
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I guess they're a tougher breed of people - eigther you'll get better or you won't!

+1

My great grandmother lived through the Russian revolution, the Ukrainian famine, bombing of Kiev in WW2 (lived in the center where the bombing started), traveled by horseback from Kiev to Kazakhstan with 2 small children to escape the nazis. Beaten and god knows what along the way by bandits. Moved back to Kiev after WW2, Moved to the US in 78 as the first in our immediate family. Died in 2007. The only time she felt the need to go to a hospital was towards the end when she was really not feeling good.

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Old 08-29-2012, 01:20 PM
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at least you got out of the hospital alive. hope you start feeling better real soon.
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Old 08-29-2012, 10:26 PM
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Glad you got out of the hospital not worse than when you went in. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a rapid recovery from whatever ails you.
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Old 08-30-2012, 03:07 AM
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I ended up admitted anyway. The EMTs came to the house at Alex's call and took me to the main hospital. I was then sent across town to the "infectious ward", which is like a turberculosis clinic from the 1960s - each room like a cell. I was given shots and pills, IV, blood taken, urine and stool samples. Now I am sitting in the main hospital again, waiting for a tomography.

I cannot figure out what is wrong. I have sharp abdominal pains in the center of my stomach, no vomiting, very little diarrhea, tired, weak. The tenderness is mostly on the left side of my stomach but the sharp pains seems centralized, coming about once an hour.

I do know I don't want any operations done here, for sure.

And the only contact I have here is Alex and he can't accompany me. This is the sucky part about being overseas and barely speaking the language.
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Old 08-30-2012, 07:32 AM
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BarbC,
It may be time to GET OUT!!!!!
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Old 08-30-2012, 07:54 AM
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take it easy for awhile to get your strength back. hoping that you get better soon.
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Old 08-30-2012, 08:05 AM
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feel better soon BarbC
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Old 08-30-2012, 11:01 PM
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Talk about guts!! Taking care of a paraplegic. Fighting the administrative system in a foreign country. Limited fluency in the language. As successful as can be expected in surviving a medical emergency with a prehistoric medical system, and able to plan for the contingencies. Makes me scared just thinking about it! One brave lady!
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Old 08-31-2012, 10:40 AM
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Thank you, everyone, for your really valued support. I was released, not much worse for the wear. I had some good tests done and the doctors seem capable. At least the "infectious ward" practices good standard precautions. I don't have the intestinal infection results back yet. But I thought you'd like to see the hospital, the room, my private bathroom, and the food which was passed through a small window that does not open from the inside.
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Old 08-31-2012, 11:03 AM
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Quote:
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Thank you, everyone, for your really valued support. I was released, not much worse for the wear. I had some good tests done and the doctors seem capable. At least the "infectious ward" practices good standard precautions. I don't have the intestinal infection results back yet. But I thought you'd like to see the hospital, the room, my private bathroom, and the food which was passed through a small window that does not open from the inside.
Eeewwwww! Time to leave!

Sure hope you stay well and do not need to go back there.
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Old 08-31-2012, 11:33 AM
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Barb,

I really respect you for what you are doing, but I would think that maybe you should return to the states for treatment. Especially if they have ruled out all of the easy to treat diagnoses...

I would leave that Gulag while you still can....

I'll be praying for you...
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Old 08-31-2012, 11:50 AM
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So...the gloves are there to protect the "care givers" (?).
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Old 08-31-2012, 12:34 PM
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I hope you are feeling better.

You just validated my practice of obtaining travel medical insurance, the plan that gets you on a jet and flies you to a western medicine facility.

You are pretty brave!
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Old 08-31-2012, 12:50 PM
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My grandmother born in 1886 in the ukraine had some tough storys. She told of people wearing rags on their feet, pouring water on them and then going outside and they would freeze and seal your feet from the snow etc. Her family had a dugout in the woods and worked makeing charcol. She told a story of wolves trying to get through the smoke hole to the kids while the folks were out working. She told another of the men poaching deer and how the warden trying to arrest them and the men split a stump, pushed the wardens beard in it and left him for the wolves! Another story was when my grandpa was a boy he was going to cross a railroad track to get home but a guard was there and tried to keep him from crossing as the czar`s train was due to come by. He ran across anyway and the czar chased him to a nearby barn. Grandpa covered up with hay to hide and the guard was stabbing the hay with the rifle bayonet looking for him. The guard left to get back to his post when he heard the whistle on the approaching train! My grandma lost her first husband soon after they got married. Think he was a solider killed. She had a older brother that got out of the russian army about the same time. She had a young son so they and my great uncle (her brother) came over here together. She was introduced to my grandpa already over here from the same area. He had just lost his first wife and was a widower with 6 kids. They instantly got married and dad was born 9 months later, the first of 10 more kids! Thats 17 all put together! Grandpa had the biggest farm in the county and it sounds like he raised his own slaves!
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Old 08-31-2012, 12:52 PM
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Is that the Russian Flue BarbC?

I hope you get well soon.
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Old 09-01-2012, 01:02 AM
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So...the gloves are there to protect the "care givers" (?).
That was one of my biggest complaints. Even the "best girl" working here was re-using her gloves. She'd stash them in the bookcase and use them again the following day.
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Old 09-01-2012, 08:46 AM
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The pic with the food. Middle plate, Gretchka?

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Old 09-01-2012, 09:50 AM
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And we're soon gonna have European style health care!
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Old 09-01-2012, 11:04 AM
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Thats not really European style healthcare. Thats EASTERN European style healthcare. 2 very different things.

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Old 09-01-2012, 01:10 PM
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Thank you, everyone, for your really valued support. I was released, not much worse for the wear. I had some good tests done and the doctors seem capable. At least the "infectious ward" practices good standard precautions. I don't have the intestinal infection results back yet. But I thought you'd like to see the hospital, the room, my private bathroom, and the food which was passed through a small window that does not open from the inside.
Wow! Makes me want to run right out and vote for Obamacare.

Barb, I pray you get to feeling better and stay out of that place!
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Old 09-01-2012, 06:35 PM
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:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead:

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Old 09-01-2012, 07:33 PM
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Hospital food seems to have found a common denominator, maybe even the lowest.
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Old 09-02-2012, 02:28 PM
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Barb, I feel for you. Over the last few years, I've been in and out of hospitals (in the USA) more than I care to mention. That's bad enough. If you throw in the cultural differences of a foreign country, the stress factor increases exponentially.

Best wishes for a full recovery.

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Old 09-02-2012, 06:53 PM
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I started not feeling well the day after we returned from the visit to Russia. I assumed the 5 mile walk in the rain had wiped me out. Then I ran a fever of 101.5 accompanied by the most horrendous stomach pains and aches from head to toe. I felt so bad for three days that Alex convinced me to go to the local emergency room, where care is issued for 3.20 euros (around $5). He can't accompany me so I took a taxi and went by myself.

I have been in that hospital many times and generally it scares me. At least the fresh interior paint has helped remove the snake pit appearance. And I know the emergency room staff from all the times I have been there with Alex, and they're pretty good.

But it's the patient wards that I wanted to avoid. First - the nurses don't change gloves between patients. I personally witnessed one nursing assistant going from bed to bed with the same gloves on, and then enter another room and do the same thing. Only when she got back to her station, did she take off the gloves. I saw the nurse give Alex an IV without using gloves at all and when I reminded her that Estonia has the fastest growing rate of HIV in Europe and the highest rate of Hepatitis B in the world, she laughed and told Alex, "Well, I won't lick you."


We have a friend, also in a wheelchair, who suffered a serious burn to his leg and the next day fell and broke it. It was he that we were visiting when I saw the nurse assistant not changing gloves. He was in a ward with three other patients. He left that hospital and went to Tallinn, only to be told he might lose the leg altogether, but they were able to repair the bad setting and clean up the burn better.

The entire hospital has one toilet chair and it took a half day and an administrative intervention to get it. The patient rooms have no TV and no telephone. If you need a nurse, you'd better be able to holler for one. The patient food is delivered on a cart filled with giant stainless steel buckets. Some sort of gruel is ladled out by the floor nurse, accompanied by a piece of black bread and rhubarb tea, or whatever tea is in season. Lunch is a liver patty, mashed potatoes and pureed carrots or another kind of mystery patty. For everone.

So, I was afraid to be admitted. But I must say the emergency staff took excellent care of me. I got blood and urine tests, a sonogram, a visit to the gynecologist, and a pain shot, in less than two hours. I was treated kindly and like a celebrity, everyone practicing their English and looking at an American passport.

Afterwards, I had pages of test results and a handwritten note in Russian to Alex from the gynecologist, with a big exclamation point at the end of the note. I was convinced I was going to die but it turns out they discovered a couple of 2cm fibroids, which are not really a big deal and I can take care of it when I return.

But I still feel хуёво because I probably do have the flu.
Well, There ya go Barb.

You got an advanced look at the future of health care in the U.S.A.
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Old 09-02-2012, 10:20 PM
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Barbc you really need to come home to the US, glad you've survived a third world health care system (one this country seems headed for) but seems like it's time to pack up and head out....Take care of yourself and I hope you don't have any more health trouble.
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Old 09-02-2012, 11:45 PM
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Barb, I'm glad to hear you are feeling OK. You just got to stay healthy in some countries.
In 1984 I got sick while doing a job in India near New Delhi. The hotel Dr. told me to "go home immediately". He said if I stayed there I would have to go to the hospital and the hospital was where people went to die!
I didn't question him and I got a flight out the next day. Found two seats open and curled up in a fetal position all the way to Frankfurt. When I got off the plane in Frankfurt I felt 50% better. Got home and got everything fixed up.
Doing a job in Mexico in the early 90's my buddy got Typhus and was admitted. I saw the nurse give him an injection with one of those old style reusable syringes. I told him about it and when he got home he had to wait months for test results to show he didn't have HIV.
Hospitals are not my cup of tea.
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Old 09-02-2012, 11:45 PM
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I hope you do not have an infected gallbladder. It is amazing what kind of health care we have here in the states than most places around the world. Those people must be tough to endure the Cold War. Heck just a couple of weeks ago I had a root canal done and I could not imagine having the procedure done without anesthetics. Hope you feel better!

James
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Old 09-03-2012, 01:45 AM
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Babalooie, the rosary beads were given to my Italian little old lady for her niece who was deployed.

Arik, sad to say but no - it was a coarsely chopped liver over mashed potato. The gretchka is probably the breakfast cereal in photo #7. The other photo shows the supper of bread & cheese and macaroni in a sweetened milk.

I am told this is not like European health care and actually the situation here in Eastern Estonia is even different from Tallinn, which is what brought me here in the first place and which I've already posted about. This is what happens when the money is diverted and laws are ignored with impunity because essentially there is anarchy out here. But that's all in my other posts too.

A funny experience: While in the admitting/emergency room, the doctor's English was even more limited than my Russian but he did a decent examination and interview for about a half hour. Suddenly he ran over to me, beaming from ear to ear, as was the rest of the staff. I thought, "Wow - good news!" He thrust out his iPhone, pressed a button, and a British electronic lady said, "You will be admitted to the infectious ward." He held it up and played it again for his audience and they all practically applauded... except me, the condemned.
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Old 09-03-2012, 09:54 AM
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Yummy!, Can you get second helpings?

Hope you are doing/feeling better!
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