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Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Waiting

I'm next, iPad, Alla prima drawing

This is the guy who arrived at the clinic at the same time we did. In an orderly world, he should have been on the table;Ellis had already been called. But the minutes ticked as he waited to hear his name. Then a nurse came into the lounge to say, "Dr. Soandso had just arrived. He had an emergency. We'll be calling his patients in the order as scheduled. He's very sorry. " This guy grabbed his head of unwashed, tangled locks and moaned loudly as he bent low between his legs with despair. He had lived through  hell the night before, arrived on time,  had a belly ache from his ordeal, was starving to death, and his doctor was late coming to work. His predicament caught my sympathies and attention. His profile of angst occupied me till I was called to retrieve my honey.



33 comments:

  1. Linda: I am familiar with the medical horror story.

    Last summer, I ruptured a blood vessel and went to the emergency room. I bled for several hours before anyone saw me. It cost me $200. When I went back to the hospital for a follow-up, the doctor said, "You have insurance. You should have just called the ambulance." I asked him, "How much would that cost?" He replied, "$6700, but you have insurance."

    I guess nobody pays for that.

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    1. @JJ: There was an article I read where a woman found out that there are two different prices a hospital will give to a patient.. One who has insurance and one who doesn;t... This lady was comparing costs of a procedure and found out that if you walk in and tell them u don't have insurance and pay out of pocket the cost is considerably less...If you have insurance the hospitals stick it to the insurance company.. Now is that right?? No wonder our premiums are so damn high..

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    2. This is just a little paragraph saying that shit happens in the course of life. It was not intended to start any conversations about the cost of medical care. Sitting there yesterday, nobody in the room cared about the cost of medical care; they just wanted to have the test. One of the doctors was late, but nobody left and I got to draw the interesting guy sitting in front of me who had an interesting reaction to the announcement. I had fun.

      I got suckered into commenting myself about the cost and kinds of medical care systems by JJ and Christine, but I over reacted. I deleted my lengthy reply. I read the article too that Christine was talking about. I thought it was incomplete. Medical care costs are a huge topic. Ask Hillary.

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  2. I wish for your Honey ALL is well,Linda.I hope he did not suffer, I was well anesthetized locally, and I have suffered the preparation (doctors call it so)  most of the exam!
    Your artwork is very expressive of the situation!A loving thought for you two,Rita.

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    1. No he didn't. Aside from going to bed quite late, the prep was easier less violent than the last time.

      Art is wonderful for making time fly.

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  3. A striking portrait that captures a moment of pain, fear and tension. The JJ comment above says a lot about different constituencies view the structure of health systems. Given the big debate that it is in your country and the constant comparisons made by some politicians in your country with our system it's tempting to enter a transatlantic discussion but I'll refrain and just think about the art.

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    1. As I just said to JJ, my little tale wasn't about the horrors of our medical system, it was about shit happens. What happened to him and the doctor's other patients could have happened in any gynecologists' office. The difference is pregnant people waiting for their monthly exam didn't spend a day and a night getting ready.

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  4. I hope the doctor visit went well. I like the painting. Was that made in Ipad? I do have an Ipad, but I haven't drawn or painted with it.

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    1. Very well. Ellis was awarded another year between tests. He can now wait five years before we do this again.

      You ought to play with it. It's great in these kinds of situations. So far I'm liking the ArtRage App the best, but I haven't really spent enough time with any of the three I downloaded. Take a look at Jean Spitzer's work, Jean's Paintings on my side board. She's great on the iPad.

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  5. nice ipad sketch...sorry the man was uncomfortable. I think maybe the other person that was the emergency may have been even more uncomfortable. Sad that people have medical problems---!

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    1. He was just anxious to get on with it and have his backside to the place :-) He was called soon after the announcement. It's set up very well over there.

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  6. Pat had bad 'stomach' pains, about a year ago. I called an ambulance. They arrived in 12 minutes and took her to hospital. In A & E (Accident & Emergency) they diagnosed that she had gall stones that had blocked a duct and was infecting her liver - she turned yellow. They admitted her into hospital and operated. They kept her in for a week, fed and tended her.

    Total Cost - Nothing!

    Hope Ellis is OK now.

    PS Great ipad!

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    1. iPads are great in waiting rooms where subjects are glued to their chairs with apprehension. They hardly move at all. In doc offices/clinics sometimes you're blocked from access to wireless connection. In this case, St John's hospital (the building my doctor's clinic is in) provided access.

      Yesterday, cost nothing including my wireless hook up.

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  7. Poor guy! A great impression of angst and despair!

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    1. I do angst well, the nervous hilaria (said with a ch sound for the h) that I am. Some say high strung. I do not like it when love ones are in distress. I take it personally. Thanks for commenting.

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  8. Linda!
    So sorry for everyone involved.
    You are so very right, "@!$%&" happens! It is sad when it does.
    My thoughts and prayers are with you and your loved ones.
    Hang in there.
    It is hard to paint when things aren't right. This iPad piece came out very well.
    Keep on keeping on.
    Michael

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    1. Don't be sorry Michael. Colonoscopies are just part of something we have to live through to stay healthy. I have not felt like painting. Today, even though the sun's not out, I will. Our household is back to normal.

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  9. Poor man, so very well depicted. Wish I had an iPad! I've seen amazing things done on one, like yours. Hope Ellis had no after effects from his ordeal.

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    1. I traded a portrait for my iPad. I've been very glad I did. Ellis is off working. Ellis was fine as soon as he had lunch yesterday. They do a great job over there.

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  10. Despair is all I see in your iPad (by the way, you're doing a great job with it!) painting... If the man of your painting were in Greece though, his appointment probably would had been canceled. A delay is better than a cancellation- see what all this net of doctors are doing... Always expect the worse, so settle with the less harm makes it ok; it's not, it's wrong.
    I'm happy everything went well for Ellis.
    I send you big smiles and a hug.

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    1. Thanks Konstantina. Jean Spitzer, Jean's Paintings, is the expert. I'm still just fooling around wasting time. I have no great desire to use it more seriously.

      The doctor was there, but had come in late, so people's appointments got pushed later. That's all that happened.

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  11. Ah, the "joys" of a doctor's office. You captured his paint and angst so well!

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    1. He was a fascinating guy. He and his wife looked like x motorcyclists. I would have liked to have drawn him anywhere. I was sort of glad he was being held prisoner so his doc could tend to someone who was sick and not just waiting for a routine test. He sure helped to make my waiting time fly.

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  12. What a bad adventure for that poor boy. I hope Ellis is okay now.
    Congratulations Linda for the wonderful work with the iPad. It looks really beautiful, particularly considering the situation around you. Best regards!

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    1. Thanks Tito, but I'm really a novice. I had some time and all the magazines on the table were old. Ellis is fine today. Both of us were fine as soon as we got home. A colonoscopy is the worst test, but they really are working hard at coming up with a prep that is easier. The test itself is actually nothing, it is the prep that gets everybody uptight, (is that a pun)? Ellis said, this one was easier than the one he did four years ago. Medicine is working all the time to make this test one no one skips. It's too important.

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  13. Hope he is OK now ... been worried about you both.

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    1. He's fine. One very teeny-tiny polyp, nothing worth worrying about. In fact, he was told he doesn't have to have another test again till five years from now; he was rewarded a year. The first time he had the test he had three large polyps and had to have the test again the next year. So he's improved with age. I'm thinking the only thing that I changed in our diet since that first test was we've increased fiber considerably.Thank you John for your concern.

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  14. I am glad this went well. I know it is terrific that there are these tests, but it is tough to go through them.

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    1. Me too. He's got a history, but has improved steadily over the years with our ever increasing interest in a healthier diet.

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  15. Raw expressionist drawing. Very nice. Really cool that you did this in the waiting room. Poor guy. His agony permeates your virtual canvas. You may cut off your ear now.

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    1. My favorite way to paint. The guy was very interesting. I should have taken his picture so I could really take a good look at him, but I forgot that the iPad is also a camera and didn't take advantage of that. I really did keep my eye mainly on the door Ellis disappeared behind. I figured he had been there long enough. It was time to split. That guy thought so too, but had to wait his turn, which luckily came soon after I started the drawing and had gotten a likeness. After he went through the door, I finished it on my own. It's really not his angst that in that picture, it's mine.

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    2. All the more reason to cut off your ear.

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