Is that too much?

Every time I have to deal with the country's health care system I feel really dumb.
I appreciate the access that is sometimes given, really. But that access is usually inversely proportional to competence. Since I live outside the capital, I can relatively easily and quickly visit a doctor, but it is difficult to find such. As I told you, looking for a good specialist outside the capital is sometimes like looking for a needle in a haystack. Like many other things. I still haven't find a good dentist here, for example, by the way. For a whole 6 years. And as I continue to experiment with dentists, looking for a good one, I may end up with ruined teeth beyond repair. Or I'll just stop going to the dentist. This might be the better option in this case.
And if you are really lucky to find a good doctor, it is not certain that they will treat their patients well, which is also a crucial part of any patient care. Because I've seen good doctors who behave horribly and guess if I'd see them again.

Yet, of all doctors, the problem comes first from the GP.
I think that in Bulgaria there is a shortage of such doctors, as well as pediatricians. Our last two GPs were exactly pediatricians and GPs at the same time - two functions that are a bit difficult to combine at the same time. But as far as I understood from acquaintances, in the capital it is already difficult to find such a doctor with vacancies for new patients.
Still, I've never seen my GP as much in my life as I do now. Maybe it's because I don't have the money that I could pay for private medical appointments in the past. I told you how many years I was not eligible for public health insurance because of the inconsistencies in the state, if there is any such thing as a benefit here at all. I would much rather have the money to not deal with these things in this humiliating way.

Perhaps I should start with the "vicious circle" in which people live in Bulgaria.
It is the country with the lowest life expectancy in Europe, the infant mortality rate is the highest due to congenital diseases, the preventable mortality rate is much higher than the European average, almost double. All this why? Because Bulgarians are not examined regularly. Only 30% of them have their annual medical examinations. And the reasons for this are many, both mental and economic, practically any. If the reason is not financial, then it will just be mentality.
My mother, for example, calls anyone who wants to get their annual check-ups, or who goes to see a specialist for any troubling symptoms, a hypochondriac. At the same time, she was diagnosed with very advanced cancer, during an almost forced routine examination. The same is happening with cardiovascular diseases, where we again lead the European statistics on premature death caused by them.
Well, whose fault is it? The state triumphed. Not only does it not give much money for health care to its own residents (we are at the bottom of the statistics again), but shortly after they retire, people are expected to die. Ta-da! 🥳 New potential cost savings.

You know, I'm desperately trying to get a job, but time is running out and my chances in this damn country are getting smaller by the minute. However, a few weeks ago I watched a video of an investor mentor talking about working in Bulgaria and how the retirement age for men is almost 65 and rising, while the average life expectancy for men in Bulgaria is 69.9. I.e. how long a man has left to live after working all his life (often not good jobs and for little money)? It looks pretty gross when you see those numbers in front of you.

For women, things look a little better with an average life expectancy of 77.3 and a retirement age of 62. But the trend is for life expectancy to decrease over the years! Because that is exactly the direction in which things have developed so far. And the retirement age is increasing, of course.

But let me finally write on the topic I'm making this post for in the first place.

I told you recently that the results of my annual medical examinations were not good, rather those of the laboratory tests. At the time, I thought that the results could not be different, given the low quality of life in the country. In fact, maybe a lot of people don't go for checkups precisely because of this - "let me die and it will all be over at last".
Maybe I should have done the same. And so all the suffering would end by itself.
It's just that I don't feel like dying yet, even though the state expects this from me, since I'm an "economically inactive" element.

So I took some action, I did something. I visited my GP again. It was sheer luck that I was able to get a referral from her to a specialist who scheduled new lab tests. I am very aware of this given the actions of my previous GP and what has happened since.
If my previous GP had not been what she was, I for one might have kept my hearing and improved my condition when I developed tinnitus at my extremely stressful last job. But knowing her well, I stood for weeks wondering if my condition really required a doctor. And by the time I got to a specialist, it was already too late to do anything, despite the many pills I took over the next six months (paid for, of course, by me). This same GP later died at 63, so you can tell by that alone how much she did medical examinations for herself and visited specialists. How can such a doctor, who is herself careless of herself, be expected to care for her patients? But of course, the patient realizes this only after such an event. Before that, he/she/me always thought that the problem was with myself - a simple hypochondriac, as my mother puts it on such occasions.

So it was pure luck that I got a referral to a specialist from my current GP and in the following weeks, after lab tests at another lab, I got negative results this time. The GP then greeted me with the words: "I knew it." But how can you, in any case, define the negative tests in one laboratory as correct, and the positive ones in another as wrong. Of course you should see a specialist.
On this occasion, I found out that the problem with the laboratories in Bulgaria is also very big. I read about people on forums who tried different labs one day after another and all the results were different. There was no result on which to base the necessary diagnoses and medications to be prescribed.
Why is this so? Perhaps the first reason is that laboratory workers receive very low salaries. Those who work outside the capital receive even smaller ones. As with pharmacists outside the capital. Of course, this cannot be used to judge the quality, because many people can work well, regardless of wages. It is about the fact that, logically speaking, companies that save on wages usually save on everything - on materials, equipment, etc. And laboratories that pay such low wages cannot be expected to work with the best quality materials or the most precise equipment.

And what is done in this situation? There are labs that stand "on a feeder" from GPs and doctors only send their patients there (patients always pay a fee, even though they are lied to by the state that they get annual tests that are free. Besides, only God knows how much the state pays these laboratories, for these "free" tests for every single patient.) These are the results that are recognized by them (the GPs), no matter what they are. If any patient doubts in them and decides to pay for further tests and get different results, then usually a patient starts liking the lab that gives them better results and recommends it as reliable.
But wait, who wants to pay out of pocket for the expensive tests? So the cycle is closed, these are the results and diagnoses are placed on them, drugs are prescribed on them and period.

Then maybe we wonder why the death rate in Bulgaria is so high and why there are people who go around different cities and different doctors who cannot make a diagnosis and finally this person dies, without a diagnosis, for example from cancer.

But anyway, I'm getting to the point where I'm paying my 6th fee to revisit my GP based on these conflicting lab tests. Since some of them turn out to be wrong, should I rely on the rest of them to be true, given that those other results are not good either. "Well, you have to pay for new tests," says the GP. And that's to be expected. Whose fault is it that I used this first laboratory? It was recommended to us by the previous GP, not the current one, so the current doctor is "not at fault".
In the course of the conversation, however, the GP suddenly changed her position. Maybe she realizes how absurd this situation is. Is it my fault that I used this lab that was recommended by another doctor, a close colleague of hers who is now deceased?

"Well, ok, I'm putting out a referral for new lab tests. But keep in mind that I can't give you any more specialist referrals for anything," she says.
Wait, what? We are in the middle of the year. I have just received only my "free" annual tests, a referral to a specialist because of these wrong results, and another referral for new lab tests, again because of these wrong results. And she tells me we're done with specialist referrals. Is this public health care? Two referrals and nothing more? Two referrals that are the result again of the non-working state in every respect.

I have my personal reasons for being so persistent in not only seeking my rights, but also in insisting that things be clarified, that I receive a truly professional service. Because damn it, I pay for my own health insurance when I have no income and the state doesn't care if it doesn't provide me with the right job for above minimum wage. And damn it, I don't want to be like my mother who was diagnosed with advanced cancer because she's some hero who insists on not getting her annual medical checkups.

Is what I want too much?

(Now I have to go to a laboratory in the district town 25 km away recommended by the GP, pay the next fee, and then pay again for the next GP visit.😂)

But aren't my pictures of a spider so lovely compared to all that?🤣

Thank you for your time! Copyright:	@soulsdetour
	Soul's Detour is a project started by me years ago when I had a blog about historical and not so popular tourist destinations in Eastern Belgium, West Germany and Luxembourg. Nowadays, this blog no longer exists, but I'm still here - passionate about architecture, art and mysteries and eager to share my discoveries and point of view with you.

Personally, I am a sensitive soul with a strong sense of justice.
Traveling and photography are my greatest passions.
Sounds trivial to you?
No, it's not trivial. Because I still love to travel to not so famous destinations.🗺️
Of course, the current situation does not allow me to do this, but I still find a way to satisfy my hunger for knowledge, new places, beauty and art.
Sometimes you can find the most amazing things even in the backyard of your house.😊🧐🧭|