Alletta's Back in the Saddle again

Hey there:

So it is almost midnight Edinburgh time and even though I need to get up at 8am I am staying up and poking around on the internet because I don't want to go to bed. To put it nicely, I have had a really lousy week. Ok, well its been lousy in parts. As many of you know, I have these chronic migraines which tend to be really terrible and very frequent. Recently I finally figured out that it was certain foods that were making me so sick, and after a very very difficult period of going on this insanely restrictive diet for several weeks this summer, I began my own little *shit* list of bad things that my body cannot tolerate. So far the list is as follows: tomatoes (in any form and any amount), most kinds of cheese, any kind of cured meat (including sausage, which for me is particularly painful), too much caffeine, alcohol (sometimes), and chocolate, yes, chocolate. At first I thought it was just the tomatoes, but this last two weeks, I have had two minor migraines and three massive migraines, each lasting TWO days. Basically, I've had more migraine days than 'normal', that is not writhing with pain, days this last two weeks. Not fun. At. All. This weekend was particularly bad because after a series of unexpectedly bad headaches, I ran out of medication and was stuck this weekend with nothing. Finally, after suffering all day saturday, a particularly bad saturday night and then part of the day today (sunday), I finally ended up calling the National Health Service out of hours emergency nightline. Ok so here is when I go on a big pitch about why the UK is amazing. (yes, I know you all were waiting for when I would finally start bragging about the UK, and it has finally arrived.) After talking promptly with a NHS nurse, I was arranged an appointment, (yes an appointment!) at the local ER with a physician in just an hour. When I got there, I was seen exactly when scheduled (no wait) by a very nice doctor who spent a good while discussing my medical history and what was going on with the migraine. He looked up all my American medications and found suitable replacements and then after writing up perscriptions sat and answered all my questions about the medication I was taking. Then, the nice ladies in the hospital reception area (by the way, because I was already in the centralized NHS database, having registered with a local physician on arrival, I didn't need to fill out any paperwork or even sign anything) looked up the closest pharmacy that was open and then called me a taxi. I got to the pharmacy, and my perscriptions were filled right away. I paid a flat rate of about six pounds each and then went on my way. At the end of the day, all it cost me was the price of a cab two ways, plus the pills, which were 13 pounds (In the U.S. they would have been like 75 dollars). Moreover, unlike in the US where my insurance company limits the amount of pills I can get to what they consider a months supply, I was able to get several months worth of what I actually need, so that I will never again have to sweat it through the end of the month hoping my medicine will last.

After hearing all so many horror stories in the US media about how 'awful' nationalized health care is, I have to say that I was treated more kindly in a much more efficient and timely manner here than ever before in the US. If I had known, I would have not suffered for days before going to the hospital. I know for a fact that the average British person does not pay more tax than the average American. The typical middle class rate is about 22 percent. We Americans need to stand up and begin demanding better. We are all sick of getting poor medical care and the fact is, we can do better.