on headaches and rude nurses

so, tonight i went to emerg. i walked. this is my highly irritated tale of woe.

i've had a headache and earache and faceache and eye pain and sinus pain niggling at me for a few days, but tonight it got SO much worse... along with a newly stiff and achy neck.

so, i looked things up on the handy dandy bchealthguide online symptom checker - provided, by the way, by the bc government to help people make wise decisions about seeking healthcare.

part of the effort to reduce unneeded visits to emerg and thus save money in the healthcare system. makes sense, right?

so, ok. under headache w/stiff neck and possible fever, this was my instruction:

Red "Yes"
You have answered "Yes" to a question that indicates you may need immediate care. Call your health professional now to discuss your symptoms and arrange for your care.
* Symptoms are likely to worsen without medical care.
* If you do not have a health professional, seek emergency care.
* Emergency transportation is not needed. However, if you are not able to travel safely either by driving yourself or having someone else drive you, call an ambulance.
You do not need to answer any of the other questions.

oy. lovely.

but not wanting to go to the hospital because, y'know, a website told me to, i looked up other stuff.

under facial pain with vision changes (blurring, halos) etc AND eye pain, this was my instruction:

Red "Yes"
You have answered "Yes" to a question that indicates you may need immediate care. Call your health professional now to discuss your symptoms and arrange for your care.
* Symptoms are likely to worsen without medical care.
* If you do not have a health professional, seek emergency care.
* Emergency transportation is not needed. However, if you are not able to travel safely either by driving yourself or having someone else drive you, call an ambulance.
You do not need to answer any of the other questions.

ooooo kkkkk.

dammit, i don't want to go to the hospital!!!! so i stubbornly look up something else hoping it will tell me i'm fine after all....

under eye problems with stiff neck and photophobia, this was my instruction:

Red "Yes"
You have answered "Yes" to a question that indicates you may need immediate care. Call your health professional now to discuss your symptoms and arrange for your care.
* Symptoms are likely to worsen without medical care.
* If you do not have a health professional, seek emergency care.
* Emergency transportation is not needed. However, if you are not able to travel safely either by driving yourself or having someone else drive you, call an ambulance.
You do not need to answer any of the other questions.

seeing a bloody pattern here? frig!

so i went. i bundled up and walked to the hospital.

nurse signed me in, took my temp, asked me questions, put me in bed 3.

after about a 20 minute wait, a dr walks in, asks me what's going on, i tell her my general symptoms... she looked at me, expressionless, and said, "you have the flu. those are flu-like symptoms. go home and go to bed. it's the flu."

i blinked... then said, "ok..... good to know....", the added, feeling a bit dumb, "y'know, the bchealthguide online site said to come get checked out".

she said, "it's the flu", and walked away.

this is where it gets bad. as i was putting on my sweaters to leave, i could hear the nurse laughing, and i heard her say sarcastically, "oh yeah, i would really love that job.... don't feel well? go to the hospital! get checked out! that would be quite the job, telling people to just go on down to the hospital and get it checked out...", more laughter.

and i walked out feeling utterly, utterly stupid.

i would cry, but darn, that would hurt my sinuses and eyes and head even more!!!!!!!!!