Health. Care?

Both of these were bulletins that i'm copy/pasting just to save:

i feel a year slide off my life anytime someone says americas private healthcare is better bc its more expensive

my dad might not have his immunotherapy covered for his chemo treatments, which, being $20,000 a day, will mean he just won't be able to have it.

i went to the doctor last week about a skin infection covering my whole legs and was given no time off work + antibiotics. it's spread to my arms and stomach and it's still so painful i can't shower (i've been taking sponge baths with cold water for over a fucking week now) and when i called to make a second appt bc its now a full-body infection. i was told they didn't think it was necessary

and i can't go to an emergency room bc 1. expensive and 2. if i go after work, i have never had to wait less than 3hrs to be seen in an ER, so i know damn well i won't get home until the wee hours of the morning. and, again, no time off. not to mention i DID have an appt last week and still ended up waiting over an hour to be seen.

yay i love paying out the ass for *checks notes* fast, world-class care??? and sometimes it's so obnoxiously expensive as to be literally inaccessible. even if it's life-threatening. yay.

seriously though why do my fellow americans say countries with public healthcare take forever to be seen. where are y'all going that you don't develop an intimate memory of every dust bunny collecting in the corners of the waiting room. i remember one time i kept fainting inexplicably and ended up waiting 8hrs in the ER. *who* is getting quick access to a doctor over here be so fuckin for real

i have had a rash/infection on my legs and arms for two weeks now. i wax my legs and not my arms, and this started 4 days after i waxed. so is it the wax? probably not, especially because it's spread onto my hips and stomach in the meantime. but every doctor i have seen in the past two weeks says "yeah it's just strawberry skin" or "yeah it's just an allergic reaction to the wax" or the rare "yeah it's just the razor you used afterwards was dirty."

none of those help me. especially when they keep asking my age, if i need a school excuse (i fucking work and you can see how old i am. i'm not in high school. yes i have baby face. eat my entire ass you prick.) and asking me what lotions and soaps i use

i know i am a young woman. if my brother had swollen, bloated, burning legs and arms for almost 3 weeks, it would be a problem. but i just need to exfoliate (my skin bleeds and burns when i touch it. i havent been able to wear pants in 2 weeks.) or i just need to use a new scrub (i cant shower. i've been taking ice-cold sponge baths because my legs swell up and i cant move them when they touch the hot water.) or i just need to get over it because im over-reacting (my coworkers are worried im contagious. customers dont want me to touch their money because my arms are clearly red and swollen)

i have to take meds to knock myself out and use ice packs to fall asleep. im chugging caffeine every morning to counteract it. im marking all my steps in dance because touching the floor with my legs hurts. everytime i exercise they get hotter and redder. ive used calamine lotion, hydrocortisone cream, witch hazel, triamcinalone acetonide, staphaseptic, calagel, neosporin, bee sting kits, antibiotics, benadryl - nothing is working.

but sure. i'm young and i'm a woman so it's no big deal. it's just the wax. even on my un-waxed arms. the skirt im wearing right now burns where it touches my knees because strawberry skin.

i'm not going to another fucking doctor again.