Socialized Medicine

After discovering that I could not lift my arm above my shoulder, I decided to head over to the emergency department for an xray. After filling out two forms (one for the hospital, one for ACC), Becky (who like most doctors at Hawke's Bay, looked far to young to be a doctor), led me into an exam room, quickly diagnosed me with AC joint disorder (why yes, we've got a pamphlet for that), and sent me down the hall to radiology. The x-rays came back normal; I then received a tetanus booster (actually a tetanus/diphtheria booster, as that's the only way tetanus vaccines come here), and was sent back to work with a prescription for ibuprofen and paracetamol.

Total time spent in ED/radiology: 40 minutes (which included about 10 minutes for the student radiology tech to adjust the machinery).

Total cost: $6 for the two prescriptions, which is supposed to be refunded by ACC, but I don't know if I'll bother figuring out how to do that.

Tetanus shot pain now hurts more than bicycle accident pain, so I'm taking a well earned sick day today.