Representatives of the most humane profession

When I went to the lab to get my tests done, I was prepared to pay for half of them myself because the GP had told me I didn't need them, even though they were due to me and mandatory, God, and I needed them. But I still decided to ask the woman at the reception: "Which tests exactly were ordered by my GP?" Even though I already knew which ones, I was prepared to pay for the rest. But what was my surprise when the woman said: "The full annual tests that you are entitled to." "But how come? My GP said he wouldn't order the full tests," I exclaimed. The woman looked at me with incomprehension and complete disinterest.
I will not tell you now how low the pay of laboratory workers in Bulgaria is, how debased and unprestigious this profession is, and how often laboratory tests are inaccurate, resulting from this and many other factors, but still necessary to some extent for orientation in a person's health status.

So, imagine my surprise. I was ready to pay, I had even prepared for everything.

But there was another scenario, very possible. I could have said: fuck you, I will not pay for the tests that I am entitled to, and went to the laboratory unprepared. Then what could have happened - I would have to go there a second time because I was unprepared. Or to miss the opportunity to take advantage of these tests anyway, if it is not possible to go to the laboratory twice with the same referral, I don't know.

My surprise was even greater when I logged into the lab's website to download the test results later in the day and saw something else there that had never been present in my lab tests before - some unknown to me immunological factor, assigned, of course, by my GP. No one else would have done this since he is the person who appoints the annual examinations.

But... the scandal during my visit to him was big. The dispute - too. I remember very well how I was told several times that I would have to pay for some of the tests myself. The doctor's nurse said: Now you will pay for them yourself, but you know how a person prepares for them, you do this and that...
She didn't tell me: We've given you referrals for everything, including these tests, you know how to prepare for them...

I actually asked twice what referrals they gave me exactly, but they didn't answer, which is also super crazy because I have to go somewhere to get these medical exams, but I don't even know what exams I'm supposed to get.

And finally I go to the laboratory, where it turns out that I have actually been assigned something that I have been denied several times before. Even more things that I do not know what they are. I even think that this particular factor that was assigned to me does not do much for me. If the doctor had really listened to me and had read the epicrisis that I gave him, he would have seen another factor that was prescribed to me, not this one.

But in the end, why all the fuss? And when were these tests ordered for me, after they were denied to me when I was at the doctor's?

According to my partner, it's impossible for the GP to have ordered the tests after my visit because I have to sign everything. And yes, I did sign something, but like I said, I don't know what I signed. But I was denied these things several times, so it's impossible that he appointed them while I was there. This turned out to be such a mystery!

A few weeks ago, in a conversation with an acquaintance, I was told that referrals for annual check-ups are something that GPs don't like to give. This is an extremely strange fact, considering that, as I already told you, according to statistics in 2024, only 41% of health-insured Bulgarians had their annual preventive check-ups. And as I told you, these preventive examinations are "mandatory". But these are not referrals to a specialist, which if the GP has too many patients, may turn out not to have enough. Every person with health insurance should have these referrals, waiting for them every year. And all that is needed is for him to go and get them from his GP.

But come to think of it, the big scandal at my GP broke out when I said I wanted to use my annual referrals for preventive check-ups.

Actually, I was supposed to have them done back in June when I went to register with him. But then he just put me on the register and sent me away. (Probably hoping I won't be back to him soon, "because I'm young and don't need any checkups or tests").
And only now, 4 months after I registered with him, he started with: "How tall are you, how much do you weigh..."

My previous hysterical doctor tried harder. She had taken out an inaccurate scale, and made me step on it in my heavy hiking boots, wearing jeans, a jacket, etc. Then she had her nurse measure my height with a tape measure leaning against the wall, again with my hiking boots on, which have some kind of platform and offset my true height. As a result, the results they recorded then, a few years ago, in my file were wildly wrong. Not only did my height not match the one listed on my ID card, but I appeared to be overweight based on my height/weight ratio.

"Aren't I overweight, by medical standards?" I joked to the nurse as she wrote down my results. The doctor had gone out into the hallway to do something. "The doctor will tell you if there's anything," the nurse replied confidently. And I was sure that no one would say anything, because no one would look at what she had written in my file. But in my file I was listed as overweight and my height did not correspond to my real height.

Then they brought out a blood pressure monitor. The results were wrong for both me and my partner because it was some cheap Chinese blood pressure monitor. But these women had done their job. No one expected anything more from them. They also did a cardiogram for me. No one discussed the results with me then. And that was it.

Now here I just had to tell myself how tall and how much I weighed. No one took my blood pressure (because I'm young and don't need it). And again, no one commented on the cardiogram the nurse did for me. But I saw her staring at it. And then she asked: "What is your job?"

Then, after everything that happened, I thought about her question. No one would ask that question if my electrocardiogram was fine. If my heart rate is normal, why would they care what I do? But if I do something very stressful, then the deviations in my heart rate will be justified, and again, I will not need anything extra done for me. Which they were probably hoping for again. But I said: "I work on a computer from home."
And that left the woman thoughtful. But she didn't say anything to me again.

One of the first doctors I went to this summer told me that I had palpitations, he also wrote in my medical history things that I had never suspected, just like these palpitations. And it's likely that this condition has been around for a long time. It's just that no one has ever found it necessary to comment on it to me... not anyone, but my GP, can you imagine!

And it's possible that's why something may have happened in the GP's office after I left, in a bit of a dramatic way, I admit, saying that I was going to die soon anyway. Maybe the nurse spoke to the doctor, he wasn't there while I was having the cardiogram, he went out for a smoke, like I told you. They might have both calmed down, thought it over, put 2 and 2 together to make 4, and realized that I really need these tests. At least them, as a minimum basis.

That's possible. But something else is also possible. It's possible that these people suddenly got scared. I didn't say anything when I left, I didn't threaten. But what if they were scared that I would file a report against them. After all, this incident was really worth reporting! They have denied me some of the annual preventive examinations that I am entitled to, and which are mandatory.

My previous hysterical GP was so crazy that she once told me that they filed reports against her when she refused to give referrals to her patients. She then maintained to me the false theory that every insured patient is entitled to only one referral per year. If she gave more than one referral, the health insurance company fined her. And when she refused to give a second referral, the patients reported her and the health insurance company fined her again. Of course, these were the ravings of a crazy woman, completely lost in her own lies.
But the important thing here was the reports. People file reports when something happens, and I really had reason to do so. And maybe that was the reason the doctor added tests to my referrals. Without my knowledge and without my signature.

Now I can only wonder what else he prescribed for me that I don't know about. Because no matter how I look at the case, even if it was done out of belated compassion, it's not right, and it doesn't make any rational sense. Except for one thing: if I filed a report against him, he could say - "that's not true, look, I gave all the annual referrals to the patient."

And isn't this crazy? And inhumane again. Made by a doctor, a representative of this "humane" profession.

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.😊🧐🧭|