The child not originally getting adequate medical care is more of an issue to me that the term "man flu" though I can understand why those words offend.

I've had my fill of incompetent health care providers.

It's a good thing the mother didn't rely on the nurse's opinion.

Quote from Incognito

The child not originally getting adequate medical care is more of an issue to me that the term "man flu" though I can understand why those words offend.

I've had my fill of incompetent health care providers.

It's a good thing the mother didn't rely on the nurse's opinion.

The thing is that the two are inter-twined. If it was a girl, what would the nurse say? It's "girl flu"?

Quote from RebelliousVanilla

The thing is that the two are inter-twined. If it was a girl, what would the nurse say? It's "girl flu"?

The nurse sounds incompetent, and yes, she sounds biased as well.

Last year I started blood pressure medication. High blood pressure runs in my family as it does many people. I had just moved from another location and wanted to have a female doctor as I had had a very positive experience with a female dentist in my previous location.

After it was established that I needed to be on medication she prescribed me a diuretic, common amoungst blood pressure medications.

Not long after I started to complain about fatigue and dizziness. She said that was normal. Then I fainted. Yes at the age of 37 (at the time) I fainted for the first time in my life at a restaurant and busted my face on a chair on the way down. An ambulance was called and they asked me what kind of blood pressure medication I was taking and they said that I should talk to my doctor so I did-AGAIN!

When I went to the doctor’s office I was met by a "nurse practitioner" who asked me if I had been drinking that day and if I had been outside because it was an exceptionally hot day. I answered: "Yes, I was having a beer with lunch, my first and only drink of the day, and I had ridden my bicycle for 10 miles at least which was customary for me on a daily basis." She said: “oh you were just exhibiting some bad behavior.”Whatever" I said. "I have never fainted before in my life and I have been having weird symptoms since I have been taking this medication including fatigue and not being able to have an erection." "Oh you poor thing" she said in response. Seriously this is what she said.

Then she told me that I would get a call back on my facial injuries as far as an X-ray was concerned and I never did get a call back.

Three weeks later I was still on this medication with no sex life and started to have severe symptoms of a heart attack. Shortness of breath severe chest pains the works. It was very scary! Here I am, still a young man at the age of 37, and having heart attack symptoms! So I took a taxi to the hospital. They did a check over and said "wholly shit your BP is high" then they did a few tests on my and discovered that my Potassium level was DANGEROUSLY LOW! I mean relay low. Potassium is essential for maintaining healthy BP and sustaining cardiovascular functionality. Without the proper amount in your body you will die!

The doctor asked me: "did you complain about this to you doctor?"

I said: "Yes I did and the fact that I couldn't get it up!"

He said: "This is bullshit you are a fit man who just happens to have a BP problem and you fainted and had sexual dysfunction and she did nothing even after you told her that you were having these problems with your medication? Seriously you could have had a heart attack as with some people this particular medication sucks all of the Potassium out of your body. This is basic first year med stuff and she did nothing?"
"No" I said.

So I changed medications and doctors and my and my lady friends are happy again.

But seriously I think about all of the talk about how men are overrepresented in medical studies and have better consideration when it comes to cardiovascular health and I want to puke.

Let us take a look at male medical research:

The Tuskegee Syphilis experiments

The Nuclear Bomb Test Experiments at Bikini Atoll and in the Arizona Dessert

the COUNTLESS amounts of prisoner experiments that no human being would ever consent too.

All of these were considered as discriminatory against women when it comes to health research and I suppose if I looked into it that I could find allot more!

Men's health is discounted as a mater of course in compared to women's health and the mortality figures confirm it.

Quote from Male-Perspective

My PC threw a hissy-fit on Sunday and I've been off-line since.
Normally I would mourn the loss of my PC until returned to me as good as new, but something cropped up to keep me occupied.

A friend of mine contacted me on Monday with a story she knew I would be interested in.
Her 18-month-old son had "not had a wet nappy" for two days. He was neither eating nor drinking, he had a bit of a temperature and was very restless and unhappy.
Since the Doctors' surgery is closed at weekends she took her son to the local Cottage Hospital on Sunday morning. She told me that when the nurse arrived she didn't so much as look at the toddler but instantly dismissed his suffering as "Man-Flu" implying that he was just seeking attention.
My friend saw a REAL doctor on Monday morning. He quickly diagnosed her child as suffering from a double ear infection and severe tonsilitis. When she told him about the nurses "Man-Flu" fob-off he was "furious" and told her he intends to make a complaint.
I phoned the Ramsey Cottage Hospital on Tuesday asking to speak to a member of the management team. They were "in a meeting".
However, I had an interesting chat with the guy that took my message.
I explained to him what I was calling about and that I would like a statement from management regarding this incident and the underlying implication that male patients are not being taken seriously but are being fobbed-off by nurses who believe "Man-Flu" is a real thing and use it to deny these patients the same standard of care and compassion that they might have recieved had they been female.
His words to me were; "Well, as a man in a female-dominated workplace I hear the words 'man-flu' all the time."
After reminding him that this could be seen as bullying and harassment in the workplace, I suggested he might want to make a complaint about it himself. I will be raising the issue on Monday when I will be paying a visit to Ramsey Cottage Hospital and will be speaking to management.

I never got a call back. Or maybe I did? I forgot to plug the phone back in after I unplugged if from my line-splitter while I was dragging my PC out.

I would very much like to hear your thoughts on the matter so that I can present them on Monday.

""Cottage Hospital on Sunday morning. She told me that when the nurse arrived she didn't so much as look at the toddler but instantly dismissed his suffering as "Man-Flu" implying that he was just seeking attention.""

""..She told me that when the nurse arrived she didn't so much as look at the toddler ..""
thre is a new type of nurse in Australia that have themselves designated as "nurse practitioners" this is a take off from General Practitioners or doctors who are fully trained in the University and internship to diagnose nuances of illness

If my son were sick and I were to be given some off hand intuitive diagnose by some jumped up nurse I would simply ask for a doctor and if not just go to another hospital

half baked dismissive opinions by nurse practitioners are not worth the breath they are written on !! let her practise on parakeets

There is something very insidious in these stories. They are not just highlighting incompetence; they are evidence of something far worse - a dismissive attitude to male health that is designed to keep men and boys locked in their place as second-class citizens not worthy of proper care or treatment. And it is an attitude being displayed by women who have come through supposedly rigorous training in the medical profession in order to qualify. So what is going on in medical schools these days? Has the Hippocratic oath been replaced by the hypocritical one?

And where does this shameful attitude come from? Never underestimate the influence of trendy thinking in the population as a whole, and the repeated drip, drip of misandry in all walks of our lives. Every time feminists and their fellow-travellers are allowed to get away with rants about "man-flu" without being challenged and corrected, the concept that men are just cry-babies who always exaggerate their symptoms gets embedded deeper and deeper in the colective subconscious. Eventually it is inevitable that more and more females will emerge from such a society, convinced that men are not worth listening to and contemptuous of the idea that we are equally deserving of treatment. And they will steadily permeate the medical profession. With such creatures working their way up from the bottom, and feminists endlessly denigrating men's health needs and concerns from the top, the result is bound to be what you are now seeing.

This has to be stopped, and the challenge needs to come in every place that misandry shows itself. The next time you hear some arrogant female contemptuously referring to man-flu, or any other insult to our health or well-being, ensure you tell her how wrong she is. Remind her of the disgraceful disparity in life expectation between males and females, and how women have garnered the lion's share of health research and funding. Point out that women have national cancer screening programmes, while men still have nothing. And ask her if she would be happy in the knowledge that her ignorance just might be contributing to the needless death of a fellow human being.

It's the "suck it up" attitude, it's now reached the health service, so a woman with a slightly sore elbow is a higher priority than a man who just sneezed his lungs out, since she's bound to be suffering worse, remember, women's suffering is always worse, oh hang on, wait a minute here, if that's the case, what's this "Higher threshold for pain" bollocks I've been hearing from women all my life?

It could be clear-cut sexism on that particular woman's part, which is what I would put this down to, it could be a problem that infests the entire health service, or it could be the result of giving incompetent women jobs over more qualified men to even up the numbers, I wouldn't rule that out.

On a side note, and not trying to derail the thread, this is exactly why I, as a white man, will not carry a donor card.
I want to help my fellow man, or woman, if I die, but I won't carry a card in case I'm in a coma, and then a woman comes in needing a heart, will I, the 2nd class citizen, be offed so that the 1st class citizen can be saved?
I can not be 100% sure that won't happen, seriously, call me paranoid if you want, but I will not carry a donor card so long as I'm treated as a 2nd class citizen in my nation.

rohara, why the heck didn't you sue her for mal praxis? This is how you get rid of this thing. Hurt them where it matters - their pocket.

A lot of stories able to make ones blood boil.

It reminds me of some of the stuff my father in law endured. He broke his ankle and was in our local hospital. After the cast was arround his foot his little toe was hurting and there was the usual "this can´t be that bad" talk they reopened the cast to find his little toe was bent inside of the cast. It got worse. He had a talk with the chief of medicine and complained about his leg still hurting, he assured him that this is normal. The next day he died (pulmonary embolism age 50).

To that day we still wonder if the blood clot could have been found if the doctor examined it more closer.

Feckless, you forgot to mention the results of one of the studies you've provided a link to for us; one that showed how men are actually LESS likely to have time off work, for a cold/flu. It always amazes me, how people talk about "man-flu", when it's well-known that women are FAR more likely to visit the Doctor over the slightest of things; rather odd, being as us guys are apparently all snivelling little babies....

Quote from dyslexic_banana

Feckless, you forgot to mention the results of one of the studies you've provided a link to for us; one that showed how men are actually LESS likely to have time off work, for a cold/flu. It always amazes me, how people talk about "man-flu", when it's well-known that women are FAR more likely to visit the Doctor over the slightest of things; rather odd, being as us guys are apparently all snivelling little babies....

That is correct...so one really wonders where that stereotype comes from.

There is such a thing as medical misandry and it is worse than any medical misogyny ever was. You hear of women complaining of doctors saying "oh you're just prgnant or hysterical" but I get stupid shit from female medical professionals all the time. Crap like "you just need to watch your lifestyle" or "poor baby.". Seriously I have had that said to me while laid up and I just want to backhand them and point out that I am a grown man.
There are two things at work I think. Female medical profesionals that hate men like seeing them in a compromised position and a lot of women in general hate men when they aren't as strong and healthy as they think they should be. I think it is a real men's health issue.

Quote from rohara

There is such a thing as medical misandry and it is worse than any medical misogyny ever was. You hear of women complaining of doctors saying "oh you're just prgnant or hysterical" but I get stupid shit from female medical professionals all the time. Crap like "you just need to watch your lifestyle" or "poor baby.". Seriously I have had that said to me while laid up and I just want to backhand them and point out that I am a grown man.
There are two things at work I think. Female medical profesionals that hate men like seeing them in a compromised position and a lot of women in general hate men when they aren't as strong and healthy as they think they should be. I think it is a real men's health issue.

Dude, you live in the US. You can sue a doctor for anything, get to it.