Þráður á Twitter hefur vakið mikla athygli um muninn á bandaríska og íslenska heilbrigðiskerfinu. Rithöfundurinn Mary Robinette Kowal bjó á Íslandi þegar hún fann hnúð eða þykkildi í brjóstinu. Innan dagsins var hún búin að fá niðurstöður og borgaði um 3 krónur fyrir.

Mary uppgötvaði hnúð í brjóstinu og óttaðist hið versta.

When I lived in Iceland, I found a lump. I had no idea how to navigate finding a doctor, so I went to our show’s production manager.

Me: I found a lump. Can you help me find a doctor?
PM: Just go to the cancer center.
Me: Okay. How do a get a referral?
PM: What’s a referral?

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) 3 June 2019

Læknirinn virtist ekki skilja hvað hún meinti með tilvísun (referral)

After I explain what a referral is, he looks baffled.

PM: Just go to the cancer center.
Me: But…referral?

He shrugs and hands me the phone number to the cancer center. I call and explain.

CC: A lump, ah yes. You should come in.
Me: Don’t I need a referral?
CC: A what?

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) 3 June 2019

Having accepted that I don’t need a referral, I say, „How do I make an appointment?“
CC: An appointment? Yes, we can do that if your schedule is very busy, otherwise just come in.
Me: I don’t need an appointment?
CC: You found a lump! You know your body, yes? Come in.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) 3 June 2019

Svo útskýrir hún hversu ótrúlega fljótt þetta gekk fyrir sig og að engin vandkvæði hefðu verið að komast að.

So I go. The nurse checking me in apologizes because, since I’m not Icelandic, I’ll have to pay for the visit.

It’s 3 krónur.

That’s 3 dollars at that point.

I pay and sit down to wait.

CC: Kowal?
Me: Already?
CC: You found a lump.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) 3 June 2019

She escorts me into an examining room and palpates the area.

CC: Yes, that does feel like a lump. Let’s do a mammogram.

I prepare to hear about making an appointment for that.

CC: I’m sorry, but it’s across the hall. Do you mind following me?

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) 3 June 2019

I’ve been in the building for about twenty minutes at this point when I’m strapped into the mammogram — WHICH HAD WARMERS — and she does her thing.

CC: There is something there, you are right. I want to see it with an ultrasound.

And then she leads me next door.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) 3 June 2019

She does the ultrasound and when we’re finished, she tells me to get dressed and to meet her in the waiting room.

I head out to the changing room, put my top back on, and walk out to the waiting room. I sit down to wait.

CC: Kowal?
Me: Already?
CC: It is only cyst.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) 3 June 2019

Forty-five minutes after walking into the Icelandic Cancer Center and 3 krónur poorer, I had the answer.

In the US, a similar lump took two weeks and three different office visits.

I think about this every time I have to fight with medical insurance in the US.

— Mary Robinette Kowal (@MaryRobinette) 3 June 2019

Segir hún að lokum að hún hefði þurft að fara á þrjár mismunandi læknastofur og bíða í margar vikur í Bandaríkjunum.