Lived Experience Forum

[Warra]

When the Government announced that all medical records would be uploaded and available for practitioners through the MyGov website.

There was a sense of unease amongst my peers who suffer from various mental health issues because they didn't feel they would be treated properly once their mental health history is made available for doctors.

The Australian Government saw this angst and put a time limit on ticking a box in MyGov to keep medical records private.

I didn't tick the box. I believed in a society where my mental health issues would not be used against me and I would be treated in a holistic manner.

This has not been the case.

In late 2020 I started going to the ER because I really didn't feel right. The doctors continually put it down to my mental health. The doctors convinced me that my mind is that powerful it can make me feel the way I did. Would the doctors in the ER even say something along those lines had they not seen my medical history.

In February 2021, after continual visits to the ER to get  answers, I end up back in the ER with abdominal pain and continuous vomiting.

Once again the doctors could not find anything wrong with me and was told I would be going to the Mental Ward again.

I was in the ER from the early morning until the evening. It wasn't until they were about to take me to the mental ward that I was taken for an ultrasound to hopefully find what was wrong with me.

They found a large gall stone stuck in my gallbladder and was nearly septic.

If I had stayed home because I was continually told that it was my mind that was making me sick, I would be dead!!

Would I of suffered all those months if the ER doctors didn't have access to my medical history and treated me for my symptoms and not allowing their minds to be influenced by mental health records?

I would like to know if this is happening to others since MyGov made medical history available for practitioners?

[NatureLover]

Oh no, that's terrible, @Warra ! 😮

I am also someone who didn't tick the box. 

I'm very sorry that happened to you 😢

An important forum tip is if you type @ and then click on a name in the drop-down box, that person will get a notification and won't miss your reply. Just telling you this so I can follow along. 

[Historylover]

I said No, @Warra. Doctors also make mistakes and access means that new doctors I may consult would come with preconditioned bias.

[DogMan79]

My doctors and therapist never upload anything to myhealthrecord. I wish that they would 

Mine has a few pathology results and pharmacy dispense information. Nothing else 

• If the ER is the same hospital as your MH treatment, they could access it internally too

[Bow]

Back in the early 2000’s I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. It was caught early, had surgery and that was it. 

couple of years later I started having a really rough time with my mental health. In and out of hospital. Psych wards. Etc. 

during this time I started experiencing a lot of stomach issues. I presented to the ER numerous times and was often dismissed. I was rather sick at one point, and was treated really badly by one dr in particular. She would not take my pain seriously. I was adamant that she seen my mental health history and I was treated poorly due to that. I ended up discharging myself and going to another hospital, where I was taken seriously, and investigations done and I had a recurrence of my ovarian cancer, which had spread. 

This mygov stuff wasn’t around then, but as I was originally at the same hospital for both my MH issues and cancer they would have had access to my history. 

i wrote a formal letter of complaint to the dr that treated me so poorly. I did get a reply, which was just as poor as her medical treatment. 

[chibam]

@Warra  Not sure if we're talking about the same thing here, but when myhealthrecord came in, I opted not to have one. I remember I had to phone up and talk to someone to avoid having one automatically set up.

I don't know if my health records would be linked to my myGov account, as the only thing I believe I've linked to my myGov is my tax records.

Nonetheless, it does worry me that my history with the mental health system might be tied somehow into my permanent government records; especially considdering how my therapists misdiagnosed me terribly. What kind of rubbish from their twisted minds might be fraudulently tattooed upon my official identity? It is a worry.

[NatureLover]

Ohhhh no @Bow ! 😢

[Historylover]

Sending out a Hello to you @chibam and hoping that you are doing alright. I'm trying to keep busy, and while things appear to be going superficially well, I'm just going to enjoy it for as long as it lasts.🌞

[chibam]

@Historylover! So good to hear from you! 🙂🤗

I've been a bit neglectful in reaching out, haven't I? Sorry about that. Hard to believe that January's pretty much over already. Time keeps getting away from me.

How are you going, beyond the "superficially well"? I hope things are looking brighter for you in this new year.

I'm doing about as well as usual. Having trouble sleeping; and subsequently having no steam when I am awake. The heat knocks me around a bit, too. Though thankfully, it's been a pretty gentle summer with only the occasional stifling heatwave. Small mercies.

[Historylover]

No, not neglectful, @chibam, just an absence of need to connect. I just wanted to let you know that you're never forgotten. I think of you often and always hope things are, at worst, tolerable, with a healthy splattering of good days thrown in.

I'm still playing carpet bowls and hopefully starting tennis this week. I finally have my kit together. I don't know how I'll go as I feel rather uncoordinated these days, and it's been decades since I played squash as comparison. So, I'm riding a reasonably good wave at the moment and will continue for as long as it lasts. I hope it lasts a while. The light reprieve has been wonderful.

The weather has been mild here with just a few bursts of higher temperatures too. Summer is tolerable at these levels.

Still enjoying Niall McClaren's articles. 

So that is my outlook for a while. Good to hear from you. Stay well, and cheers.     😎🌞😊   

P.S. I only got a thumbs up inbox message and came across your reply here accidentally. So annoying.