our healthcare system is broken (m)

About 12 weeks ago, I hurt my knee.  Doesn't matter how.  The pain was intense.  It's less now, but I still wake up in the middle of the night with pain and still hear popping sounds when I get out of bed in the morning.

I love to walk, especially in this gorgeous fall weather, but I can't.  I have a 4-mile loop around the Charles River, into Harvard Square and back.  It calls to me, but I can't do it right now because my knee is damaged.  I am anxious to add exercise to my new eating regimen to further accelerate the weight loss.

 Here is what has taken so long:

1. Ten weeks ago I saw my general practitioner (because my health plan required me to start with the general practitioner versus a specialist) who diagnosed my knee pain as a "muscle strain".  She tells me to wait 6-8 weeks for it to resolve.
2. I wait the 6-8 and it does not to return to normal.  I contact an orthopedist.
3. I fill out 20 minutes worth of forms and then see the orthopedist who orders the MRI.  I tell him I'm claustrophobic and does he know where I may find an open MRI?  He doesn't, nor does his receptionist.  They tell me to call around.
4. I locate what I think is an open MRI, fill out 20 minutes worth of forms, go in and find out it is not an open MRI.  I press the panic button and release myself from the facility.
5. I call around to 8 places until I locate an open MRI.  I have to wait 2 weeks for the appointment.
6. I go to that place, fill out 20 minutes worth of forms and have the MRI.
7. 4 days later, I get the MRI report.
8. I take the MRI report to the orthopedist.  The receptionist has me fill out some more forms and asks me to review the information I previously submitted at my first visit. Some idiot typed them up all wrong (my name and address are wrong, some numbers are transposed--the person is seriously dyslexic and typing up forms).  I finally get in to see the orthopedist and he tells me I have a tear in the meniscus and in the ligament. He says these things don't repair on their own and recommends surgery.  I say fine, when? He doesn't do the surgery he says, but recommends me to another doctor in his practice.
9. Next Tuesday, I have the visit with the surgeon for a consult.  Presumably, we'll book the surgery for sometime in the not too distant future.

Tomorrow, I am scheduled to attend a Board of Directors meeting with the top medical school in the country.  The two-day agenda promises to be a lively one.  It's about global health care.

Meanwhile, I am underwhelmed by what I see right here in my own backyard.