I totally agree with you, Smurfette. No one should let anyone get away with endangering our health, and I'm glad you stuck to your guns and did what you had to do. As Andy had said, I honestly don't think I would've been able to even re-live the whole thing at the time. It took a good couple of years for me to be somewhat ok with what happened to me. I was having nightmares constantly, and anxiety would attack me out of nowhere. I don't think I would've been able to handle lawyers, courtrooms, and telling the story over and over again. Half the time, I couldn't even talk about it in therapy. It was truly a very traumatizing experience for me, and I hope to God that I, or anyone else, will never have to experience something like that again.
Andy, I'm sorry you had to experience something so traumatic yourself. I totally understand what you mean about mental health outweighing other things at times.
I didn't exactly get the chance to tell you guys when it happened, but I finally found a new hematologist who specializes in Thalassemia, and he is wonderful. I'm going to be changing to his hospital shortly, so I won't have to deal with not getting the care that I need. I haven't told many people that I am leaving, so a few people who post here that know me personally are probably going to kill me for not telling them, but I am trying to keep things quiet right now, until the times comes that I leave my current hospital. I really didn't want to make a big deal out of it, and wanted to leave quietly, but people are going to have to know eventually. That is why I didn't post it here sooner. I didn't want certain people to read it here and run with it. It's ok, though. I'm confident that I want to stay with this new person now, and my mind is pretty much set, so I'm just getting things in order before the whole switch takes place. It's awesome to finally have a doctor that calls me back when I need him, and actually cares. It's a nice change.