Hi lagger, I'm an Aussie and also have health issues so hopefully I can be of support to you.
It's hard to give you too much advice without knowing what illnesses you are confronting however I'm happy to share mine and also report on my experiences with the Australian (public) health system.
I have a rare condition called acromegaly that only a few people per million are diagnosed with each year. It is caused a growth secreting tumor on the pituitary gland (whilst not technically a 'brain tumor', it is commonly referred to as such, given the location of the pituitary gland within the skull.) Acromegaly is a 'serious' and 'chronic' illness.
The pituitary is known as the 'master gland' and controls all hormones. As such, I am deficient in hormones across the board (except growth hormone levels that are increased well beyond normal range - which is the problem), however I luckily still have full thyroid function.
Now for my experience with our health system:
I was diagnosed with the condition on the 8th October 2010 and underwent a neurosurgical operation on the 25th October 2010. Everything was very immediate, so that gets a tick in the box.
However where things go pear-shaped is that I never got to meet my neurosurgeon until the day of my operation whereby I was told I would be given the opportunity to have a discussion with him. He was running significantly late to work that day so by the time he arrived, he really wanted to get a move on with things, and the surgical team had already dosed me up on medication to help me relax. As a result, I was too relaxed to really think of the myriad of questions I had been wanting to ask. Also, I went into the operation expecting he would attempt to fully remove my tumor, which would have meant I had a 60% chance of full recovery from my condition.
Subsequent hospital appointments and an MRI proceeding the operation showed the tumor was still present, and I took that as horrible news. It took my mum and myself in tears at the hospital for them to actually give me the chance to have a discussion with the neurosurgeon.
When I met him, he saw the results very favourably and advised me that the intention was never to remove all the tumor due to risk of optic nerve damange (blindness).
No one ever explained this to me prior to my operation... and I find this to be ALARMING on behalf of our hospital system. Naturally, I have felt like my operation was a failure, when in actual fact it wasn't - I had lost most of my peripheral vision as a result of my tumor and I have now got that back. I was also experiencing adverse effects caused by my condition, acromegaly, such as carpal tunnel syndrome that is now resolved.
Moving forward, everytime I need to go for a check-up at the hospital at a scheduled time, I find myself waiting up to 4 hours.
I receive medication that is part of the 'highly specialised drugs program' worth thousands of dollars per injection. I feel fortunate that our system covers pretty much all of these costs.
I am also a an out-patient assigned to St Vincent's hospital and fortunately it has been arranged that I can pick up my medication from Monash Medical, a hospital closer to home, which normally isn't allowed.
With that said, the service I receive when I go to collect my medication from Monash actually makes me grateful that I'm a St Vincent's patient. Whenever I've been to Monash, keeping in mind, I only use their pharmacy; I get lectured for things I haven't even done wrong. I'm sure I'm not the only one, and I think it's terrible they treat sick people in such a manner - at a hospital pharmacy, I mean WTF?
As for St Vincent's, after getting really upset with them, I now have someone assigned to my case who is BRILLIANT. I can call him anytime, he has a speedy response time, and when I attend my appointments (that I do still have to wait hours for), he's always well-prepared and can offer good information.
At a local GP level, yeah... a lot of them just want to roll you out the door before you've had a chance to say boo. There are definitely good ones though; if you live in Melbourne let me know, and I may be able help you out with a few GP's who really do care.
Based on the little information you've provided, I certainly don't think you should kill yourself. I do think you need to find a better medical team though and build up a relationship with them. The more they know you, the more they tend to care.
