I was at work around 2–3 o’clock yesterday when I started having a runny nose, dizziness, and fever. I hadn’t taken leave yet, thinking there were only three or four hours left before I got off work, and that if I took some medicine and drank more hot water I could get through it. But at around 5:50 in the evening, the area near the inner left abdomen close to the groin suddenly began to hurt severely, to the point that normal activity was obstructed. When I stood up, it hurt; walking became a problem. I immediately took leave and planned to go to a nearby hospital for emergency care. I bent over because straightening up hurt less, and gradually moved to the subway station, but the pain was too much to bear, so I sat on the ground to relieve it a bit and then called an ambulance.
In hindsight, I shouldn’t have called an ambulance and should have taken a taxi to the nearest hospital. Why? First, it took several minutes before someone answered after calling 120. When I was loaded onto the ambulance, I was told to lie flat, which made the ride more painful due to the rough road, and this continued for more than ten minutes. I told the paramedics that lying down hurt more, but they said to endure it, maybe it was a stone. After arriving at the hospital, the ambulance charge was shockingly 292 yuan! It’s completely price-gouging; a taxi wouldn’t even cost this much for ten kilometers, and sitting in a taxi is much more comfortable than lying down.
At the hospital, I was in so much pain that I had difficulty moving and had to sit in a wheelchair. I initially thought I would be sent directly to emergency for checks and treatment, but after I paid nearly 300 yuan, I could not afford the 460-something yuan for further tests. This heartless hospital left me, who was in unbearable pain, immobile and with a low fever, to a corner without care. I asked the nearby security staff or nurses to take me for tests first, and then pay, or is it possible to pay later, but they insisted that payment had to be made first and urged me to contact family or friends to transfer the funds for me before proceeding. If they didn’t, it would delay things. They themselves knew this was delaying things! I also realized again: capitalist hospitals are not places that treat workers; their primary goal is to extract profits, even to swallow our sweat and blood or even kill us!
I don’t have family in a big city, so I could only contact friends I know from work. But it takes time for them to come over; before they could help me pay and push the wheelchair, I could only endure the pain. I didn’t even know what was causing the pain or whether delaying would make things worse, and at first I felt hopeless, wondering if I would die here today. But then I felt hatred and anger because this injustice affected more than just me. I thought of so many workers who come to big cities to make a living after leaving their hometowns; compared to them, I might still have some savings. But if they fall seriously ill and are taken to the hospital for rescue, the ambulance fee alone could wipe out the little money they have, and without paying, the tests wouldn’t be done. A condition that might not have reached the point of death could become irreversible due to delay… This is not just my grievance or experience. Is it not common for workers in China to be harmed and tormented by this damned capitalist medical system? The proletariat has no private property, but in capitalist society, a hospital will not serve those without property. We get sick but cannot be treated, yet we have created all the social wealth!
Later, I went to the hospital again. I happened to be listening to Zhang Qiujue’s video with a comrade’s voice acting. It talks about the socialist era, under Chairman Mao’s revolutionary line, the healthcare system serving the people’s interests selflessly. I remember one striking point: when doctors performed surgery on Zhang Qiujue, a sudden situation occurred. After opening the abdomen, they had to determine whether a membrane was the peritoneum or a membrane on the tumor, whether to keep it or remove it. This was crucial, because although the tumor was removed, if other parts were accidentally removed, Zhang Qiujue’s future life would be greatly affected. After rigorous, tense analysis, they decisively chose to retain it, then carefully perform the separation. This not only removed the tumor but also allowed her to participate in the construction of socialist production with a healthy body, contributing again to the great socialist motherland. At the time I thought of the doctors and nurses using Mao Zedong’s words to persuade Zhang Qiujue to build revolutionary optimism before the surgery. We come from all over, all for a revolutionary purpose to cure Zhang Qiujue’s illness, for socialist construction. So the doctors were meticulous, treating the patient’s life, health, and future as important, selflessly treating her illness, thus creating a miracle that let Zhang Qiujue stand up again, and even after such a major illness and surgery, still able to participate in physical labor to contribute to socialist construction. In a capitalist society, how many doctors plot to profit from bloodshed—Xiao Luoxi’s case is a bloody example. Xiao Luoxi could have avoided the pain and torment of surgery, grown up healthy, but the wretched doctors, for profit, cut into her body and, not even suturing properly, ended the surgery abruptly, causing Xiao Luoxi’s death. Many patients even died because of small problems that were not treated in time, completely killed by bourgeois doctors and capitalist systems. I thought of these things then, seeing crowds in the hospital, and I couldn’t help but tear up. The poor in capitalist society simply cannot receive effective treatment, only suffer and die from illness, the best result is borrowing huge sums to treat one’s illness, thus ruin the family, leaving the whole family to descend into hell. At that time I had a very strong hatred toward the capitalist medical system and the capitalist system in general. Seeing this post by Liyong reminded me of what I saw and thought back then. ]