[Viva] STIGMA and JUDGMENT by HEALTHCARE WORKERS

Sat Jan 5 16:43:38 PST 2019

As usual, Peggy, I am always touched by your words and what a wonderful
person you are. In fact I think being HIV+ is almost a prerequisite to
being a nice person! lol

I'm not writing an article yet but I like your idea as a paper and it would
be helpful if you could steer me in the right direction as to how to do
that.  This is a talk I am giving at SFU to healthcare trainees. Mary Petty
is doing part of the talk and I am doing the patients' experiences.  She is
talking about stigma in general and I will be relating it to HIV.

It is saddening/maddening how HIV+ people have to put up with inappropriate
questions and finger pointing, just blows me away.

Denise

On Sat, Jan 5, 2019 at 1:49 PM Pegfrank <pegfrank at telus.net> wrote:

> I am so glad that you are writing about this Denise. The stories so far
> make me furious. My latest, in a long series of medical discrimination was
> with my current GP. His first comments, on our first meeting, went
> something like this — “Do you have a dentist?” My response was likely “What
> [‘the fuck’ was silent]?” “I know you people have a hard time finding a
> dentist.” I hope that I explained that I wasn’t a ‘you people,' but a
> person, and that I was coming to see him for non-dental issues.
>
> I think it is exceedingly interesting that we recall the actual words that
> were spoken. This points out how traumatizing this kind of treatment is. I
> would absolutely love to see your article become a paper for a journal that
> young, or new, doctors might read. I would be pleased to try to help with
> this once you have the article written or maybe one of the researchers at
> Oak Tree could provide better help.
>
> On the positive side is my first interview with a well appreciated, but,
> sadly, retired, Dr at Oak Tree. He commented after asking me a series of
> questions (taking 2 hours) about my health history, my families health
> history, including operations I had a three and five years old, that he
> needed to understand me — my background — my family and friends in order to
> provide the best care for me — which he did for years. That was a dream.
>
> One more funny story. When I first moved from Salt Spring to Victoria, I
> was looking for a local GP. I called one office and the receptionist
> reported that they were only taking patients that were pregnant or HIV
> positive. When I said wonderful, that’s me, she asked which I was — at 46.
> No judgement there!
>
> Bless you for taking on this writing project. I continue to be horrified
> at the way my friends are treated within the medical community. If only
> medical care were based on love.
>
> Love to all the women in this circle. No matter what kind of treatment
> people provide, continue to speak out and look after each other. We can
> continue to appreciate good care, and condemn the horror cases.-peg
>
> On Jan 5, 2019, at 12:40 PM, berta vezina <bertavezina333 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> Hello again,
>     I took a really sick HIV / HEP C POS friend to Surrey Memorial
> Emergency .
>           I was with her when the women at the admitting desk asked her
> how she was infected.  I explained the only time it is important to know is
> when you are first diagnosed and there are others that need to be informed
> of exposure . That is it .
>            She was coughing so I had to leave her to get some water
> because they weren't. As soon as I stepped away from he they asked her
> again and proceeded to say of she didn't tell them that she would be
> waiting a very long time for . She told me of this when I arrived back with
> water. She didn't tell them and I immediately drove her to St Paul's to get
> the care she needed.
>              Roberta.
>
> On Sat, Jan 5, 2019, 12:28 PM berta vezina <bertavezina333 at gmail.com
> wrote:
>
>> Hello Denise ,
>>      Recently I was in a lab to get bloodwork. I could see two nurses
>> speaking with each other intensely .  They were both looking at me  the one
>> had my chart and as they were talking she was shaking her head no then the
>> other nurse took my chart got some gloves on to take my blood . What that
>> suggested to me was that one absolutely did not want to take my blood
>> because I was HIV HEP C pos. Some may think I was reading too much into
>> this. I've had so many of these experiences over the years and am not .
>>
>> On Sat, Jan 5, 2019, 8:49 AM Charlene Anderson <pickles4 at shaw.ca wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Denise. Last year I was waiting for a cardiac CT scan and I saw that
>>> very clearly marked on my chart it said that I was HIV positive, I could
>>> read it on the counter from the bed I was laying in. The nurse felt the
>>> need to yell across the room to make sure the tech doing the test knew I
>>> was”HIV”. I said excuse me but there was no reason to yell my health issues
>>> across the room as I’m sure everyone who needed to know knew I had HIV, I
>>> also said I had HIV and that I wasn’t HIV.
>>> Char
>>> Over the years I have told various health care people when that have
>>> asked “how I became positive” that if it doesn’t have anything to do with
>>> what’s wrong with me then it’s irrelevant.
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>> On Jan 4, 2019, at 12:15 PM, Denise Wozniak <deniseswozniak at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Oh my gosh.. that is so so sad and terrible Anne. Total BS.
>>>
>>> Thanks for replying.
>>>
>>> Denise
>>>
>>> On Fri, 4 Jan 2019, 12:13 pm anne bonner <thewoodbuffalo at gmail.com
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I once was in for a LEEP procedure (cone biopsy on my cervix) at the
>>>> Jubilee Hospital in Victoria. I had my appointment at a certain time but
>>>> was waiting for a very long time. I finally asked the receptionist what was
>>>> happening and why I had been waiting so long. She dutifully informed me (in
>>>> front of other people) that because I was HIV positive, that I was to go
>>>> last "because of the vaginal juices". There was a big post-it note on top
>>>> of my file that said HIV+. They expected me to wait all afternoon. I was
>>>> mortified/horrified/angry and had to interrupt her from speaking or else
>>>> she would have just gone on. I told her to please stop talking. I waited a
>>>> bit longer, steaming, and then told her I was leaving, that they should use
>>>> universal precautions, and if there was a chance of infecting other people
>>>> through the hospital then they had a real problem. Also that this was total
>>>> bullshit, and that she was an asshole. I should have reported her AND that
>>>> clinic to the hospital.
>>>> This was more than 5 years ago so it's kind of an old story. Maybe
>>>> things have changed?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Jan 3, 2019 at 12:37 PM Denise Wozniak <
>>>> deniseswozniak at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi everyone:
>>>>>
>>>>> This talk is not until April and so anything you can give me in the
>>>>> next two months would be great and I can start working on the talk.
>>>>> Perhaps think of what you would like to be treated like and how you were
>>>>> treated or talked to.
>>>>>
>>>>> As an example, when I went to see a new doctor I was told "i don't
>>>>> know anything about HIV, you will be getting that care down at St. Paul's"
>>>>> - I had to wonder how many cancer patients he said that to!!!
>>>>> Another case was a nurse who was in pre-op asking me if the surgeon
>>>>> knew I had HIV. I had disclosed to the surgeon but was horrified she felt
>>>>> she had to defend him!
>>>>>
>>>>> Denise
>>>>>
>>>>> On Thu, Jan 3, 2019 at 12:21 PM berta vezina <bertavezina333 at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>      Happy new year everyone!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>     Hello Denise,
>>>>>>       How much time do I have to forward some experiences to you? The
>>>>>> reason I'm asking is I dont have time right now and wanted to know when is
>>>>>> your deadline is for input .
>>>>>>       Thanks,  Roberta.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Thu, Jan 3, 2019, 11:35 AM Denise Wozniak <
>>>>>> deniseswozniak at gmail.com wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi Ladies:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> What do we want when we go to a healthcare provider? To be treated
>>>>>>> with caring and interest, whether it's a doctor, a homeopath, a hospital, a
>>>>>>> psychiatrist, a clinic.  We don't need  aggressive and inconsiderate
>>>>>>> comments. we just want to be treated like any other patient who has come
>>>>>>> for treatment.. not asked a bunch of inappropriate questions or receive
>>>>>>> rude comments.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I have an upcoming speech to healthcare workers on stigma and
>>>>>>> discrimination. Most of us have  faced it and it makes it incredibly
>>>>>>> difficult to feel confident in going for care.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I have a few incidents I've run into myself but does anyone have any
>>>>>>> healthcare examples they would like to share that I would keep as anonymous
>>>>>>> and that I could use as examples of how we need change?  I'm looking
>>>>>>> specifically for incidents in the last 5 years.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thanks for taking the time to do this for me.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Denise
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
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>
> - Peggy Frank
>
> Now seeing the morning sun rise from 1103-139 Clarence St., Victoria, BC
> V8V2J1
>
> “
>
> *I have been and still am a seeker,but I have ceased to question stars
> and books;I have begun to listen to the teachings*
> *My blood whispers to me.*”
> - Herman Hesse
>
>
>
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