Emotional and Physical Costs of Living in Constant Pain

Pain is a universal signal that something is wrong and needs to be addressed. The function of the health system in a just society is to competently, effectively, and responsibly respond to that call. But in Australia, this expectation is met with an ugly reality. A system so enmeshed in red tape, mediocrity, and delay that people who are in pain are frequently left to fend for themselves or, if they can, seek assistance abroad, or they will kill you at home.

Take my experience, where bureaucratic restrictions and government inertia prevented me from obtaining desperately needed dental implants in Asia. Instead, forced to self-medicate by applying clove oil, an antiquated but crude treatment, every day at first, then once a week, merely to ease the pain of exposed nerve endings that Australian dentists have neglected to treat and instead suggested invasive surgery from inexperienced butchers. Instead of resolution, my "care" was incompetence and indifference. Years now of disturbed sleep, lost productivity, and a psychological toll that few people outside the chronic pain community can understand are the costs of this failure.

The shortcomings are not limited to the dental field. I’ve experienced two different misdiagnoses of bowel cancer over the course of two decades, both of which were overlooked by a system that demands respect but instead provided uncertainty and delay. I am currently waiting into my third month for a procedure that the health bureaucracy deemed "immediate" after finally being informed that I need an urgent colonoscopy. Due to ongoing pain, stress, and the corrosive uncertainty that comes with knowing you are alone in a system that was created for administrators, not patients, I’ve has gained 25 kg since March 2020. Not only is this unhealthy, but doctors try to prescribe drugs to reduce my weight, and pain killers to deal with the agony. I look longingly for 2026 to head to asia to get this shit sorted. The trend is obvious. Despite its high expense and pretence, Australian healthcare provides little assistance to those who actually need it beyond defensive incompetence, shifting guidelines, and waiting lists. The fact that my wife had to postpone surgeries with Australian surgeons, discovering that rooms where procedures were planned had not been properly cleaned for decades and that patients were dying from avoidable infections in that same hospital only serves to highlight the issue. Acquiescence rather than resolution, endurance rather than excellence, is what is expected. You do so in spite of the system, not because of it, if you make it through the process alive.

Apologists and bureaucrats maintain that these failures are exceptions rather than the norm. However, the facts present a different picture. Years are frequently spent on waiting lists for necessary surgeries. Public hospital infection rates are higher than in third world countries.

While accountability and quality stagnate or even decrease, the cost, public, private, and personal, keeps rising. A silent exodus of patients looking for competence and value elsewhere is fuelled by those who can afford to leave. Many now heading to Bali for health retreats. For all others, the options are limited to self-medication, resignation, or endurance.

Just as real as the physical toll is the psychological one. Dignity, independence, and the ability to hope are all undermined by chronic pain. A system that disregards this fact is a public embarrassment rather than a public service. The lesson is simple! Take a plane if you are in pain and have the money. The odds favour administrators and those with political connections over those who create, labour, and contribute to Australia's health system, which is like a lottery. Unless you're one of the anointed, Australia is a racist country, with obvious legislated apartheid in services and facilities.

Pain is a test of societal priorities as well as a medical issue. The verdict on the local system is in when those who are harmed are forced to seek relief abroad. The cost of staying is too high for Australians who are in pain, and the cost of waiting is expressed not only in monetary terms but also in years lost to needless and unforgivable suffering. I look forward to a day, not in pain, a night slept soundly and to service that equates to what has been paid for, I won’t see it in Australia, and I doubt it will ever happen in my lifetime in the NT. The advice, don’t be patient, they don’t care and will kill you, and like any sociopath, will expect you to pay them for the privilege.

From the author.

The opinions and statements are those of Sam Wilks and do not necessarily represent whom Sam Consults or contracts to. Sam Wilks is a skilled and experienced Security and Risk Consultant with 3 decades of expertise in the fields of Real estate, Security, and the hospitality/gaming industry. Sam has trained over 1,000 entry level security personnel, taught defensive tactics, weapons training and handcuffs to policing personnel and the public. His knowledge and practical experience have made him a valuable asset to many organisations looking to enhance their security measures and provide a safe and secure environment for their clients and staff.