I received the call I
was waiting for from the
Neurology Department.
It should have been
what I expected.
She said, the hospital has
had “problems in the past”
placing the leads in
specific places on a
patient with dreadlocks
therefore I was asked to
completely untwist my
entire head of hair to
be measured for the test.
Why is this such a big deal?
No two heads are exactly
the same. No two dreadlocked
hairstyles are similar.
This hairstyle is not like
a wig. You can see 1″ of
scalp through my dreadlocks
all over my head.
I was told this morning
to make an appointment to
come in and see if they were
able to place contacts
in the exact locations necessary.
If they were able to place
the electrodes I would then
have to schedule another
appointment to have the EEG.
I do not have time, gas,
energy, or strength to
drive 20 minutes
each way twice
All they needed was
clean hair and scalp
to attach the conductive glue
and electrodes to my scalp. I could
have provided that by loosening
my dreadlocks at the scalp,
but they insisted that “I
take them completely out.”
If they were locked I would
have to shave my head or not
have an EEG. Effing stupid.
I told them how insulting
they were and that the hair
on my head, what little there
was left, would make it easy
to attach the conductive
glue and electrodes.
I once had thick hair.
I once had thick dreadlocks
down below my waist. After
the birth of my fourth child,
my hair changed completely.
Now, that I am ill, I have
thinning hair that does not
lock easily at all. It is a
matter of principal, that I
argued with this department.
After verbally boxing with the
poor messenger who apologized for
not meaning to be insulting.
It became clear this hospital
has no care for their patients
and doesn’t understand why I
was insulted and offended.
You can’t single out a hairstyle
that is predominantly worn by one
race of people and say that you
can’t get the leads to be in
the right places because of hair
The thing is I’m tired of being
treated badly by this hospital so I
asked them to forward the EEG
order to MY Neurologist who
handled my drop foot in
another larger hospital system.
I trust him and feel that he
will give me sufficient care
with dignity. I will pick
another battle on another day.
I will call the local chapter
of the NAACP after the holiday
and lodge a complaint, then ask
who else I can complain to.
Amanuensis Sobriquet-Reverie 
If I had any media contacts there, this would be the subject of some serious investigative journalism. It’s something that deserves to be reported as medical practitioners failing to give care to patients. It’s not even about race, just sloppiness to the highest degree. The administrators should be reported to a medical licensing board. I think there are websites that allow you to write complaints about the care given by hospitals. Someone has to take the blame and not that liaison officer on the phone. Don’t even get upset, or frustrated. Just laser focused on turning over a table in the name of what is right.
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Can you hold the soapbox, I’m a bit wobbly? 🙂 I know, I need to use my energy to get well so I can find a method to put this facility on notice. They really just suck at caring for people.
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For what it’s worth I think you did the right thing. But what happens if their lab says the same thing the other one did? (Don’t shoot me! Just playing devil’s advocate here…)
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Then I’ll take the damn test and still request different wording to include men with hair implants.
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I’ll also ask them if their training was done on only mannequin heads.
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