A SERIOUS CANADIAN PROBLEM – GET READY, THIS IS A LONG ONE

I’m sure most of you have heard me rant at one time or another about how I think our health care system blows. If you haven’t, let me inform you of my experience with it....

When I lived in Calgary, I started to have nightly pains, which woke me up and made me pace the house for hours and hours. They seemed to get worse when I was horizontal, so I just walked and walked while rubbing my breastbone. They started to get worse, so I went to the doctor and told her about my issue. She sent me for an ultrasound. When I got the results, the doctor had left her practice since she decided to retire early, at 50. The doctor that took over told me that there were no issues with the ultrasound. Even after I asked him whether it could be gallstones (I had done my research), he said no.

I decided to go home and prayed that the symptoms would go away.

They got worse.

I went back to the doctor and this guy had left for a job in BC. I flipped pages in the phone book and called about 20 practices, and listened to them all tell me that they weren’t taking new patients. I finally stumbled across a doctor that was taking new patients, so I got hooked up with his practice. He was not a very good doctor, but he did the job.

Fast forward 2 more years, a barium x-ray, a throat and stomach scope, an endoscopy through my nose (which resulted in me fainting on the technician), and a full body scan…they still couldn’t find the issue. Oh, and by this time I had been referred to a GASTROENTEROLOGIST. He couldn’t find the problem, although I told the doctor EACH TIME that I had gallstones. Each time they told me it was not the issue. It got to the point that I had been to emergency 3 times, and had suffered with nightly attacks that kept me up for anywhere between 4-8 hours. My pain tolerance increased so dramatically that I could sleep through them, as long as I had a hot water bottle or heating pad directly against my skin. I would usually get blisters from the heat from these two items, but as long as it helped the pain, I was happy. I couldn’t eat anything near the end – I lived off Diet Coke and Arrowroot Cookies. I lost 20 lbs in a month or two since I couldn’t get anything in without getting an attack. Mind you, I had about 40 lbs to lose, but losing 20 from not eating makes you feel like garbage. Your body is basically starving itself, and you have zero energy.

I eventually threatened my doctor that I was going to start the operation with a spoon, so that someone would feel obligated to finish the job. He looked into my file and BAM, someone had missed that I HAD GALLSTONES that were recorded during the first ultrasound – three fucking years before. He called the surgeon immediately, like a dog with his tail between his legs and squeezed (dripping with sarcasm) me in for an appointment in 4 WEEKS. I went to the surgeon for this POINTLESS consultation (read: an excuse to bill the patient for more money before the actual operation) and I was scheduled in for surgery in 4 MONTHS. To make a longer story longer, I eventually had the surgery, and I feel like a million dollars now. I never took any painkillers from the surgery because the pain from the incision was a dream compared to the 150+ attacks I had experienced before.

Why am I telling you this story, you ask?

Well, my poor sister Laurelle, has been experiencing symptoms that are identical to having a peptic ulcer. In November, they became so prominent that she was vomiting for 5 days straight. Anything she ate was thrown back up. A visit to the hospital proved a mistake, as they pumped her up with fluids through an I.V and told her it was the FLU. Fast forward a few weeks to Christmas. My mom and I spent the day at her house, and she made this great turkey dinner with all the fixings. She ate a thimbleful of the meal since she still couldn’t keep food down. Over the last few weeks, I have read her Facebook statuses, which always have to do with food. They talk about eating Big Macs, fries, DQ Blizzards, etc. She is starving but can’t eat a single thing. She finally had an appointment with her family doctor and he referred her to a specialist. The problem is, her consultation (read: an excuse to bill the patient for more money before the actual operation) was 4 weeks away. Four more weeks passed and her symptoms got worse. The specialist decides to book her in for a scope…but the problem is, they are booking into APRIL. Laurelle is much like my father and I, so she told him where he could shove his appointment. He asked the secretary to inform Laurelle if there is a cancellation and voila – there is one for this coming Friday. Had she not bitched, she’d still be waiting for April. Firstly, a scope isn’t even really considered surgery. They sedate you a bit and then shove a camera down your throat to look around. It’s not invasive surgery, so why the hell should she have to wait that long!?!?

This past Saturday she was in the hospital again getting fluids since she was severely dehydrated.

I visited her yesterday and she looked terrible. Her face was gaunt, her smile was skeletal (sorry Laurelle) and her voice was a fraction as loud as it used to be. She has taken off a total of 68 lbs since the beginning of the summer (30 planned, 38 unplanned).

Today I got a call from her stating that she was on her way to the hospital again since she couldn’t stand without getting dizzy. This time they are going to the hospital where this specialist (read: fuckwad) works out of. He better figure out the problem TODAY or I will be more pissed. As it is, I am fuming.

The health care system in Canada needs an overhaul. It seems that every issue of Macleans has an article about how it has gone downhill. There are not enough doctors, nurses, emergency staff, hospital beds, etc. It seems to be getting worse. All of the qualified doctors from other countries can't practice here without going back to school to get certified.

This entry was more of a venting tool for me today. I am frustrated and annoyed and I needed to put it down on paper. My apologies for the swearing but I am sure you will understand.

I really hope Laurelle feels better soon. I wish I could wave a magic wand and make her healthy again. Hopefully the doctor finds that wand today. If he doesn't, he'll have angry little/bigger sister after his ass.