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During the last several weeks some of you have read our adventures of having my mother end father involved in medical situations... and my warnings to those south of us about it.
Here's an installment that occurred on Monday night. I was called to my mother's home, and determined she was quite sick, so I called an ambulance. She was taken to hospital at 10:30 suffering from Atrial Fibrillations (a heart that was pumping out of sync, with huge variances in her pulse rate)...... damage done from a previous mass MI (heart attack).
EMTs had to stay with here because the Dr. were too busy. It was 6 AM (7 1/1 hrs later) before she first saw a Dr. After some blood work, and chest X ray, 10 hrs later she was transferred to another hospital to see a pacemaker DR.) and after another 4 hrs it was determined she could go home,...... and all of this in the financially strongest province in Canada.
Just another warning from me about being careful when you are considering what you're looking for in your health systems.
I hear you Kuki, and we really don't want that kind of health care, but there are some people who don't relaize how terrible it can be. Glad that you post these experiences you are personally going thru, it is a eye opener for sure. So sorry that your parents have to keep going thru such nonsense, this is their lives they are messing with.
Not at all interested in changing our health care coverage. Don't want to go thru what you guys up north do. It sounds good but after listening to you, there are too many hidden drawbacks. Thanks for the information.
Sure glad your Mom is back home again. We're keeping her and your Dad in our everyday prayers. God Bless them both.
My stories may seem "anecdotal" , but in the past month of my involvement with the hospital system.... and talking to the room mates my mother and father have had...... and their experiences; the one thing everyone agreed to...... you don't want to get sick here!!
Canada is a great country..... for the healthy.
If any of you are connected to people lobbying for "universal healthcare", I'd let them know they may want to hear some of real stories taking place with it here.... not the stuff being made up for cameras
I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I personally dont agreee with how bad it is here in Canada. I need alot of care, and I get the care. I get chronic care, I am at hospital twice a week as a minimum every week. I have needed the help of emergency and ICU many many countless times and have always gotten it. I was also the victim of a medical error, but to er is human and under any system it happens. I just drove some one for an MRI Monday, that was urgent, It was requested Friday, had he gone to emergency, he would have had it earlier. Non urgent, will wait longer for sure. You can go private and have insurance pay for these types of tests as well.
Kuki, you in fact live in the richest provinces, with zero debt, yes your wait times etc are among the highest. That seems to be more an issue of how the system is run. You have virtually little to no opposition in Alberta, it's been Conservative since I can remember, it's time for Albertians to demand better servies. You had this difficulty with your elderly parent, but my neighbours Dad was brought to ER last week , and home 12 hours later, with home care support coming in daily to check him.....the point? For every bad, there is a good.
I do want to get sick here, I have gotten sick here, and be clear, I have family in the USA where getting sick was expensive and involved time waits and so on. Some of my cousins, everything went great, but for one, it was a nightmare and continues to be.
Its to easy to take apart one system for another, both systems have good and bad and what is good for one will be bad for another living in the same place.
I realize it is a real hard time for you Kuki with aging and ill parents, but I dont think it's all fair to put all of Canada's health care down, especially when you live in the province that statistically do poorly with services, despite having the most money. Meaning, Canada has universal health care yes, but it is the province that sets their rules and level of care, it is maybe fair to say Alberta's care is not up to snuff, but not fair to give the same message about all of Canada. I realize you are not getting the level of care you want or should get, but that may be more of an inditement of where you live and you need to focus your energy on why...........it's not like your province cannot afford it. As some one in health care, it bothers me that Alberta gets away with this, for example residents of Alberta moving province because they cannot get services for their handicapped child the way they can in another province with less money to provide it. When you dont get care that you need, thats when people have to demand change............and reform.
I stress it's not perfect here, as a patient and an RN, I know that, but I also know I personally feel very lucky to be here.
We need to remember there are many a horror story coming from south of the border. Both systems may need work, but its not all bad.
I stress I didnt almost post because I dont feel like getting into a he said she said, I know we have often tussled, I sympathize greatly with you and your parents being ill, but I also felt I should say what I expierience which has been over all very good care and that is what the people in my lives have had as well, and trust me,we have used health care in Canada.
More than anything, knowing you live in such a difficult area, you need to speak up and loud at the right people, patient advocate for starters, write your MP, and so on.
Having said that I hope your parents are stable and you can leave on your trip. It is often a time when kids looking after parents have to put alot on hold while they care for aging elderly sick parents and it is very stressful.
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"If your number one goal is to make sure that everyone likes and approves of you, then you risk sacrificing your uniqueness and, therefore, your excellence."
Universal healthcare has never "caught on" with my dad! He lives in The Netherlands and the hospital and doctors get a chuckle every time he fires them. When he doesn't like what's happening....he is QUICK to tell them..,"YOU"RE FIRED!" They send another doctor and everyone is happy.
Melody
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If you are going to walk on thin ice, you may as well dance!
Mel, Thats to funny, My friends Dad, he loves to fire them all as well , they are after all all "idiots" in his eyes! He can be such a bumb! We get so embarressed some times. He had to go in the his leg, don't ask, they must of all went to dinner and celibrated when he was discharged.
As for the Netherlands, they have actually in the ratings almost always come in the top five of best care OVERALL in the world and often come in first., That doesnt make them the best at everything, but this is over all.
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"If your number one goal is to make sure that everyone likes and approves of you, then you risk sacrificing your uniqueness and, therefore, your excellence."
I really think employee sponsored health insurance, as we know it here in the states, is going to be pretty much a thing of the past within about 10 yrs or less. I've talked to alot of people who work in the employee benefits arena who agree that major changes are absolutely coming down the road.
Nobody really seems to know if we'll just basically be forced in to some national health system or exactly how it's going to play out. But one thing is certain...Employers, be it a huge coporation, small business or even government just aren't going to be able to keep paying the 25 pct or so a year that it goes up every year. They just aren't going to be able to keep doing it...And yes, I realize some (plenty) of that cost is paid by we employees...However, under most plans, the employer is paying most if it.
Personally, I think the trend will be for employers to dump traditional health insurance and start encouraging (forcing?) employees into health savings programs. The employer will match so much of what the employee puts in. It will basically just be health insurance with super high deductables of which will come out of your health savings account...Actually, not too bad if you tend to be healthy and not on a lot of meds etc but maybe not so great otherwise. Just another reason for all of us to save our bucks and keep as healthy & fit as possible.
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I realize it is a real hard time for you Kuki with aging and ill parents, but I dont think it's all fair to put all of Canada's health care down, especially when you live in the province that statistically do poorly with services, despite having the most money
In the past I've always said that the critical care in this country was very good. They treated the seriously ill quickly and well.
The lesser, every day illnesses, got on a wait list. That was to some degree (other than for those ill, but not dying) fairness to the system.
However the past month and some of the critical care Ive witnessed clearly displays the slippage. Nurses yelling at patients who are pressing their call buttons because of pain. A woman with a 20 yr history of Myocardial Infarction, presenting in Atrial Fibralation, and a pulse rate running from 95-140, doesn't see a Dr. for 7 1/2 hrs?
A home care nurse came to see my parents today, suggested they should just go into a nursing home.
The care certainly admittedly varies from province province. In Quebec, they've been catered to so much of the years by the Canadian gov't, that it well could be better.
Today, I ran into a friend who's an ER specialist, and he was on duty this afternoon... when he spotted me with my father. We discussed it, and he says he's truly embarassed by the situation in our hospitals.
In today's newspaper there was an article about Drs. leaving their family practices because they could no longer afford the rising costs of their rent in medical facilities.
It's rotting... and I have no doubt the rot will spread. In a population as large as that of the United States they'll have mayhem.... if small countries like Canada can't find the answers.
First off let me say that I adore Kuki and greatly enjoy many of his posts.
I am sincerely sorry for the way that his parents have been treated. However, I too must say that there is one fact that we can all agree on and that is that the system varies greatly from province to province, hospital to hospital and dr to dr. I live in New Brunswick, one of the bottom three provinces in the country where very high numbers of people do not even have access to a family doctor. I also have a critical illness that I have been fighting for over 9 years and I have to say that for the most part I have had excellent medical service here in Canada. The system gets a lot of abuse and misuse and I don't think that we've found a way to deal with these things to make the system better. I love universal health care. My husband has been living in Maine for the past four years and we have had experiences with both sides of the border. My husband no longer qualifies for canadian health care so we know both systems fairly well. When I was visiting him in Maine we were in a drs office and were speaking with a woman who had exhausted her insurance because she had an illness similar to mine and she had to sell her home to pay her medical bills. I know that the time will come when my illness will not be manageable in my home and that the costs of my care will rise as I prepare to leave this earth but I my heart is soothed by the fact that my children will still have their home and they will still have their needs met and they will not have to sacrifice their quality of life to extend my life. God bless Universal Health care.
My grandfather is currently in hospital in Nova Scotia dying of Alzheimers and Parkinsons and has osteoporosis. His dr takes his sweet time seeing him in the hospital when issues arise and when we try to get better care for him we've actually been told "he's 83, he's old, old bodies break and there is nothing we can do about it, the speed that I see him at is not going to make him better." The system sucks for my grandfather but at the same time, my grandmother will be left with enough money to live out her last years, they will not lose their home to pay health bills and they are being looked after by the healthcare system even if it's not operating in the manner that we think it should operate.
I'm sorry Kuki that this most recent experience sucks for your family but I still think we're blessed to live in a country with Universal Health Care. Okay this is starting to look like a rant and that was so not my intent, oooooops.
Michelle
Sorry to hear about the problems you've encountered and hope your parents are getting better.
Here, in New Brunswick, the health care system is far from perfect but, we certainly don't seem to have the problems you described.
We have many Canadians who went to the USA when they were young and come back to New Brunswick when they retire because they cannot afford the health care insurance of the US.
Hundred of thousand of jobs are lost in the US because the companies cannot afford the health care insurance & pension liablities of their employees.
General Motors recently came close to bankruptcy mainly because of the billions of $$$ they must pay in health care insurance of their employees & former employees. Countries with universal health care have an advantage over the US because health care insurance cost is more spread out.
Why do thousand of Americans cross over into Canada for their meds. And to add salt to wound, a lot of these meds are manufactured in the US. Make sense to you?
True, in the US, the rich people can get better health care than the Universal Health care we receive in Canada. On the other hand, the average person in the US, without health care insurance, can go bankrupt because of medical bills, something you don't hear about in Canada.
I watch American television quite a lot. Several times, I heard of patients who must contact his health care provider to see if his insurance will cover the medical attention he/she requires. This never happens in New Brunswick.
There are pros and cons in most systems. And, the grass is not allways greener, just different.
On the lighter side, I heard Calgary was hit with 6" of snow yesterday. We didn't get any.
I'm another recipient of Canadian health care, and for the most part, I've been pretty lucky. I have presented at the ER countless times with atrial fibrillation and crazy pulse rate, usually by ambulance, and I have been seen right away. As a rule, heart problems, breathing problems or heavy bleeding will be seen sooner than the other symptoms in the waiting room.
I have in the past, waited over 6 hours in extreme pain with diverticulitis, and just as long with kids with broken bones.
Recently on a Carnival cruise, I was seen immediately (after they tracked down the doctor elsewhere on the ship) when I presented with the same atrial fib symptoms. (but I paid big $$$ for the priviledge).
So you see, treatment varies from place to place, system to system.
As for regular medical care, say for instance, I think I have bronchitis after a cold and need antibiotics, I cannot just go to a regular doctor because I don't have one! It is next to impossible, unless you have a long-standing relationship with a family doctor, to find a family doctor who will take on new patients.
Instead I always end up at some walk-in clinic, waiting 3-6 hours for a 5 minute visit and a prescription, and then never see the same Dr. again.
There is no continuity of care, and that's a problem.
Kuki, I am so sorry to hear about what you have been going through with your parents and the medical system. How frustrating and emotionally draining when it concerns those you love so much!
Issues with regard to the impossibilty of getting a family doctor is often very real depending on the region you live, it again has far more to do with government and the will. If you pay nurses and doctors appropriately, they will stay, if you dont, they will leave or burn out. Its as simple as that.
The most important thing to take from all of this, is that regardless of where you live, there is going to be good and bad. We have only to look at the hell VT Jen has gone through as an example of problems on the southern side, its a problem that existsa on BOTH sides.
Its all up to us as patients, family members and so on to ADVOCATE for our loved ones and ourselves, and be active members in our own care or the care of our loved ones.
When things go wrong, we must step forward and say "hey this is not right, I need help". You would be surprised how many people are not given care right away, lets say for an emmotional problem, but when they speak up, write a letter, advocate for them self or a family member does, how help comes faster. People in both sides south and north are often worked to the bone and stretched to the limit emmotionally. We often perceive our loved ones emergency to be the most urgent, but it is not always the case, you never know whats in the room next to you.
Every one must also realize that regardless of how good care is, that caring for the sick, for the elderly is alot of work and time consuming and no one can do it for us, as a society we expect others to care for our loved ones, we all need to look after our family, our neighbour a little more.
Re Quebec being catered to, I am sorry, but Quebec does not get extra for health care over another. Quebec does how ever have a population that demands a higher percentage goes to health care and asociated services, and by the same token, Alberta is very pro private and losing universal health care. Thats the choice Albertans make when they vote as they do. In Quebec, whether the separatists are in or the liberals , they know that private wont be tolerated by the voters .
Our governement is spending more now on home service for the elderly for one reason, it actually costs less to keep people at home than keep them in homes. Even if Quebec did get more money for arguement sake , lets be clear about one thing, Alberta is a zero deficit province with a huge surpluss as a result of oil, and they can well afford more health care and home care services for persons such as your parents.
The fact is that wait times in Canada have decreased, there is still a long way to go, but slowly .......another thing I personally like, are public private partnerships. For example going to a private clinic to have your chest x ray, but you only give your medicare card, the fees are not paid by the patient. This seems to be something our governement where I live is wanting to try more of in terms of delivering other health care services and I think it is a good idea. Yes, when my son broke an arm we waited, it was not life threatening, it's a pain in the butt, but when he got hit by a car and broke more than an arm, he was in surgery with CT in less than 2 hours.......if he only broke an arm, then I think it is a great to be able to use the private but paid by medicare clinic, and hope to see more of that.
RD regarding getting a family doctor. There are more spots now , but you need to place your name on the waitng list, ( as a result in a new programs )I recently found one for some one we know in common. They handed in their name at a clinic, and two months later they got a call and they now have a permanent family doctor in a family practice centre. The CLSC also can help in this area . They said they had tried to find one for 6 years, well yes, she would when she got sick, but you need to actively look when you are well, and you need to not give up till you find one, it's your right. There are also several hospitals that have family practice centres, where you will be seen by medical residents training to be family doctors , supervised by family doctors, in a hospital setting and you get pretty good care, actually better than most private offices, with quick access to in hospital services and tests etc. You have a cronic condition and you need regular family physician health checks, it takes time to get one, but there are more and you need to do that for your long term health.
I admit I am passionate regarding health careboth for four legged ones and two legged ones!
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"If your number one goal is to make sure that everyone likes and approves of you, then you risk sacrificing your uniqueness and, therefore, your excellence."
Another visit to Canadian Uninversal Health Care
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