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lolaraincoatSo I have to have my head examined sometime soon, and this is inspiring a little rant about healthcare in Canada. Here's my story:
I went to the neurologist a few weeks ago, because although my migraines are totally controllable through medication -- yay meds! -- they are much more frequent than they once were, and are also preceded by spells of aphasia, which is a bit unusual. The neurologist told me, bracingly, that it was unlikely that this indicated anything seriously amiss, because if it did, I would have started having grand mal seizures or something a few months after the aphasiac spells kicked in. But because unlikely doesn't mean impossible, she wanted me to go for a MRI all the same.
Now, here in the Worker's Paradise, we have this (I mean this quite seriously) amazing nationalized health care system that provided me with the glum but well-trained primary care doctor who referred me to the apparently quite competent (if a little rough with the reflex hammer) neurologist who referred me to the medical imaging office of Princess Margaret Hospital, all for free and all relatively quickly -- I mean, it will be six months from when I began complaining to my primary-care doctor about about the migraines to when the neurologist will see the MRI results, but presumably if I'd had a stroke or something everything would move a lot quicker. Well, I wouldn't, I'd move a lot slower, because of the stroke. But the health care system would move more quickly if it were urgent.
(By the way, thanks to the supplementary insurance my union negotiated with my employer, my migraine meds -- which are going to end up costing something like $2000 Canadian per year -- also are free to me. The union can negotiate for this kind of thing because they don't have to negotiate for our basic health care coverage, because we all get that just because we're here.)
The drawback is, a health care system that does not have to respond to marketplace discipline is a healthcare system that is ... ruthlessly, aggravatingly efficient.
Consequently, for maximum efficiency, the MRI facility runs 24/7, 365 days a year. And my appointment happens to be at 2:30 in the morning on a Tuesday in June. There's no way for me to jump the line because I can afford to pay, or to convince them that gee, I was sort of vaguely planning to be visiting New York that day, or that I deserve special consideration because I'm so important. Nope. I need an MRI but not urgently? This is when I'm going to get it.
Sometimes I love Canada as much as I love ice cream.
I went to the neurologist a few weeks ago, because although my migraines are totally controllable through medication -- yay meds! -- they are much more frequent than they once were, and are also preceded by spells of aphasia, which is a bit unusual. The neurologist told me, bracingly, that it was unlikely that this indicated anything seriously amiss, because if it did, I would have started having grand mal seizures or something a few months after the aphasiac spells kicked in. But because unlikely doesn't mean impossible, she wanted me to go for a MRI all the same.
Now, here in the Worker's Paradise, we have this (I mean this quite seriously) amazing nationalized health care system that provided me with the glum but well-trained primary care doctor who referred me to the apparently quite competent (if a little rough with the reflex hammer) neurologist who referred me to the medical imaging office of Princess Margaret Hospital, all for free and all relatively quickly -- I mean, it will be six months from when I began complaining to my primary-care doctor about about the migraines to when the neurologist will see the MRI results, but presumably if I'd had a stroke or something everything would move a lot quicker. Well, I wouldn't, I'd move a lot slower, because of the stroke. But the health care system would move more quickly if it were urgent.
(By the way, thanks to the supplementary insurance my union negotiated with my employer, my migraine meds -- which are going to end up costing something like $2000 Canadian per year -- also are free to me. The union can negotiate for this kind of thing because they don't have to negotiate for our basic health care coverage, because we all get that just because we're here.)
The drawback is, a health care system that does not have to respond to marketplace discipline is a healthcare system that is ... ruthlessly, aggravatingly efficient.
Consequently, for maximum efficiency, the MRI facility runs 24/7, 365 days a year. And my appointment happens to be at 2:30 in the morning on a Tuesday in June. There's no way for me to jump the line because I can afford to pay, or to convince them that gee, I was sort of vaguely planning to be visiting New York that day, or that I deserve special consideration because I'm so important. Nope. I need an MRI but not urgently? This is when I'm going to get it.
Sometimes I love Canada as much as I love ice cream.
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bear with me...
Date: 2007-04-26 12:52 am (UTC)I smile every time I remove and wash it because it says inside in fancy, raised letters, "Made in Canada." :)
Re: bear with me...
Date: 2007-04-26 01:03 am (UTC)Re: bear with me...
Date: 2007-04-27 06:54 pm (UTC)Hope all goes well with the migraines *
no subject
Date: 2007-04-26 01:18 am (UTC)Buddy!
Date: 2007-04-26 01:23 am (UTC)I didn't used to. I used to get quite severe migraines maybe two or three times a year. Then a year or two ago I started getting milder ones much more frequently, and somewhere in the aura phase I would just ... lose ... words. It was scary.
I didn't realize how bad it had gotten until the meds got prescribed and I realized I'm taking them maybe twice a week, or more. That's a lot of migraine. Supposedly by the time I'm through menopause, in ten years or so, it should lighten up again.
Re: Buddy!
Date: 2007-04-27 12:03 am (UTC)Re: Buddy!
Date: 2007-04-27 01:06 pm (UTC)*pets the nice Zomig Rapimelt box*
no subject
Date: 2007-04-26 01:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-26 01:25 am (UTC)And I honestly love it that this is just how the system works, you know?
no subject
Date: 2007-04-26 03:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-27 12:59 pm (UTC)