Gynecological woes AKA A vote for private health care
Six years ago at my annual check-up my doctor decided to send me to a
specialist in Ottawa. I was over-employed at the time working 48 hours per week
at AECL and also teaching real courses at Mackenzie, but I took her advice and
went down to Ottawa for the day – several months later of course when an
appointment was available - feeling somewhat guilty about taking two sick days,
one from each employer, for a one hour out of town appointment. It was not a
good day: I got lost, couldn’t find the clinic I was supposed to go to, ended
up parking illegally because I was late, then got turned away by the
receptionist and not even allowed to see the doctor because my health card was
out of date, and, of course, upon returning to my car a mere 15 minutes after I
had left it, found a parking ticket on it. I think I sat in it and cried. I
didn’t bother going back. A few years after that my doctor asked if I had seen
the specialist. I said no so she signed me up for another appointment and
therefore, a few months after that, I was driving back down the highway to
Ottawa again. By this time I was unemployed i.e. merely supplying, but,
believing that medical care is important, I gave up a supply day to go - which
is like throwing away money. I’d checked that my health card was up to date and
made sure I parked legally, but, as luck would have it, the doctor had been
called away on an emergency and was unavailable that day. The receptionist told
me she’d left a message on my machine at 8 am, but, by then, I had already been
wheel-deep in slushy snow on highway 17. It was not a good day. My doctor never
asked if I’d seen the specialist and I didn’t volunteer the information.
But, now, I am thinking of heading out into the Pacific for four months,
far far from any health care, and there is this wee possible problem that I
haven’t had checked out properly (well, at all, actually) that is worrying at
the back of my mind. Is it safe to go? Should I fly back to Ontario first and
try to get short-listed with the specialist in Ottawa I’ve never met? How long
can little problems go ignored? What if something were to go very wrong all of
a sudden out at sea?
I tried to skype Ontario’s excellent telehealth system but skype kept cutting
out on me, I tried to get a friend to look into the problem for me from home
but she kept running into confidentiality issues, I looked up the cost of
return flights to Ontario and almost fainted. I wondered if, having ignored the
problem for six years, I could just ignore it for four months more. But, but, I
hate to worry…
Then, on Monday, the day I was planning to leave Punta Arenas, I found
out that busses didn’t run that day, so, with a whole day free in the booming
southern metropolis, I decided that I’d try to see if I could possibly see a
specialist. And, to make a long story short, the answer was yes. Wow! The
tourist information booth directed me to a private clinic and that very
afternoon I was able to schedule an appointment with an appropriate specialist.
The clinic didn’t recognize my OHIP card or my husband’s Manulife Financial
card (which I am still covered under) so I was told, somewhat shamefacedly,
that I would have to pay $ 25 000 cash up front. But, since 25 thousand pesos
is only about 50 bucks, I was thrilled. I would have paid a lot more. It was
certainly less than a flight home! And, like a cherry on top, the gynecologist
that saw me was young, male, cute, funny, intelligent, knowledgeable, and thorough.
And, he also told me that my wee problem was nothing to worry about. He said I
could go sailing for at least two years without a care in the world.
(Unfortunately I fear he was likely only speaking to my gynecological issues
not my financial ones when he said this but I will take what I can get.)
Also, politically incorrect as it might be in a socialist country like
Canada, and apologies up front to any offended by this, then, if my experience is
in any way typical of the sort of service that private health care gives, I
know where my vote goes. Go private health care!
(Sorry no photo to go with this post!)
