April 16th, 2016
I am an RN at Cambie Surgery Centre. When I first started working there, I didn't really understand how the whole private surgery process worked. Early on we had two patients who came for breast cancer surgery. Neither of them could get in to the public system. One had re-mortgaged their home to pay for surgery in the states and the other was just going "quietly insane" with the wait. They were so grateful to have the option of getting surgery done in a timely matter and at home in Vancouver and it educated me in believing that we must have choices to be proactive in our own health, especially if the system will not work for us.
I now have a friend awaiting her second surgery for breast cancer - the initial surgery was early feb and the margins were not clear. She's had to wait 3 months for her next surgery - it's criminal. Everyday we hear how grateful our patients are that Cambie exists, we hear of their prolonged wait times, we hear of their deteriorating health and mental well being. Canadians deserve better. We all deserve choice and the ability to manage our own health.
