Patient Stories / Submission

« go back to all Patient Stories

Charter Health Crowd

In Feb 2019, I entered emergency at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) with...

Debby, Westbank, BC

February 13th, 2020

 

In Feb 2019, I entered emergency at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) with severe back pain. As I had herniated a disc 10 years earlier with subsequent surgery, KGH gave me a CT scan which showed damage, and had my first nerve block and was discharged. At follow-up app't with neurosurgeon, pain was not abating and an MRI was ordered - waited 4 months through government health system and ended up paying $850 through private health as I couldn't withstand further delay. Immediately saw surgeon again, who suggested another nerve block as conservative treatment measures were not working - relief only lasted 2 days. Surgeon agreed surgery was needed and put me on wait list, projecting surgery in 4-6 weeks.

After waiting 4 months, and being cancelled twice (due to emergencies) at KGH, and having my personal business impacted immensely over the 10 previous months, I chose to pay for back surgery at a private clinic in Vancouver. Between my original visit to the clinic, I was operated on in 3 weeks! However, my recovery has been slower due to the time between injury and surgery. My personal impact to our health system will now be greater due to need for increased physio, medications and more. This Canadian health care system isn't working, and as a baby-boomer, I have never been more concerned for my future health care.

0 Comments

By clicking the button, you agree to the terms below.

  1. The email address you enter on the "email" field above will not be published on this site.
  2. Though we require you to enter your full name, we usually only publish your first name.
  3. You grant us the right to use your content royalty-free, in perpetuity on our website or elsewhere.
  4. Your submission may be flagged for moderation and we cannot guarantee that it will be published.
  5. We may edit your submission for length, size or clarity
  6. We have no obligation to remove your submission even if you make a request.

In order to add comments please make sure javascript is enabled.


Twitter    Instagram