My Brain and the Ontario Health Care System

You may have seen the stories about the television ad with first person testimony from a woman who claims she had a brain tumor and was unhappy about her care in the Ontario health care system, part of the ongoing assault on "Obamacare." Five years ago I actually had a brain tumor and dealt with the Ontario health care system. The truth about our system is much different than the misinformation spewing forth over the internet and the airwaves. This is my story.

I am not the type of person who would be described as a hypochondriac. I am more likely to dismiss aches and pains as of no consequence. Thus when I developed some peculiar head and neck symptoms in early 2004 I did not pay much attention to them at first.

Even when I called for an appointment with my GP in March, I was asked by the receptionist if it was urgent and I said no. The GP said he was puzzled by my condition and referred me to a neurologist. I saw him in early April. His assessment included some physical tests, all of which I passed with flying colors. This is perhaps not surprising as throughout this period I was regularly Scottish country dancing, a physically and mentally demanding form of exercise that no doubt kept me in decent shape.

I did have some blood pressure abnormality. The neurologist concluded, not inappropriately, that I should see a cardiologist and said he would recommend that my GP refer me. Shortly thereafter I had an appointment for early May.

A week or so later we were invited by close friends to a delightful Saturday evening dinner. I didn't think I had drunk too much wine, but my wife was driving, so it didn't matter. When I woke up the next morning, it was Sunday April 17 and I felt quite sick with a headache -- a hangover I thought at the time.

However, unlike all previous hangovers, this one did not disappear on Sunday afternoon -- I remained very ill and in bed. By the afternoon of Wednesday April 21, we finally concluded, after consulting my GP on the phone, that I should seek emergency treatment the next day if I showed no improvement.

Late that night, unable to sleep because of a splitting headache, I got up to take some strong headache medication. The last thing I remember was reaching up to the cabinet containing the pills. My wife then heard a crash as I hit the floor. I had collapsed and gone into a convulsion.

This is the point where we discovered just how fast and effective our health system could be. The complaints you hear directed at Canada's health system about waiting times for treatment are simply without foundation. As you will see from what happened next, my experience says quite the opposite.

The next thing I recall I was being carried downstairs by some fire fighters who responded to the 911 call and had made it to our house ahead of the ambulance. I was taken immediately in the ambulance to the Mount Sinai Hospital emergency. I drifted in and out of consciousness and don't remember much from that period but a CAT scan done in the wee hours of Thursday, April 22, 2004 revealed a large mass in my brain.

A few hours later I was admitted to the Toronto Western Hospital neurology ward (which has an international reputation for excellence). I had a brain tumor and needed surgery. The doctors were optimistic that what they didn't get with surgery could be dealt with by chemotherapy and radiation. They assumed I had brain cancer but they said it would be a few weeks after surgery before tests could determine the exact nature of the tumor. The medical staff could scarcely believe that I had actually been at work the previous Friday.

Hooked up to an IV and rehydrated I began to feel a little better. However, I discovered that I had lost considerable sensation on my right hand side. I could not hold a cup of water without dropping it, a very distressing discovery.

Early the next morning, Friday, April 23, I had an MRI. This marvelous machine provided a precise three dimensional portrait of the tumor. That evening my neurosurgeon, Dr. Taufik Valiante, came by the hospital room to discuss my case. He felt I needed surgery in the near future, although not necessarily right away (he thought I might have to wait a week). However, he cheerfully went off to check on the availability of the space and personnel needed to do the surgery, and found we could do it the next day.

Just 60 hours or so after my collapse, on Saturday, April 24, 2004, I underwent five and a half hours of surgery to remove a large brain tumor. The surgery left a large scar running across the top of my head, now just barely visible through my thinning hair. Twinges in my right hand and stiffness in my lower right leg are the only long-term consequences of my experience. I have an MRI every couple of years (I just had one) to check that the tumor has not returned.

Despite the extensive nature of the surgery, it was performed so skilfully that I felt able to leave the hospital and go home the following Tuesday -- April 27, 2004. And the next day Dr. Valiante called with the news that the tumor was benign, a slow growing pilocytic astrocytoma, generally thought of as a brain tumor one sees in children. I would not need any further treatment. In less than a week the system had me on the road to full recovery. My wife recalls this period as a blur of unfolding events.

By the way, I did see the cardiologist a week or two later while still recovering from surgery. She did a few tests and pronounced me fine.

As you can see from my story, the delays encountered in my care were entirely of my own making, not wait times in the health care system. Once it kicked into gear, I received incredibly fast, world class health care. Apart from my initial ride in the ambulance and my hospital phone, the only other cost to me was the rental of the hospital TV set. A couple of days after the surgery I remember watching a Toronto Blue Jays-Minnesota Twins game, featuring a first rate performance by then Blue Jays starter Ted Lilly. Full value for my money spent on the TV and full value for my tax dollars that pay for our health care system.

Our experience with Canada's health care system has been first rate. This includes the cancer care my wife is currently receiving, which has included a sophisticated procedure whereby she successfully received a transplant of her own stem cells at the wonderful Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. She did not have to wait for that complex operation either: it was performed upon completion of the essential preliminary treatment.

On another occasion my son dislocated his shoulder playing a pick up game of ice hockey. He called me at work to help him get to the hospital. When we entered emergency the triage nurse gave Alex a quick inspection and then instantly whisked him away for treatment. Once again, no waiting.

I think our experience with health care is comparable to that of most Canadians. Our system may not be perfect but we are more than happy with how it has treated us, and, like other Canadians, we would not trade it for the American system.

This article was originally published at The Reaction.

Comments

[JuliaRain]

My condolences to our American friends for the loss of Ted Kennedy.

[alohadave13]

Thank you for your story and again calling out the lies of the opponents of Health Care Reform in the U.S. It's very sad that the majority of the country are so ignorant to believe all of the lies and propaganda put forth by the GOP and the Health Insurance lobbies. The question that was posed by a respected Congressman from NY recently on Good Morning Joe (Scarborough) was "Why do we need health insurance companies?" Joe Scarborough was never able to answer the question because there is not reason for them except to get in the way of doctors and patients and collect outrageous fees for doing nothing more than administrative work, and DENYING CLAIMS to those that most need health care. In summary, the U.S. is a country of PROFITS and not humanity.

[pup sydney]

May my dear friend A forgive me but I have to tell his story:
In Italy
after days of sleepiness A woke up one mornign and fell, he relaized he could nto stand up. To ER , Dx with Brain tumr, likely the worst type, oeprated 2 days later (huge malignancy of the brain poor soul)
Iina tiny hospitalin a aown of 40.000in Central Itlay (not the fancy Tuscany or Umbria). He came out perfectly OK neurologically
Seen by oncologist, there radiotherapy and chemo planned in adjacent University Town. He also saw a specialist neurooncologist( paying for it becau he wanted to have another opinion (and because everybody can do anyhting they want outside the national health care plan=CHOICE). He got molecular testing done too, specialists said: I can't do any better than what they offer you in the little place and university (HONESTY).

What wait? what delay? what deficiency? the dx was right, the treatment was top notch from surgery to radio to chemo,

There is nothingmore insulting to me than seeing the liars of the GOP at work. They are shaming this country again, but now the rest of the world knows us already for being liars a la Bush, this is just part 2.

[BigIslander]

Since there is nothing in the pending health care bill that would limit access to MRIs or surgery, or in any way mandate long waits for such procedures, the argument of opponents implicit in their complaints about wait times in Canada must be that giving all Americans access to health care will inconvenience some of those who already have it. Thus, the argument seems to be, it is better to let the uninsured die for lack of care than to bring them into the system. The moral bankruptcy of this position is staggering.

[hrdtsk]

However, in the current US Tort system, a US neurologist, performing like the one in your story, could be expecting a lawsuit from a malpractice attorney for delay in diagnosis that could have cost someone there life. "Doctor, please explain why there was no MRI was ordered immediately when the symptoms of a brain tumor were obvious to anyone."

[Phreaked]

And yet wherever Tort reform has been done in the US it has not stopped the massive rise in insurance costs.

[COPerez]

The statistics don't support your comment. Is tort reform necessary? Most likely; for many reasons. But is it a big addition to the cost of health care in this country? Not according to the studies...

[hrdtsk]

Links to studies that tort reform will save health care costs. Read them and you be the judge.

http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=4968&type=0

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009073002816.html

[kensp]

I think if you consult a lawyer they will tell you that you cannot successfully seek damages for what "could have happened."

[hrdtsk]

Thank you for your wonderful individual story from 2004.

Here is a link to what cancer patients are experiencing in Canada now.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/06/09/cancer-wait-times.html

I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for Canadians with cancer to accept these extended wait times.

[timberdoodle]

It is more frustrating not to get any treatment at all and die as is the case in America in many instances.

[Phreaked]

Actually i have had several relatives with cancer and none of them have experienced any problems getting care. In fact my cousin has had "a year to live" for the last 8 years because of timely medical intervention.

And Canada has several problems not seen in the US that contribute to this. We are a very large country with a smaller populace than California. As such we have a greater distance between large medical centers. This is being worked on.

But from the article you posted there was an american who posted his experience with the US system

"You might have to wait for your treatment. But at least you won't go bankrupt receiving it!

After an excursion to the emergency room, I waited 4 hours for treatment due to a back injury. A cat scan and prescription drugs later I was sent home with a bill for $2, 715. I have a 50% deductable.....so i'll have to pay half. I'm ready to move across the river....lower violent crime, clean cities, friendlier people....I'm young today, but when I become old I'll be bankrupt when things really start going down hill.

Medicine for profit is criminal. "We'll save your life, but it'll cost you." This needs to be stopped!"

[COPerez]

My father-in-law received excellent medical care in the small Ontario town of Belleville for liver cancer. No waits for seeing the doctors, for tests, or for a hospital room when he deteriorated at the end. He and his wife had basically nothing to their names, but at the end of it all, after the wonderful nurses and doctors had give us their condolences, we all walked out of the hospital with only our memories; no bankrupting bills. This was 2006.

And, as others have stated, if you have no coverage, you have to wait, whether in emergency when your illnesses get to bad to ignore, or by self-choice because you can't afford to go to the doctor. Get out and actually SEE the rest of the world. We DESERVE to be number 37.

[Tommee]

Yesterday, I turned on the radio and started listening to the Sean Hannity show. It wasn’t long before I got very angry at the blatant lies he was spreading about Canadians and the Canadian Health Care System.

I decided to call up the program to complain about the lies and counter them with facts. After several busy signal attempts, the phone started to ring. I thought I had gotten through and was ready to vent my anger when an automated voice message came on saying that my phone call did not originate from a place that was accepted. In other words, the Sean Hannity Show, broadcast on the ABC Radio Network, does not take phone calls from people calling from Canada.

No wonder so many Americans are clueless about what is going on in health care matters. Major news networks like ABC Radio, are censoring what Americans can hear.

[SayBlade]

Ah, the imbalance of what our cable/satellite companies deliver to our tv screens. Canadians get Canadian and American TV. Americans get American TV.

[Phreaked]

We also get British, French, and a multitude of other countries TV. We have to continually fight to stop the US from taking over our airwaves

[JuliaRain]

I think it is worth a re-post and encourage watching this video from the Canadian health care community. They also support the political will it will take and offer insight into how Canada got Medicare.

.:Universal Health Care Message to Americans From Canadian Doctors & Health Care Experts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXXBCFnhsUc

At 1:34, Dr. Steven Lewis of Health Policy and Research Consultant of Saskatoon expresses his thoughts and I share his sentiments about the health care debate in the US.

[bronceye]

This story will carry no weight with repubes as you have neglected to thank God for this miracle. Thus, it will be dismissed and forgotten as irrelevant. Why don't you stop making things up? We here in the U S of A know that since you are alive, you are a member of a Canadian death panel killing your fellow citizens so that you can have the few sparce medical facilities in your backward nation. We have bigger bombs than you, so there.

[xraygrrl]

Ha ha ha...good one.Sounds like it is time for us to arm our nuclear moose.

[SayBlade]

There is plenty the Religious Left can do to remedy the God M.I.A. "problem." With some good old fashioned prooftexting, they can find a scripture that supports every argument in favour of universal health care in the Bible. They need not approach it in a defensive manner though. The wild and woolly twisted scriptures quoted by fundamentalists will look increasingly silly as time goes on.

[bodo]

As a Canadian I am outraged about the lies that are being spread over US television. Of course everyone can choose their own doctor.

Canadians enjoy a longer life expectancy than US citizens. So our healthcare must be ok.

[LITU]

That is really the crux of the argument isn't it? Whether or not another nation would swap its health care program for the American plan. So far, I've not witnessed any raised hands.

[S1m0n]

Universal healthcare is - by far - the most popular thing that any Canadian level of government does.

We love it so much we voted it's founder as history's greatest Canadian.

[csavage]

Actually, Aetna and Cigna tried to sell health insurance to Europeans-it was a colossal failure
This occurred in the early 90s

[S1m0n]

Healthcare in Ontario, as in Canada generally, is prioritised according to medical necessity. Odds are that this gentleman's surgery, like my mother's under similar circumstances* may well have bumped someone's knee replacement slot in the OR and ICU.

*First symptom day 1, transfer to neuro hospital that evening, surgery day 2, transfer to cancer hospital, cancer treatment commencing day 3.

[canuck99]

This happens in any other hospital system when the OR capacity is full. If in this situation there was a free slate, then nobody's knee surgery should have been bumped.

[csavage]

Bumped "someone's slot in the ICU"? You really don't know your healthcare. People get "bumped" all the time in America-you get held in the ER, recovery room, cath lab. ICU beds are a limited resource everywhere because of a worldwide nursing shortage. So, yes, someone may have had their recovery room stay prolonged, but that's no reason to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. That person still got their ICU bed

[S1m0n]

Probably not. I'm sure that like seats in a plane, there is a certain amount of overscheduling for an OR, because no one wants to see it sit unused if a patient doesn't show, but cancellation of so-called 'elective' surgery is a fairly familiar experience for Canadians. Sometimes it is indeed because of a multi-car accident on the highway with trauma victims on their way, or to make space for someone my mother or the author of this piece.

[LiberalDem]

Congratulations on living in a country that has the compassion and intelligence to recognize that good health care for all citizens is part of a civilized society.

[csavage]

According to the Taiwanese-a moral obligation to their citizens

[TRex86]

All the lies about other countries' health care systems are manifestations of a version of the Stockholm Syndrome. Americans are captive of a highly abusive, Kafkaesque system that eats money and poops out profits to Wall Street. We are so frightened, so demoralized that we have bonded with our captors and live in dread of our rescue. Until we appreciate the depth of this psychopathology we will fail to reform the system. We live in an irrational parallel universe in which the elderly (on Medicare) can rail against government run medicine and the uninsured tea baggers can get injured at town hall rallies and whine about not having insurance. Alice meet the Red Queen.

[canuck99]

Very interesting view....

[csavage]

Great post!
I'm more and more convinced that it's big business as a whole that doesn't want healthcare reform. Nothing like the threat of losing benefits to keep the serfs on the job, no matter how unbearable it is. TV has replaced religion as the opiate of the masses

[astjuste]

I really appreciate and completely agree with your perspective. Thanks

[ReesieKitty]

Excellent point, T-rex. So many people I know who are intelligent and well educated in other respects are just mind-bogglingly invested in our current system. It's really sad.

[COPerez]

Excellent metaphor... and strikes me as pretty accurate.

Fanned.

[Adartist777]

With all due respects, Ms. Sebelius, our Health & Human Services director, should be consulting with Canada's equivalent for setting up a similar system here in the US.

Instead, we allow health insurance lobbyists to have access to Congress, which don't have the best interest of the American people.

[csavage]

As a doc, I find that the implication my prescription habits are unduly influenced by receiving a free meal or a pen but Congressmen are exempt from influence no matter how many millions they receive both ironic and insulting.