Re: Re: Expect more Ontario hospitals in red ink: critics

[Guest guest]

By supposed cost saving measures (not ordering certain tests); preventable suffering (and also expense) is caused.my hopes and prayers are with you and Cub.rl 'My cat Rusty is a servant of the Living God....'adapted from a poem by SmartFrom: Raven

To: FAMSecretSociety Sent: Tue, July 20, 2010 9:44:19 PMSubject: Re: Expect more Ontario hospitals in red ink: critics

wrote: "So much for government run health care controlling costs. Then again it will, on paper, once the bureaucrats shut down hospitals, cut staff and services, tearing down to reach the existing numbers. It will seem to work, for a moment, but the crisis will come back worse than before." responded: "Funny more people are not catching on to this."

On July 3rd, posted Message #54830 with a link to an article: "Cancer Patient Who Faced Care Delays Dies." The article stated that a woman whose chemotherapy treatments were delayed because of an oncologist shortage in Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) had died at her home. The Cancer Clinic called to offer the woman an appointment six weeks after her diagnosis, but by then it was too late ... she was considered critical at that point because in that period of time, her cancer became so advanced that treatment was useless.

Just a few days earlier, on June 25th, Cub was diagnosed with a congenital defect of the kidneys that had gone 'undetected' by licensed and accredited health professionals since Cub's birth. You see, tests are only ordered when a 'most likely' cause for symptoms cannot be identified hence the nearly 15 years Cub has lived with many odd symptoms that never seemed to clear up.

Had the condition been identified and diagnosed shortly after birth or in the first couple of years on earth, the surgery would have been quick, easy and recovery would be just as quick and easy. The older he got, the worse the condition became because it was continually aggravated by a number of 'normal' factors (ie. getting older ergo getting bigger) and eventually, by a few 'unexpected factors (ie. Myasthenia Gravis).

If his condition had been addressed early in life, there's a good chance that all of the treatments that haven't worked at forcing his MG into remission would have worked better than they did. It's now been admitted that with a congenital defect of the kidneys, the IVIg infusions would most assuredly aggravate that condition and the reaction from that aggravation would most assuredly cause all of the side effects Cub experienced each time he underwent IVIg infusions.

Cub needs emergency surgery, however, in the land of Nationalized Health Care, it's going to take some time to get Cub that emergency surgery. You see, in order to cut costs -- even at the illustrious Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto -- half of the operating rooms are closed over the summer months. What's more, there are only 3 surgeons who are capable of performing the delicate surgery Cub requires. Of those 3 surgeons, one is away for the summer, one is splitting his time between surgery and lab research and the third is booked solidly.

Now all of that is bad enough but because Cub has Myasthenia Gravis as well, there's the added problem of anaesthesia and that makes Cub a bigger risk in surgery than any other kid with a similar health issue but no MG added to the mix.

I know that there are those who will say, "But it's FREE health care and that should count for something, right?" It does count for something. If I had to pay for all of Cub's hospital visits out of pocket, I would have declared bankruptcy a decade ago. But then again, spending countless hours, days, weeks and as has been the case a few times, months in hospital, I can't help but think of the money wasted by the revolving door of hospital management that exists BECAUSE of nationalized health care.

The best option would be to have accountable free nationalized health care in this country where licensed and accredited medical professionals have the freedom to order proper tests early on rather than go with the "most likely" cause for symptoms and then to treat in accordance to results from those tests.

borough, where I live, is Number One in the province for having its hospital swimming in red ink. What's worse, the 'new' hospital was completed just over a year ago and it's LESS efficient in almost every respect from the 'old' hospital.

Raven