First of all, I've changed my mind about which clinic to use. The Oasis of Hope Bariatric Center has a lot of experience, an excellent reputation, and hundreds of former patients singing their praises online. The fee, converted to Canadian dollars, comes out to $5600, plus air fare. That's a big enough expense. I've decided that I don't need to double that, just to get the Number One guy. The Number Two surgeon will be fine.
I can have the surgery any time I want. The clinic will tell me what days are available, but it's basically as soon as I'm ready. I'll do a semi-fast liver cleanse for two to four weeks -- the clinic will tell me how long. Some bloodwork, an EKG, and I'll be ready to go.
Allan could come with me and stay in the same room, but we've decided that double the air fare, plus dog care, is prohibitive. Plus we don't have dog care right now, so it might mean leaving the dogs at the vet's kennel, and we're not keen on that. So I'm going alone. An adventure!
I'll fly from Port Hardy to Vancouver to San Diego. The clinic will pick me up at the airport. The facility is about 30 minutes away.
Day one, the day I arrive, hey'll do any final bloodwork, and I'll meet the surgeon and the anesthesiologist.
Day two is the surgery. I'll spend the day recovering in a private room.
Day three is a full day of recovery.
Day four, the clinic drives me back to the airport and I fly home.
Upon return, I'll have to self-isolate for two weeks, according to Canada's covid traveling restrictions. That's easy for me to do, because I can work from home.
Post-surgery there is a lot of adjustment. At first you can only have clear liquids. Then you advance to thick liquids -- blenderized food. Then you have to re-learn how to eat.
That will be a long process, and it may be a difficult one. If I were having the surgery done in BC by our public health care, there would be mandatory sessions with a registered dietitian who specializes in post-surgery care -- counseling, weigh-ins, and so forth. I'll have to arrange my own support, but I can still do that through public health.
For now, I'm focusing on the present.
I admire your courage, especially doing this alone. And it's amazing that there is no wait. We just watched a series about health care in the UK, Switzerland, and Australia, and I guess that's the biggest downside of single payer systems---long waits for procedures that are not considered emergencies. On the other hand, the series focused on all the positives of the three systems, one fully public, one private but mandated and controlled, and one a mix of both. I just wish we one of those systems here in the US.
ReplyDeleteHonestly Amy, it's not a downside -- and it's not inevitable. Wait lists are the results of neoliberal governments cutting funding to the heathcare systems and lowering corporate tax rates. Wait times could be eliminated completely if there was political will to do so.
ReplyDeleteCanadian provinces have programs designed to reduce wait-times for common surgeries like knee and hip replacements, through all kind of efficient systems. It can sometimes be annoying or inconvenient to wait, but when you don't get a bill... that's pretty awesome.
The weight-loss surgery is strictly pay per service, and not part of any public health care system, so you can pretty much get whatever you want. Not a system I would want in general.
Before I moved to Canada, I didn't understand the dangers of the two-tiered system. People talked about it on my blog all the time, and it seemed like it had some advantages. WRONG. I know believe single-payer, full public, is the only way to go.
*now (not know)
ReplyDeleteLaura, are you also Elle here? I remember you were using a different log-in name, but I'm confused now!
ReplyDeleteI am not sure private insurance covers this kind of surgery in the US. My niece had it years ago (she has kept the weight off and feels so much better), and I think they paid out of pocket also.
My comment wasn't meant to disparage the Canadian system, just point out that wait times was the one thing people in the UK complained about on the series we watched. Maybe Canada is different. What do I know, being stuck with our insane, unfair, and expensive system that doesn't even keep us as healthy as those in other countries?
I knew you were not disparaging the Canadian system -- and no, it's not different. I said that merely for explanation, something that you are unlikely to hear, including from the people who use the system. Everyone complains about wait times. But wait times are not an inevitable part of single-payer. They are entirely avoidable. In the same way that a living wage and paid sick time is possible -- it's a matter of priorities. All the public health care systems can work beautifully, if they are well funded. If government is invested in showing you how the system "doesn't work", it's easy to under-fund them and then blame the system.
ReplyDeleteI blog here under the name Elle. Now that the blog is no longer secret, if I'm already logged in as Laura, I don't bother switching. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd, of course, that's a real risk with the US since people here are so afraid of paying more either in taxes or premiums. So short-sighted.
ReplyDeleteApparently it's a risk everywhere. Conservative and Liberal governments in Canada, the UK, Australia, all try to dismantle health care -- or to chip away at it a bit at a time. Canadians would go nuts if anyone dared take away their health care outright, but bits and pieces are privatized and destroyed by certain governments, and never restored.
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