Comments by "Joe Madden" (@joemadden4160) on "How Canada's Universal Health-Care System Works" video.

This is what happened to me as a Canadian suffering from osteoarthritis. At 18 I started to suffer from severe left hip pain. My family doctor took a year to decide it was something he couldn't treat. A single CAT showed osteoarthritis. I had minor surgery to soften the tissues around the joint 3 months later. So...over a year from start to finish the first "flare". Cut to 30 years later and the pain was becoming intolerable after many years of living a relatively normal life. I was limping as well. Working at my job was very hard. I was offered higher doses of NSAIDS (which didn't help) and narcotics which I refused(I have a history of addiction in my family. Both my father and sister died from this). Finally, in order to GAME the system(which is what you have to do in certain cases in Canada to attain proper medical care) I told my primary care physician and her cousin, my rheumatologist, that the physical pain was affecting me psychologically and I was feeling...like I was at my end and that ending it all was an option. I was feeling a lot of anger and disenchantment from both my disease and the way the system was treating me. In a few days I was set up with an orthopedic specialist and after reviewing my x-rays was shocked that I had handled such pain and bone growth for so long. 380 days later(the then Liberal government of Ontario stated the average wait times was only 60 days, but I digress) I had my left hip resurfaced and it changed my life. I can run again and walk and walk and walk and run. I knew that the problen was one of mechanics and that a resurfacing would work and I'm not even in the medical field. Why is that? This is not the ultra quick system some on this comment section would have you believe. Ever. Not even for cancer and it is class tiered. Any one who believes it isn't is a liar. The affluent go ahead of everyone else. Even in a national based health system like Canada. You must be an advocate for your OWN health at all times.
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@john smith Did you not read the story? I stated that with the first doctor it was a year to get diagnosed. Then years later rather than giving me the surgery at the onset, both doctors, my new family doctor and their cousin, the rheumatologist, continued to push exercise??? or NSAIDS or to proffer narcotics instead of the resurfacing. So, in your opinion, its been merely a matter of an individual being stuck with wrong doctors??? Nope. A system that works poorly. In the States, it would have been x-ray or CAT scan or MRI, followed by consultation and then surgery within a matter of days and not years.
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@john smith Okay. You state that the "government" paid my bill? I did. It's a national INSURANCE health system paid for by the TAXPAYERS. Regarding your opinion that the system wasn't at fault but rather the doctors is spurious. Doctors in Canada are under a CEILING on how much they can make, unlike the States. So, if I'm a doctor, surgeon etc and I can only make a certain amount of money under the national health system, am I going to treat everybody the same? Nope. 'Cos as a doctor I am handcuffed as to how much "care" I can give under said system. I was offered exercise and NSAIDS and narcotics not because the doctors were poor doctors but because the system pushes surgery for some, drugs and exercise for others. You haven't a clue.
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