CANADA OR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

[BITEME]

So a hypothetical Question

 

 

I have a friend that has had migraines in the past to varying degrees the worst of which was 10 years ago.

Well he had one the other day that brought him to his knees and caused him to puke an ambulance was called and he was rushed to the hospital. After medication and such he was discharged and scheduled for a cat scan they found a 5mm anomaly and have scheduled for MRA (an arterial MRI) this might not happen for upwards of 2 weeks in Canada here is the kicker no one can say for sure whether this caused the headache or was previously there or is this the cause and a bomb waiting to go off they are classing it as an aneurysm. His company will cover the cost of crossing to the states. The scan can be done same day at a cost. What would you do?

 

Peter

[irishfield]

I'd already have the key in the ignition Peter !

[TJQ]

Reving the engine as we speak.. thats what i would be doing..

 

hey bite me.. did ya get my pm??

[BITEME]

Same conclusion I have come to

[DRIFTER_016]

I would already be handing my passport to the US border guard.

[OhioFisherman]

It is a ticking time bomb, a very good friend Russ Enz died of a brain aneurysm at the age of 43. Walking from the cab of the truck back to a customers dock, they were waiting for him on the dock and saw him fall. He was quite the joker, they thought he was playing games until they walked over and saw he was unconscious. He was dead by the time the rescue squad got there. He had complained of headaches for a few days prior to it but was healthy looking with no medical issues in the past.

 

Just my opinion it is not something I would delay.

[Guest Michel (Mike) Soucy]

My sweetie complained of worsening vision last fall to her ophthalmologist (left eye had always been bad). After a quick exam she got referred to a Neuro-ophthalmologist as he suspected a *mass*, the neuro-opthomologist confirmed a mass pressing on the optic nerve which was on the membrane of the brain and was called in for an MRI the next day. (time to MRI was less than 7 days from the 1st visit with her ophthalmologist) btw..

When we saw the neuro-opthomologist, he already had had an appt set with a neuro-surgeon for a few days later to discuss surgery.

 

The challenge was yet to come with the postponements and cancellations of the surgery...3 cancellations (and always the day before the date set) before we finally got in.

 

All went well, tumour was benign, they didn't get it all, radiation will follow at some point based on it's growth rate.

 

*Could've been worse*.

[The Urban Fisherman]

GO GO GO! my cousin passed away from an anurism. He didn't have prior headaches, no warning signs... Came to work one morning (he was also my boss) felt fine, even cracked a few jokes to me about slacking because I was hiding from a huge rainstorm for a minute.. all of sudden WHAM by lunch he was gone.

 

Get goin' and good luck.

 

UF

[dannyboy]

Go, both for the MRI and treatment.

 

Dan

[Governator]

My sister gets extremely bad migrains and she has a trigger for it. It's actually cheese. She can't eat a grain of cheese, or even traces of it in anything (and I mean anything). She has to read every ingredient on every item she buys, the smallest amount will set it off and she's gone through a million tests. It ususally affects her the day after she's ate it and by bad I man she often loses her sight, she pukes and she's usually lying on her couch for 24hrs+.

 

She has blood pressure pills and everything in between but when we were kids we had a tobogganing accident, we hit a tree going down the hill and my sister was on the front. She hit her head, cracked her jaw, broke bones, etc. etc. It was the worst incident of my life to be in but it was since then that she's had the headaches.

 

I don't really have much to add, but narrowing it down to what triggers the headaches is extremely important and often hard to diagnos because it's usually not a food allergy.

[motion]

I hear you can get an MRI for your dog quick..................if your willing to pay for it. I dint understand why there are not more MRI facilities available to us Canadians in Canada. Just my $0.02.

[mikeh]

this showed up at the bottom of the page it says it takes about 2 days

 

mra/mri

[hookerdown]

Forget going to the States (if you could).... Get the system fixed up here!!!!! If there are any MPs, or MPPs lurking on this board take note. We have people dying for no good reason!!!! We are supposed to have a top notch health care system, which now is falling down the wayside.

 

My girlfriend was a Nurse in pediatric ICU back home. She was born here, went back to Europe as a kid, now we are fighting for her to get back her Canadian resedency. She is not permitted to work, has no health coverage, has no rights at all (did I mention she was born here), she literally has less rights then a refugee. Until Immigration has completed their 1st review of her file, she/we are outta luck. They are 3 months behind in their paperwork. But the government did manage to milk us for $4k so far (did I mention she was born here). In the meantime, our hospitals are crammed and in need of nurses, and she is not even permitted to flip burgers.

 

I am sure if your buddy was a pro-athelete, the MRI would have been done by now, (funny how the Baseball, Basketball, Football and Hockey stars all get MRIs for the slightest injury in a matter of hours).

 

I hate to say it, but nowadays in Canada, money talks, and Joe public bends over and gets the Royal Treatment!!!!

[ScugogBoy]

Hookerdown.....all the things you have said are true and something should be done about our healthcare system......hopefully some of this government infrastructure $$$$$ will flow to healthcare.

I have freinds that work in hospitals and they tell me the "waste of $$$$$" is unbelievable.......should have better accountability and maybe the wasted $$$$$$ could be re-nvested in quality healthcare.

Hope your girlfriend/bride gets her paperwork passed soon and she can get to work.....that way you'll have extra $$ for more "fishing stuff".

[BITEME]

Well I have to say the system is not broke he was prepaired to go to the States this afternoon they will be scanning him at 7:45 pm tonight

I still have faith in the system you just have to be very squeaky

[ozaibak1]

Most likely it's not as serious as it sounds, but in these kinds of situations you don't want to take chances, better to be safe. In my high school we had an individual who just dropped in the middle of lunch time while waiting in queue at the cafeteria, no history of anything quite tragic, but in this case you have some knowledge so investigate. I wish the best for your friend she/he will be ok, keep us posted.

Edited March 19, 2009 by Bass Killer

[ozaibak1]

Forget going to the States (if you could).... Get the system fixed up here!!!!! If there are any MPs, or MPPs lurking on this board take note. We have people dying for no good reason!!!! We are supposed to have a top notch health care system, which now is falling down the wayside.

 

My girlfriend was a Nurse in pediatric ICU back home. She was born here, went back to Europe as a kid, now we are fighting for her to get back her Canadian resedency. She is not permitted to work, has no health coverage, has no rights at all (did I mention she was born here), she literally has less rights then a refugee. Until Immigration has completed their 1st review of her file, she/we are outta luck. They are 3 months behind in their paperwork. But the government did manage to milk us for $4k so far (did I mention she was born here). In the meantime, our hospitals are crammed and in need of nurses, and she is not even permitted to flip burgers.

 

I am sure if your buddy was a pro-athelete, the MRI would have been done by now, (funny how the Baseball, Basketball, Football and Hockey stars all get MRIs for the slightest injury in a matter of hours).

 

I hate to say it, but nowadays in Canada, money talks, and Joe public bends over and gets the Royal Treatment!!!!

 

There is a lot of room for improvement in the medical care system here in Canada, and in many other areas. Be thankful it is nowhere nearly as corrupt and biased as America's system presently is, if you're not rich you basically have no help basically down there, but I agree the gov't here can do much much better, efficient health care should be an acid test for government imo. And while Canada is in a high percentile, why not aim higher considering the blessings of our country.

[hookerdown]

Thanks Scucog, I didn't even manage to go hunting last fall, and only managed 3 trips to simcoe this winter. It sucks.

 

Bite... I hope everything works out. I remember as a kid my dad and uncles (during their many debates) all saying that this country has the best health care system. Right now i think we are no where close. In Malta, (where my family and gf are from) meds, dentists, eyewear, all that is taken care of. Australia is the same.

 

I want to know, in the late 80's when the GST and the fatties in Ottawa and Queen's Park were lining their wallets, where did our health care system come to play. And yes there is a lot of waste and that needs to be addressed. My mom worked at a hospital in Mississauga, and I tell you the money was not fanned down to the staff. She got hurt on the job cause the hospital did not fix or replace something that needed repair, now she her back is pooched.

 

I love this country and there is no place like it, but its sad how our elected have brought down this great country, while they made sure they got some great pay raises, they are sending our boys to fight, and way too many (even 1 is too much) are getting killed.

 

Once i would like to see the politicians at all levels take a hit to their wallets, like the rest of us.

[Cast-Away]

Life or money. That question would be a no brainer for me.

[musky_man]

If the doctors thought it was a genuine emergency, you would have been fit in very quickly -- this rushing off to the US is a lot of drama.

 

A 5mm mass, whether it is confirmed by an MRI now or in 2 weeks -- not going to make a damn bit of difference to the outcome.

 

Despite all the Bull you have been led to believe, health outcomes are still better in Canada overall, than in the US - and that is a fact!

[OhioFisherman]

according to the ratings I have seen your country is rated ahead of the states in quality of medical care.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/opinion/...agewanted=print

 

Like 10 times more people here and a lot more hospitals closer together so not as much travel from out lying areas to get specialty treatment and serious care.

 

And there is always the money involved, doctors here in Ohio saw how much insurance companies were paying for MRI`s back in the late 70`s or 80`s and formed groups to purchase MRI machines and have them in smaller clinics. More profit to them.

 

Most of the hospitals in the Cleveland area are now owned or affiliated with two groups, The Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals.

 

The major cause of personal bankruptcy here is medical bills, like 40-50%.