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Agressive cancer is usually in the lymph nodes. "Aggressive" in the cancer world means fast evolving. They're rarely removed with surgery alone, the person requires neoadjuvant chemo and then surgery. Nice try.
Yes she got chemo after surgery....nice try as well...again I do not care what you want to believe to justify waiting 20 days from definitive diagnosis (meaning they decided what to do) to surgery....if that makes you feel better...
My dad died of cancer...surgery and then after chemo and radiation....you are not the only "experienced" here.
Before and after surgery. When cancer has spread to a distant site treatment is palliative in ANY country. Even Mayo says "get your affairs in order" to anyone in that position. I am really not seeing a difference in terms of QUALITY of care on each side of the border. I have chatted with Americans on a major cancer forum online and some of them wait two months for surgery. It depends on which type but there are many, many people "waiting" for cancer surgery in the U.S.
Now we are talking, next time do not question other's people experiences....sometimes you wait for surgery because the specialist want to see how you respond to certain therapies and other factors unrelated to waiting for resources....there are many factors involved, my point is that when the specialist(s) decide that you need surgery for sure, you should not wait almost a month....
Another case of a friend of ours in a different city...a type of lymphoma in a rare location (under the cheek), from decision to go surgery to under surgery in few days as well.
Someone on this forum some time ago posted some links to data about success rate for treatment of many diseases and the US was ahead...if I remember the keyword I will look for it and post it.
Americans die because they can not pay for healthcare. Many lose their homes. Many can no longer work after being diagnosed and lose their work health insurance. Many only have COBRA for two years too, can has the possibility of coming back and when it does.. Oh boy, are those folks screwed.
None of those things happen in Canada. So tell me who's superior? Tell me.
Do not switch the topic of the conversation...we all know the faults of the American system and I would never advocate for it for other countries, we were talking about something else......however a lot of the horror stories are largely amplified......the health care system in the US has not changed largely because the vast majority of people are ok with it....but it does need change...however I would hardly adopt the Canadian system.
One of the largest problem with the US healthcare system are people that find themselves unemployed but have assets (Obamacare already introduced some asset shielding for Medicaid recipients)
Poor people are covered, in many states at 138% of poverty threshold, meaning you regular retail job....not to mention the several state initiatives for affordable/free healthcare for low income people.
The odious pre-existing condition issue, thank God, is gone and that was a big deal.....as you can see in recent months it is now political dynamite to try to strip it the protection clause.
The US system is largely a patchwork of states and federal initiatives but you get covered if you want to...it requires you to be more pro-active in your healthcare choices.
All of this to and fro over whose is best is wasted energy. Both countries must constantly strive to improve or the world leaves us in it's dust. .
T6his is a pretty theory, but reality is quite different. Patients who are suffering have no choice but to discuss where the best doctors are. Those who can afford to get treatment abroad, do.
T6his is a pretty theory, but reality is quite different. Patients who are suffering have no choice but to discuss where the best doctors are. Those who can afford to get treatment abroad, do.
As someone who lives in Canada's most populous region, with some of the nation's longest wait-times for care, I can tell you that I have seen first-hand how excellent our health care system is.
Over the past two decades, myself and many of my friends and family have required care for all kinds of chronic and acute ailments. I have had the opportunity to see many sectors of our health-care system, from family physicians working in low-income communities, to surgeons, oncologists and other specialists, end-of-life care, urgent care, emergency rooms in some of the nation's busiest hospitals, nursing homes, publicly-funded home healthcare, as well as aftercare like physiotherapy, counseling, and years of follow-up after major illnesses and surgeries.
Through these years of seeing the health care system up-close when friends, family and myself were ill and needed care — sometimes long-term, often specialized — I have been consistently impressed by our health system. It is truly amazing. There was a time when my second home was a hospital or publicly-funded long-term care centre. I saw the dedication and skill of countless doctors, nurses, personal service workers, social workers, therapists, and a number of other professional caregivers. When my father was diagnosed with stage IV cancer, he was given only a few months to live. The excellent treatment he received at local hospitals kept him alive for three years. When he died, it was in a hospice, where his pain was managed and he was cared for and pampered by staff, surrounded by family.
When a close friend had issues with addiction, she was rescued from overdose by paramedics, given prompt and excellent treatment in the ER of a downtown hospital for an abcess, was referred to numerous publicly-funded inpatient and outpatient treatment centres where she received excellent care from a dedicated staff, and ultimately had her life saved in an emergency room by the competent doctors who quickly diagnosed a life-threatening staph infection in her heart, resucitated her after she went into cardiac arrest, gave her medication to stop the strokes she was having, and ultimately replaced her heart valve at one of the world's top cardiac centres — the Munk Centre at Toronto General. She received superb aftercare, was put on opioid replacement therapy, and lives a health and happy life now, with ongoing care from doctors, nurses, and pharmacists who ensure that she and her valve are healthy.
When my 90-year-old grandfather had a fall that kept him off his feet for a month, a nurse came every day to check on him and administer medication. When he was unable to walk again after being immobile for a month, he was put in a long-term care wing of the local hospital until a space opened up for him at one of three local long-term care centres that we were able to choose. My grandmother had no serious health problems, but she was given a room next to his, and they spent the last year of their lives in an excellent facility, surrounded by staff who treated them like family. Because we were able to choose the facility, it was a short distance from our home so that we could visit every day. The staff treated us like family and made it possible for us to spend whole days together, letting us eat together in the dining room and host family parties in a room reserved for events and fully equipped with a kitchen. My grandparents lived the last year of their lives cared for by a staff of amazing professionals who we trusted with their lives and well-being. They died peacefully, surrounded by family, friends, and the staff who had cared for them and cried with us when my grandmother and then granfather passed.
I have countless examples like this, but the ones I have described are not outstanding. They are representative of the kind of health care I have witnessed here in the GTA. Our system is not perfect — many important areas of healthcare like dentistry and optometry are not covered under our single-payer system. Prescription drugs are also not covered, but they are much cheaper here than in the US because our government purchases the medication in bulk directly from the pharmaceutical companies and is able to negotiate much better prices as a result.
I don't know anyone who has died waiting for health care here. I'm sure it happens, but I think it is quite rare and preferable to the free market system where thousands die every year because they cannot afford the care, or go bankrupt trying to pay for it. Ours is a triage system and if you are very sick you will receive care right away. Areas like orthopedics can have longer wait times for procedures like hip replacements, and certain elective procedures can also have fairly long wait times in some parts of Canada. Wait times for certain specialists can also be fairly long in some parts of Canada, but the triage system ensures that the people who are sickest see specialists promptly.
No healthcare system is perfect, but I am very grateful for the one we have in Canada. I do wish more kinds of care, like dental, were covered by our system, but even there emergency dental work is covered by our system. For example, an abcessed tooth.
I think that certain groups that favour the free market approach find and exploit families who have not received the care that is the norm in our system and portray these peoples' stories as representative of the Canadian healthcare system, when it is actually the opposite.
There certainly are Canadians who go to the US to pay for healthcare — especially elective procedures. Just like with anything in the free market, money gets you faster service. However, I don't think it necessarily gets you better healthcare. If you have the money to pay for a procedure in the US that you might have to wait a couple months for in Canada, it's none of my concern. But to claim that people are dying or suffering with terrible illness because of Canada's healthcare system is a gross misrepresentation of the facts. Sure, money will buy you anything you want whenever you want. Everyone knows that. But the vast majority of Canadians do not want that kind of tiered healthcare system. If the wealthy want to go to the US and pay for healthcare...let them. Many people believe that the more you pay for something, the better it must be. The rich generally think themselves entitled to better everything than the rest of the world, and some refuse to participate in a national healthcare system that treats everyone equally and gives priority to those who are most in need of care. They believe that their money should afford them something faster and better than what everyone else gets. So let them go to the US and pay for it if they want.
^^In New Zealand people pay $5 for most prescriptions. That's it. The Fifth Esate had an interesting show on it. We need a national Pharmacare plan like that.
Majority of people (those that are young and healthy) don't really care about all this healthcare drama to be honest.... yes maybe some upper middle class, old Canadians go south to get "faster" healthcare maybe?
Majority of people (those that are young and healthy) don't really care about all this healthcare drama to be honest.... yes maybe some upper middle class, old Canadians go south to get "faster" healthcare maybe?
Start paying out of pocket expenses and you'll see the benefits of Canadas healthcare system . As for Canadians going stateside to get their healthcare? if they are paying cash they will have to be very rich to do this, eg;https://searchprivacy.co/?q=american...4a63b63119#web
^^And even rich people are surprisingly cheap. I can't think of any who would want to throw money away.
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