Tue 10 Jan 2006
Today I go see the doctor for my first post op appointment. Yesterday I took Jera for a walk on my own and found I was pretty exhausted by the time I got back. We went slowly but I still felt bushed when I got back,after I had some dinner I crashed for a couple of hours.
On the walk I noticed my teeth were feeling kind of weird. As if they weren’t exactly attached to my gums. Sounds a bit odd but that’s what it felt like.
I had a call from the anaesthetist last night. He just wanted to check on how I was doing, which I thought was pretty professional of him. When I relayed some of my experiences of the past few days he reminded me that I had undergone a big surgery,emphasis on the big.
I guess I haven’t really absorbed what was done to me. Having sinus surgery sounds so benign,not big or dangerous like heart surgery or opening up your stomach or a mastectomy,not that he compared it to those,in fact I wish I had asked him what he would compare it to just so I could have a better sense of what big meant to him.
Joe’s gone again for a few days with clients. I miss him when he’s gone. This month we won’t see each other much as I’ll be gone for the last two weeks at Sundance, and he’ll be here or traveling himself.
Presumeably my strength will continue to grow, especially since I’ll be walking Jera more often than this past week.
I added some new links to the site this morning,check them out.
ciao
How did the private/public hospital care compare to what one experiences up North?
Mackie the hospital scenario was very good. The care is as attentive and adequate as I assume it would be up north. Where it gets you is in the cost. I am awaiting the bill for the time spent there.It was only day surgery but I did have an anaethetist as well as the doctor and will have to cover some of their costs. I was impressed that the anaethetist phoned me a week post surgery to see how I was faring. I thought that was pretty cool and very professional. Don’t know that that would happen all the time here but it was a pleasent surprise nonetheless.
The way my insurance works is that I have a monthly premium with a deductible and an 80/20 percent co pay on top. So once the deductible is used up I pay 20 per cent of the cost and my insurance pays 80 but I also have a a 20 dollar copay per visit.
Although not every doctor insists that I make the 20 buck copay up front,sometimes that just gets figured into the bill.
In spite of my description above I still don’t entirely understand how health insurance works here.
Insurance will send me a record of what they have been charged by the doctor,compared to what they are actually willing to pay and then whatever is leftover is my responsibility. However I then wait for the doctor to send me a bill and the two amounts aren’t always the same.
I suppose one of the greatest benefits is the speed with which you can be attended to when it comes to seeing a doctor or specialist,deciding to have the surgery and then actually having it. That part all transpired in less than three weeks…not so I don’t think in Canada…still I pine for the simpler system of ours or what I always perceived to be a simple system. I have seen more doctors here in the last five years then I probably saw in 20 years at home. Granted I am older and things are changing physically but it still feels like overkill sometimes.
Costs are astronomical here and if you don’t have insurance you are screwed.
Don’t know if I answered your question or not but I hope so.