My Heart, My Choice

Canadian Politician comes to the United Stated for Health Care.

Source

'My heart, my choice,' Williams says, defending decision for U.S. heart surgery
By Tara Brautigam (CP) – 22 hours ago

An unapologetic Danny Williams says he was aware his trip to the United States for heart surgery earlier this month would spark outcry, but he concluded his personal health trumped any public fallout over the controversial decision.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Williams said he went to Miami to have a "minimally invasive" surgery for an ailment first detected nearly a year ago, based on the advice of his doctors.

"This was my heart, my choice and my health," Williams said late Monday from his condominium in Sarasota, Fla.

"I did not sign away my right to get the best possible health care for myself when I entered politics."

The 60-year-old Williams said doctors detected a heart murmur last spring and told him that one of his heart valves wasn't closing properly, creating a leakage.

He said he was told at the time that the problem was "moderate" and that he should come back for a checkup in six months.

Eight months later, in December, his doctors told him the problem had become severe and urged him to get his valve repaired immediately or risk heart failure, he said.

His doctors in Canada presented him with two options - a full or partial sternotomy, both of which would've required breaking bones, he said.

He said he spoke with and provided his medical information to a leading cardiac surgeon in New Jersey who is also from Newfoundland and Labrador. He advised him to seek treatment at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami.

That's where he was treated by Dr. Joseph Lamelas, a cardiac surgeon who has performed more than 8,000 open-heart surgeries.

Williams said Lamelas made an incision under his arm that didn't require any bone breakage.

"I wanted to get in, get out fast, get back to work in a short period of time," the premier said.

Williams said he didn't announce his departure south of the border because he didn't want to create "a media gong show," but added that criticism would've followed him had he chose to have surgery in Canada.

"I would've been criticized if I had stayed in Canada and had been perceived as jumping a line or a wait list. ... I accept that. That's public life," he said.

"(But) this is not a unique phenomenon to me. This is something that happens with lots of families throughout this country, so I make no apologies for that."

Williams said his decision to go to the U.S. did not reflect any lack of faith in his own province's health care system.

"I have the utmost confidence in our own health care system in Newfoundland and Labrador, but we are just over half a million people," he said.

"We do whatever we can to provide the best possible health care that we can in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Canadian health care system has a great reputation, but this is a very specialized piece of surgery that had to be done and I went to somebody who's doing this three or four times a day, five, six days a week."

He quipped that he had "a heart of a 40-year-old, so that gives me 20 years new life," and said he intends to run in the next provincial election in 2011.

"I'm probably going to be around for a long time, hopefully, if God willing," he said.

"God forbid for the Canadian public I won't be around longer than ever."

Williams also said he paid for the treatment, but added he would seek any refunds he would be eligible for in Canada.

"If I'm entitled to any reimbursement from any Canadian health care system or any provincial health care system, then obviously I will apply for that as anybody else would," he said.

"But I wrote out the cheque myself and paid for it myself and to this point, I haven't even looked into the possibility of any reimbursement. I don't know what I'm entitled to, if anything, and if it's nothing, then so be it."

He is expected back at work in early March.

Government Run Healthcare

The Virginia Pilot is reporting that Senator Webb is calling for an investigation of the Hampton VA Medical Center.

Webb said that since 2007 his office has received 149 complaints about the facility, ranging from abusive patient treatment to wrongful death. A 2008 assessment by the VA's inspector general found that the center failed to comply with a number of policies and guidelines, he said, and its scores on a patient-perception survey did not meet targets.

I needed to get MRIs done on both of my knees. I called to make an appointment and was told that I needed to see my primary care person before getting a consult for the MRIs. So I ask to make an appointment and four months away is the soonest I can get in. A few weeks later I get a letter in the mail telling me to report to the Lab two to ten days prior to my appointment for bloodwork.

A week prior to my appointment I drive up to Hampton and and go to the lab. I take a number and stand in line and wait for the lady to call my number (Think DMV). Once my number is called I exchange pleasantries with the lady and she looks me up in the computer. After a few minutes of clicking she starts to mumble to herself about people not having orders. I ask if that she is referring to me and she says, "there is no order for lab work so I can't help you". I show her the letter telling me to come to the lab and she shrugs and tells me to go to primary.

Now that I am left standing there I look around and head over to the sign that says "Primary Two" and stand in line again. After a while the lady calls out, "Next Veteran" and it is my turn to approach the counter. I show her the letter and explain that the lab did not have an order. She tells me that, " she cannot do anything until I see the Care Provider. So I guess that the letter telling me to report to the lab is meaningless.

A week later on the day of my appointment I am an hour early and I go to check in at the front counter and stand in line. It appears that only a few people are working at the check in counter and there are a number of empty spots but I am not sure and it is not lunch time. After about 20 minutes it is my turn and the gentleman looks me up in the computer. He is rather polite and nice but he appears a bit harried. He prints out two lines on a piece of paper, hands it to me and points to Primary Care. I walk over to primary care and stand in line. Once it is my turn I hand over my letter and paperwork and tell the lady I am here for my appointment. She looks me up in the computer and gestures over to the waiting seats and tells me someone will call my name.

So I sit with all of the coughing and sneezing people and wait for about 45 minutes. It is about 30 minutes past my appointment time now and I finally get called back. The Nurse takes my vitals and asks a bunch of questions,typing my answers into the computer. She is rather nice and explains that they are short of help. While in the room another nurse comes in and asks to borrow one of the machines because there are not enough for all of the rooms. The nurse now directs me to another waiting room, called the Green Room. There are no empty seats so I stand in the corner and try not to breathe in from the guy coughing on the other side.

After about another 20 minutes a different person call my name. This lady is a physicians assistant. She will be the one that takes care of me. She asks a bunch of questions and types the answer into the computer. Offers me a consult for cane, a Hepatitis C test, a Flu Shot, some other tests and what have you. What I really came here for is the MRIs for my knees. Oh well we have to schedule another appointment for that and the wait is about NINE MONTHS!!

So at best it will be 13 months from the time I called to even get to the MRI machine. We cannot afford Government Run Healthcare. Anyone stupid enough to think that we should have Government Run Healthcare should be required to get their health care from the VA and see how it really works.