The Editor:
I am sending this letter to our Premier Brad Wall, MLA Doreen Eagles, CTV News, The Leader-Post, The Estevan Mercury and of course my mom (who always knows best) so that maybe someone can help me.
I want to know if anyone can tell me how I can get my husband in for an MRI? Is my only option to go out of province or out of our country to get the care that is needed? Someone please tell me what is wrong with this picture when there is a private clinic in Regina that you can use only if you are on Saskatchewan workers' compensation?
My husband is a small business owner/operator in Estevan who has been unable to work for the last seven weeks. He has been to the specialist in Regina and they believe he has something compressing in his upper back/neck and needs to have an MRI to determine what the problem is. He has times when his whole left side goes to sleep or both his legs will go to sleep. He can't stand too long, sit too long, drive too long and basically, the more he moves, the worse it gets.
He woke one morning with a stiff neck, but brushed it off to sleeping wrong. He continued to work this way for about a week and a half until he could hardly even move without being in such pain. After suffering through the weekend with very little sleep, he got into the local chiropractor for treatments. After two weeks of treatments, two X-rays, a trip to the doctor in between chiropractor appointments and still no improvement I decided it was time to go with him to see what the heck was happening.
We finally got in to see Dr. Grobler in Estevan who sent him for blood work and yet another X-ray, which then we waited for another week to get those results. After dealing with a different and very rude doctor in Estevan, we were able to get back in to Dr. Grobler and he sent us to Regina to see a specialist rather quickly.
On Feb. 25, we drove two hours to Regina to see the specialist (a long trip for someone who can't sit too long). He told us that he would have to get an MRI done so that we could see what was compressing in his upper back/neck. He would put him on the urgent list. According to the paper I received for an MRI request urgent means two to seven days - not too bad right? Well I didn't think so until the secretary at the specialist's office told me not to bother looking at those so called time estimates because they were totally wrong.
Well let me tell you that this system is ridiculous. It took a week for the specialist to finally receive back the dictated notes just to send in the request (those dictated notes have to be sent out to someone privately). A request for an MRI has to be accompanied by these dictated notes or else it will be sent back to the office I am told. Then once the request is sent to the radiologist, he decides where on the list you are placed.
Now that the request is sent in we wait some more to hear when he is scheduled and I am told it could be anywhere from six to eight months. So in the meantime what happens to his business? Do we just close the doors, stop feeding our family, what do we do? What if he moves the wrong way and ends up paralyzed, will anyone care then? How do we know that this won't cause long-term problems?
Now don't get me wrong, I do understand that everything has a process, but while all this BS is taking place, I am told by numerous people, doctors, etc. that we could just go to Calgary, Edmonton, B.C. or even Minot, N.D. to get this MRI done. Of course this will cost us and no one knows for sure how much, but it should get done much sooner.
What the heck is wrong with this province that I can pay damn good after tax dollars to Alberta, B.C. or even Minot to get an MRI, but I cannot pay a private clinic in Regina? Can someone please tell me what exactly I am missing that makes this OK? Where are my Saskatchewan/Canadian tax dollars going?
For your information a C-Spine MRI in Minot, N.D. costs $2500 and could happen in about one and a half to two weeks. But why do I have to pay in another country for this when there is a perfectly capable clinic in Regina?
I understand there are a lot of people in Saskatchewan that are a lot worse off than us, but what can we do with a system like this? When will someone actually care? Who can help me?
I look forward to a reply ASAP!
Sincerely,
Marnie Wilson,
Bienfait
