Things that really bother you

solarz

solarz

Brigadier
Air Force Brat said:
No health care is "FREE", you can pay an excessive amount on your taxes, and that money will be spent at your own Govt's discretion and they will give health insurance to whom they please, or you can pay for much better health insurance which you choose, which meets your needs, and pay far, far, less taxes...

Many, Many, Many Canadians and Europeans, visit the US to receive health care, that they have determined is much better, and much more timely, even with the very complex rules under Obamacare, which have increased health care costs approx. 4 X what they were prior to Obamacares implementation..

In fact people from all over the world who are able come to the US to receive what in their perception is the best healthcare on the planet...

so NO, healthcare in Canada is not free, somebody is paying for it, and its NOT the Canadian Government. They tax business and citizens, and then distribute the funds according to the Govts desires and mood???
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Let me tell you about my story, Brat.

In 2016, my wife became pregnant with twins. At 18 weeks of gestation, her water broke. When we went to the hospital, they did an extensive ultrasound, and discovered that one of the twins had a congenital birth defect known as Tetralogy of Fallot. This is a condition that requires open-heart surgery, sometimes multiple surgeries. What's more, this is the twin whose amniotic sac burst, and she was now living in a womb with low amniotic fluid. This affects the development of her lungs. The doctors told us there was a high chance she would not survive birth.

They gave us three options: selectively terminate the fetus with the TOF and low amniotic fluid, terminate the pregnancy entirely, or carry on the pregnancy with the understanding that one of the twins will likely not survive, and that even if she did, she faced a life time of medical complications.

We were referred to other specialists. Selective termination turned out to be infeasible as the other twin was covering the twin with the TOF, so we were left with only two options: all or nothing.

We were referred to a specialist cardiologist. She explained to us what TOF was, and the interventions required after my baby was born, and we were left with the decision on how to proceed.

It was the most difficult decision of my life, and we had a time limit: past 24 weeks, abortion was no longer an option.

I thought long and hard about this, and in the end, it was the fact that we lived in Canada, a country where we did not need to pay anything for medical care, that convinced us to go ahead to carry the pregnancy to term.

My babies were born premature at 29 weeks. They weighed only 1000 grams each, and stayed in the NICU for over 100 days. I named them Piper and Zoey. Piper is the twin with the TOF, and she required a stent operation at 2 months old. Zoey developed an infection that progressed into meningitis. She fought for her life for over a month, and was able to recover thanks to the care of the amazing staff at Sunnybrooke Hospital. Unfortunately, Zoey developed hydrocephalus as a complication from the meningitis, and had to have a shunt implanted in her brain at 3 months old. If I were religious, I'd think God was playing a joke on me.

At 5 months, Piper underwent her heart surgery. The surgery was successful, but it took her six weeks to recover sufficiently to move out of critical care.

Thankfully, both are now healthy and rambunctious little girls. Piper in particular, is a little miracle. The doctors gave her less than 20% chance of survival, and she not only made it, but is now thriving.

We've been followed by occupational therapists and child development specialists since we took them home. They check in on the girls every two weeks or so, and marvel at their progress.

Throughout all of this, we didn't pay a single cent.

There was no way we, or any middle-class family, could afford even a fraction of the medical costs that my twins incurred. Had we not been living in a country with free health care, I would certainly have chosen to terminate the pregnancy.

Thankfully, I had options.
 
Last edited:
Air Force Brat

Air Force Brat

Brigadier
Super Moderator
solarz said:
Let me tell you about my story, Brat.

In 2016, my wife became pregnant with twins. At 18 weeks of gestation, her water broke. When we went to the hospital, they did an extensive ultrasound, and discovered that one of the twins had a congenital birth defect known as Tetralogy of Fallot. This is a condition that requires open-heart surgery, sometimes multiple surgeries. What's more, this is the twin whose amniotic sac burst, and she was now living in a womb with low amniotic fluid. This affects the development of her lungs. The doctors told us there was a high chance she would not survive birth.

They gave us three options: selectively terminate the fetus with the TOF and low amniotic fluid, terminate the pregnancy entirely, or carry on the pregnancy with the understanding that one of the twins will likely not survive, and that even if she did, she faced a life time of medical complications.

We were referred to other specialists. Selective termination turned out to be infeasible as the other twin was covering the twin with the TOF, so we were left with only two options: all or nothing.

We were referred to a specialist cardiologist. She explained to us what TOF was, and the interventions required after my baby was born, and we were left with the decision on how to proceed.

It was the most difficult decision of my life, and we had a time limit: past 24 weeks, abortion was no longer an option.

I thought long and hard about this, and in the end, it was the fact that we lived in Canada, a country where we did not need to pay anything for medical care, that convinced us to go ahead to carry the pregnancy to term.

My babies were born premature at 29 weeks. They weighed only 1000 grams each, and stayed in the NICU for over 100 days. I named them Piper and Zoey. Piper is the twin with the TOF, and she required a stent operation at 2 months old. Zoey developed an infection that progressed into meningitis. She fought for her life for over a month, and was able to recover thanks to the care of the amazing staff at Sunnybrooke Hospital. Unfortunately, Zoey developed hydrocephalus as a complication from the meningitis, and had to have a shunt implanted in her brain at 3 months old. If I were religious, I'd think God was playing a joke on me.

At 5 months, Piper underwent her heart surgery. The surgery was successful, but it took her six weeks to recover sufficiently to move out of critical care.

Thankfully, both are now healthy and rambunctious little girls. Piper in particular, is a little miracle. The doctors gave her less than 20% chance of survival, and she not only made it, but is now thriving.

We've been followed by occupational therapists and child development specialists since we took them home. They check in on the girls every two weeks or so, and marvel at their progress.

Throughout all of this, we didn't pay a single cent.

There was no way we, or any middle-class family, could afford even a fraction of the medical costs that my twins incurred. Had we not been living in a country with free health care, I would certainly have chosen to terminate the pregnancy.

Thankfully, I had options.
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Solarz, you and your wife are two of the bravest and most noble souls I could ever imagine Brother, I LOVE YOU for choosing LIFE, I'm happy you had options, and your little girls are truly amazing miracles,,,, Zoey and Piper, God Bless you beautiful little ladies and your very courageous and loving Mom and Dad.....

Brother, I also have twin girls who will be 21 in April, I can't imagine the heartache that you have been through as a Daddy, and their beautiful and brave Momma as well, you my boy have earned my undying love and respect as a Father, and a Husband. Your post breaks my heart, but the four of you have no doubt been blessed with a house full of love.......

May our loving and Gracious God bring you Blessing beyond Blessing, and a life full of love and good health for those three beautiful ladies in your life, I can truly say I've never met a braver man on SDF! you are my new Hero, don't let me forget this...

We may have our differences brother, but you deserve my greatest honor and respect, Happy Father's day brother, and many, many more!

and give each of those beautiful ladies a hug and a little smooch from our family to yours...... Bax
 
S

subotai1

Junior Member
Registered Member
Air Force Brat said:
Many, Many, Many Canadians and Europeans, visit the US to receive health care, that they have determined is much better, and much more timely, even with the very complex rules under Obamacare, which have increased health care costs approx. 4 X what they were prior to Obamacares implementation..
Click to expand...

As someone who works globally in a healthcare related space, with 20+ years experience, I hear this refrain constantly....
Except from the Canadians and Europeans who reportedly visit the US for healthcare, but actually don't.
And yes, Healthcare in most of the developed world really is more affordable and timely than in the US and just as good or better technologically.

And yes, this really bothers me, because it does NOT need to be this way.
 
D

Dolcevita

Major
subotai1 said:
As someone who works globally in a healthcare related space, with 20+ years experience, I hear this refrain constantly....
Except from the Canadians and Europeans who reportedly visit the US for healthcare, but actually don't.
And yes, Healthcare in most of the developed world really is more affordable and timely than in the US and just as good or better technologically.

And yes, this really bothers me, because it does NOT need to be this way.
Click to expand...

Interesting you mentioned this as my spouse just went back to home country for healthcare services as she cannot stand the service here in states. Just more predictability, better service and peace of mind. Most people just wouldn't know until you know better.
 
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