North Coast Medical Experience

[Ken]

Happy Ending to this Thread

I'm happy to be able to report that Barbara returned to Sosua today, 19 days from when she fell and fractured her hip. New left hip and a cane, otherwise pretty much the same as when she left.

Both the doctor and therapist are very pleased with her recovery and attribute it to the fact she gets a lot of exercise. We haven't owned a car for 20 years, so walk most places and do a lot of lugging and toting. Additionally, she swims and does aerobic type exercises in the pool. Additionally, she meets once a week with a personal trainer to do stretching and weight lifting exercises. There was a payoff for all this exercises.

Following the operation, she walked with crutches for about a week, then with one crutch. Monday, the 15th day after the operation, she switched to a can. She does not use it to support her weight, simply as segurity. When working in the kitchen, for example, she walks as normally as possible, not using the cane since she can get support from furniture, if needed.

She has been taking long walks outdoors, up to a mile or so round trip to go to a nearby store, and will probably be seen on the main street of Sosua starting tomorrow. Part of her therapy is to take a good walk each day for a "prudent" distance.

I can't promise such a speedy recovery to everyone getting a hip replacement, since the therapist says it is quite common to spend 2-3 months on a walker/crutches before switching to a cane. But Barbara told the therapist this wasn't for her, and it turned out she was right.

For those who don't know Barbara, she is a very young 71.

She is now talking about getting a knee replacement. One of her knees is a disaster area, having been operated on twice as a result of a skiing accident about 25 years ago. It bothers her a lot, so now thinks she'd like it replaced, too. Also, one foot gives her a lot of trouble as a result of not being set properly after she fell off a ladder in boat yard in Venezuela a few years. That is also a candidate for attention, now that whe has a hip replacement under her belt.

 

[FORD]

Great Report!

I'm happy to be able to report that Barbara returned to Sosua today, 19 days from when she fell and fractured her hip. New left hip and a cane, otherwise pretty much the same as when she left.

Both the doctor and therapist are very pleased with her recovery and attribute it to the fact she gets a lot of exercise. We haven't owned a car for 20 years, so walk most places and do a lot of lugging and toting. Additionally, she swims and does aerobic type exercises in the pool. Additionally, she meets once a week with a personal trainer to do stretching and weight lifting exercises. There was a payoff for all this exercises.

Following the operation, she walked with crutches for about a week, then with one crutch. Monday, the 15th day after the operation, she switched to a can. She does not use it to support her weight, simply as segurity. When working in the kitchen, for example, she walks as normally as possible, not using the cane since she can get support from furniture, if needed.

She has been taking long walks outdoors, up to a mile or so round trip to go to a nearby store, and will probably be seen on the main street of Sosua starting tomorrow. Part of her therapy is to take a good walk each day for a "prudent" distance.

I can't promise such a speedy recovery to everyone getting a hip replacement, since the therapist says it is quite common to spend 2-3 months on a walker/crutches before switching to a cane. But Barbara told the therapist this wasn't for her, and it turned out she was right.

For those who don't know Barbara, she is a very young 71.

She is now talking about getting a knee replacement. One of her knees is a disaster area, having been operated on twice as a result of a skiing accident about 25 years ago. It bothers her a lot, so now thinks she'd like it replaced, too. Also, one foot gives her a lot of trouble as a result of not being set properly after she fell off a ladder in boat yard in Venezuela a few years. That is also a candidate for attention, now that whe has a hip replacement under her belt.

Thank you very much, Ken for your interesting and informative story. All the very best to Barbara and its nice to know that if the "worst case medical scenario" occurs - costs and care is both available and fully satisfactory.

 

[duhtree]

Ken thanks for all your reports on your wifes accident and her terrific recovery. I asked a question in a different medical thread but didn't get an answer. If you don't mind could you post or email the end results of all costs associated with the hip replacement. Thanks, John

 

[Robert]

If you don't mind could you post or email the end results of all costs associated with the hip replacement. Thanks, John

If you read above, you will see Ken posted detailed costs associated with the hip replacement. It came out to about US$7,000.

 

[Robert]

Great news that Barbara is back and getting along nicely after just under 3 weeks. If she has the other work done, she will be catching up with Steve Austin

 

[judyisnice]

Good work Ken

Glad to here your home and well.

But how did Barbara find the ride home, it's not a five min.drive.

I'd also like to get more info on the place to stay and who to get in touch with for my hip.

Thanks Judy

 

[Ken]

But how did Barbara find the ride home, it's not a five min.drive.

Since we don't have a car, I hired a taxi for the return trip. No problem. From SD to Santiago she sat in the front seat--pushed back to provide good leg room, then after we had lunch at MacDonald's in Santiago, she rested in the back seat (except when she got out to buy fruit at a stand on the mountain road) for the rest of the trip to Sosua.

Will provide more info by emai.

If you are serious about a hip replacement, Judy, Barbara says the best thing to start immediately is getting your legs in shape--assuming they aren't already. This is paying off big time for Barbara.

 

[Escott]

I'm happy to be able to report that Barbara returned to Sosua today, 19 days from when she fell and fractured her hip.

I am glad she has returned home. Nicer to be here than there. Please give her my regards and I will stop in and say hello tomorrow.

Scott

 

[twhitehead]

Hip Surgery In Canada

From todays toronto star - what this would cost for us Canadians to go to US...tom

Nov. 26, 2004. 06:30 AM

$25,000 gets you a hip with a trip
Business links patients, U.S. surgeons
All-inclusive operation for a hefty fee

PRITHI YELAJA
STAFF REPORTER

Need hip surgery?

For a "package price" of $25,000 (U.S.) a private medical referral service setting up shop in Toronto can get you the operation and will also throw in the cost of a hotel stay and meals for a companion.

The hefty price includes fees for a surgeon, anesthetist and nursing care at a hospital near the U.S. border.

The Vancouver-based company, which provides referrals to the U.S. for patients needing everything from surgery to diagnostic tests, is also expanding into Quebec.

Business is booming because of lengthy wait lists, especially for joint replacement surgery, which makes up 90 per cent of their business, said Rick Baker, president of Timely Medical Alternatives Inc., which has been in operation for a year. The rising Canadian dollar is also boosting his bottom line, he added.

"Some of the stories would make your hair curl. These are horror stories of people facing interminable waits," Baker said. "Finally, in desperation, they get in touch with us and 17 days later they have a new hip."

The average wait to receive treatment after seeing an orthopedic surgeon ranges from 53.4 weeks in Saskatchewan to 10.7 weeks in New Brunswick. In Ontario, the median wait is 21 weeks.

Health policy experts say going south of the border for care is not new, as Ontarians already have that option. What's new is the middleman making a profit on the idea, said Dr. Philip Berger of the Medical Reform Group, which advocates for a publicly funded universal health system.

However, who pays if the patient has a complication, asked Berger. The company's policy is to immediately transfer a patient to the nearest Canadian hospital in case of complications.

But that means Canadian taxpayers are on the hook, said Berger.

"That's just theft on the backs of Canadian citizens. Why should the Canadian system subsidize complications of American-funded surgery? The doctors who did the (elective) surgery should be responsible for remedying any problems."

Baker disagreed. "A stroke or heart attack on the table is a completely unrelated issue to the elective surgery they went to the States for. People have been paying taxes all their life and they're fully entitled to be cared for in the Canadian system," he said.

Patients should also question the quality of the doctors, said Berger. But Baker insisted his company has arrangements only with doctors who are among the best in their field.

Many of his clients are well-to-do, but most are middle-class, some of whom are remortgaging their homes to come up with the cash, Baker said, adding that Canadian doctors, concerned about waits, are also sending patients to him. In return those doctors get a charitable donation to their hospital.

Baker, whose background is marketing and advertising (he used to work for Procter and Gamble), declined to disclose the fee he charges for his service, saying only that it is a portion of the total package price patients pay.

Joy and Derek Thomas of Vancouver, both 75, have used the service and said they'd do it again despite the price. Joy faced a one-year wait for hip replacement surgery in B.C. She was in pain and crippled by severe arthritis.

"I was housebound. I couldn't do anything. The pain was very bad because it was bone rubbing on bone," said Joy, a retired music teacher.

Within a month of being referred to St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham, Wash., 45 minutes south of Vancouver, Joy had her surgery and was pain-free.

Instead of waiting five months for an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) in Canada, her husband got one within a couple of days south of the border for $465 (U.S.). "It was well worth the money," said Derek, a retired executive.

Baker has set up arrangements to refer patients from Ontario and Quebec to hospitals in Detroit, Buffalo, Burlington, Vt. and Petosky, Mich., just south of Sault St. Marie.

The president of the Canadian Medical Association said he is not surprised that patients are flocking to the company or that doctors themselves are making referrals.

"They are filling a vacuum. They're pouncing on a big need that's out there," said Dr. Albert Schumacher. With restricted operating hours and a lack of equipment, doctors can't provide patients with timely care in many cases, said Schumacher, adding that the wait time for an elective colonoscopy, even for someone who has a family history of colon cancer, is about a year.

The association is pushing the government to establish benchmark safe wait times in key areas such as cancer treatment and cataract, cardiac and joint replacement surgery. It also wants a Canada-wide referral network, posted on the Internet so patients know what hospitals have extra capacity and are available to treat them, said Schumacher.

"We're asking the government to create in Canada exactly what these people (Baker) are doing in the U.S. If there's extra capacity in the system, it's obviously better to keep that money in Canada and Canadians in the country."

Although people are paying up front for the services, they shouldn't expect to invoice the government to recoup their money, said Dan Strasbourg, spokesperson for the Ontario Ministry of Health. Patients going out of province for care who expect to be reimbursed need to have prior approval, he said. Ontario is working to shorten wait times, pointing to the $107 million announced by the province last week to address the issue, he said.

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