Uh Oh! It's Nader: "21 Ways Why Canada's Health Care is Better."--Any DU Canadians Care to Discuss?

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70. The knee replacement thing is variable.

Last edited Mon Nov 25, 2013, 02:26 AM - Edit history (1)

Same with hip replacement. It varies from province to province, from city to city. My xFIL had a double knee replacement (well, one at a time, but close together). My xMIL will tell you he waited for years. She's mistaken. Some people don't understand that when the doctor says, "You may need a knee replacement someday/soon/whatever" doesn't mean you automatically go on the list. It means you might need one sometime in the future and you need to go back to your doctor. Then your doctor has to refer you to a specialist. My xFIL never followed up, never told any other doctors about his knee pain. Anyhow, finally when they moved, my xFIL told his doctor he was still in pain and his doctor asked him why he didn't say anything sooner? He had a new knee 3 weeks later. His second replacement was done as soon as his first knee was healed up, 3 months after the first one. A lot of the "I had to wait forever" stories are people who aren't clear with their doctor about their needs and just assume the doctor is going to take care of getting them on the list asap. There are a few steps that have to be followed first (as mentioned, x-rays, MRIs, referrals...) I think many Canadians are not proactive with their health care, because, unlike Americans, they don't usually have to advocate for themselves, the doctor does it for them. It can make for lazy patients, ime.

My dad had a hip replacement and he could've gotten in sooner than he did - he had to wait a few months longer than normal because he wanted a new technique for younger people who still play sports and only one surgeon in the province performed that surgery at the time. He could've had his new hip in 6 weeks if he stayed with the older method. It's been 6 years since his hip replacement and he's thrilled he waited the extra time because he got the surgery that allows him to continue with his sports. There are now a few surgeons that perform the surgery and the wait list is significantly shorter.

For the record, I know dozens of people who have had surgeries because of old sports injuries. None of these people were in regular pain because of their issues - they just wanted something fixed so they could continue with sports and keep up their level of play. My own brother had a shoulder surgery due to a lot of hockey and baseball injuries, and then recently had a second surgery because he wants to continue to play hockey without worrying about injuring his shoulder. Day to day his shoulder is fine. He just wanted to keep playing sports. So he had a second surgery. All covered under our health care. So there may be some waiting for those types of surgeries, because there are tons of people who want them, and because there are few surgeons that perform them, PLUS, those injuries generally don't affect day-to-day functionality, so I personally don't see the big deal of waiting for those types of surgeries.