Before I moved to Prince George BC, I lived in the Surrey BC area. I have multiple conditions ranging from Scoliosis, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, ADHD, among others.
At this point in time I am a woman in her 30s, and I have been navigating the medical system since I was first diagnosed with Scoliosis at 13 years old. My last medical scare I had to travel to Vancouver to get a CT scan because my doctor is in Port Coquitlam and the system there does not talk to the system here in Prince George. I also cannot find a new family doctor in the Prince George area leaving me with hundreds in travel costs to have a scan – of which there is no shortage of CT scanners in Prince George, but simply the information will not travel from place to place. Why is that?
Its rather unfortunate that I am in a place where it is more simple for me to have possession of and handle my own medical files, but I cannot do that either because I am not a physician, and even if I were you cannot treat yourself.
After my last round of visiting a hospital I am afraid I am facing abandoning modern medical care and figuring things out on my own. I battle with doctors constantly, I am regularly dismissed, and I have lost countless documents from this system if we can even call it that. If that is the bar of our medical system, I honestly feel I could do better on my own – as I am sure countless Canadians with complex health needs feel.
It really isn’t surprising so many people turn to Google or AI to try and find answers since the way we are supposed to get our answers does not function as it should. It’s wild to think that every Canadian will need medical care at some point in their life, and we are not making medical access more of a priority.
It’s rather unfortunate our politicians would rather bully and belittle each other than work together as a cohesive team. Our minimum wage workers at Walmart can do it, so why can’t they?