Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Heart Surgery
My dad, the marathoner, is undergoing a heart bypass as we speak. He got a call on Friday to say that his surgery would be today. Because Canadians have a free health care system, all surgeries are on an as needed/urgency basis. Surgeons are capped at how many surgeries they can do so patients end up waiting on a wait list for a very long time. My Dad was told in April he would need his bypass and finally is having it now.
He will be in critical care drugged up for the next 48 hours then he will be transferred to ICU for another 48 hours before going up to a recovery room. Family is NOT allowed to visit him during the first 48 hours. I am skipping my running schedule this week to drive 3 hours up north to visit Dad on Fri/Sat then back down 5 hours to Portland to pick up the race pack for the Half on Sunday.
Those who pay sky-high monthly insurance premiums should be thankful that the for-profit insurance companies allow you to have any surgery you need/want almost immediately. I just wish that there could be a happy medium.
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He will be in critical care drugged up for the next 48 hours then he will be transferred to ICU for another 48 hours before going up to a recovery room. Family is NOT allowed to visit him during the first 48 hours. I am skipping my running schedule this week to drive 3 hours up north to visit Dad on Fri/Sat then back down 5 hours to Portland to pick up the race pack for the Half on Sunday.
Those who pay sky-high monthly insurance premiums should be thankful that the for-profit insurance companies allow you to have any surgery you need/want almost immediately. I just wish that there could be a happy medium.
