I would like to share a story about the awesome healthcare my hubby received in Burnaby, BC Canada last week. I will keep it as short as I can.
If you have been following my posts, you know we just come home from a great vacation with my wonderful son, Ryan and his wife Katrina at the Paradisus Resort in Cancun, Mexico.
On the day we were leaving Cancun, my husband started seeing large black floaters in his right eye and was very concerned. We didn’t want to say anything to cause our family to worry as they traveled home. We just wanted to make it home safe and sound and then we would tell them.
We had a horrible flight home (you can read that in another blog I posted HERE) on Sunwing Air. However, not as terrible as another passenger… a lady who had caught a parasite on an excursion while vacationing in Mexico. She was waiting to board the same flight as us back to Vancouver. She was in a wheelchair, clearly upset and talking to her family back home on her cell. We started chatting with her and asked her what happened. Her story was horrific! She almost died trying to get help in a Mexican hospital as they didn’t accept her travel insurance. It wasn’t until, after 2 days of suffering, she and her friend paid them $3000.00 US Dollars that they treated her until she was well enough to go home and get further treatment for enlarged kidney damage and a host of other ailments. She had another setback on the way home and had to have paramedics look at her when we landed in Winnipeg (another story). She should have been rushed to Emergency when we got back to Vancouver – she wasn’t. I blame Sunwing, not our medical system.
We, on the other hand, had a totally different experience.
The day after we got home my husband went to our neighborhood walk-in clinic and saw a doctor about his eye. Glen downplayed his eye floaters issue (tough guy) so the Dr. wasn’t overly concerned but still booked him an appointment with an eye specialist. Glen never made it to that appointment because 2 days later he lost 75% of vision in his right eye!
I was at an appointment when I got the panicked call from my hubby that he couldn’t see! He was freaking out and he never does that!
I rushed home and picked him up and drove to the Burnaby General Hospital Emergency Room. (I was hoping I didn’t have to come back here as I spent way too much time there with a health issue last year.)
We arrived at about 4 pm on a Saturday. Normally this ER is a complete zoo. We got him registered and then settled in for the anticipated long wait. But, to our surprise, in only 35 minutes and Glen was in the eye emergency room! The nurse told us that he had been bumped to the top of the list because of the type of injury.
Within minutes the ER doctor examined Glen to the best of his abilities and then told us that he needed to see an ophthalmologist. This is now 6 pm. The doctor said he would call and see if anyone would be available to see him tonight. He also warned us that it might have to wait until Sunday but told us to ‘Sit tight and I will see what I can do’.
After less than an hour a man came walking in wearing street clothes. He introduced himself as Dr. Dhaliwal an ophthalmologist. He immediately did an inspection of Glen’s eye and within minutes told him that his eye was hemorrhaging and that he needed to see a Retina Specialist. Dr. Dhaliwal told us to hold on while he made calls to see who was available tonight.
After another 30 minutes, he came back and said he couldn’t get a hold of anyone but he left messages. He also said not to worry as someone will call back to the ER eventually and WOW… by 7:30 pm we were sent to a private medical office in Metrotown to meet up with the Retina Specialist Dr. R. Dennis Bhui at 8:15pm!
Dr. Bhui looked at Glen’s eye and confirmed a large tear, hemorrhage and the concern for possible retinal detachment (watch >>this video<< if you are seeing ‘Floaters and/or Flashes’). He did his best to repair the damaged eye with a laser but he was not happy as there was too much blood and he couldn’t tell if he got it all. We left his office at 10:30 pm to come home.
Dr. Bhui wanted to see Glen the next day so they squeezed him into his busy office schedule. The next day there was some improvement but not enough to satisfy him. He asked Glen to go to the hospital the following day as he was in surgeries there all day and would fit Glen in between them. Wednesday at noon Glen got checked into the Burnaby General Hospital Emergency Room to wait for Dr. Bhui.
Within an hour he was being examined again. Amazing! This time the hemorrhaging had cleared enough for Dr. Bhui to get a better look at the damaged eye. He decided then and there that Glen needed emergency surgery. Glen was prepped for surgery by the very busy ER personnel and before we knew it, he was on a bed being sent up to an operating room. The surgery went well and Glen walked out of the hospital at 5 pm that day.
The point of this story is to say just how well my husband and I were treated by everyone!
People are always complaining about our medical system and sometimes for good reason. For us, every time one of us has been at the Burnaby General ER they have been great! You may have to wait for a while but once you see a doctor they do their utmost to help you solve your problem.
We would like to thank all the staff and the ER doctor who helped Glen out that night. Also, Dr. Harjinder Dhaliwal for coming to the hospital on a Saturday night to see him. And Dr. Bhui who has been absolutely amazing! Thank you so much. If this had happened the week before in Mexico I am sure the outcome would not be the same.
Our healthcare system may not be perfect but it is far better than most other places in this world.
A very grateful couple,
Jan Addams Atkinson and Glen Atkinson
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