I am impressed by the Ontario Health Care System today. For starters the traffic on the Queensway is light and then there is a parking spot right in front of the Heart Institute. It may be a push to thank for the Premier for that, but hey, he gets cheap shots all the time so I may as well thank him for the good start.
The paperwork goes smoothly – and voila, I am given a number just like at the bakery and within 15 minutes I get a cardiogram and then am shown to the examination room where I wait and my cardiologist shows up just a few minutes behind schedule.
Young guy with the word ANIVER written in ink on his hand. (turns out it is his mom and dad’s wedding anniversary today and he needs a reminder. I like him immediately)
He pokes and prods and quizzes. He laughs at my lame jokes. I like him even more. My wife was kind enough and good enough not only to drive me down and pay for the parking , but also to sit in on the appointment. (she does not trust me to ask all the right questions)
The prognosis is that I very likely do indeed have a blockage. So I am given two options. The first is ASWD – Ass Sitting With Drugs. He did not make that term up, I did, but it basically describes what would happen. I would remain lethargic, not have fun with exercise or the outdoors, would watch lots of TV, and wait for the Reaper.
The second option is to have an angiogram to really determine what is going on. The odds are pretty good that they would be able to do an angioplasty at the same time which would, after a period of convalescence allow me to exercise and resume outdoor activities as before. There are some drawbacks to this (one example would be something charmingly called Sudden Mortality) but all in all the odds are in your favour.
He was not even finished the spiel differentiating the two options when I shouted out , in my best George Bailey voice from “It’s a Wonderful Life” ; ‘I want to live’. So I am in the lineup for the procedure, three, maybe four weeks. It should be all done by Christmas. And I know that the final outcome is beyond my control but all in all I am very grateful.
It gets better. Now that I am a cardio patient I, of course, can get the H1N1 shot. My wife (who has asthma) and I lined up at the local clinic at 12:30 and are shot by 2:00 p.m.
So, all in all, today was a good use of a vacation day. And while Premier McGuinty will never read this I just have to say “Thanks Dalton for a very good day”