The health care system in British Columbia is broken. My wife Marieke was in severe pains due to osteoarthritis in both of her hips. Walking became more and more difficult and she ended up using a walking cane, then a walker and since November 2022 also used a wheelchair.
The surgeon who she visited in Surrey had no professional way of understanding Marieke’s situation and diagnosed her like she was the same as all of his other patients.
We decided to get bilateral total hip replacement done in Gent Belgium by the ANCA Clinic. We privately funded this much needed surgery. The surgeon in Belgium found out that Marieke’s situation was so bad, that she would have likely lost her pelvis base after the summer of 2023 if she did not get this looked after right away.
The long wait times in Canada are a disgrace for the reputation of this country. As a patient, Marieke was not taken seriously by the medical system, which included the orthopedic surgeon in Surrey, the family doctor and the hospital who didn’t want to provide the X-Rays to her for the Belgian surgeon to look at.
Her bilateral hip surgery went really well. She was able to walk without crutches within 6 weeks after surgery.
This is a 9 minutes impression of the experience in a first world medical system in Gent, Belgium. We call it a Success Story!
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