health

If anyone can offer me a rational explanation for the following, I'll send him/her a box of chocolates (which we all know, is like life!)

I get an excruciating pain in my jaw, visit my dentist and he extracts an impacted, abscessed tooth. I pay him $100 and go home, feeling great.

I get a panic attack, call my shrink (a psychologist in Rosedale), go for an emergency session, pay between $75 - $200 and go home, feeling a little better.

I get a urinary tract infection, treatable with the newest most potent antibiotics. I get a presciption, fill it for $100, start taking the pills and feel great.

My pet ingests a piece of rubber. I take him to a vet who performs life saving surgery for $800. My pet frolics and licks my hand, all is well.

I injure my knee playing hockey. The knee is not getting better. A few years pass and the knee is almost useless. I can hardly do any physical activity at this point, even slow walking is painful. I need a knee replacement. I go to Buffalo, pay between $1,000 - $2,000, get a new joint and feel like a million dollars. Or I stay in Ontario and wait another year or two in pain, crippled and helpless.

Please email your rational explanation why Ontario (and Canada) will not allow me to pay for my knee replacement. Or to have my tonsils taken out. Or for prostate cancer surgery.

Btw, I scheduled a gastroscopy last summer (eventually cancelled) I could have one through my specialist at his hospital. The wait was about six - eight weeks. A private clinic on College St. does them for about $70 - the wait is one or two days. So obviously, some private procedures are kosher even in our inhospitable arctic province...