A Diet to Die For! Breast Cancer in Canada.

I was going to write about the decsion process of chemotherapy, but decided that CCAC needs a good kick in the ass instead.

Tomorrow, I’m meeting with a Case Manager, but haven’t seen a nurse since last Tuesday, and thought perhaps that she may have had something to do with the lack of in-home nursing care I’ve had in almost a week — I still have JP drains, dressings and large metal staples in my chest, so it’s completely unreasonable to think that I no longer need any services.

I decided to call the nursing organization a few minutes ago (Bayshore).

… let me backtrack for a second. What I find absolutely absurd is if I were a senior citizen living alone, or a meek person, I would likely be suffering in silence and likely die of the infections. There would be no advocate ensuring that I get ongoing care. I thought CCAC is supposed to be my advocate and I give them a failing mark — a big red F!

I really didn’t want to turn this blog into an editorial — I merely wanted to express the facts as they relate to my care. I think I’ll have to editorialize at times to show that our Canadian healthcare system is broken: not just bruised, but functionally broken.

Back to Bayshore … thankfully, someone answered and agreed with me that nursing services shouldn’t have terminated and assured me that I would get a visit today.

Within minutes, a nurse who I’ve seen before called me to let me know that the nursing services have been reactivated. She also said that the nurse who saw me on Tuesday should have reported that I needed ongoing care.

Apparently, someone told Bayshore to seize services as of February 17, 2009 … while I still had sutures, metal staples, drains and dressings across my chest. Only 11 days after receiving major surgery: Modified Radical Mastectomy. Did they really think I could start caring for myself? Or did they expect that every time I needed assistance, I would either call 911 or hire a private nurse?

Tomorrow’s meeting will be my first with a Case Manager. I’ve been out of the hospital for over 2 weeks and haven’t been assessed yet.

Judy H. was on holidays when I was discharged so I don’t fault her personally, but I sure do fault the system for not following up with patients immediately after being discharged: I didn’t receive any phone numbers to call and I went through all the discharge papers thoroughly. I had to sit at home and hope that someone would eventually hear my faint wimpers.

Judy’s coworker was the one who told me that her personal philosophy is that it’s the responsibility of the community to take care of me [sic]. Fuck off idiot!

It was me personally who made the intial call to CCAC to find out about any future assessment — I can’t believe they don’t have some sort of automated system in place to notify patients; especially after being discharged within 24 hours of any major surgery.

Can this system be any more broken? I certainly don’t have the answers, nor can I provide any concrete solutions since I’m on the receiving end of care, and don’t work in it.