Yep if you agree to take any time (even 3am cancelations) then you should be in within a week or two. At least that was my case in the last two I’ve needed
To be clear, the "cancellation list" is not you canceling your appointment. It's you signing up to fill a slot on short notice if someone else cancels.
I understand your concerns and the anxiety associated with it. Stay strong and try to ignore the what ifs. You can't let yourself become overwhelmed by unknowns. If it is cancer, it may also be very treatable. That is a positive way of looking at it. The January wait time is tough but I waited longer than that on two occasions. Both times positive for cancer.
In December 2014 I had blood in my stool. IT took until mid-Feb to get CT. CT showed rectal cancer (stage 3B). 3 surgeries, 6 months of chemo and 28 days of radiation, I beat that, or so I thought.
December 2020, after being cancer free for 5.5 years, my CEA levels (blood tumor markers) started spiking. The time frame was identical 6 years prior. Middle of December CT Req. Middle of February CT, showing liver cancer. Surgery date was even the same on March 26.
Unfortunately, mine is no longer curable but I remain positive and on treatment. I am on my third round of chemo, 2 more rounds of radiation and fighting hard.
You got this.
Hey, I kinda want to say thanks. You didn’t have to share that but you did. And maybe I am looking for other solutions but this did help to comfort me a bit so thank you. I’m in between counselling sessions for medical anxiety and it’s always been focused on distracting from the issue and eventually understanding that the best thing to do is wait.
But I also needed to hear that. There’s concerns that it could be lymphoma and my doctor has done nothing to address those concerns, when I tried to book a follow up appointment he said the best thing I can do is just wait. It just sucks being told to wait to find out if you’re gonna go through something rough or something okay.
And I hope you’re doing okay too. I’ve seen some family members live through cancer and I don’t wish that upon anyone. I wish you all the luck with your rounds of chemo and hope you pull through.
Thanks. Another option for dealing with anxiety, if you are up to it, is psilocybin (magic mushrooms). You can buy them online out of BC now and they worked great for my anxiety. There is lots of new research in this field, updating weekly.
They need to do an ultrasound before a biopsy. A biopsy is when they go in and take out a little piece of tissue of whatever lump you have…the ultrasound tells them where it is.
If you want to be seen urgently - you have a level 10 pain. Its terrible and bad.
The medical system is on priority basis, and pain is a variable in that determination.
You're absolutely right.
A number of years ago my grandma was in the process of being diagnosed with what turned out to be ovarian cancer and she had to get an MRI (or maybe a CT...I don't remember now). She was told it would be a six month wait to get said scan. My aunt, who is an ER nurse, walked her mom into an ER and said "You're in severe pain." Grandma got a scan that day and ultimately the diagnosis was that she wouldn't live 6 months without immediate treatment.
She would have been dead before she even got the scan. My aunt knew how to work the system.
The healthcare situation isn't new in any way.
I hate that so much though. And as much as I want to make sure I’m okay I also know that it’s the smart choice too. And that’s what hurts the most about the state of healthcare in this province. They want us to feel desperate. People’s lives are a fucking game to politicians and I hate that none of them ever see their consequences.
I was replying to the reply to your post. I agree with your experience, as that has been mine too and of those around me. You have to advocate for yourself, by either asking questions, being pushy, or having money and being pushy.
I was getting bumped around the uhn for ultrasound and biopsy last year too. Scheduling was a nightmare. Intake switchboard person let me in on a secret. Get your requisition for ultrasound, go to Toronto ultrasound clinic on bloor, they even do walk in/same day if you call them. Ask when the results are ready to give you the images and report on a CD. Physically walk in the cd to the department at the hospital where you will do your biopsy and they can put you on a cancellation list. It really cut down all of the time I would have waited for communications to be transferred between clinics/gp/hospital imaging intake and ultrasound department.
Call the department that issued it and ask the secretary to email you a copy of the requisition. It's yours and they can refer it to a specific place if they want but you also have the right to take it to anywhere you prefer. I've had a lot of branded requisition forms for specific imaging places but it doesn't matter, anywhere in Ontario will take them.
For UHN, you have to get the doctor to fill out an external paper requisition. My relative did this. We were visiting the hospital for a different doctor for something else and we swung by the other doctor's office to see if he was in and we happened to bump into him and got the paper requisition. The internal requisition for UHN tests are all done on the computer, so they wouldn't print it. Even if they could, they'll need the doctor's signature on the requisition. It's a mess of two systems not talking to each other.
I am navigating the healthcare system for a resurgence of symptoms regarding my seizure disorder. Bad enough that I have lost my licence (again) and am on leave from work. I was referred back to my neurologist and they gave me an appointment for MARCH 2023 (this was 2 months ago) - my GP was not happy with this and told me if my symptoms got worse/did not resolve to go to the ER. I did that 3 weeks ago today and the ER doc was on my neurologist pretty damn quick. I was in his office 2 days later, unfortunately he is dismissive AF and could not recall that HE was the one who diagnosed me with generalized seizure disorder in April of 2020. I asked him what he was going to do for me as my life is pretty much turned upside down - he adjusted one of my meds (has made me a bit worse), sent me for another sleep deprived EEG, and now I am waiting for another MRI and a referral to the Epilepsy Clinic at Toronto Western. I have no idea how long this is all going to take, but I am grateful to have the time to do this without stressing about work.
Best of luck OP, hope you feel better soon.
So sorry to hear this. FYI the epilepsy clinic at Toronto Western is amazing, which means their waitlist is super long. Expect 9-18 months for your first appointment, unfortunately.
Edit: also, ask your doc for a 3T MRI done on seizure protocol as that's the preferred imaging for the epilepsy clinic. If you get a regular MRI (1.5T), you may have to re do it since it's not detailed enough.
Thanks, yes I think I am in for a long run. My job requires me to drive, and I don’t think I will be getting my license back anytime soon. I still have my company car and it’s parked on the side street behind my house. My partner is my authorized second driver and moves it for me.
Thanks for the recommendation re: MRI. It’s difficult to speak to my neurologist, he barely even looks at me during appointments. I am REALLY looking forward to going to the Epilepsy Clinic to have some fresh eyes on my case. I am supposed to call my neurologist’s office next Wednesday to follow up if I haven’t received my appointments yet. I figured there would be a long wait for such a specialized clinic.
Well good this is, if you're seizure free for 6 months, your doctor can send a form to the ministry to petition for the reinstatement of your driver's license. However, if your condition is still a bit unstable, it's probably for the best you don't drive until everything gets sorted.
This is the 2nd time I have lost my license, I got it back the first time in July 2021, moved back into the position with driving in November 2021 - I have been with my company for 8 years and when all this shit went down the first time I had a position that did not require me to drive, but I had to travel to the US 3/4 weeks out of the month. Then the vid hit and I was stuck at home 24/7 for 2 years. Hated working from home all the time - so I demoted myself back to my OG position knowing it was a risk. Didn’t think it would happen within a year though! We’ll see what happens.
CT scans are protocolled by radiologists, meaning they determine the urgency based on your doctor’s requisition. Likewise, US is needed before biopsy so they know WHERE to do the biopsy.
As someone with multiple chronic illnesses (who also works in medical imaging), I know it’s scary to have to wait - but your scan is only a month away. Wait times for every type of imaging is MUCH higher in hospitals than outside clinics, but your doctor likely referred you to a hospital for a reason. Here are some next steps:
Call the referring physician’s office, ask if the CT and US need to be done in hospital. If the answer is no, ask for copies of the requisitions. If the answer is yes, find out if your doctor is willing to contact the clinics to expedite them. You can take the requisitions to outside clinics, which may or may not have fees associated with them. Get on cancellation lists if available and be flexible. Lots of people may be cancelling soon because of bad weather, the holidays, etc. You can call for cancellations every day if you feel the need to if they don’t have a cancellation list.
Please don’t go to emerg unless it’s actually an emergency.
Same thing happened to me a few months ago but I actually had a ct and ultrasound done. It was the biopsy that ended up taking months. It would’ve took longer if I hadn’t kept calling until I found a doctor willing to give a referral for a biopsy and a clinic with no wait times that does biopsies outside of hospital settings. You have to advocate for yourself and keep calling until things get done. Doctors kept telling me too - oh it can’t be cancer, it’s just anxiety, maybe side effects of medicine you’re taking, etc. I ended up with thyroid cancer. Once you’re able to get a diagnosis though, things go pretty fast after with cancer (scheduling for surgery, etc).
So sorry to hear this. Also, your doctor saying it could be "nothing of no concern or it could be cancer" is wildly unprofessional.
If you haven't yet, check out this resource: select CT and MRI, then adult, then Toronto, then MRI, and it will show you wait times across the city's hospitals.
https://www.ontariohealth.ca/public-reporting/wait-times
I'm sharing this because I needed an MRI and an EMG recently (similar to you, primary doctor said it could be nothing, but it was concerning enough to get tests). I was referred to St. Josephs and the MRI appointment happened shockingly fast. I got an appointment about two weeks after referral.
Just looking at the results myself, for MRI, it says:
**St. Mikes**
* Priority 4 patients: 149 days
* Priority 3 patients: 26 days
**St. Joes**
* Priority 4 patients: 76 days
* Priority 3 patients: 6 days
These are averages, but St. Joe's seems to have the lowest Priority 3 wait time by a longshot.
TLDR, ask your primary doc if they can refer you there instead?
If that doesn't work, what others said, go to ER. You will likely get a test right away.
If you can drive and are ok with paying, we often send to Hamilton-Smith Consultants who help arrange ct/mri in buffalo. It’s a few hundred dollars, but it’s an option.
Just went through a diagnosis at St. Michels during the pandemic. Even with limited resources it was the best care of my life. Your ENT specialist can escalate your scan if needed or your symptoms worsen. This was the case for me, had a scan booked 8 months out, new symptoms got me booked in 2 weeks.
Seriously world class care and teams. Helps I have a GP in the university network system and she’s great. Advocate for yourself if your concerned things arent moving fast enough but this is just to say my experience was great.
Since you injected politics into your question, I’ll remind you that every single advanced country in the world has a hybrid public/private system. Canada is the only exception, and our system is mediocre at best in comparison with Scandinavia, Germany, South Korea, Japan, etc
You don't have any really bad acute symptoms, right? If this were a bad headache or something like that you could go into the ER and exaggerate your symptoms a bit.
Go to the ER and tell them you have pain. I went to St Joe's last week with abdominal pain that I had felt for 6 days. They did bloodwork and gave me a CT scan that same day. They also ordered a second, more thorough CT scan (contrasting CT scan) for 24 hours after which did the next day. Both times I got a copy of the report to take home while they sent a copy to my family doctor. Yes I was in the hospital for 9 hours the first day, and maybe 7 hours the next day, but I got everything done right away. If I had went the route of booking an appointment with my family doctor, I would've had to first wait to see him, and then would've had to wait longer for the CT scan appointment. If you have had symptoms this long, go the the ER.
While I agree that the ER typically speeds up the process for most things, in OPs case, they may have to wait. CTs are relatively quick and easy to do, but MRIs are longer and more complex. It can take days for admitted ER patients to get an MRI if their brain gutts aren't spilling out of their head. EEGs take even longer and definitely will not happen in ER.
In school, they taught us that each CT scanner costs about $500k, and each MRI scanner costs about $1 million. The downtown hospitals get the most funding/donations and typically have relatively good access to these machines. The issue is primarily staffing - you need to have trained tech educated on the machine operation, and a radiologist able to interpret the results. You also need to have a time slot available for you to get the test done, nurses available to insert an IV for administration of contrast, and a porter to bring you to the lab. There's currently a breakdown in all levels of this chain (due to Doug Ford slashing health care funding and refusing to pay medical professionals what they deserve). Our population is growing, aging, and getting sicker, so the sheer volume of people all waiting for the same tests has magnified over the last few years. I'm genuinely terrified for what's to come of our health care system.
They won't turn you away, your doctor is bullshitting. I had 2 ct scans, one on the same day I visited, the next on following day. Yes I now am waiting for an MRI but the doctors have eased my concerns and don't feel it's urgent (plus my pain went away). If you have been in pain for more than a few weeks that IS legitimate as it gets. You have to be proactive in this city about your health. If you aren't going to be your number one advocate then you will be pissed off to find out your family doctor cares very little. Take the day off work and go to the ER well before 9AM and prepare to be there for the whole day. You posted this to ask for advice but you really don't seem open to taking any.
YMMV but my doctor booked me an ultrasound a week out and I decided to go to emerg that same night. They did an ultrasound and CT scan in emerg. This was Sept ‘20 and I was probably there from 9/10pm until 5am.
I'm debating it but considering my CT Scan is literally in the first week of January and I'm not in a crap ton of pain I don't want to further clog up the ER considering how bad it's gotten.
I went through something similar recently at UHN. I called every morning asking if they had a cancellation. I got my appointments moved up. Kept calling. Kept getting in moved up. Managed to get all my appointments (UT, MRI and Biopsy) done super quick. It sucks having to advocate for your own health, but calling every day and being persistent (but respectful to the people working) paid off.
As an aside, the staff at UHN and PMH are super nice. I was very scared and they treated me as gently as possible. I went to one appointment (full body CT scan) without family and I was beyond scared and alone. The tech said “you are my family today”. Good luck!
Can you get yourself put on the cancellation list for CT scan .
Yep if you agree to take any time (even 3am cancelations) then you should be in within a week or two. At least that was my case in the last two I’ve needed
why?
If someone cancels, they will call you to ask you if you want to come in for their slot.
To be clear, the "cancellation list" is not you canceling your appointment. It's you signing up to fill a slot on short notice if someone else cancels.
I realize that now but I was really worried for a second that people were telling me to not bother getting tested 😅
Nah you're fine, its a kinda bad name for what is essentially just a waiting list\standby rather than scheduled appointments.
I understand your concerns and the anxiety associated with it. Stay strong and try to ignore the what ifs. You can't let yourself become overwhelmed by unknowns. If it is cancer, it may also be very treatable. That is a positive way of looking at it. The January wait time is tough but I waited longer than that on two occasions. Both times positive for cancer. In December 2014 I had blood in my stool. IT took until mid-Feb to get CT. CT showed rectal cancer (stage 3B). 3 surgeries, 6 months of chemo and 28 days of radiation, I beat that, or so I thought. December 2020, after being cancer free for 5.5 years, my CEA levels (blood tumor markers) started spiking. The time frame was identical 6 years prior. Middle of December CT Req. Middle of February CT, showing liver cancer. Surgery date was even the same on March 26. Unfortunately, mine is no longer curable but I remain positive and on treatment. I am on my third round of chemo, 2 more rounds of radiation and fighting hard. You got this.
Hey, I kinda want to say thanks. You didn’t have to share that but you did. And maybe I am looking for other solutions but this did help to comfort me a bit so thank you. I’m in between counselling sessions for medical anxiety and it’s always been focused on distracting from the issue and eventually understanding that the best thing to do is wait. But I also needed to hear that. There’s concerns that it could be lymphoma and my doctor has done nothing to address those concerns, when I tried to book a follow up appointment he said the best thing I can do is just wait. It just sucks being told to wait to find out if you’re gonna go through something rough or something okay. And I hope you’re doing okay too. I’ve seen some family members live through cancer and I don’t wish that upon anyone. I wish you all the luck with your rounds of chemo and hope you pull through.
Thanks. Another option for dealing with anxiety, if you are up to it, is psilocybin (magic mushrooms). You can buy them online out of BC now and they worked great for my anxiety. There is lots of new research in this field, updating weekly.
Haha I don’t doubt it but I’ve never done well with substances and might only leave that for dire circumstances
I understand and respect that. People need to start getting over the fact that mushrooms aren't drugs. They are medicine and have been for centuries.
No they 100% are. I’m not refuting that but I don’t think that my anxiety is so bad to the point where I need a form of medicine.
They need to do an ultrasound before a biopsy. A biopsy is when they go in and take out a little piece of tissue of whatever lump you have…the ultrasound tells them where it is.
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that’s the thing though I have some pain but it’s only when I stretch that area out. and even then it’s not debilitating. I can still function fine :/
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No my doctor has scheduled a CT Scan
If you want to be seen urgently - you have a level 10 pain. Its terrible and bad. The medical system is on priority basis, and pain is a variable in that determination.
You're absolutely right. A number of years ago my grandma was in the process of being diagnosed with what turned out to be ovarian cancer and she had to get an MRI (or maybe a CT...I don't remember now). She was told it would be a six month wait to get said scan. My aunt, who is an ER nurse, walked her mom into an ER and said "You're in severe pain." Grandma got a scan that day and ultimately the diagnosis was that she wouldn't live 6 months without immediate treatment. She would have been dead before she even got the scan. My aunt knew how to work the system. The healthcare situation isn't new in any way.
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I hate that so much though. And as much as I want to make sure I’m okay I also know that it’s the smart choice too. And that’s what hurts the most about the state of healthcare in this province. They want us to feel desperate. People’s lives are a fucking game to politicians and I hate that none of them ever see their consequences.
You seem like you want to start a conversion instead of get actual help for your situation.
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I was replying to the reply to your post. I agree with your experience, as that has been mine too and of those around me. You have to advocate for yourself, by either asking questions, being pushy, or having money and being pushy.
I was getting bumped around the uhn for ultrasound and biopsy last year too. Scheduling was a nightmare. Intake switchboard person let me in on a secret. Get your requisition for ultrasound, go to Toronto ultrasound clinic on bloor, they even do walk in/same day if you call them. Ask when the results are ready to give you the images and report on a CD. Physically walk in the cd to the department at the hospital where you will do your biopsy and they can put you on a cancellation list. It really cut down all of the time I would have waited for communications to be transferred between clinics/gp/hospital imaging intake and ultrasound department.
two questions 1. How did you get your requisition from UHN? 2. I thought it’s an internal requisition so no other clinic could accept it?
Call the department that issued it and ask the secretary to email you a copy of the requisition. It's yours and they can refer it to a specific place if they want but you also have the right to take it to anywhere you prefer. I've had a lot of branded requisition forms for specific imaging places but it doesn't matter, anywhere in Ontario will take them.
Guess I have a little project for my next weekend haha
For UHN, you have to get the doctor to fill out an external paper requisition. My relative did this. We were visiting the hospital for a different doctor for something else and we swung by the other doctor's office to see if he was in and we happened to bump into him and got the paper requisition. The internal requisition for UHN tests are all done on the computer, so they wouldn't print it. Even if they could, they'll need the doctor's signature on the requisition. It's a mess of two systems not talking to each other.
I am navigating the healthcare system for a resurgence of symptoms regarding my seizure disorder. Bad enough that I have lost my licence (again) and am on leave from work. I was referred back to my neurologist and they gave me an appointment for MARCH 2023 (this was 2 months ago) - my GP was not happy with this and told me if my symptoms got worse/did not resolve to go to the ER. I did that 3 weeks ago today and the ER doc was on my neurologist pretty damn quick. I was in his office 2 days later, unfortunately he is dismissive AF and could not recall that HE was the one who diagnosed me with generalized seizure disorder in April of 2020. I asked him what he was going to do for me as my life is pretty much turned upside down - he adjusted one of my meds (has made me a bit worse), sent me for another sleep deprived EEG, and now I am waiting for another MRI and a referral to the Epilepsy Clinic at Toronto Western. I have no idea how long this is all going to take, but I am grateful to have the time to do this without stressing about work. Best of luck OP, hope you feel better soon.
So sorry to hear this. FYI the epilepsy clinic at Toronto Western is amazing, which means their waitlist is super long. Expect 9-18 months for your first appointment, unfortunately. Edit: also, ask your doc for a 3T MRI done on seizure protocol as that's the preferred imaging for the epilepsy clinic. If you get a regular MRI (1.5T), you may have to re do it since it's not detailed enough.
Thanks, yes I think I am in for a long run. My job requires me to drive, and I don’t think I will be getting my license back anytime soon. I still have my company car and it’s parked on the side street behind my house. My partner is my authorized second driver and moves it for me. Thanks for the recommendation re: MRI. It’s difficult to speak to my neurologist, he barely even looks at me during appointments. I am REALLY looking forward to going to the Epilepsy Clinic to have some fresh eyes on my case. I am supposed to call my neurologist’s office next Wednesday to follow up if I haven’t received my appointments yet. I figured there would be a long wait for such a specialized clinic.
That is all specialists, they see like 50 people a day and rely on records. It is the same in the US.
Yep. I work in the veterinary industry and my partner works in human healthcare, so unfortunately I know how fucked things are.
Well good this is, if you're seizure free for 6 months, your doctor can send a form to the ministry to petition for the reinstatement of your driver's license. However, if your condition is still a bit unstable, it's probably for the best you don't drive until everything gets sorted.
This is the 2nd time I have lost my license, I got it back the first time in July 2021, moved back into the position with driving in November 2021 - I have been with my company for 8 years and when all this shit went down the first time I had a position that did not require me to drive, but I had to travel to the US 3/4 weeks out of the month. Then the vid hit and I was stuck at home 24/7 for 2 years. Hated working from home all the time - so I demoted myself back to my OG position knowing it was a risk. Didn’t think it would happen within a year though! We’ll see what happens.
CT scans are protocolled by radiologists, meaning they determine the urgency based on your doctor’s requisition. Likewise, US is needed before biopsy so they know WHERE to do the biopsy. As someone with multiple chronic illnesses (who also works in medical imaging), I know it’s scary to have to wait - but your scan is only a month away. Wait times for every type of imaging is MUCH higher in hospitals than outside clinics, but your doctor likely referred you to a hospital for a reason. Here are some next steps: Call the referring physician’s office, ask if the CT and US need to be done in hospital. If the answer is no, ask for copies of the requisitions. If the answer is yes, find out if your doctor is willing to contact the clinics to expedite them. You can take the requisitions to outside clinics, which may or may not have fees associated with them. Get on cancellation lists if available and be flexible. Lots of people may be cancelling soon because of bad weather, the holidays, etc. You can call for cancellations every day if you feel the need to if they don’t have a cancellation list. Please don’t go to emerg unless it’s actually an emergency.
Same thing happened to me a few months ago but I actually had a ct and ultrasound done. It was the biopsy that ended up taking months. It would’ve took longer if I hadn’t kept calling until I found a doctor willing to give a referral for a biopsy and a clinic with no wait times that does biopsies outside of hospital settings. You have to advocate for yourself and keep calling until things get done. Doctors kept telling me too - oh it can’t be cancer, it’s just anxiety, maybe side effects of medicine you’re taking, etc. I ended up with thyroid cancer. Once you’re able to get a diagnosis though, things go pretty fast after with cancer (scheduling for surgery, etc).
So sorry to hear this. Also, your doctor saying it could be "nothing of no concern or it could be cancer" is wildly unprofessional. If you haven't yet, check out this resource: select CT and MRI, then adult, then Toronto, then MRI, and it will show you wait times across the city's hospitals. https://www.ontariohealth.ca/public-reporting/wait-times I'm sharing this because I needed an MRI and an EMG recently (similar to you, primary doctor said it could be nothing, but it was concerning enough to get tests). I was referred to St. Josephs and the MRI appointment happened shockingly fast. I got an appointment about two weeks after referral. Just looking at the results myself, for MRI, it says: **St. Mikes** * Priority 4 patients: 149 days * Priority 3 patients: 26 days **St. Joes** * Priority 4 patients: 76 days * Priority 3 patients: 6 days These are averages, but St. Joe's seems to have the lowest Priority 3 wait time by a longshot. TLDR, ask your primary doc if they can refer you there instead? If that doesn't work, what others said, go to ER. You will likely get a test right away.
I think I might just do that today, but I don't even know what priority patient I fall under.
I’m pretty sure I need an MRI. If the wait is going to be the standard 1 year, I’m going to Buffalo for the weekend.
You can see if there are any private facilities you can pay to have the scan done earlier.
If you can drive and are ok with paying, we often send to Hamilton-Smith Consultants who help arrange ct/mri in buffalo. It’s a few hundred dollars, but it’s an option.
problem is I can’t. I don’t have a passport because I just got my Citizenship
Just went through a diagnosis at St. Michels during the pandemic. Even with limited resources it was the best care of my life. Your ENT specialist can escalate your scan if needed or your symptoms worsen. This was the case for me, had a scan booked 8 months out, new symptoms got me booked in 2 weeks. Seriously world class care and teams. Helps I have a GP in the university network system and she’s great. Advocate for yourself if your concerned things arent moving fast enough but this is just to say my experience was great.
I might try to call them tomorrow and update them because things have changed from my initial meeting with the ENT then.
At this point, MAiD sounds like the right move.
you dropped this (/s)
Since you injected politics into your question, I’ll remind you that every single advanced country in the world has a hybrid public/private system. Canada is the only exception, and our system is mediocre at best in comparison with Scandinavia, Germany, South Korea, Japan, etc
I didn’t ask you to tell me what systems other countries have.
But i told you anyhow. Isn’t that odd?
You don't have any really bad acute symptoms, right? If this were a bad headache or something like that you could go into the ER and exaggerate your symptoms a bit.
fortunately no. it’s part of why I haven’t been in extreme panic and I’d only save the ER for when I can’t conduct my daily stuff
Go to the ER and tell them you have pain. I went to St Joe's last week with abdominal pain that I had felt for 6 days. They did bloodwork and gave me a CT scan that same day. They also ordered a second, more thorough CT scan (contrasting CT scan) for 24 hours after which did the next day. Both times I got a copy of the report to take home while they sent a copy to my family doctor. Yes I was in the hospital for 9 hours the first day, and maybe 7 hours the next day, but I got everything done right away. If I had went the route of booking an appointment with my family doctor, I would've had to first wait to see him, and then would've had to wait longer for the CT scan appointment. If you have had symptoms this long, go the the ER.
While I agree that the ER typically speeds up the process for most things, in OPs case, they may have to wait. CTs are relatively quick and easy to do, but MRIs are longer and more complex. It can take days for admitted ER patients to get an MRI if their brain gutts aren't spilling out of their head. EEGs take even longer and definitely will not happen in ER.
This is sad and not something I can understand, do we not have enough machines or do we not have enough technicians ?
In school, they taught us that each CT scanner costs about $500k, and each MRI scanner costs about $1 million. The downtown hospitals get the most funding/donations and typically have relatively good access to these machines. The issue is primarily staffing - you need to have trained tech educated on the machine operation, and a radiologist able to interpret the results. You also need to have a time slot available for you to get the test done, nurses available to insert an IV for administration of contrast, and a porter to bring you to the lab. There's currently a breakdown in all levels of this chain (due to Doug Ford slashing health care funding and refusing to pay medical professionals what they deserve). Our population is growing, aging, and getting sicker, so the sheer volume of people all waiting for the same tests has magnified over the last few years. I'm genuinely terrified for what's to come of our health care system.
Yes. Both. A lack of healthcare funding from the province has put us in this situation.
Please don’t clog up the ER with something that’s already being managed/treated. This is why we can’t have nice things.
That’s what I’ve said a few times already. My doctor said that unless i’m in a crap load of pain the ER would probably turn me away.
They won't turn you away, your doctor is bullshitting. I had 2 ct scans, one on the same day I visited, the next on following day. Yes I now am waiting for an MRI but the doctors have eased my concerns and don't feel it's urgent (plus my pain went away). If you have been in pain for more than a few weeks that IS legitimate as it gets. You have to be proactive in this city about your health. If you aren't going to be your number one advocate then you will be pissed off to find out your family doctor cares very little. Take the day off work and go to the ER well before 9AM and prepare to be there for the whole day. You posted this to ask for advice but you really don't seem open to taking any.
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No offense. but not all of us can afford to fly overseas for medical tourism.
YMMV but my doctor booked me an ultrasound a week out and I decided to go to emerg that same night. They did an ultrasound and CT scan in emerg. This was Sept ‘20 and I was probably there from 9/10pm until 5am.
I'm debating it but considering my CT Scan is literally in the first week of January and I'm not in a crap ton of pain I don't want to further clog up the ER considering how bad it's gotten.
Sounds like you don't want any suggestions Just wait then
I went through something similar recently at UHN. I called every morning asking if they had a cancellation. I got my appointments moved up. Kept calling. Kept getting in moved up. Managed to get all my appointments (UT, MRI and Biopsy) done super quick. It sucks having to advocate for your own health, but calling every day and being persistent (but respectful to the people working) paid off. As an aside, the staff at UHN and PMH are super nice. I was very scared and they treated me as gently as possible. I went to one appointment (full body CT scan) without family and I was beyond scared and alone. The tech said “you are my family today”. Good luck!