Lack of Urgency in Medical Treatment and Wasted Money

[dalredane]

I am currently on training here at the MEGA in St-Jean..

I am on the IAP then the BOTP program...

got injured in week 7 of IAP......prognosis of injury is surgery to the lower leg probably requiring 3 - 6 months off of rehabilitation.

no problem with that although it is hard to swallow having to start all the way back at week 1 again, because i am an officer cadet.....(if you are a recruit, you have 60 days to restart your course in the week you left off in).......i am determined to recourse and kick more ass.

my problem is that i was injured in the 2nd week of Feb. 2006 and I was told by staff at the MIR that :

1.  physiotherapy will not start for at least 1 1/2 months....
2.  seeing a specialist who makes the call for surgery will not occur for 2 months.....

so you get injured in mid-February and any rehab and/or surgery will not even BEGIN until mid-April......

i realize cases are handled on a priority basis,....but i could get an attached posting and have the surgery done within a week or two at any other base.

i guess the military would rather lose money ($600/month) for my Cost of Living Adjustment and Separation Pay and Room and Board at St-Jean than send me somewhere where I would save them moeny as well as be ready for duty in half the time......

signed......bitter and bitchy in St-Jean

 

[George Wallace]

Sorry to hear that girl.

I guess you think it is faster to find a Doctor on Civie street.  Just do some research into hospital waits in the civilian medical system.  You actually are getting a little faster service than a civie would. 

 

[Cdnarmybear]

Dalredane,

Sorry to hear about your injury. You're not the only one in the same boat. I hurt my knee in September 05, got into physio within about 2 weeks, but that's where the waiting started.... didn't get into get an MRI until Mid-NOVEMBER and after seeing the Doc here, was told I was being referred to see a knee specialist in Edmonton......
It is now the  27 of FEBRUARY.... and NO appointment to see the knee specialist or even know when I will be in to get it fixed.
In the mean time, I had to quit ALL of my sports (GRRRRR) and have been placed on a T-cat so I don't make it worse.(have never been on one of those before, it sucks!!!)
So, have missed hockey regionals ( for this year and will probably not be playing ball the way things are going...Add to that that I have a career course that I really want to get done.....so I would really like to get fixed so I can carrry on...

Have you tried talking to the MO to see if you can get reffered to someone else who is not as busy??

 

[GINge!]

Wow, 2 months is not too bad. I waited 7 months, and was happy at that, considering that on civy street the wait would be at least 2 years. Be thankful in the CF we have access to a 2-tier healthcare system.

I'd like to know exactly which base you could go to and get surgery done within a week or two.

There's little/no point in starting physio before getting a surgery anyways.

 

[Guy. E]

I herd a rumour that there was an accident involving mad scramble with recruits with ruck's and something to do with stairs as well as people getting hurt.

Is this in any way connected?

 

[geo]

with any training, there will always be a chance of someone getting hurt; it's part of the risks we've accepted when we signed.

Cdnarmybear "said" something in reply #2.... whereby he was training, he got hurt but didn't really stop the physical stuff.... thereby increasing the chances of agravating an injury that could've probably healed on it's own. I have seen & known too many young (and old) soldiers who have completely trashed their body while training with untreated injuries.... they put a cast on ya.... good - maybe now you'll listen to what the Medical staff tell you to do.

Dalredane, if the medical types tell ya that physio won't start before 1.5 months - I might suggest to you that your injury might need that 1.5 months to recover... and if you are still down after 2 wks of treatment, then the surgeon might have to give it a look.

Do what the Med types tell you - get well, get fit, get going./

 

[Cdnarmybear]

with any training, there will always be a chance of someone getting hurt; it's part of the risks we've accepted when we signed.

Cdnarmybear "said" something in reply #2.... whereby he was training, he got hurt but didn't really stop the physical stuff.... thereby increasing the chances of agravating an injury that could've probably healed on it's own. I have seen & known too many young (and old) soldiers who have completely trashed their body while training with untreated injuries.... they put a cast on ya.... good - maybe now you'll listen to what the Medical staff tell you to do.

Dalredane, if the medical types tell ya that physio won't start before 1.5 months - I might suggest to you that your injury might need that 1.5 months to recover... and if you are still down after 2 wks of treatment, then the surgeon might have to give it a look.

Do what the Med types tell you - get well, get fit, get going./

Hey, hey, I'm a she , not a he!!!    And yes, I was carrying on with normal activities while still going to physio.... Until I got the results from my MRI in November, that's when I was slapped on a T-cat. My injury is the the torn cartilage type, so I will need a scope to fix it up. (I hope it can be fixed up)

And yes, I have been following what the medical staff has told me to do. I can still do PT according to what the Physio therapist has directed me to do ;which I am doing religiously so that when I do finally get fixed, my rehab hopefully won't take as long.

My biggest beef is the fact that it is taking so long to get into see someone to get it fixed.

When you have worked a long time to get where you want to be as far as career courses/promotion/ whatever/ goes; sitting on the "bench" for up to a year to either get seen OR treated can be very frustrating. I can understand where Dalredane is coming from, she has worked very hard to get where she is to this point,and obviously wants to get fixed so she can carry on as well.

No one I know who has an ounce of motivation and drive wants to be sitting on a " Hey-you -can -sit- behind- a desk- and- breathe" chit/category while all your buddies are out doing the fun stuff.

Just my little rant for the day  ;D

 

[2 Cdo]

Wow somebody had to wait for medical service in Canada! : Someone who the CF could obviously not go on without! :

Your whining and self-importance are fairly annoying, but I'm sure you'll make a good leader someday! :

 

[geo]

bear.... don't get me wrong, I have done the same in the past.... got a wonky knee to show for it (I know what the weather is - before it lands). Am just saying that while it isn't fun to watch everyone else move ahead, beating yourself up some more isn't going to make things move ahead any faster.... IMHO

good luck

 

[medicineman]

    I used to book outside referrals for specialists - depending on the problem, surgical consults could be anywhere from an hour wait to amost 1 YEAR - and that was in a major centre with several teaching hospitals (Calgary) - and that was to SEE the surgeon, not necessarily to operate.  And we got a good deal - I'd hate to be a civvy waiting out for an appointment and see somone else go in ahead of me unless they are sicker.  I even lied (well, stretched the truth a bit) to get people in sooner depending on chief complaint or specialist concerned.

    All I can say is - welcome to reality.  Yeah, it may seem to you that the government is wasting money, but if you end up healthy, functioning and remain injury free (and in the CF), they look at it as a long term investment.  Perhaps you should too - there's a bright side to everything.

MM 

 

[Cdnarmybear]

Wow somebody had to wait for medical service in Canada! : Someone who the CF could obviously not go on without! :

Your whining and self-importance are fairly annoying, but I'm sure you'll make a good leader someday! :

Now, don't get  nasty !  I wasn't trying to whine, or be self-important. I am sure the CF will move on without me (after all, if they couldn't they wouldn't let us have any leave,would they)  ;D

I replied to Dalredane so she would know that she is not the only one in the same boat. Just as I am not the only one who has been waiting a while to get looked at. There are  quite a few here on my base in the same situation; as I am sure there are  more elsewhere. Have you had the same thing happen to you with an injury, or are you just posting a reply to  aggravate?


Geo, thanks for your post. No offense taken. I have been given the same wise advice from a few that I work with, one of whom is going for a third surgery this year, because they didn't look after themselves earlier in their career. I've still got abot 11 yrs to go, so I will make sure I don't make it worse before I get it fixed.

 

[Cdnarmybear]

     I used to book outside referrals for specialists - depending on the problem, surgical consults could be anywhere from an hour wait to amost 1 YEAR - and that was in a major centre with several teaching hospitals (Calgary) - and that was to SEE the surgeon, not necessarily to operate.  And we got a good deal - I'd hate to be a civvy waiting out for an appointment and see somone else go in ahead of me unless they are sicker.  I even lied (well, stretched the truth a bit) to get people in sooner depending on chief complaint or specialist concerned.

     All I can say is - welcome to reality.  Yeah, it may seem to you that the government is wasting money, but if you end up healthy, functioning and remain injury free (and in the CF), they look at it as a long term investment.  Perhaps you should too - there's a bright side to everything.

MM 

Thanks for the info!  I never said the government was wasting money, but if some people want to think that they are , that's their right. I know at the last base I was at, most people didn't seem to have as long a wait itme to get in to see a specialist. Maybe because the base was close to Ottawa,or due to the nature of their problem, I am not sure. Could be different there too now. This is the first time in my career I have required surgery for an injury, so I was a little naive about the whole process. I was thinking about 6 months by the time I got into see the specialist and get it fixed. I wasn't expecting to wait up to a year to see the specialist.
So is this a problem in some parts of the country , or is it like that everywhere?

 

[medicineman]

Depends on the part of the country you're in and the part of the body involved and coupled with the urgency of the problem.  Scary thing is we had real military hospitals then.  The one year bit was mainly for a small subset of orthopedic patients, as only one or two orthopods would deal with neck issues in Calgary, so getting them in was a problem at times.  Having said that, there are places where, despite the fact they are tertiary care centres, have limited staff in certain specialties, and because of this have long wait times.  When I left Kingston, it looked as if it would be a problem to see a neuro surgeon there, as there were only a couple and one was leaving for the US - KGH is a trauma centre along the 401 so figure the odds of getting seen if you weren't brought in by helicopter with a head or spinal trauma in the nearest of futures.

I wasn't pointing at you about the waste of money bit, BTW - was talking to the original poster who thought they were wasting money just sitting around and spinning.  Like I said, everyone is valuable, so the government thinks of it as an investment.

Cheers.

MM

 

[Armymedic]

my problem is that i was injured in the 2nd week of Feb. 2006 and I was told by staff at the MIR that :

1.  physiotherapy will not start for at least 1 1/2 months....
2.  seeing a specialist who makes the call for surgery will not occur for 2 months.....

so you get injured in mid-February and any rehab and/or surgery will not even BEGIN until mid-April......

i realize cases are handled on a priority basis,....but i could get an attached posting and have the surgery done within a week or two at any other base.

i guess the military would rather lose money ($600/month) for my Cost of Living Adjustment and Separation Pay and Room and Board at St-Jean than send me somewhere where I would save them money as well as be ready for duty in half the time......

Ma'am
How about instead of allowing you to be "bitter and bitchy in St-Jean", the CF kick your sorry whiny ass out on the street as you are? Seeing how you are broken and unusable the way you are, perhaps that would be a more suitable option to you.

If you are worried about saving the CF money, then you should have prevented yourself from becoming injured in the first place.

Are you still going to get paid while you are awaiting surgery and recovering for the next 12 months? You have nothing, I say again nothing to complain about.

but i could get an attached posting and have the surgery done within a week or two at any other base.

No, wait times are similar in most other CF bases.
You should only miss a yr of training, until you are taken care of, healed and able to resume training again. A 2 month wait for a specialist appt is normal. A yr is not an abnormally long time from injury until healed for full time soldiers. After your surgery, during sick leave, you may convalesce at a location of your choosing, if you ask for it.

I have sympathy for people who are injured. I have no sympathy for whiners.

 

[Michael OLeary]

Well, I see this one has pretty much run out of rope, and plenty of food for thought has been offered.  As usual, approach a Moderator if you have something constructive to add.