Why I live in California
My home and native land
I sorely miss Canada and am fiercely proud of the country of my birth, but I can not return to Ontario, the province were I grew up until I am convincingly cured. I just can't take the chance with my health.
If I had stayed in Toronto, I might be dead.
The drug, rituximab, that is mentioned in this must read linked Globe and Mail (Canada's premier English newspaper) article is the very one that has saved my life (and that of thousands of others) and has given me a chance to fight on for a cure. Without it, my odds were very grim. It's not available for CLL in Ontario, Canada's most populous province. Elizabeth Locatelli who is quoted in the article helped put together the wonderful CLL conference in Niagara Falls I attended and spoke at earlier this year.
But here in the golden state, I am doing well, and am looking forward to getting rid of my leukemia once and for all with the help of the expensive rituximab added to some cheaper chemo (FCR) and a second transplant later this year.
As the USA moves towards the enormous benefits of universal health care, I need to scream out about the terrible risks.
Worse yet, I also understand that a transplant is completely out of the question if you are over 55, so my Canadian goose would really be cooked, which is really sad when you are vegan.
Labels: Canadian Healthcare
posted by Brian Koffman at
8:06 PM
3 Comments:
Dr. K,
We are all looking forward to you being fully cured......and boy am I with you....universal health care.....what in the world are people thinking.......Our insurance situation is not great right now, but it is 100% better than what we might end up with. Ok, enough....I'll get off my soap box......
Wishing you a blessed day. I didn't make mail yesterday, but they are already on their way today.
Blessings and prayers,
J
Thanks for sharing that ... I never knew you had Canadian roots ... I am from Edmonton.
It is sad that doctors from Canada move to the US because they can make more money.
It also needs to be recognized that millions of people, many of them illegals, who come to this country to better themselves, have no health insurance and get no health care.
Health reform is a done deal. Once the government takes over the health care system, costs will plummet and quality will soar.
It's only the very rich that oppose this long-overdue effort.
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