Dear American neighbours and friends,

Here’s my personal Canadian Medicare story.

I am a Canadian, 61 years of age. Like my late mother, I suffer from arthritis. Early last year, it became evident that my arthritic hip had deteriorated almost unbelievably rapidly. When my orthopaedic surgeon took a look at the latest series of x-rays, he said, “That hip is destroyed. You need a replacement right away.”

He was as good as his word. Thanks to a cancellation, he operated on my hip ten days later. The operation went well and the nurses in the St. Catharines General Hospital were excellent. I left with a walker lent to me, free of charge, by the hospital. The healthcare system sent me a nurse to dress my scar. I had three visits from an occupational therapist who assessed my home and advised me on what I would need. She also made arrangements for a commode to be provided for me for several weeks, free of charge. I had ten visits from a physiotherapist who took me through a course of exercises for my hip. Thanks to this care, I was walking without a cane within a very few months. I feel as if I have my life back. I am no longer a cripple. We live on my husband’s Ontario Disability Insurance (he is mentally ill), and we care for our autistic daughter at home. I would never have been able to pay for this operation myself, or for private insurance to cover it. Who profited from my operation? Nobody. Numerous healthcare professionals were paid to do their jobs, and they did them well, but nobody profited. That’s how it should be. Let shareholders make a profit off something else. Not my healthcare. And not yours, either.

Fiona McMurran

Welland, ON