Quote:
Originally Posted by Sylvanfan
I couldn't seem to find a recent thread on this topic.
Basically my wife has foot problems. She complains about her foot daily being in pain. She's been to our family physician and he's put in a request to see a specialist, but the wait list is up to 2 years to see the specialist, and a surgery list is even longer out. Physician says that her foot is pretty messed up, but he can't do anything more than make this referral.
As standing or walking are pretty much part of her regular job duties not to mention life....she does not have the patience to wait for this.
She made an appointment to see someone at the Cambie clinic, some outfit in Vancouver that does private surgery. Needless to say, this appointment pretty much bleeds my shallow family coffers dry (I'm one of the few on this site with a 5 figure salary) at $550 for a consult plus getting her to Vancouver. The receptionist said the doctor would review the X-Rays done, than determine what type of surgery may be required at a ball park price of 6 to 9 grand. Chump change for most of you...enough to pretty much destroy me...
Are we being scammed here? Anyone have any experience with this Cambie clinic? Has anyone actually got so annoyed with our system that they went to a Mexico or Costa Rica to get something like this done where the cost was considerably less. Obviously this isn't a huge amount of money, but if a trip to Mexico with a reputable doctor can be done for $4500 as opposed to $9000...I'd consider this.
We could try a podiatrist route too, if we dare to deal with a less qualified local person who may be willing to do this. We did this 3 years ago at a cost of $5000 to remove a bunion on her one foot. She claims the bunion isn't the problem...but skeptical me wonders if getting rid of this, just didn't cause the next problem. So I'd be reluctant to shell out a big sum of money to go this route again. |
Timelines seem out of whack here. I had a full knee replacement done last year. My family doctor referred me to a specialist and surgeon in December of 2015, I saw the specialist at the end of February 2016 and had my knee replaced middle of May 2016.
I am not sure exactly what your wife's problem is but 2 years wait time seems out of the ordinary.
I would as for another referral or else change family doctors and get a referral that way...it might make a difference.
Like it or not, some doctors have pull with getting referrals to specialists and some specialists have pull getting timely appointments for an operating room.
Not sure what your wife's problem is but my doctor was Dr. Stephen Miller.
As an aside, I have friends who have dealt with the Mayo clinic in a timely fashion...not sure of the cost though. They got all their x-rays etc together and made the appointment themselves.