MRI waiting list

[zuzu20]

Hi I am not dx yet I finally have an MRI for next year which totally sucks.. I am from Vancouver Island and was wondering if any one from here has gone over to UBC Vancouver, to have an MRI there. My sx are worse I can't stand it some days, weather this is MS or not. I can't believe I have to wait a year. It took me 7 months just to get in to see the neuro. And I phoned weakly until i could get on an emergency list. I am stuck and want to move forward. So was wondering if any one is in the same boat. It shouldn't be this hard to get some answers. so frustrating.

[caprifly21]

MRI's

Hi!


I am not sure where on the Island you are from but I live in Nanaimo. I was dealing with the diagnosis period of my MS when I was 20 (2006). At that time I was very fortunate and had a neurologist in Victoria order an MRI - by sheer luck there happened to be a cancellation in Nanaimo a week later. Over the years I have always been really lucky and waited no more than 3 months for an MRI.


I have no idea why I seem to get rush scans, perhaps my age? However, my father who suffers from a different ailment but also requires an MRI just got notified that the MRI his surgeon attempted to book months ago is not scheduled until April 2011. How on earth does this make sense???


During my battle with MS it was determined that I have to be followed by the MS Clinic and Victoria and the Clinic at UBC. As a result of this I have had MRI's on both the Island and at UBC. I am not sure if an MRI at UBC is the quicker option, it actually turned out to be the longest wait for me? I am sorry if this does not help you at all. Know that I am hoping you hear about an appointment very soon and that you can have answers one way or another!!


~L

[Cherrymom]

UBC

I go to the UBC MS clinic and there are a lot of people from the Island there. Waits are very frustrating for sure. I too have been very fortunate to get in very quickly. Cancellation lists are great if you are able to go at the drop of a hat. Sorry for your dilemma.

[kebsa]

I really feel for you guys, i am in australia and we too have socialised medicine but it is different to yours- i have been able to maintain private health cover and that helps me get access to the specialist reasonably promptly but as for getting MRI scans, i have never waited more than a month and my times have be timed to match with the pain unit too as i have an implanted medtronic spinal medication pump that has to be turned off during the scan and then back onquickly when they finish- that is the only reason i have to wait as long as i do!


our system is getting more stretched but at present it is the chronic care that is less than desirable, if you have an acute problem such as appendicitis, heart attack etc you will be dealt with rally quick but accessing long term support is really tough!- I am an RN and have always worked in the public system, these days i am in an electric chair- i had managed to remain completely independant until 08 when i had a really tough year and spent a total of 28 weeks in hospital- i needed help with personal care and basically had no one to help other than elderly neighbours - we applied for carers and i was assessed as being in urgent need but there was such a funding problem that i did not even make the wait list,just what they call the unmet needs list- if i had to get help i had to pay cash or on a couple of occasions i ended up getting really dehydrated etc so ended up in hospital simple because i could not manage at home
i went through a ministirial appeal and in march this year finally got one hour a day approved! that was 3 weeks before a state election and i live in a very marginal seat that could have lead to a change in government- i can't help thing that maybe a few of us eventually got what we eeded siply because it was election time ( i know thats rather cynical)- its still a concern as it really seems that the "squeaky wheel gets the grease" sitting quitly waiting your turn simple means you get overlooked- from a prefessional point of view i can' tolerate that so i am trying to get involved in advocasy programs- if it is tough for a person who can still communicate well and knows how the system works, how bad is it for someone with communication or cognitive issues! i have also heard of thse who are scared they will lose what they have if they make waves! not realistic but it shows the level of desperation. for that 2 yrs i waited, i do not know what i would have done with out my neighbours as a safty net- were it not for caring fol i think the p;ight of the disabled in the community would be a lot worse. we had a dreadful situation about a uear ago where a woman who had an intellectually disabled teenage son who was becoming really hard to manage because he was like a 16 yr old strength and body with a toddlers brain! she could not get help and in an awful moment she killed him- it does not seem to have been planned- the poor woman took her dead son to the local police station_ the press were tough on her but i could not help but feel how thorughly desolate and hopeless she must have felt to get to that point and how she is now going to feel she has sentanced herself for life no matter what the courts decide- sadly i do not think this will be the last

[zuzu20]

kebsa ~ thanks for your long reply. It is sad I had to really push my dr to get me in to see a neuro. I was getting so bad with my legs and I was trying to get coverage for a walker. It just too soooo long just to get some attention that we finally ended up paying if for our selfs puting in cash in together with hlep from family members. Well the next time I walked in with my walker well you should have seen the look on my dr.s face and it just hit him smack in the face. "O I guess you are really having difficulty's."!!!! That finally got his attention.

It took another year to finally get in just to see the neuro. and now another long long wait for the darn MRI. I am at a breaking point now I had a really tough year with walking and its getting worse. my legs are like a dead weight. I know I am now getting muscle loss and poor circulation. I try so hard to walk but I just get weaker. I just want to get that MRI.

It something to so with the government cutting back and that's where they cut back. we had a story here where and elderly had a fall and hit his head pretty hard. He was having trouble walking and moter skills after ward. They set him up for an MRI for Next April. they decided that that was too long of a wait and decided to have it done privately and paid the 800$ cost of having one done the next day. They were so glad they did he would have been dead in the next 24 hours. I can't believe they playing with peoples lives here when it comes with brain MRI's. You can't wait around for a whole bloody year for one if it means your life.

if i had the 800$ times 2 also for spinal I would go straight there and have it done. but with having to need two mris it would cost me 1600$ which I don't have. It was hard enough to get a walker. I am hoping more stories will come out and it will get the attention of the government that MRI scans are not something you can put off a year. I was lucky some wait lists are 18 months!!!

[unsureofanything]

to kebsa

hey kebsa

i've wondered the same things - all of it- and am also familiar with some of the home care issues but not from the perspective of a client.

i've been really lucky so far, only a two month wait for my 10 minute neuro initial appt , was supposed to be a 3 month wait for the MRI but got in 5 days later for some reason, now only a two month wait to see the neuro again. all courtesy of medicare i don't pay a cent and i hope they keep it that way or better still shorten the waiting time because a two month wait when i've already looked at an MRI and know what a lesion is drives me nuts and quite frankly i am having trouble and i would love to know how people with technical and communication issues do it especially in rural areas.

so if you are looking into AU advocacy count me in i can't promise i'll be very useful but i can see how needed it is. also definitely contact MS Australia they seem pretty nice and have ambassadors too.