A Vancouver Island woman who was waiting for an elective surgery says she couldn’t bare the pain any longer and sought help south of the border.
Roxy Sandmaier says after years of suffering, her life is now back on track after having a hip replacement one month ago.
“Another year, year and a half of waiting for surgery, would I get me back? Would I ever be able to recover what I’ve lost? I don’t know,” she said.
The 69-year-old Oak Bay woman was told it could take up to a year and a half before she would get surgery so she decided to get treatment in the U.S.
She spent $25,000 USD in Seattle on the procedure.
“I had one friend pay $15,000 U.S. in Utah, another friend paid $21,000 in Utah, another paid $32,000 in Phoenix,” she added.
Local experts say between three to seven per cent of patients are going overseas to seek surgery.
While Sandmaier is happy with her results, the CEO of an orthopaedic surgery clinic in Saanich says going elsewhere for surgery is not always that simple.
“If there are any complications they’re a long way away from the surgeon, they’re a long way away from the care and they end up being absorbed by the local health care system,” said Rebalance MD CEO Stefan Fletcher.
A company that helps Canadians set up appointments in the U.S. says it’s arranged more than 1,250 surgeries in the past 14 years.
“We’ve not had a single complication with the implant, we’ve not had a single patient test positive for post-discharge infection,” said Richard Baker, founder of Timely Medical Alternatives.
Long surgical wait times are affecting thousands of people on Vancouver Island, including a Victoria man who says he’s been told he may have to wait another year before he gets a hip replacement.
Alan Traish is waiting for a consultation for a hip replacement and says the pain he’s been dealing with is unbearable.
With files from CTV Vancouver Island's Louise Hartland
