Thumbs up to the Canadian Medical System

I don't care what any self-serving Big Pharma lobbies have to say about us, we have an amazing medical system here. I can prove it as fast as a Canadian appendectomy.

When the pains started on Tuesday night, I could have gone for a check-up as soon as I felt like it. The fact that I waited until Friday is a testimony to my testosterone, not due to any financial fears. In Texas I might have waited another few days until it actually ruptured, resulting in a life-threatening and much more costly operation and recovery.

When they diagnosed a need for an immediate removal of my appendix, there wasn't any thought to how I'd have to mortgage my house or call on the relatives, if I were to even have those resources. No delays while they ran a credit check. The first form I signed that night was authorizing BC Medical Plan to pay for everything. My only job was to get better.

The level of care, attentiveness and professionalism was top-notch for 4 straight days - you just can't argue that a private medical team would have cared more or done better. On Sunday afternoon the doctor told me I could go home if I really really needed to, but his advice was one more night of IV antibiotics and rest to give better odds of no infection. He wasn't trying to squeeze another night's payment out of me, and I was able to make the choice best for my body. In Texas I would have been checked-out and limping home before he finished his sentence.

What more can you want out of a medical system than patients and medical teams working unhindered in the best interest of health? My appendix didn't know if I'm rich or poor, black or white, Tier One or Tier Two, it just needed to come out. Canada's all-(sick)-people-are-created-equal system made that happen.

Still there, Obama?