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Private surgery gave me a choice

Dear editor,

I am a supporter of Dr. Brian Day, CEO of Cambie Surgeries Corp. as I  had ankle surgery done on October, 2014.

I am a retired school teacher on a pension and would not consider myself “rich” as the general public seems to view you must be to use the private health-care system. I came to this decision after a long two-year journey through our public system.

It started in the Kootenays with the first orthopedic surgeon that treated me for six weeks and told me he was “done with me.”

I was moving to the Comox Valley and was referred to a second orthopedic surgeon and he performed surgery and operated on the wrong joint and then told me he could not do anything more for me.

After further research I found that there are only 12 ankle surgeons in B.C., five work at Cambie and with my joint deteriorating time and health became extremely important.

I would hate to see my choices be taken away from me and make people like myself have to go to the states to receive timely health care. If I had to wait another three to five years for the handful of doctors I would have had no joint left and my health is more important than a new car or my yearly vacation or some other want in my life.

MJ Rees

Courtenay