Sask. woman had unbearable knee pain, so she paid $28k for surgery in Calgary
CBC
Betty-Lynn Nylen, 70, was physically and mentally exhausted from excruciating knee pain.
"To not even be able to perform your activities of daily living or have everything that you do impacted by pain … it takes its toll on you after a while," the Saskatoon resident and retired social worker said in an interview.
"It was just to the point where it was unbearable."
Nylen had been on the Saskatchewan surgical waiting list for a year in late 2021, and her doctor told her it would be at least two more years before she'd be able to get knee replacement surgery.
The surgical waiting list ballooned during the pandemic in Saskatchewan and other provinces, with COVID-19 taking up much-needed resources.
Saskatchewan had the worst wait times in Canada for hip and knee replacement surgeries in the first 18 months of the pandemic, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
About 35,000 people are currently on the surgical waiting list, per the Ministry of Health.
Nylen decided she could no longer endure the pain and got surgery at a private clinic in Calgary in February.
But it was no small feat — the surgery cost $28,000, on top of travel and accommodation expenses.
Nylen said she recognizes she is privileged to have done that.
"We were very fortunate that I was able to access that money. But a lot of people don't have it and don't have the wherewithal to get to Calgary or the support. My husband has been an incredible support," she said.
Dr. Ian Lutz, a Saskatoon orthopedic surgeon specializing in hip and knee replacements, currently has the second-longest waiting list in the province — 18 to 24 months.
He said some of his patients have gone to Ontario, Alberta, the United States, Mexico and India for surgery.
"Some people have so much pain that they can't work and their pain wakes them up at night. I mean, it's terrible," Lutz said.
Two Edmonton families facing imminent deportation — one to Mexico, the other to the Philippines — have been granted reprieves.
Toronto city staff are asking for council's nod to move ahead with planning for three major downtown park projects, including a proposal for a new waterfront green space at the bottom of Bathurst Street.
Jeffery Bernard waters rows of broccoli in the garden next to the Lennox Island greenhouse.
13-year-old Jack Malott-Clarke of London, Ont., has been a comic book fan his entire life. He loves dressing up as some of his favourite characters and attending annual Comic Con events.
Olivia Armstrong is recovering from surgery — as well as a harrowing ordeal of simply getting to the operating table.
It took hundreds of messages to landlords, a groundswell of support from a community of dog lovers, and stints in the Gathering Place, a hotel, and multiple campsites.
A Sudbury researcher's experience with rheumatoid arthritis has inspired her to study what access to care looks like for patients in northern Ontario.
A steadily increasing number of Nova Scotians are electing to change their gender markers on provincial identification.
Charlotte McGee and her family have accumulated more than $30,000 in medical bills while waiting for their New Brunswick Medicare cards, and they're now being told to pay up.
After two years of pandemic restrictions, camping directors across Manitoba expected a tsunami of campers to sign up for a quintessential summer activity — overnight camping — but registration is lower than expected, with some camps running under half-capacity.
This First Person article is the experience of Erlinda Tan, a Filipino immigrant who believes hard work is a prerequisite to a good, middle-class life in Canada. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.