Terrea is Raising Money for a Hip Replacement

Hi. My name is Terrea and I live in Alberta, Canada. As some of you may know, the Canadian healthcare system is broken. It is extremely bad in Alberta. I have never had to access the system for something so serious in all the years I have lived in Canada. Due to the backlog in the system, I have been told that I have to wait 3 to 5 years for a hip replacement.

The problem with my hip has come on very suddenly. As of this moment, I am unable to walk without the assistance of a cane, a wheelchair, and very intense drugs. I am currently on morphine, gabapentin, Tylenol, and Advil. I am taking very high doses of gabapentin. The morphine is not very high yet, but the doctor was hoping that adding morphine to my regimen would take away my pain. Unfortunately, it has not.

I must return to work in a couple of weeks and I do not know how I will be able to function. To add insult to injury, my employment, healthcare system has terminated my disability insurance because I am over 65. Therefore I will not even be paid disability when I do have my surgery and I must be off for 4 to 6 weeks.

The way the system works. I am called a P3 level for the seriousness meaning that it is semi-urgent. I wonder how much pain and inability to walk one must endure before they become a P2 or P1.

Even with a status of P3, I have been told I must wait 36 to 48 months for my surgery. Not only is that unbearable to think about, but the damage that will be done in the meantime, is irreparable. Believe, me I have done my research.

i have never even needed this help before, but I am going to try and have my surgery done privately. This means I must pay between $20,000 and $40,000 and also be prepared to fly to another province, pay for the flight and the necessary hotel. Due to the un-regulation of this option, there are no government guidelines for it and I am at the behest of the surgeon I choose.

I am kindly asking for any help you can give me. Until this happened, I was a very active and happy-go-lucky person.