- Aug 6, 2012
- 27,958
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Enjoy your socialized healthcare America. This is where it leads and the bottom is still very far away.
On the night he nearly died, this man resorted to leaving the ER to call 911 for help
David Doucette says he would be dead if he hadn't resorted to leaving a Halifax emergency room last July following repeated attempts to be admitted, and then called 911 in a desperate search for medical help.
Only hours after he was returned to hospital by ambulance, the Halifax man was diagnosed with Stage 4 non-Hodgkins lymphoma. There was doubt he would survive the night. His hematologist described him as the sickest patient she's ever seen survive.
"I guess it wasn't my time yet," said Doucette, 52. "To me, being from here, it's unacceptable. And I'm sure every Nova Scotian would say the same thing."
Political critics and Doctors Nova Scotia have warned repeatedly that some patients could fall through the cracks because of the doctor shortage in Nova Scotia.
Doucette believes he's one of those cases. He's using his incredible tale of survival to put a face on what he calls Nova Scotia's health-care crisis.
He is angry with how he was handled at the ER of the Halifax Infirmary and also believes his cancer could have been detected sooner if only he'd had a family doctor.
4 trips to ER
On Monday, the provincial government announced nearly $40 million for physician raises and other incentives in an effort to recruit and retain more doctors.
But Doucette wants politicians to know their decisions about whether or not to invest in doctors and health care aren't just affecting statistics, but people.
His medical problems began last summer when he found a marble-sized lump under his left arm and he fell repeatedly after taking a shower.
His girlfriend, Kelly Steeves, took him to the emergency department at the Halifax Infirmary. It was the first of four visits, she said, where she fought for the hospital to admit him.
On the night he nearly died, this man resorted to leaving the ER to call 911 for help
David Doucette says he would be dead if he hadn't resorted to leaving a Halifax emergency room last July following repeated attempts to be admitted, and then called 911 in a desperate search for medical help.
Only hours after he was returned to hospital by ambulance, the Halifax man was diagnosed with Stage 4 non-Hodgkins lymphoma. There was doubt he would survive the night. His hematologist described him as the sickest patient she's ever seen survive.
"I guess it wasn't my time yet," said Doucette, 52. "To me, being from here, it's unacceptable. And I'm sure every Nova Scotian would say the same thing."
Political critics and Doctors Nova Scotia have warned repeatedly that some patients could fall through the cracks because of the doctor shortage in Nova Scotia.
Doucette believes he's one of those cases. He's using his incredible tale of survival to put a face on what he calls Nova Scotia's health-care crisis.
He is angry with how he was handled at the ER of the Halifax Infirmary and also believes his cancer could have been detected sooner if only he'd had a family doctor.
4 trips to ER
On Monday, the provincial government announced nearly $40 million for physician raises and other incentives in an effort to recruit and retain more doctors.
But Doucette wants politicians to know their decisions about whether or not to invest in doctors and health care aren't just affecting statistics, but people.
His medical problems began last summer when he found a marble-sized lump under his left arm and he fell repeatedly after taking a shower.
His girlfriend, Kelly Steeves, took him to the emergency department at the Halifax Infirmary. It was the first of four visits, she said, where she fought for the hospital to admit him.
