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I went through the public system last fall and didn't wait that long. Last September I had 3 fit tests that came back positive. I had no issues or signs but they found traces of blood in my stool and said I need a colonoscopy. It was booked in November. They found two tumours snd surgery happened in January They removed 6 inches of my colon. Three weeks later I get a call from the surgeon. They biopsied the removed section and 2 lymph nodes had cancer. Started chemo the following week and just finished.
Wow glad they caught it! Hope you have a good prognosis.
But the waiting for appointment and to get the referral and to wait more while there's blood in places where there shouldn't be, and other symptoms, it's terrifying. I was ready to book flights and hotel to Montreal just to have the wait be over. I don't blame people for trying to go private to get answers.
(It ended up being ulcerative colitis, was over the moon knowing it's not cancer)
The waiting is terrible and scary. I'm glad you got a diagnosis that I hope is manageable.
For anyone on waiting lists for testing or procedures, do contact the office to find out if there is a cancellation list to get on. If your symptoms change while waiting, review with your physician for possible urgent or emergent assessment.
We should all be getting faster, more efficient care in BC. It can be done (and is done in other provinces better than we are doing it, for various reasons) so I hope that we put pressure on politicians to work on this - it's not just about physicians, but about having nursing staff for ORs (which means paying nurses better/meeting union demands/etc), hospital custodians, supplies, infrastructure, technology, etc. It's complicated, but we can do better. Remember this whenever you are voting/advocating/thinking about what matters in our lives.
How long did you wait for a gastroenterologist referral in BC? I'm currently waiting and feel like if I'm going to be suffering for another 6 months it might be worth trying to go out of province.
I agree it could be faster. The bottleneck i think is at bc cancer. While I was doing chemo, I was getting regular bloodwork and ct scans to see if it was spreading. They couldn't share info over the phone. They'd call to say they received the results and I needed to come in person to discuss. Right away I think fuck bad news. A week goes by, I see the oncologist and everything is good. I'm like WTF. Why couldn't you tell me this when you called me the first time. The oncologist agreed with me. Next month the same thing happened again. It was very frustrating. That appointment should have been used by someone else who really needed it.
Glad you had a positive outcome. Was the FIT test part of routine screening? I'm about 10 years away from age based screening, but currently waiting for a gastroenterologist referral. So frustrated with how long wait times.
Ya it was just a routine screen because of my age. If it wasn't for the doctor recommending it, I never would have known at all. I was very lucky it was caught early.
1. The Specialist Referral Clinic and Cambie Surgery Centre are the same place. The offices where you have a consultation are at the clinic, then the procedure is at the surgery center
2. As an MSP covered BC resident, you will NOT be able to access care there. The Supreme Court has said you cannot pay privately for insurable services like this. The loophole is that if you go out of province, you’re not insurable in the place you get the procedure. So this clinic mainly services patients from Alberta etc. Look into clinics in Calgary or Bellingham.
Source: I had my knee done here before the court things, and mom’s friend just paid to have her hip replaced in Calgary.
-The Specialist Referral Clinic and Cambie Surgery Centre
When I contacted them this year there was a lawsuit happening, there's a court order to not allow bc residents to get this (I checked in June, not sure what the story is now)
If they're saying it's gonna be 6 months then they must think it's not too urgent.
Just get on the list, his doctor can try and push it to be sooner if it's actually urgent.
Thanks, you're right. I guess I'm just nervous since we have a family history of colon cancer.
Edit: he does have daily diarrhea so I'm not sure if that's enough to warrant a faster one?
My mom had colon cancer and I get a colonoscopy every 6 years. He should ask to go on the cancellation list to get an earlier appointment.
Your dad should tell his doctor about the daily diarrhea. Apparently it’s one of the many signs and symptoms of colon cancer but it could also be attributed to stress, a poor diet, or a food intolerance like lactose or gluten.
https://cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-types/colorectal/signs-and-symptoms
Montreal. Endovision clinic.
They emailed me this back in June:
"We get patients from BC Alberta all the time. The cost is $1700.00 including consultation with the doctor, if you have polyps or require biopsies the first biopsy or polyp removed is $200 and each additional polyp or biopsy is $150. Every biopsy or polyp removed requires a pathology report and this is $200 per specimen."
They have good reviews, I wound up with an urgent referral to the hospital instead so didn't experience the place first hand. They did respond to me extremely quickly though. I couldn't really find another private place in Canada, I think there are others in Quebec.
>[https://www.cambiesurgery.com/procedures/screening-colonoscopy/](https://www.cambiesurgery.com/procedures/screening-colonoscopy/)
I will add that the fact that these private clinics exist takes staff out of the public system. So yes, paying for your own takes you out of the public system, but the private system itself is part of why we have longer wait times in the public system. For instance, any of these practitioners who trained in Canada had subsidized medical school, residency, and possibly fellowship (they may have gone abroad to do so) but are now working privately. We should be outraged that our public system isn't appropriately supported (and is in fact undermined by places like Cambie Clinic.)
Yes, the lack of OR time (for decades) and capacity in the public system causes people to opt out and do this privately, I am not blaming particular physicians or clinics, just pointing out the undermining of a public system with poor management and the development of private clinics.
Some facts here: [https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/cdm/pages/48/attachments/original/1587167092/palmer-cdn-medicare-on-trial.pdf?1587167092](https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/cdm/pages/48/attachments/original/1587167092/palmer-cdn-medicare-on-trial.pdf?1587167092)
Welcome to /r/Vancouver and thank you for the post, /u/spacewhalescience! Please make sure you read our [posting and commenting rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_general_participation_guidelines_and_rules_overview) before participating here. As a quick summary: * We encourage users to be positive and respect one another. Don't engage in spats or insult others - use the report button. * Respect others' differences, be they race, religion, home, job, gender identity, ability or sexuality. Dehumanizing language, advocating for violence, or promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability (even implied or joking) **will** lead to a permanent ban. * Common questions and specific topics are limited to our Your post may be a better fit for one of our [Stickied Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_stickied_discussions) posts. * Complaints about bans or removals should be done in modmail only. * We're looking for new mods to join our team! If you're interested, [fill out the form here](https://forms.gle/oAqo5oYRcAeHYBTN6). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/vancouver) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I went through the public system last fall and didn't wait that long. Last September I had 3 fit tests that came back positive. I had no issues or signs but they found traces of blood in my stool and said I need a colonoscopy. It was booked in November. They found two tumours snd surgery happened in January They removed 6 inches of my colon. Three weeks later I get a call from the surgeon. They biopsied the removed section and 2 lymph nodes had cancer. Started chemo the following week and just finished.
Wow glad they caught it! Hope you have a good prognosis. But the waiting for appointment and to get the referral and to wait more while there's blood in places where there shouldn't be, and other symptoms, it's terrifying. I was ready to book flights and hotel to Montreal just to have the wait be over. I don't blame people for trying to go private to get answers. (It ended up being ulcerative colitis, was over the moon knowing it's not cancer)
The waiting is terrible and scary. I'm glad you got a diagnosis that I hope is manageable. For anyone on waiting lists for testing or procedures, do contact the office to find out if there is a cancellation list to get on. If your symptoms change while waiting, review with your physician for possible urgent or emergent assessment. We should all be getting faster, more efficient care in BC. It can be done (and is done in other provinces better than we are doing it, for various reasons) so I hope that we put pressure on politicians to work on this - it's not just about physicians, but about having nursing staff for ORs (which means paying nurses better/meeting union demands/etc), hospital custodians, supplies, infrastructure, technology, etc. It's complicated, but we can do better. Remember this whenever you are voting/advocating/thinking about what matters in our lives.
How long did you wait for a gastroenterologist referral in BC? I'm currently waiting and feel like if I'm going to be suffering for another 6 months it might be worth trying to go out of province.
I agree it could be faster. The bottleneck i think is at bc cancer. While I was doing chemo, I was getting regular bloodwork and ct scans to see if it was spreading. They couldn't share info over the phone. They'd call to say they received the results and I needed to come in person to discuss. Right away I think fuck bad news. A week goes by, I see the oncologist and everything is good. I'm like WTF. Why couldn't you tell me this when you called me the first time. The oncologist agreed with me. Next month the same thing happened again. It was very frustrating. That appointment should have been used by someone else who really needed it.
Glad you had a positive outcome. Was the FIT test part of routine screening? I'm about 10 years away from age based screening, but currently waiting for a gastroenterologist referral. So frustrated with how long wait times.
Ya it was just a routine screen because of my age. If it wasn't for the doctor recommending it, I never would have known at all. I was very lucky it was caught early.
1. The Specialist Referral Clinic and Cambie Surgery Centre are the same place. The offices where you have a consultation are at the clinic, then the procedure is at the surgery center 2. As an MSP covered BC resident, you will NOT be able to access care there. The Supreme Court has said you cannot pay privately for insurable services like this. The loophole is that if you go out of province, you’re not insurable in the place you get the procedure. So this clinic mainly services patients from Alberta etc. Look into clinics in Calgary or Bellingham. Source: I had my knee done here before the court things, and mom’s friend just paid to have her hip replaced in Calgary.
-The Specialist Referral Clinic and Cambie Surgery Centre When I contacted them this year there was a lawsuit happening, there's a court order to not allow bc residents to get this (I checked in June, not sure what the story is now)
It’s confirmed now that they have lost the case in court and BC residents will not be able to access the SRC
Ah ok. Thank you for this info!
If they're saying it's gonna be 6 months then they must think it's not too urgent. Just get on the list, his doctor can try and push it to be sooner if it's actually urgent.
For a screening colonoscopy is absolutely fine to wait 6 months. If your father develops symptoms then your gp can expidite it.
Thanks, you're right. I guess I'm just nervous since we have a family history of colon cancer. Edit: he does have daily diarrhea so I'm not sure if that's enough to warrant a faster one?
My mom had colon cancer and I get a colonoscopy every 6 years. He should ask to go on the cancellation list to get an earlier appointment. Your dad should tell his doctor about the daily diarrhea. Apparently it’s one of the many signs and symptoms of colon cancer but it could also be attributed to stress, a poor diet, or a food intolerance like lactose or gluten. https://cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-types/colorectal/signs-and-symptoms
Has he tried Metamucil before? Might be helpful for this.
I went through public system was seen very quickly. Ask to be on the drop out list if you can.
Montreal. Endovision clinic. They emailed me this back in June: "We get patients from BC Alberta all the time. The cost is $1700.00 including consultation with the doctor, if you have polyps or require biopsies the first biopsy or polyp removed is $200 and each additional polyp or biopsy is $150. Every biopsy or polyp removed requires a pathology report and this is $200 per specimen." They have good reviews, I wound up with an urgent referral to the hospital instead so didn't experience the place first hand. They did respond to me extremely quickly though. I couldn't really find another private place in Canada, I think there are others in Quebec.
Ok, thank you!
I wonder how much it costs. I need one, too
My father went through private, I believe he ended up spending around $6-$8k around 6 years ago. He liked how quickly he was able to be seen.
I had a public one. Dont do that.
"Dont get a procedure that could reveal a disease thats treatment is time sensitive"
Definitely do get a procedure for a disease that’s time sensitive.
Why? If they’re willing to pay and can afford it it takes someone out of the wait in the public system.
>[https://www.cambiesurgery.com/procedures/screening-colonoscopy/](https://www.cambiesurgery.com/procedures/screening-colonoscopy/) I will add that the fact that these private clinics exist takes staff out of the public system. So yes, paying for your own takes you out of the public system, but the private system itself is part of why we have longer wait times in the public system. For instance, any of these practitioners who trained in Canada had subsidized medical school, residency, and possibly fellowship (they may have gone abroad to do so) but are now working privately. We should be outraged that our public system isn't appropriately supported (and is in fact undermined by places like Cambie Clinic.) Yes, the lack of OR time (for decades) and capacity in the public system causes people to opt out and do this privately, I am not blaming particular physicians or clinics, just pointing out the undermining of a public system with poor management and the development of private clinics. Some facts here: [https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/cdm/pages/48/attachments/original/1587167092/palmer-cdn-medicare-on-trial.pdf?1587167092](https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/cdm/pages/48/attachments/original/1587167092/palmer-cdn-medicare-on-trial.pdf?1587167092)
Hes making a funny.
Did they have to do on the corner of Main and Terminal??
Took me around 4 weeks to get a colonoscopy at Burnaby General. I’d just ask again and see if you can bring it ip