Thanking my lucky stars for public health care

I consider myself to be healthy - some minor wear and tear but still pretty spry if I do say so myself. However I do have cataracts. (Judging from my fellow patients at the eye surgeon's office I may be the youngest person ever to have developed this condition.) The road from diagnosis to surgery has involved a great deal of time, both mine and that of health care professionals. I went to the optometrist who referred me to the surgeon who referred me to my GP to assess whether I'm fit for surgery, then a presurgical assessment. Next week I have the surgery and the day after that a post-op assessment. That amounts to a grand total of six visits to physicians - for the first eye alone! If I had to pay the full cost I would think twice about having the surgery done despite my night vision problems. As it is my biggest worry is the time off work to get to all these appointments.

As a public sector worker I would likely have health care benefits even if Canada did not have universal medicare but this experience has made me realize how lucky we are in this country to have equal access to health care for everyone. And that's more than enough preachiness for now!