Snowboarding

The MRI Adventure

As I indicated in my last post, I booked an MRI in the United States. And I’ve already had it done!

I’m still kind of shocked that everything happened so quickly. After hoping (and failing) to hear from North York General Hospital’s MRI department about any last-minute openings, I decided it was time to give the alternatives a serious shot. The first thing I did was research what my options were. I quickly found out that Quebec and Buffalo were probably my best choices; there were clinics in Montreal that offered private MRIs, and plenty in the States. Based on my initial research online and after having a few conversations with people that left the province for MRIs, I expected to pay close to $1,000.

I emailed a couple of places in Montreal, but didn’t hear anything. I also contacted a company based in British Columbia that specialized in arranging these. They got back to me right away, and sent me a form that my doctor had to fill out. They also told me my best option was in Buffalo, and that the MRI would cost $465 Canadian. I was surprised to hear the price would be so low, but was also ecstatic!

At this point, I was concerned my doctor would have moral objections to me leaving the province. The company rep I spoke to said they had very few issues with doctors protesting, because the end result was that you were making the waiting list in Ontario shorter. Sure enough, when I called the surgeon’s office, the receptionist said “sure, send it over. Make sure to note you’re getting it done out of province.” It sounded to me like this happened all the time.

Two days later, I had my form. I sent it to the company, who told me less than a day later that the MRI clinic in Buffalo would now contact me directly. It turns out they were actually based in Tonawanda, a town just outside of Niagara Falls.

The conversation I had with the American clinic that day (Wednesday of this week) was pretty funny:

Clinic: “Okay, do you want to come in tonight?”
Me: “Uhhhh I’m at work in Toronto.”
Clinic: “That’s okay. Our last MRI is at 10:15 every night. We have openings today if you’d like to come in.”
Me: “Well, I think I’ll need a day or two to arrange things. How about Friday?”
Clinic: “Sure. We have a couple of openings Friday. How is 11:15am?”

And with that, I was on my way to Tonawanda yesterday, less than a week after getting the ball rolling. To say I was impresed was an understatement.

The drive down took two hours (including a harrowing border experience where I rolled up in a rental car with an open trunk. I had accidentially popped it open when I pulled over in St. Catharines and forgot to close it. The guard was not impressed). The clinic was like any doctor’s office you would go to here, except they specialized in imaging. Friendly staff, top notch facilities, nonchalance at the fact I was from Canada (Canadians were there all the time, it seemed) and a general sense that we were missing something up here in Canada followed. An hour later, I was done. Did you know MRIs take half an hour or longer? I didn’t. I thought it was like an x-ray.

I was back home by three, CD-ROM of my MRI in hand. I hope my doctor is cool with a CD, otherwise I’ll have to somehow get films of these results made.

Anyway, my overall impression: so worth the money. I’m now four months ahead of where I would be using the Ontario system. This will be crucial if I need surgery, and could make the difference between a full or partial snowboarding season! (Not to mention all my summer activities..)

Interestingly, most everyone I have spoken to about this ordeal so far has a similar opinion: “I totally believe if you can pay for it, you should have the option of getting it done privately.” Given the state of our current system I’m unfortunately all for it, too.

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